From Surviving to Thriving: A Conversation with ANS Co-Owner and COO, Tara Gatliff Hail

When did you first get involved with Applied Natural Sciences (ANS), and what roles have you held over the years?

My father, Dr. Edward Gatliff, founded ANS in 1993, but like many kids, I had little interest in the family business. I started doing part-time data entry for ANS in 2013 when I was looking for some extra work to fill in some gaps. Shortly after, I was invited to visit a site and see firsthand how ANS functions and how TreeWell® Systems work. That experience pulled me in. As I got more involved, I became genuinely interested in the work.

I eventually transitioned into more of a project management role and stayed in that position for several years. The work was innovative—no one else was doing what we were—nature-based, effective, aesthetically pleasing remediation. Rather than employing more mechanical systems to clean up contamination at an industrial site, we would plant trees. The environmental impact made being a part of ANS exciting for me.

In 2021, everything changed. My dad, the founder of ANS, passed away suddenly. Prior to that, we had been having conversations about me taking over the business someday. I had just earned my master’s degree in organizational leadership and was beginning to learn the backend operations. Suddenly, the transition became very real. There was no slow, clear succession plan. My mom unexpectedly fully owned the business and I jumped into the role of COO.

How did the company evolve from that point?

I immediately reached out to Paul Thomas. He had his own consulting company, but my dad and Paul had been regularly collaborating on projects since the late ‘80s. I’d known him since I was five or six. In discussion, Paul and I determined it made sense for him to join ANS full time as our president and senior scientist, and he merged his consulting firm with ANS. The next bit was all about staying afloat, continuing existing projects, and deciding whether to sell the business or keep it going. That first year, I probably called Paul six times a day. Though there were countless challenges that year, it’s been nothing but fantastic having Paul—someone I like and respect—by my side.

What was the biggest challenge as you transitioned into leadership at ANS?

Honestly, everything was a challenge. It wasn’t just the grieving, it was also trying to get inside the mind of someone who ran a business nearly solo for 30 years. I had to untangle his own internal systems. Those 30 years included the transition from analog to digital which meant I was finding passwords, piecing together records from scraps of paper in my parents’ basement, and Googling industry terms. It was on-the-job learning at its most intense. I was reaching out to my dad’s contacts, finding and reconciling unpaid invoices, and asking for extensions on work. On top of that, there was the emotional toll of constantly telling his former colleagues that my dad had passed away.

ANS is now growing and thriving. When did things start to shift?

That first year was about keeping my head above water. I was learning four new things a day just to stay caught up. But, I didn’t want to simply coast on the projects my dad had built. I wanted to create something new.

Paul and I used to joke about what it would take to become a “real business.” We knew we needed to grow. I remembered that my dad had been impressed by Chris Gale, someone from a large consulting firm who had also been a client on a number of past projects. They had been in conversation for years over what it might look like for him to join ANS, so I cold-called Chris, and eventually, we flew him out to Ohio for an interview. In 2022, he joined ANS as a senior consultant. That marked a shift from just surviving to planning how to thrive.

Since then, we’ve hired additional people, and we really have evolved from a “mom and pop” operation to a growing small business with a sustainable model. Though we have changed in size, scope of vision, and solidity, we are continuing the work my dad did for decades. One of my motivations in those early days was the belief that it would be a loss to the industry if ANS ceased to exist because I know what we offer is unique.

Talk more about your motivations. Why do you care about this work?

It’s twofold. First, continuing my dad’s legacy. He was a pioneer in this field. When no one else believed phytoremediation could work, he said, “It can” and proved it. People now see phytoremediation and TreeWell Systems as an effective, sustainable remediation alternative. That’s powerful.

Second, the work itself matters. We plant trees for a living, but we do it in a way that maximizes the positive environmental impact. We’ve turned literal garbage dumps into green spaces. I love that we’re using nature-based solutions that are both practical and restorative.

Recently you gained majority ownership of the company. What does that mean to you personally?

I’ve talked a lot about my dad, but my mom played a huge role in the founding of this company. She supported him in so many ways—he was able to quit a stable job to take a risk on this dream. That kind of partnership often gets overlooked, but they were a team. They did very different things that made each other’s roles possible.

This year, my mom passed her ownership stake on to me. I’m proud to be a woman owner of a STEM company. I want ANS to succeed, to keep my dad’s legacy alive, and to continue doing meaningful work in the world.

This moment also makes me think back on how far I’ve come. Imposter syndrome was real. In a field dominated by older white men, I questioned myself constantly. People assumed I would fail--sometimes I thought I would too. Now, four years later, the business is thriving. We've grown in both personnel and revenue. I taught myself on the job in the middle of chaos and crisis. At first, I wasn’t sure I’d stay. I thought maybe we’d sell and move on. But now, I’m all in. Hands, feet, heart, everything.

Where do you hope to take the company?

Right now, I’m still taking it one year at a time. I don’t envision us becoming a massive conglomerate. We’ll likely always be a niche small business. But I want us to provide high-quality work, meaningful jobs, and keep our integrity intact. We’re a company that people want to work with, and our team enjoys their jobs. We have a culture of balance. Our employees take their kids on vacation and make it to soccer practice. The kind of work-life balance people talk about is something we actually live.

When I think about the future, I know I’d love to continue innovating, getting new patents, and expanding into areas like PFAS remediation. We don’t have long-term PFAS data yet, but we’ve begun the work. Most of all, I want to stay flexible. Just as we adapt in the field, I want us to adapt behind the desk.

My dad was a pioneer. He didn’t rely on conventional solutions. He was always thinking outside the box, and ANS will continue to reflect that spirit.