Earlier in her career, Tao worked for the world’s top public relations agencies in senior leadership positions, including Golin Harris as a Senior Vice President, Weber Shandwick as a Vice President and Fleishman-Hillard as an Account Supervisor.  Her clients included top brands like Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Levi Strauss, Safeway, Schwab, KPMG Peat Marwick, the Oakland Raiders and many others.

A native of California, Tao holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Psychology from the University of California, Davis.