For our latest interview, we recently chatted with Tania Taylor, the CEO of Be Centre Foundation and the driving force behind The Sydney Skinny. Tania’s career path took a major turn when she decided to leave the corporate world for something more meaningful.
She’s now leading a play therapy center that helps kids and organizing a unique charity swim that brings people together for a good cause. Tania opened up about what inspired her to make such a big change, how she balances it all, and why she’s so passionate about making a difference.
Tania, you made quite a leap from the corporate world to leading the Be Centre Foundation and organising The Sydney Skinny. What inspired you to make this change, and how has the journey been so far?
Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Do one thing every day that scares you.” That quote has always resonated with me because life can quickly become routine and predictable. I knew I needed more than the comfort of a corporate career—I craved excitement, challenge, and the chance to make a real difference.
Leaving behind a successful career and stepping away from co-owning Australia’s most successful fundraising hiking challenge wasn’t an easy decision, but I’ve always believed in taking calculated risks and exploring new horizons. When the opportunity to take on The Sydney Skinny came along, it reignited my passion for doing something meaningful and slightly on the cheeky side ;-).
Now, as the CEO of Be Centre Foundation, I have the privilege of helping children and families navigate through some of life’s toughest challenges. It’s been a journey filled with both excitement and fulfilment, knowing that the work we do has a direct impact on young lives and wider communities.
Embracing new adventures—like running a nude ocean swim!—has certainly pushed me out of my comfort zone. But nothing compares to the joy of creating something that brings happiness and positive change to others.
I’m thrilled to continue this journey, combining my passion for adventure with a deep commitment to mental health – especially that of children. I believe no child should struggle – and if they do it’s our job as adults to help them. It’s been an incredible ride so far, and I’m excited for the many more adventures to come.
For those who might not be familiar, can you explain what play therapy is and how it helps children and families?
Play therapy is a trauma-informed evidence-based method of therapy that optimises children’s abilities to express, explore, and resolve troubling thoughts, feelings, and experiences.
Play therapy empowers children to gain insight and build capacity by engaging in activities that are natural and comfortable for them. Through play, children can express and regulate their emotions, communicate more effectively, and practice and master new skills. This helps them to process and work through complex feelings and experiences.
Play therapy works because it specifically targets a child’s window of tolerance, referring to the optimal arousal zone where an individual can effectively process information and emotions without becoming overwhelmed or shut down. It is also more effective for children than talk therapy because their verbal and cognitive skills are not yet fully developed.
At Be Centre Foundation, Australia’s first and longest standing play therapy dedicated centre, a safe space is created by therapists for children within the walls of its carefully designed play rooms. This gives our children a chance to make sense of past events and simply *be* in an environment that’s centred around them.
Running a play therapy centre and organising a large charity event must be demanding. How do you balance these responsibilities and ensure you have time to recharge?
I find that I am recharged by seeing the impact both of these have on the community, the individuals. I get a buzz out of creating moments for people which they will remember forever. I run, which is like meditation to me and I make sure that I don’t work on weekends. I dont’ have email notifications turned on, and I learned a long time ago that I can easily be drawn in, so I work really hard at tuning out of work and tuning into my family.
What does a typical day look like for you at the Be Centre Foundation? Are there any daily routines or habits that help you stay grounded and effective in your role?
Be Centre is a buzzing hive of activity. There are meetings, networking, phone calls, admin, board meetings, chatter and brainstorming. I thrive on hearing the wonderful stories that our clinical team shares about their clients. It is so rewarding to see a child go from scared and unsure about this place to thriving and owning their place here. The team is encouraged to go on walking meetings and we try to start our meetings with a grounding exercise.
The Sydney Skinny is such a unique event! What can you tell us about its impact and the charities it has supported over the years?
The Sydney Skinny is the world’s first open water nude swim that takes place every year in beautiful Sydney Harbour. In 2025 it will be 12-years old. It certainly is a unique event, and much-loved too. We genuinely get people from all over the world joining in, some schedule their annual holidays around the event date.
Many people are daunted about other people looking at their nude bodies, but it actually has nothing to do with being seen naked or seeing other people naked, but rather a joyous break from the monotony of life that gives us an opportunity to practise acceptance and courage, all for a good cause. The Sydney Skinny has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for charitable causes during the event’s 11 years including brain and skin cancer most recently.
Looking ahead, what are your goals for the Be Centre Foundation and The Sydney Skinny? Are there any exciting projects or initiatives on the horizon that you’re particularly excited about?
At Be Centre we’re taking Play therapy into a local school and training all the teachers. The impact of this is incredible – a whole school working with Play Therapy principles to help up to 400 children.
The impact and reach into the community is off the charts. We can reach all those kids, the teachers, the parents – a whole community. We’re also participating in a study with Deakin University to trial Tele Play Therapy which again gives us the opportunity to reach those kids who can’t reach us. I’m so grateful to be a part of this transformative journey.
As for the Sydney Skinny – I’d love to expand to other states and reach more people. The event creates such joy, I’ve seen people who have said ‘I’ll NEVER be able to do that’ participate and simply glow with pride after the swim. It’s fun, it’s elegantly produced and nothing like you expect if you haven’t seen it. I hope everyone who reads this, puts it on their bucket list!
