September 15, 2025 • 45 mins
Tracy Colunga shares her remarkable journey from city government to founding her consulting firm Colunga and Associates LLC, highlighting how intuition guided her career transitions and how she narrowly avoided mass layoffs by trusting her gut.
• Founding Colunga and Associates LLC as a consulting firm specializing in strategic planning, innovation, user-centered design, and grants management
• Transitioning from Johns Hopkins University to entrepreneurship after sensing political changes
• Building a 16-year career with the city of Long Beach, CA that culminated as Chief Innovation Officer
• Developing the "inside-outside strategy" for community engagement and building trust
• Starting as a first-generation college student pursuing psychology before discovering social work
• Balancing single parenthood while earning a master's degree at UCLA on full scholarship
• Teaching as a university lecturer for 14 years to stay at the cutting edge of public policy
• Taking the leap to pursue a doctorate at USC while running her consulting business
• Implementing personal productivity hacks like scheduling meetings with yourself and using the Eisenhower matrix
• Discovering that government jobs offer excellent compensation, from entry-level ($65-85K) to leadership positions ($300-400K)
If you have a dream in your heart, go for it. It might be scary, but when you follow those dreams, doors will open that you never knew were possible.
Disclaimer:
The views shared on Career Cheat Code are those of the guests and don’t reflect the host or any affiliated organizations. This podcast is for inspiration and information, highlighting unique career journeys to help you define success and take your next step.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I will tell you that, within 30 days of my
resignation, johns Hopkins laidoff 2,000 employees.
Much like universities acrossthis country who were not funded
federal research grants.
Johns Hopkins was no different,and so I really feel like I
dodged a bullet and it was fullymy intuition.
Things didn't sit right.
(00:21):
There was a shift in the airand I was like I need to pivot
right now, before somethinghappens.
And then, after 30 days later,I realized what that something
was.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Welcome to Career Cheat Code.
In this podcast, you'll hearhow everyday people impact the
world through their careers.
Learn about their journey,career hacks and obstacles along
the way.
Whether you're already havingthe impact you want or are
searching for it, this is thepodcast for you.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
All right, tracy.
Welcome to Career Cheat Code.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Thank you for having me friend.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Appreciate it.
I'm excited to talk to youtoday.
Let's dive right in.
Let's tell the world what it isyou do for a living.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
All right, I'm CEO of Kalunga and Associates LLC.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
So what does that mean?
What do you like?
It sounds like a consultingcompany.
Is that what you do and like?
Who are your like types ofclients that you normally work
with?
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Yeah, yes, it's a consulting firm.
We do strategic planning,innovation, user centered design
, executive coaching and grantsmanagement.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Awesome.
Who do you normally partnerwith?
Like, what are your?
What are your like?
Typical, typical clients thatyou have been partnering with
lately?
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Yeah, I worked in city government for close to 20
years, so I have a lot of cityclients.
The county of Los Angeles isone of my clients, as well as
several nonprofits in the LAarea.
So, yeah, nonprofits in citycounty.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
That's great.
Okay, how did you get into this?
What made you want to startthis organization?
Speaker 1 (01:42):
You know what's interesting?
Like I mentioned, I worked incity government and, prior to
that, county government.
About a year ago, I startedworking on a business plan with
some of my friends from gradschool.
We all have 20 plus years inthe field.
You know we have professors onthe bench, we have nonprofit
executive directors and you knowindividual and corporate sector
(02:04):
and we just startedbrainstorming about starting a
company together.
So in 2024, we met quarterlyand I would curate these
strategic planning sessions overbarbecue and beer or wine and
charcuterie.
We definitely made it funbecause we're all friends, but
really this was supposed to beour retirement plan.
(02:25):
Again, many of us were workingfull-time last year and so I
wrote the business plan.
And then my birthday gift tomyself in January of 2025 was to
file the LLC and to reallylaunch the company as a side
hustle.
To be honest with you, with theshift in the administration and
some other things that werehappening in February, I decided
(02:48):
to go full faith and fear 100%as the CEO of the company.
My consulting bench most ofthem are still working full-time
.
Another one is a full-timeconsultant but it miraculously,
has turned out wonderful.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
That's great.
So these are folks that most ofyou, when you started it, had
full-time jobs but were likelet's pull together our own
separate consulting companiesthat we can then partner on
contracts together.
Was that the vision?
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Yeah, so that was the original plan and because I was
the first one to actually filemy LLC and do all the paperwork,
start a bank account, getinsurance.
We had a meeting shortly afterthat and all of them were like,
honestly, tracy, can we justfall under your firm?
Maybe at a later date each ofthem will open their own LLC,
but right now they're like sohappy that I took the leap of
(03:40):
faith first and so they're on mybench, for instance, my
contract with LA County Officeof Education.
They're all on the bench,they're on on-call services, but
it's as affiliates of Columboand Associates.
So it's been a huge blessing,in disguise, that I took that
leap of faith.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
So let's talk about that leap of faith.
So what were you doing when youwere first planning all this
last year?
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Yeah, so I was working for the Bloomberg Center
for Public Innovation at JohnsHopkins University.
So, after a lengthy career incity and county government, I
went to work for the universityfor three years and I was hired
during the pandemic.
So I was commuting back andforth like many people around
the country.
I was commuting back and forthonce a month to Washington DC
(04:23):
and Baltimore and again with theshift in the administration in
January, I was actually in DCthe day that the helicopter
crashed into the plane.
That was the week after Trumpwas inaugurated and a lot of
people were getting laid off inDC and I remember walking around
DC that week and just feelinglike it was like Zombieland.
(04:45):
People were distraught,confused, they didn't know if
they were going to lose theircompanies, their homes, their
investments.
And I came back from that worktrip and I told my husband I was
like it doesn't feel good to bethere anymore.
And it's not the organization,it was the political environment
that wasn't.
That felt.
You feel the devastation.
(05:06):
And I said I want to come homeand I also have a feeling that
Johns Hopkins University isgoing to ask me to move to DC,
to Baltimore, to the East Coast,because of all the return to
work policies.
I will tell you that within 30days of my resignation, johns
Hopkins laid off 2000 employees,much like universities across
(05:29):
this country, who were notfunded federal research grants.
Johns Hopkins was no different,and so I really feel like I
dodged a bullet and it was fullymy intuition.
Like things didn't sit right,there was a shift in the air and
I was like I need to pivotright now, before something
happens.
And then, after 30 days later,I realized what that something
(05:50):
was.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Wow.
So you followed your gut andthe stars aligned and the timing
was just right.
So what exactly did you do atJohns Hopkins?
Speaker 1 (05:58):
I was the civic engagement director at the
Bloomberg Center for PublicInnovation, so my team and I
wrote curriculum and providedtraining and education to mayors
, city managers and city staffon civic and community
engagement.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
All right, that sounds exciting.
So you partnered with a lot ofcities and really helped them,
helped mayors, really advance alot of policies and programs
that supported differentcommunities throughout the
country.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Yes, it was fun.
One of our biggest projects wasthe bipartisan local
infrastructure hub, so formerPresident Biden put together the
package on bipartisaninfrastructure funding.
We were able to provide all thecommunity engagement training
for over 400 cities.
So the federal funding requiredwhat's called Justice 40, that
(06:47):
40% of the infrastructure moneywent to neighborhoods that were
historically disinvested, and sowe did extensive training on
civic and community engagement.
We had fun.
It was fun.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Yeah, absolutely.
So.
That's really where our pathscrossed, right.
You were at the time partneringwith different cities doing
initiatives.
I was at the RockefellerFoundation, also partnering with
different cities doinginitiatives, and some of those
events and cities overlapped ofparts to say, hey, this is what
(07:25):
we're doing, what are you alldoing?
Who are you all talking to?
How can we make sure that we'relike supporting the right
initiatives and like kind ofworking in concert, right?
So you know, I just rememberthose early days of just being
at conferences and saying, allright, who else, like should we
be connecting with, and what arethe folks that are doing the
good work?
So, you know, just rememberthose early days and appreciate
you for that.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
That was fun.
Yeah, as you're talking, I'mremembering we were funding the
city of El Paso and I met you atthe White House, hosted the
Hispanic Initiative.
You're going to have to remindme the name of it.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
It was a Latinos in Society program within the Aspen
Institute.
They were doing something withthe Hispanic Initiative at the
White House and we weresupporting that initiative in my
role.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Correct and that's where we met and hit it off and
really found a similar passionfor cities and really
communities at the heart of itand people.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely.
So you were at before that itsounded like you worked in
cities, which is a seamlesstransition right.
Cities, which is a seamlesstransition right?
Because when you then go tothese organizations that are
partnering with cities, it'salways good to have an insight
as to how city government works.
You know where the gaps are andhow philanthropy or other
(08:33):
intermediate organizations cankind of come in and fill those
roles.
So can you talk to me aboutyour career within city
government?
What were you actually doingthere?
And county government?
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Yes, I worked for the city of Long Beach, california,
for 16 years, thoroughlyenjoyed every day, you know,
waking up and serving my city.
So some of the projects Iworked on for the mayor and
council included our safe LongBeach violence prevention plan,
developing our city's firstlanguage access policy and
implementation, my brother'skeeper, my sister's keeper and,
(09:07):
just again, really taking oninitiatives that were important
to the community and the mayorand council.
My last position with the citywas chief innovation officer,
funded by BloombergPhilanthropies.
So I was implementing bothBloomberg grants and other
grants the Arnold Foundation,Federal Department of Justice
and some White House funding on,you know, on behalf of the
(09:30):
mayor and council for the lastseven years of my career.
So by the time I got to JohnsHopkins I could really coach
mayors and city staff on how toimplement inside and outside
city hall that inside outsidestrategy.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Actually, can you speak a little bit about the
inside outside strategy right?
Like that was also one of thethings that we discussed,
because I was also in citygovernment doing government
community relations work and wespoke about the importance of
that right, can you explain tothe audience that may not be too
familiar kind of what thatmeans and how you actually go
about doing that?
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Yeah.
So you know it's really abouttrust building and, again,
inside City Hall and outsideCity Hall, being a person of
your word, follow through.
Because you know my family andI live in Long Beach.
My husband works for Long BeachUnified, walking the streets of
Long Beach or attendingcommunity meetings or events
hosting.
I did a lot of facilitation ofdesign sessions with our
(10:20):
community members around again,language access or helping
people break the cycle ofincarceration, and oftentimes I
would meet community leaderslike Mary Simmons.
She's the NeighborhoodAssociation, president of AOC7.
It's a neighborhood here in LongBeach that has some of the
highest amounts of crime,highest amounts of people who
(10:41):
are unhoused in the local parkand she had me on like speed
dial so if council or a citydepartment wouldn't get, she
couldn't get ahold of them.
She'd call me and say Tracy,there's an issue, your kids are
trying to walk to school,there's some.
You know I'm like, okay, call911, you know, call nine, emerge
, not emerge Like.
I guided her through the citylanguage but oftentimes I would
(11:03):
just sit with her and reallyhear what some of her concerns
were.
I did that with a lot ofcommunity members and the
inside-outside strategy was thatpeople knew that I was someone
who they could call and confideinformation in, but also that I
would coach them on theappropriate way to navigate the
bureaucracy and, last but notleast, follow through.
(11:24):
They knew if I, you know,promised them something like I
will come to your nextneighborhood association meeting
and present on, or I willinvite the police representative
to join me, they knew that if Imade that promise, I was going
to deliver on the promise.
And that's the inside outsideright.
I think people working in cityhalls sometimes don't realize
that it turns into the ivorytower and you can't kind of see
(11:48):
what's happening on the outside.
You just know you have to doyour day to day job
responsibilities and so reallyhaving those relationships
outside City Hall help younavigate how to get things done
and how to really help create astronger image for the city.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Yeah, absolutely so.
Let's walk backwards now, so,because it sounds like you spent
, you know, almost 20 yearsreally dedicated to your
community where you lived andworked.
Was that what you alwaysenvisioned your career going
like?
So take me back to, like16-year-old Tracy what did you
think you were going to be andwhat happened at that point?
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Oh, okay, oh, I was going way back.
So I'm a first gen collegegraduate, first in my family of
35 cousins.
So my mom says from fifth gradeI was always like I'm going to
college, I'm going to go tocollege, it's just something I
talked about.
I studied hard, got good grades, but at the age of 16, it's
interesting you said that therewas a psychologist that came and
(12:46):
spoke to my school about beinga psychologist and what that
involved, and from that day on Iwas like I want to be a
psychologist.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
I want to help people .
Speaker 1 (12:56):
I want to help communities like the one I grew
up in to really solve problems,and I didn't have the language
at the time, but I knew I wantedto help people.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Okay, so you're still in high school at that time,
right?
So you have this vision ofgoing to college.
Where'd you end up going tocollege, and did you actually
end up majoring in psychology?
Speaker 1 (13:14):
So I and this is a great story so I went to St
Mary's College, notre Dame,indiana.
In high school I got invited toa summer program for Latina
potential you know, first genLatinas and I spent the summer
at St Mary's college and I fellin love with the campus, the
professors.
I just knew this is where Iwanted to go.
So anybody in the educationfield really introducing
(13:38):
potential first gen students tocampuses is a game changer,
right.
It opened up my eyes to tocollege life and so I applied,
got into St Mary's and I was apsych major.
I knew that's what I wanted todo until I ran into Professor
Maritucci, who convinced me totake an intro to social work
class and he said I know youthink you want to be a psych
(14:00):
major, but actually what youwant to do is you want to help
communities, and so social workactually has a.
It's called micro, mezzo, macro.
Micro is therapy, what mostpeople think about social work.
Macro is policy and publicadministration and really
unpacking grand challenges orwicked problems.
Social workers have been doingthat for decades.
(14:22):
So my undergrad degree is insocial work.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Wow, I love these stories right, because a lot of
times we go into collegethinking we're going to do one
thing.
Then we get exposed tosomething else and it's like,
hey, that's actually prettyinteresting right.
So, like I switched majorstwice in college, I ended up
with like a dual major, notbecause I was super studious,
but more because I literallydidn't know what I wanted to do.
So well, I had a sense of whatI wanted to do.
(14:49):
I just the path to get therewas, you know was a little
different, but you know, I thinkit's it's it's important that
you stay nimble like that, right, and you figure out how to
pivot.
Why did that person's opinionon what you should study kind of
resonate with you?
Speaker 1 (15:08):
I don't know.
I kept telling him no.
I kept telling the professor no, I'm not meant to be a social
worker.
He's like Tracy, just trust me,you should take an intro to
social work class.
Just take one class and thencome back.
And he was right.
I took an intro to social work.
There was a social worker thattalked about community
engagement, community impact,policy change and I was like
this is what I want to do withmy life.
He knew something I didn't know.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
I mean.
That's why it's important tosee people in the spaces that
you envision yourself in, right.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
So graduation comes, you're about to leave St Mary's
College and what do you thinkyou're going to do?
And then what do you actuallyend up doing?
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Well, I started off as a mental health was it like a
mental health interventionworker at the Juvenile Justice
Center and I loved it.
It was.
I enjoyed that job, but I knewthere was more.
So I had a relationship withthem.
You know our local member ofCongress, the chief of staff.
I don't know how, I can't evenremember how I met her, but she
(16:09):
just really kind of took meunder her wing and mentored me.
I then became a youth directorat our Latino community center,
la Casa de Amistad, back home inIndiana.
So there's a lot of migrantfarm workers first, second
generation Latino families thatlive in Indiana and I just I
knew I wanted to do somethingwith migrant farm workers policy
(16:31):
advocacy and I took the leap offaith and applied to both UCLA
and Berkeley for my master's.
I got waitlisted at Berkeley,which I still believe was the
universe telling me I wassupposed to go to UCLA.
So I went to UCLA, luskin, aschool of public policy, for my
master's degree.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Okay, so you were originally from Indiana and then
took a leave to go fly out togo get this master's degree in
at UCLA.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Yes, yep.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
Wow, that's a big.
That's a big change, I'm sure,especially as someone who was
the first generation and all thethings your family's like wait,
you're going where.
Now You're leaving us.
Yeah, was that a hard decisionto make, or did you feel like
basically destined to go?
Do it?
Speaker 1 (17:14):
I definitely feel destined.
We lived in Indiana because myfamily migrant farm workers.
I'm fourth generationMexican-American.
I have family all over thecountry Oklahoma, texas,
illinois, indiana, wisconsin.
If you travel through theMidwest or middle America,
there's Latinos everywhere andmany of us have family members
(17:34):
who were here back when Texaswas Mexico.
When my grandma lived in NewMexico as far back as we can see
, her family lived there backwhen it was Mexico, before the
US purchased all these states.
So fast forward to my life.
Well, when I moved out to UCLAI was a single mom.
I really took a huge leap offaith with my daughter.
(17:57):
So I got pregnant with mycollege boyfriend and we didn't
end up working out which is OK,because sometimes it doesn't
work out and I took the leap offaith.
He actually moved out to LA toteach at a Catholic high school
shortly after I got into UCLA sohe could be near our daughter.
He went to Notre Dame and I gotaccepted to UCLA on a full ride
(18:20):
scholarship.
We lived in family studenthousing and my daughter went to
UCLA child care.
It was like the universe openedevery door for that leap of
faith.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
Wow, that's awesome.
So at that point you basicallyleaned into the macro part of
the social work that you wereexposed to.
You took the leap of faith tosay you know what I'm going to?
Just do it go get this master'sin public administration or
public affairs or something ofthat nature, right At UCLA.
And what did you?
Why did you feel like youwanted the master's at the time
(18:56):
and did you get what you wantedout of?
Speaker 1 (18:59):
it.
Yeah, oh, you know what?
My junior year of college, Ihad my mom and stepdad, like we
drove to university ofWashington and St Louis and a
couple other.
I was researching my master's.
So it must've been, it musthave been my professors that
introduced me to like, yes, abachelor's degree is good, but a
master's will take you to thenext level.
(19:19):
So I knew for many years Iwanted a master's degree and I,
when I applied to UCLA andBerkeley, I knew I wanted to
leave my hometown.
Although I love my family verymuch and I love my hometown,
there were only at the very muchand I love my hometown, there
were only at the time.
It's different now, but therewere only about five Latinos who
had degrees that I knew of inmy hometown and my community and
(19:42):
I just I really wantedmentorship, I wanted opportunity
and I wanted to spread my wingsand fly.
I also wanted my daughter tohave a different life than I had
.
As I mentioned, I was first gencollege graduate.
Like I did.
I had, I had new everything.
Everything was brand new to me.
Right, preparing to live in adorm graduation?
(20:03):
How do you find a job?
Right, how do you buildretirement?
Like all of these things I hadto basically self-teach and or
teach myself, and so I reallywanted to provide more
opportunities for myself, butalso for my daughter.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
That's amazing.
Okay so, and you have right,you did.
You did the things right Firstgen, not just undergrad, but now
graduate as well.
Tell me more about thattransition then, from getting
your master's degree.
Did you originally see yourselfas someone that would get the
degree and then go work ingovernment somewhere, or did you
have, like, other plans?
(20:36):
I?
Speaker 1 (20:37):
don't think I knew, I just knew I wanted to.
You know, when you're younger,I just want to change the world,
you know.
So my first year of grad school, I interned with LA County,
which I really enjoyed.
That's why I learned how tonavigate LA County early on in
my career.
My second year, though, waswith former Congressman Javier
(21:00):
Becerra, who was just our recentHealth and Human Services
Secretary, and I learned so muchunder his leadership and his
chief of staff.
That's where I learned how toread and understand federal
policy and its implications.
I learned how to navigatebetween the community and the
federal government, so takingwhat you hear from the local
community and how do youtranslate that into policy or
(21:21):
policy recommendations.
I enjoyed that job so much thathe hired me to come and work on
his staff right after gradschool, and I.
It was fun.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
That's awesome.
So that was basically then yourintro into like working in
government and presumably thatthen led to you going directly
to work for the city of LongBeach at some point and building
kind of an illustrious careerthat way.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Yep.
So after well, after workingfor the congressman, I got
offered a job with the county,making a lot more money.
If you don't know now, you knowthat working for a member of
Congress really doesn't pay alot, but you have to be really
passionate about policy andcommunity, which I was.
The county offered me a reallygreat package, so I went and
(22:05):
worked with the county for acouple of years and then
eventually moved down to LongBeach and landed a job with the
city.
So it's wild looking back, butI worked for the federal
government, county governmentand city government for close to
20 years.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
Wow, that's amazing.
So can you actually speak alittle bit about kind of
navigating through differentroles for that long amount of
time?
Right, if you're in county andthen city government for close
to 20 years, how do you thenposition yourself for different
roles, so you're not in the samerole the entire time?
And then also, can you speak togenerally how much money people
(22:42):
can even make in government?
Because I like to say there's amyth out there that if you work
in nonprofit or public sectorsyou're not making any money.
I just don't think that's true,because I've been in both and I
know that's not true.
So can you speak about bothnavigating to different roles
and generally, how much moneycan people expect to make and go
(23:03):
?
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Yeah, these are actually really great questions.
So I would say, with county, laCounty is a beast right.
There's 32 county departmentsso much opportunity, especially,
you know, with that bachelor'sor master's degree.
The city of Long Beach, muchlike other cities, especially
large cities, has 22 departments.
So my first job I got hired wasin the health department
(23:27):
running a health you know,health center and federal grants
in Martin Luther King Park.
It's one of our highest crimeneighborhoods, where Snoop Dogg
grew up 21st and Lemon.
So when you come to Long Beach,go to 21st and Lemon.
You can see the house he grewup in with his grandma and I
started there.
I remember I applied for aposition with Parks and
(23:49):
Recreation.
Didn't get it.
That's okay, though, because Iended up landing a job with
community development.
So I spent five years in thehealth department, five years in
community development and thenmy last six years in the city
manager's office, you know,under the mayor, running all the
innovation work for the city.
So you know there's so muchopportunity in terms of, you
(24:11):
know, networking within the city.
Looking for those specialopportunities.
I have a young woman that Imentor.
She was working in the healthdepartment as an outreach worker
for the unhoused populationCity, long Beach, and now she
(24:31):
works for the city prosecutorand she's in the courtroom with
the prosecutor basically helpingthe unhoused population
navigate resources and what theycall the LA County calls the
homeless court.
So again it's.
You just have to not only like,look for those opportunities,
but network and be ready.
You know, you never know whatopportunity may come your way.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
Yeah, that's great, especially with a place like
city government.
Right, as you said, you canbasically have completely
different careers.
Right, you can do everythingfrom accounting to health
department stuff to legal issueswhatever you need.
A city has to deal with all ofit.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
So it's good to, as you said, both network, but keep
yourself ready and keep youreyes open for different
opportunities throughout evenjust the behemoth that is a city
.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Yeah, and the pay, I absolutely agree with you.
Right out of a master's degree,for instance, you could make
minimum $65,000.
I think I just recently saw apost for the city of Long Beach
for our management assistantprogram that's a program I used
to run, I think the startingpays like $85,000.
So with a master's degree, evena bachelor's degree, you can
(25:38):
Even with no degree, by the way,because don't forget our refuse
, trash pickup people, parks andrec staff there's a lot of
positions in the city, the citygovernment, that actually don't
require a degree.
We also have the port of LongBeach.
Those positions, you know, ifyou're a longshoreman in the
local port, you can start off bymaking anywhere from 80 to
(25:59):
100,000 a year and that'swithout a degree.
So you're I think people aresleeping on city government jobs
, not realizing.
So I would say that's a minimumpay, Maximum.
Well, of course, you know, ifyou become city manager or chief
of police, you can makeanywhere from $300,000 to
$400,000 a year and then you'reincrementally getting raises,
(26:33):
being promoted at $100,000,$120,000, $150,000.
If you're a bureau manager,$180,000.
If you become a department head$200,000.
And luckily in Californiaeverything's on transparent
California you can look up allthese salaries, but there is a
really strong career trajectoryin city government.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
Yeah, completely agree, and that's one of the
things I like about California.
That's one of the things I likeabout New York City is, if you
want to know how much a job pays, you can look that up.
That is an option.
It is not like the gatekeepingdays when you have to basically
know someone and figure out ifthey can share some of that
information.
A lot of that stuff is moretransparent now, which I think
(27:14):
is is great for job seekers yep,exactly yeah, so from your
government days, federal county,city, working in higher ed,
starting and running your ownconsulting company, what are you
most proud of in your career?
Speaker 1 (27:30):
my children my.
She got her bachelor's fromMarymount Manhattan in New York
Before the pandemic.
She graduated right before thepandemic.
She came back home and got hermaster's in social work at Cal
State University, long Beach.
She is a school-based mentalhealth therapist.
So she's opposite of me, I'mpolicy and she really feels
(27:53):
called to help millennials andZs and the younger gen alphas to
deal with mental health and sheloves her job and she's so good
at it.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
That's amazing.
And then you just made a tripto New York recently.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Yeah, so my, our youngest, our son, gets out.
He my daughter's name isGuadalupe, and our son Quetzal.
He got accepted to NYU.
He is a filmmaker.
He went to a performing artsschool here in Long Beach and he
got accepted to NYU.
We moved him into the dorm thisweekend and went to the Tisch
(28:26):
School of Film.
You know, mama, in tears, thatmy son is pursuing his dreams to
be a filmmaker.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
Those are great things to be very proud of, so I
completely appreciate that.
I love hearing that.
Can you speak to me about, youknow, I think, moving, having
your kids graduate and havingyour kids go to school, but also
someone like you that has stillbeen around with education,
right, like you've been alecturer, and can you one talk
(28:54):
about, like why be a lecturer asyou're also full-time employee
somewhere else, like what's thelogic in that, and like what are
you gaining out of that andwhat are you doing with that.
So let's start with that firstLike why would you become a
university lecturer and wherewere you doing?
Speaker 1 (29:05):
Yeah, so for 14 years I've been teaching at the
university graduate level.
I just started my 14th yearthis year.
So my first five years were atUCLA Luskin, my alma mater, and
then the commute kind of gotwhere it was wearing on me and
Cal State, long Beach, offeredme a teaching position.
So I taught there for sevenyears.
(29:25):
But I'm back.
I'm back in the classroom andit's so fun.
It's two things.
One is it keeps you at thecutting edge of your field,
right.
So I'm teaching theory, I'mteaching policy.
I taught an advanced policy andpoverty class this spring.
I mean we're at the forefrontof what's happening.
We were watching each week asthe big, beautiful bill was
(29:49):
being proposed and enacted.
What does that mean forlow-income communities, what
does that mean for the wealthy?
And really analyzing the billand the policy, but also, at the
same time, looking back overthe last 100 years of what
policies have presidents enactedto try to alleviate policy?
Did they work, did they not?
That was fun.
(30:09):
And then the second piece issharing real life stories.
What was it like developing thecity's first language access
policy?
Or the citywide violenceprevention plan, which was a
policy document put forward bymayor and council?
National and global policy andunpack and analyze it.
(30:34):
If you will.
I also can give them real lifeexamples of local policy that
I've helped develop and whatthat experience was like the
good, the bad and the ugly.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
That's awesome.
I think that makes a lot ofsense.
And those are, you know, Ithink, some of the reasons that
we don't think about, like whysomeone would be an adjunct
professor.
Right Like you have a full-timejob, you have things going on
right For the most part.
You're not being an adjunctprofessor for the money.
Right, like it's not, you'renot going to get like rich doing
the thing.
But if you enjoy being in theclassroom and if you enjoy
(31:01):
exposing rising professionals tothe work, right and to the
actual things that have happenedand how to actually use,
leverage your experience toimpart some of that wisdom,
right, I think there's a lot ofvalue there, absolutely and I'm
still in contact with a lot ofmy former students.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
I have one student he's a veteran and formerly
incarcerated, you know later inlife got his life together and
got his bachelor's and hismaster's.
He was in my class 2021 andduring class I remember halfway
through the semester I saidManny, you need to go get a
doctorate.
You are so intelligent, youunderstand this theory so well
(31:39):
and the practicality of how itworks or doesn't work for
certain communities.
I want to encourage you to goget your doctorate.
He's like Professor Kolumbayou're crazy, I'm barely making
it here, I'm just getting mylife together.
Well, lo and behold, he got intoa doctoral program at
California Baptist University.
He texted me yesterday.
(32:00):
He's in his second year andhe's creating a theory of change
around veterans, veterans andinnovation.
And because he's a veteran andhe understands the lived
experience, he's actuallycreating a dissertation in the
theory of change around how tohow to help veterans.
I mean, if that's not like whatI'm called to do is help create
(32:23):
these amazing future leaders,then I found my gifting is
helping people, like you know,figure out these world problems
and believing in them so theycan believe in themselves.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
That's amazing.
He's not the only one goingback to school, though, right.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
You're right.
So thank you for asking andsaying that comment.
Quietly, while my son wasapplying and getting into NYU, I
was quietly.
My family my husband andchildren knew I was applying to
USC to get my doctorate insocial work.
So they started recruiting mearound the time that I was
(32:59):
creating my business plan and Ireally believe in alignment and
open doors.
So I took the leap of faith andapplied and got in and I just
started my doctoral program thisweek.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
Congratulations.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (33:14):
Why did you decide to actually go back to school and
how do you envision kind ofleveraging that or utilizing
that in the future?
Speaker 1 (33:22):
Yeah.
So back when I had my daughterand got my master's degree, I
always wanted a doctorate.
However, at the time I knew Ineeded to raise my daughter and
I got married, had our son andbut just the timing wasn't right
.
It was always one of thosedreams, you know, like, deep
down in my heart I knew I wantedto do it.
Can I just tell you aboutalignment and, you know,
(33:45):
intuition.
This USC person kept calling meand emailing me like we really
think you'd be a great candidate, you really should apply.
It's like the universe willsend you signals, whether you
realize it or not, like it'stime.
And I really I applied on atotal act of faith of like I
don't know, like my son's goingto college, I just started a new
(34:08):
company.
I'm starting the second half ofbasically my life and my career
.
Everything looks completelydifferent than it did a year ago
or five years ago.
The whole landscape of my life.
We're empty nesters.
There's a lot of things.
I don't work in city governmentanymore.
I own an LLC and I was like,all right, I'm just going to
(34:30):
take the leap of faith.
And can I tell you,everything's lined up.
The stars have aligned, even myfirst day of class, some of the
newer theories that are beingproposed and the integration of
innovation, user-centered designand social work.
These are things that I wasdoing in the city of Long Beach
and now I have language.
(34:50):
Now they're presenting theoryand I'm like my mind is blown.
I am exactly where I'm supposedto be today.
Speaker 3 (34:59):
That's remarkable.
Congratulations.
That is a huge, huge, hugeaccomplishment and I'm excited
to continue to follow you as youfinish this degree and what you
do with it beyond that.
So, are there any?
I call them forms of media, sothat can be books, podcasts,
things that have shaped youpersonally or professionally
(35:20):
that you encourage other peopleout there to check out.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Yeah, absolutely.
So you're hearing this on mysecond you know my mid-career,
or how do I say, the second halfof my career.
I'm launching it right now.
One of the books that reallyhas shaped me over the years is
the 21 laws of irrefutableleadership.
This is a phenomenal book.
I highly recommend it.
It's a book I read a long timeago by John Maxwell.
(35:45):
One of my former mentors, youknow, mentioned it and I read it
and I've actually read itseveral times.
We did it as a book club withmy employees and my last job,
because they were training andmentoring mayors and, you know,
city staff.
That has been really a guidingdocument of my leadership.
I would say the other thing isthe emotional intelligence.
(36:08):
So if you know, takingStrengthsFinder, the Enneagram
there's a couple different.
You know methods out there, butreally being in tune with who
you are as a leader and in andtuning in with your leading
right, whether it be your staff,your team, my bench of
consultants that's reallyimportant in taking that really
just a human approach to leadingpeople.
(36:29):
A recent book that I'm readingoh my gosh, it's blowing my mind
.
It's called Smart Women FinishRich.
Now, something to know about meis I am not a money-driven
person.
I didn't get into any of thisfor money.
Now I'm realizing, though moneyhas a purpose and some people
are.
I'm not controlled by money.
(36:50):
I am like agnostic.
I have no feelings towardsmoney.
However, with more money, I cando more good, right?
So what I mean by that is, forinstance, in my family, we give
away 10% to nonprofits and goodcauses, and that has really
served us well.
We've been abundantly blessedfinancially for many years
because of that cause and action, also investing, of course, in
(37:14):
your retirement, in your future.
And then the last thing is likepaying off our mortgage early.
So this book Smart Women,finish Rich has been just a game
changer.
So David Bach he's out of NewYork, he worked in the financial
industry for 30 years and hereally wants to help educate
people, and specifically women,about how to manage your
(37:35):
finances and how to livefinancially free.
One of the activities he hasyou do in the book is write down
your 10 goals that you want toaccomplish in the next three
years, and then he walks youthrough step-by-step, pick five
of the most important ones, andthen you develop a smart goals
(37:56):
right.
We all.
We all do this at work.
We all have created smart goalsand strategic plans for our
companies that we work for.
The question is have you everdone it for your own life?
So I actually did this for mylife.
My husband and I did ittogether.
So we actually have a Columbofamily value statement and
strategic plan.
(38:16):
I have a Tracy Columbo valuestatement and strategic plan,
can I tell have in my 20 yearsin government and I did a lot of
great things and I was veryfocused at work but it's it's
taken it to a whole new level ofalignment of my personal values
(38:40):
and goals in life.
Speaker 3 (38:41):
That's some great advice to go along with the book
recommendation, just so peopleunderstand the real value add.
That's that's within the bookand this is just.
You know, I learned a lot justfrom hearing you say it.
But, like now, if you dive intothe actual book you know
there's even more there.
Speaker 1 (38:56):
So I appreciate you sharing that If I could share
about a few podcasts and othercouple other little hacks that I
do.
So every morning I listened todaily meditation.
It's about like a 20 minutepodcast on meditation.
So again, you can choose yourfavorite channel.
I'm really big on this because Ifeel like the meditation, it
centers me.
(39:16):
You know, mentally andspiritually I get very like
zenned out and then I usually gofor a run or lift weights or do
some kind of workout.
I do something to educatemyself and then I start my day.
And so the 5 am club it is abook.
I'm not going to lie, I didn'tread it.
You know what I did.
(39:37):
I threw it.
I asked AI to tell me what werethe highlights.
Oh, that's a hack If you don'thave time, but you want to know
what are the key takeaways andthat was what it was is have
spiritual meditation or quiettime, have some kind of exercise
in the morning and then learnsomething new and then get your
day started.
(39:57):
So that also has reallycentered me and I feel like I'm
more intentional with my timebecause by the time I turn on my
laptop I'm like I'm focused onthe moment.
I'm in the moment and I knowwhat goals I want to accomplish
for the day.
Speaker 3 (40:13):
Are there any other career cheat codes that you've
come across or that you've takenadvantage of that you think
people should should consider intheir lives?
Speaker 1 (40:25):
So I have a whole bunch of them so, but I'll just
share.
I'll just share a few.
One of them is scheduling timeto do things.
So you know, one of the thingsI learned in government and I've
been applying it really wellwith my company is that if you
want to get something done, youhave to schedule a meeting with
yourself.
Right?
We have a long, long list of,let's say, 20 things to do.
(40:47):
So what I've been doing for thelast several years is I calendar
time.
Let me give you an example.
When I worked at the BloombergCenter for Public Innovation, we
were running multiple programs,but we also had to write
curriculum.
So I would book time withmyself throughout the week an
hour here, an hour there, twohours on Friday where I was
reading, I was writing, I wasdeveloping curriculum, reviewing
(41:11):
curriculum and I treated itlike it was a meeting with
myself that I had to get thesethings done.
What I've seen is, year overyear, as I've booked time with
myself to accomplish my to-dolist, I actually have been able
to really outperform peers, andit's not because I'm smarter or
more equipped I mean, I'veworked with some data scientists
(41:33):
, some people who are smarterthan me it's because I get stuff
done and the way you do that isyou have to schedule time with
yourself to make sure you tackle.
That's one hack.
I will say another hack is theEisenhower matrix.
So I think a bunch of uslearned that in grad school.
There are things on your to-dolist that are time wasters or,
(41:54):
like man, if I had more time, Iwish I could do that thing.
So I constantly am looking atmy to-do list.
Am I getting paid by a firm tocomplete this action, or one of
my clients?
Is this for coursework or isthis something that just feels
good and I wish I had more timeto do?
And can I delegate it or do Idelete it?
(42:16):
That actually has helped me.
I'm trying to look for the wordlike go further, faster,
because I've decided it'shealthy to say no and sometimes
it's healthy to say you knowwhat?
I don't have the bandwidth forthat right now, maybe in the
future or maybe never, but it'sactually a time waster.
Speaker 3 (42:35):
Thank you.
Those are great cheat codes.
Is there anything else wehaven't discussed today that the
world should know about Tracy?
Speaker 1 (42:43):
The second half of your career, right.
So the first half is fun and Iwant to speak to the younger
people first, and then the youknow, the older folks in the
room.
So first part of your careerand I again, just at my age,
watching the people I'mmentoring.
My own experience, my you knowcolleagues, experience In your
(43:03):
younger years you're ambitious,you're getting a lot done.
It feels like you know you canconquer the world and you can
and you do and do it all.
Do it all and have fun.
You know, it's interestingbecause I remember when my
daughter graduated I was intears and I was like baby.
You know, should I have been astay at home, mom?
Did I, you know?
Did I mess you up?
(43:23):
And she was like, don't you?
She was like mom, don't youever say that again?
She said I knew that my mom hadan important job.
I never really knew what youdid, but I knew it was important
, right?
So she knew that I was doingwork that was important for the
community, the city, thecommunities that we care about.
(43:44):
So in your younger years, gofor it, make it happen.
Be an adjunct faculty, you know.
Work on projects, sign up, sayyes when your boss is looking
for volunteers on that newproject.
I really believe that's how Igot promoted was saying yes to
things.
Now that I'm on my you knowsecond half of my career, I
still can dream big, but it justlooks a little bit different.
(44:06):
I feel like the landscape iswide open.
I understand the world better.
I know who I am.
I know what I want out of life.
I know what projects I'mpassionate about, my company,
what projects I can say yes to,and what projects are.
Maybe I make a referral toanother company who could do a
better service, and that's okay,but I feel more established in
(44:29):
myself.
I want to write books.
When you offered for me tospeak on this podcast, I'm like
I just I feel more establishedin myself.
I want to write books.
I want to talk.
Like when you offered for me tospeak on this podcast, I'm like
, yes, I want to talk onpodcasts.
I want to share with the worldthings that I've learned.
I think most importantly,though, is I want to inspire
other people, like, if you havea dream in your heart, go for it
.
It is scary.
Starting this business wasscary.
Applying for my doctoratehalfway through my career was
(44:54):
scary, but I promise you, if youfollow those dreams, so many
doors are going to fly open foryou that you just never knew
were possible.
Speaker 3 (45:01):
It's awesome.
Well, thank you.
Thank you for joining us onCareer Chico today.
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (45:06):
I hope you enjoyed this episode.
If you did and believe on themission we're on, please like,
rate and subscribe to thispodcast on whatever platform
you're using, and share thispodcast with your friends and
your networks.
Make sure you follow us onInstagram and LinkedIn at Career
Cheat Code and tell us peopleor careers you would like to see
highlighted.
See you next week with somemore cheat codes.
Peace.
I will tell you that, within 30 days of my
resignation, johns Hopkins laidoff 2,000 employees.
Much like universities acrossthis country who were not funded
federal research grants.
Johns Hopkins was no different,and so I really feel like I
dodged a bullet and it was fullymy intuition.
Things didn't sit right.
(00:21):
There was a shift in the airand I was like I need to pivot
right now, before somethinghappens.
And then, after 30 days later,I realized what that something
was.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Welcome to Career Cheat Code.
In this podcast, you'll hearhow everyday people impact the
world through their careers.
Learn about their journey,career hacks and obstacles along
the way.
Whether you're already havingthe impact you want or are
searching for it, this is thepodcast for you.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
All right, tracy.
Welcome to Career Cheat Code.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Thank you for having me friend.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Appreciate it.
I'm excited to talk to youtoday.
Let's dive right in.
Let's tell the world what it isyou do for a living.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
All right, I'm CEO of Kalunga and Associates LLC.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
So what does that mean?
What do you like?
It sounds like a consultingcompany.
Is that what you do and like?
Who are your like types ofclients that you normally work
with?
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Yeah, yes, it's a consulting firm.
We do strategic planning,innovation, user centered design
, executive coaching and grantsmanagement.
Speaker 3 (01:18):
Awesome.
Who do you normally partnerwith?
Like, what are your?
What are your like?
Typical, typical clients thatyou have been partnering with
lately?
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Yeah, I worked in city government for close to 20
years, so I have a lot of cityclients.
The county of Los Angeles isone of my clients, as well as
several nonprofits in the LAarea.
So, yeah, nonprofits in citycounty.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
That's great.
Okay, how did you get into this?
What made you want to startthis organization?
Speaker 1 (01:42):
You know what's interesting?
Like I mentioned, I worked incity government and, prior to
that, county government.
About a year ago, I startedworking on a business plan with
some of my friends from gradschool.
We all have 20 plus years inthe field.
You know we have professors onthe bench, we have nonprofit
executive directors and you knowindividual and corporate sector
(02:04):
and we just startedbrainstorming about starting a
company together.
So in 2024, we met quarterlyand I would curate these
strategic planning sessions overbarbecue and beer or wine and
charcuterie.
We definitely made it funbecause we're all friends, but
really this was supposed to beour retirement plan.
(02:25):
Again, many of us were workingfull-time last year and so I
wrote the business plan.
And then my birthday gift tomyself in January of 2025 was to
file the LLC and to reallylaunch the company as a side
hustle.
To be honest with you, with theshift in the administration and
some other things that werehappening in February, I decided
(02:48):
to go full faith and fear 100%as the CEO of the company.
My consulting bench most ofthem are still working full-time
.
Another one is a full-timeconsultant but it miraculously,
has turned out wonderful.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
That's great.
So these are folks that most ofyou, when you started it, had
full-time jobs but were likelet's pull together our own
separate consulting companiesthat we can then partner on
contracts together.
Was that the vision?
Speaker 1 (03:18):
Yeah, so that was the original plan and because I was
the first one to actually filemy LLC and do all the paperwork,
start a bank account, getinsurance.
We had a meeting shortly afterthat and all of them were like,
honestly, tracy, can we justfall under your firm?
Maybe at a later date each ofthem will open their own LLC,
but right now they're like sohappy that I took the leap of
(03:40):
faith first and so they're on mybench, for instance, my
contract with LA County Officeof Education.
They're all on the bench,they're on on-call services, but
it's as affiliates of Columboand Associates.
So it's been a huge blessing,in disguise, that I took that
leap of faith.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
So let's talk about that leap of faith.
So what were you doing when youwere first planning all this
last year?
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Yeah, so I was working for the Bloomberg Center
for Public Innovation at JohnsHopkins University.
So, after a lengthy career incity and county government, I
went to work for the universityfor three years and I was hired
during the pandemic.
So I was commuting back andforth like many people around
the country.
I was commuting back and forthonce a month to Washington DC
(04:23):
and Baltimore and again with theshift in the administration in
January, I was actually in DCthe day that the helicopter
crashed into the plane.
That was the week after Trumpwas inaugurated and a lot of
people were getting laid off inDC and I remember walking around
DC that week and just feelinglike it was like Zombieland.
(04:45):
People were distraught,confused, they didn't know if
they were going to lose theircompanies, their homes, their
investments.
And I came back from that worktrip and I told my husband I was
like it doesn't feel good to bethere anymore.
And it's not the organization,it was the political environment
that wasn't.
That felt.
You feel the devastation.
(05:06):
And I said I want to come homeand I also have a feeling that
Johns Hopkins University isgoing to ask me to move to DC,
to Baltimore, to the East Coast,because of all the return to
work policies.
I will tell you that within 30days of my resignation, johns
Hopkins laid off 2000 employees,much like universities across
(05:29):
this country, who were notfunded federal research grants.
Johns Hopkins was no different,and so I really feel like I
dodged a bullet and it was fullymy intuition.
Like things didn't sit right,there was a shift in the air and
I was like I need to pivotright now, before something
happens.
And then, after 30 days later,I realized what that something
(05:50):
was.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Wow.
So you followed your gut andthe stars aligned and the timing
was just right.
So what exactly did you do atJohns Hopkins?
Speaker 1 (05:58):
I was the civic engagement director at the
Bloomberg Center for PublicInnovation, so my team and I
wrote curriculum and providedtraining and education to mayors
, city managers and city staffon civic and community
engagement.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
All right, that sounds exciting.
So you partnered with a lot ofcities and really helped them,
helped mayors, really advance alot of policies and programs
that supported differentcommunities throughout the
country.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Yes, it was fun.
One of our biggest projects wasthe bipartisan local
infrastructure hub, so formerPresident Biden put together the
package on bipartisaninfrastructure funding.
We were able to provide all thecommunity engagement training
for over 400 cities.
So the federal funding requiredwhat's called Justice 40, that
(06:47):
40% of the infrastructure moneywent to neighborhoods that were
historically disinvested, and sowe did extensive training on
civic and community engagement.
We had fun.
It was fun.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Yeah, absolutely.
So.
That's really where our pathscrossed, right.
You were at the time partneringwith different cities doing
initiatives.
I was at the RockefellerFoundation, also partnering with
different cities doinginitiatives, and some of those
events and cities overlapped ofparts to say, hey, this is what
(07:25):
we're doing, what are you alldoing?
Who are you all talking to?
How can we make sure that we'relike supporting the right
initiatives and like kind ofworking in concert, right?
So you know, I just rememberthose early days of just being
at conferences and saying, allright, who else, like should we
be connecting with, and what arethe folks that are doing the
good work?
So, you know, just rememberthose early days and appreciate
you for that.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
That was fun.
Yeah, as you're talking, I'mremembering we were funding the
city of El Paso and I met you atthe White House, hosted the
Hispanic Initiative.
You're going to have to remindme the name of it.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
It was a Latinos in Society program within the Aspen
Institute.
They were doing something withthe Hispanic Initiative at the
White House and we weresupporting that initiative in my
role.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Correct and that's where we met and hit it off and
really found a similar passionfor cities and really
communities at the heart of itand people.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely.
So you were at before that itsounded like you worked in
cities, which is a seamlesstransition right.
Cities, which is a seamlesstransition right?
Because when you then go tothese organizations that are
partnering with cities, it'salways good to have an insight
as to how city government works.
You know where the gaps are andhow philanthropy or other
(08:33):
intermediate organizations cankind of come in and fill those
roles.
So can you talk to me aboutyour career within city
government?
What were you actually doingthere?
And county government?
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Yes, I worked for the city of Long Beach, california,
for 16 years, thoroughlyenjoyed every day, you know,
waking up and serving my city.
So some of the projects Iworked on for the mayor and
council included our safe LongBeach violence prevention plan,
developing our city's firstlanguage access policy and
implementation, my brother'skeeper, my sister's keeper and,
(09:07):
just again, really taking oninitiatives that were important
to the community and the mayorand council.
My last position with the citywas chief innovation officer,
funded by BloombergPhilanthropies.
So I was implementing bothBloomberg grants and other
grants the Arnold Foundation,Federal Department of Justice
and some White House funding on,you know, on behalf of the
(09:30):
mayor and council for the lastseven years of my career.
So by the time I got to JohnsHopkins I could really coach
mayors and city staff on how toimplement inside and outside
city hall that inside outsidestrategy.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Actually, can you speak a little bit about the
inside outside strategy right?
Like that was also one of thethings that we discussed,
because I was also in citygovernment doing government
community relations work and wespoke about the importance of
that right, can you explain tothe audience that may not be too
familiar kind of what thatmeans and how you actually go
about doing that?
Speaker 1 (09:59):
Yeah.
So you know it's really abouttrust building and, again,
inside City Hall and outsideCity Hall, being a person of
your word, follow through.
Because you know my family andI live in Long Beach.
My husband works for Long BeachUnified, walking the streets of
Long Beach or attendingcommunity meetings or events
hosting.
I did a lot of facilitation ofdesign sessions with our
(10:20):
community members around again,language access or helping
people break the cycle ofincarceration, and oftentimes I
would meet community leaderslike Mary Simmons.
She's the NeighborhoodAssociation, president of AOC7.
It's a neighborhood here in LongBeach that has some of the
highest amounts of crime,highest amounts of people who
(10:41):
are unhoused in the local parkand she had me on like speed
dial so if council or a citydepartment wouldn't get, she
couldn't get ahold of them.
She'd call me and say Tracy,there's an issue, your kids are
trying to walk to school,there's some.
You know I'm like, okay, call911, you know, call nine, emerge
, not emerge Like.
I guided her through the citylanguage but oftentimes I would
(11:03):
just sit with her and reallyhear what some of her concerns
were.
I did that with a lot ofcommunity members and the
inside-outside strategy was thatpeople knew that I was someone
who they could call and confideinformation in, but also that I
would coach them on theappropriate way to navigate the
bureaucracy and, last but notleast, follow through.
(11:24):
They knew if I, you know,promised them something like I
will come to your nextneighborhood association meeting
and present on, or I willinvite the police representative
to join me, they knew that if Imade that promise, I was going
to deliver on the promise.
And that's the inside outsideright.
I think people working in cityhalls sometimes don't realize
that it turns into the ivorytower and you can't kind of see
(11:48):
what's happening on the outside.
You just know you have to doyour day to day job
responsibilities and so reallyhaving those relationships
outside City Hall help younavigate how to get things done
and how to really help create astronger image for the city.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Yeah, absolutely so.
Let's walk backwards now, so,because it sounds like you spent
, you know, almost 20 yearsreally dedicated to your
community where you lived andworked.
Was that what you alwaysenvisioned your career going
like?
So take me back to, like16-year-old Tracy what did you
think you were going to be andwhat happened at that point?
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Oh, okay, oh, I was going way back.
So I'm a first gen collegegraduate, first in my family of
35 cousins.
So my mom says from fifth gradeI was always like I'm going to
college, I'm going to go tocollege, it's just something I
talked about.
I studied hard, got good grades, but at the age of 16, it's
interesting you said that therewas a psychologist that came and
(12:46):
spoke to my school about beinga psychologist and what that
involved, and from that day on Iwas like I want to be a
psychologist.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
I want to help people .
Speaker 1 (12:56):
I want to help communities like the one I grew
up in to really solve problems,and I didn't have the language
at the time, but I knew I wantedto help people.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
Okay, so you're still in high school at that time,
right?
So you have this vision ofgoing to college.
Where'd you end up going tocollege, and did you actually
end up majoring in psychology?
Speaker 1 (13:14):
So I and this is a great story so I went to St
Mary's College, notre Dame,indiana.
In high school I got invited toa summer program for Latina
potential you know, first genLatinas and I spent the summer
at St Mary's college and I fellin love with the campus, the
professors.
I just knew this is where Iwanted to go.
So anybody in the educationfield really introducing
(13:38):
potential first gen students tocampuses is a game changer,
right.
It opened up my eyes to tocollege life and so I applied,
got into St Mary's and I was apsych major.
I knew that's what I wanted todo until I ran into Professor
Maritucci, who convinced me totake an intro to social work
class and he said I know youthink you want to be a psych
(14:00):
major, but actually what youwant to do is you want to help
communities, and so social workactually has a.
It's called micro, mezzo, macro.
Micro is therapy, what mostpeople think about social work.
Macro is policy and publicadministration and really
unpacking grand challenges orwicked problems.
Social workers have been doingthat for decades.
(14:22):
So my undergrad degree is insocial work.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Wow, I love these stories right, because a lot of
times we go into collegethinking we're going to do one
thing.
Then we get exposed tosomething else and it's like,
hey, that's actually prettyinteresting right.
So, like I switched majorstwice in college, I ended up
with like a dual major, notbecause I was super studious,
but more because I literallydidn't know what I wanted to do.
So well, I had a sense of whatI wanted to do.
(14:49):
I just the path to get therewas, you know was a little
different, but you know, I thinkit's it's it's important that
you stay nimble like that, right, and you figure out how to
pivot.
Why did that person's opinionon what you should study kind of
resonate with you?
Speaker 1 (15:08):
I don't know.
I kept telling him no.
I kept telling the professor no, I'm not meant to be a social
worker.
He's like Tracy, just trust me,you should take an intro to
social work class.
Just take one class and thencome back.
And he was right.
I took an intro to social work.
There was a social worker thattalked about community
engagement, community impact,policy change and I was like
this is what I want to do withmy life.
He knew something I didn't know.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
I mean.
That's why it's important tosee people in the spaces that
you envision yourself in, right.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
So graduation comes, you're about to leave St Mary's
College and what do you thinkyou're going to do?
And then what do you actuallyend up doing?
Speaker 1 (15:49):
Well, I started off as a mental health was it like a
mental health interventionworker at the Juvenile Justice
Center and I loved it.
It was.
I enjoyed that job, but I knewthere was more.
So I had a relationship withthem.
You know our local member ofCongress, the chief of staff.
I don't know how, I can't evenremember how I met her, but she
(16:09):
just really kind of took meunder her wing and mentored me.
I then became a youth directorat our Latino community center,
la Casa de Amistad, back home inIndiana.
So there's a lot of migrantfarm workers first, second
generation Latino families thatlive in Indiana and I just I
knew I wanted to do somethingwith migrant farm workers policy
(16:31):
advocacy and I took the leap offaith and applied to both UCLA
and Berkeley for my master's.
I got waitlisted at Berkeley,which I still believe was the
universe telling me I wassupposed to go to UCLA.
So I went to UCLA, luskin, aschool of public policy, for my
master's degree.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
Okay, so you were originally from Indiana and then
took a leave to go fly out togo get this master's degree in
at UCLA.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Yes, yep.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
Wow, that's a big.
That's a big change, I'm sure,especially as someone who was
the first generation and all thethings your family's like wait,
you're going where.
Now You're leaving us.
Yeah, was that a hard decisionto make, or did you feel like
basically destined to go?
Do it?
Speaker 1 (17:14):
I definitely feel destined.
We lived in Indiana because myfamily migrant farm workers.
I'm fourth generationMexican-American.
I have family all over thecountry Oklahoma, texas,
illinois, indiana, wisconsin.
If you travel through theMidwest or middle America,
there's Latinos everywhere andmany of us have family members
(17:34):
who were here back when Texaswas Mexico.
When my grandma lived in NewMexico as far back as we can see
, her family lived there backwhen it was Mexico, before the
US purchased all these states.
So fast forward to my life.
Well, when I moved out to UCLAI was a single mom.
I really took a huge leap offaith with my daughter.
(17:57):
So I got pregnant with mycollege boyfriend and we didn't
end up working out which is OK,because sometimes it doesn't
work out and I took the leap offaith.
He actually moved out to LA toteach at a Catholic high school
shortly after I got into UCLA sohe could be near our daughter.
He went to Notre Dame and I gotaccepted to UCLA on a full ride
(18:20):
scholarship.
We lived in family studenthousing and my daughter went to
UCLA child care.
It was like the universe openedevery door for that leap of
faith.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
Wow, that's awesome.
So at that point you basicallyleaned into the macro part of
the social work that you wereexposed to.
You took the leap of faith tosay you know what I'm going to?
Just do it go get this master'sin public administration or
public affairs or something ofthat nature, right At UCLA.
And what did you?
Why did you feel like youwanted the master's at the time
(18:56):
and did you get what you wantedout of?
Speaker 1 (18:59):
it.
Yeah, oh, you know what?
My junior year of college, Ihad my mom and stepdad, like we
drove to university ofWashington and St Louis and a
couple other.
I was researching my master's.
So it must've been, it musthave been my professors that
introduced me to like, yes, abachelor's degree is good, but a
master's will take you to thenext level.
(19:19):
So I knew for many years Iwanted a master's degree and I,
when I applied to UCLA andBerkeley, I knew I wanted to
leave my hometown.
Although I love my family verymuch and I love my hometown,
there were only at the very muchand I love my hometown, there
were only at the time.
It's different now, but therewere only about five Latinos who
had degrees that I knew of inmy hometown and my community and
(19:42):
I just I really wantedmentorship, I wanted opportunity
and I wanted to spread my wingsand fly.
I also wanted my daughter tohave a different life than I had
.
As I mentioned, I was first gencollege graduate.
Like I did.
I had, I had new everything.
Everything was brand new to me.
Right, preparing to live in adorm graduation?
(20:03):
How do you find a job?
Right, how do you buildretirement?
Like all of these things I hadto basically self-teach and or
teach myself, and so I reallywanted to provide more
opportunities for myself, butalso for my daughter.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
That's amazing.
Okay so, and you have right,you did.
You did the things right Firstgen, not just undergrad, but now
graduate as well.
Tell me more about thattransition then, from getting
your master's degree.
Did you originally see yourselfas someone that would get the
degree and then go work ingovernment somewhere, or did you
have, like, other plans?
(20:36):
I?
Speaker 1 (20:37):
don't think I knew, I just knew I wanted to.
You know, when you're younger,I just want to change the world,
you know.
So my first year of grad school, I interned with LA County,
which I really enjoyed.
That's why I learned how tonavigate LA County early on in
my career.
My second year, though, waswith former Congressman Javier
(21:00):
Becerra, who was just our recentHealth and Human Services
Secretary, and I learned so muchunder his leadership and his
chief of staff.
That's where I learned how toread and understand federal
policy and its implications.
I learned how to navigatebetween the community and the
federal government, so takingwhat you hear from the local
community and how do youtranslate that into policy or
(21:21):
policy recommendations.
I enjoyed that job so much thathe hired me to come and work on
his staff right after gradschool, and I.
It was fun.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
That's awesome.
So that was basically then yourintro into like working in
government and presumably thatthen led to you going directly
to work for the city of LongBeach at some point and building
kind of an illustrious careerthat way.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Yep.
So after well, after workingfor the congressman, I got
offered a job with the county,making a lot more money.
If you don't know now, you knowthat working for a member of
Congress really doesn't pay alot, but you have to be really
passionate about policy andcommunity, which I was.
The county offered me a reallygreat package, so I went and
(22:05):
worked with the county for acouple of years and then
eventually moved down to LongBeach and landed a job with the
city.
So it's wild looking back, butI worked for the federal
government, county governmentand city government for close to
20 years.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
Wow, that's amazing.
So can you actually speak alittle bit about kind of
navigating through differentroles for that long amount of
time?
Right, if you're in county andthen city government for close
to 20 years, how do you thenposition yourself for different
roles, so you're not in the samerole the entire time?
And then also, can you speak togenerally how much money people
(22:42):
can even make in government?
Because I like to say there's amyth out there that if you work
in nonprofit or public sectorsyou're not making any money.
I just don't think that's true,because I've been in both and I
know that's not true.
So can you speak about bothnavigating to different roles
and generally, how much moneycan people expect to make and go
(23:03):
?
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Yeah, these are actually really great questions.
So I would say, with county, laCounty is a beast right.
There's 32 county departmentsso much opportunity, especially,
you know, with that bachelor'sor master's degree.
The city of Long Beach, muchlike other cities, especially
large cities, has 22 departments.
So my first job I got hired wasin the health department
(23:27):
running a health you know,health center and federal grants
in Martin Luther King Park.
It's one of our highest crimeneighborhoods, where Snoop Dogg
grew up 21st and Lemon.
So when you come to Long Beach,go to 21st and Lemon.
You can see the house he grewup in with his grandma and I
started there.
I remember I applied for aposition with Parks and
(23:49):
Recreation.
Didn't get it.
That's okay, though, because Iended up landing a job with
community development.
So I spent five years in thehealth department, five years in
community development and thenmy last six years in the city
manager's office, you know,under the mayor, running all the
innovation work for the city.
So you know there's so muchopportunity in terms of, you
(24:11):
know, networking within the city.
Looking for those specialopportunities.
I have a young woman that Imentor.
She was working in the healthdepartment as an outreach worker
for the unhoused populationCity, long Beach, and now she
(24:31):
works for the city prosecutorand she's in the courtroom with
the prosecutor basically helpingthe unhoused population
navigate resources and what theycall the LA County calls the
homeless court.
So again it's.
You just have to not only like,look for those opportunities,
but network and be ready.
You know, you never know whatopportunity may come your way.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
Yeah, that's great, especially with a place like
city government.
Right, as you said, you canbasically have completely
different careers.
Right, you can do everythingfrom accounting to health
department stuff to legal issueswhatever you need.
A city has to deal with all ofit.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (25:06):
So it's good to, as you said, both network, but keep
yourself ready and keep youreyes open for different
opportunities throughout evenjust the behemoth that is a city
.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Yeah, and the pay, I absolutely agree with you.
Right out of a master's degree,for instance, you could make
minimum $65,000.
I think I just recently saw apost for the city of Long Beach
for our management assistantprogram that's a program I used
to run, I think the startingpays like $85,000.
So with a master's degree, evena bachelor's degree, you can
(25:38):
Even with no degree, by the way,because don't forget our refuse
, trash pickup people, parks andrec staff there's a lot of
positions in the city, the citygovernment, that actually don't
require a degree.
We also have the port of LongBeach.
Those positions, you know, ifyou're a longshoreman in the
local port, you can start off bymaking anywhere from 80 to
(25:59):
100,000 a year and that'swithout a degree.
So you're I think people aresleeping on city government jobs
, not realizing.
So I would say that's a minimumpay, Maximum.
Well, of course, you know, ifyou become city manager or chief
of police, you can makeanywhere from $300,000 to
$400,000 a year and then you'reincrementally getting raises,
(26:33):
being promoted at $100,000,$120,000, $150,000.
If you're a bureau manager,$180,000.
If you become a department head$200,000.
And luckily in Californiaeverything's on transparent
California you can look up allthese salaries, but there is a
really strong career trajectoryin city government.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
Yeah, completely agree, and that's one of the
things I like about California.
That's one of the things I likeabout New York City is, if you
want to know how much a job pays, you can look that up.
That is an option.
It is not like the gatekeepingdays when you have to basically
know someone and figure out ifthey can share some of that
information.
A lot of that stuff is moretransparent now, which I think
(27:14):
is is great for job seekers yep,exactly yeah, so from your
government days, federal county,city, working in higher ed,
starting and running your ownconsulting company, what are you
most proud of in your career?
Speaker 1 (27:30):
my children my.
She got her bachelor's fromMarymount Manhattan in New York
Before the pandemic.
She graduated right before thepandemic.
She came back home and got hermaster's in social work at Cal
State University, long Beach.
She is a school-based mentalhealth therapist.
So she's opposite of me, I'mpolicy and she really feels
(27:53):
called to help millennials andZs and the younger gen alphas to
deal with mental health and sheloves her job and she's so good
at it.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
That's amazing.
And then you just made a tripto New York recently.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Yeah, so my, our youngest, our son, gets out.
He my daughter's name isGuadalupe, and our son Quetzal.
He got accepted to NYU.
He is a filmmaker.
He went to a performing artsschool here in Long Beach and he
got accepted to NYU.
We moved him into the dorm thisweekend and went to the Tisch
(28:26):
School of Film.
You know, mama, in tears, thatmy son is pursuing his dreams to
be a filmmaker.
Speaker 3 (28:33):
Those are great things to be very proud of, so I
completely appreciate that.
I love hearing that.
Can you speak to me about, youknow, I think, moving, having
your kids graduate and havingyour kids go to school, but also
someone like you that has stillbeen around with education,
right, like you've been alecturer, and can you one talk
(28:54):
about, like why be a lecturer asyou're also full-time employee
somewhere else, like what's thelogic in that, and like what are
you gaining out of that andwhat are you doing with that.
So let's start with that firstLike why would you become a
university lecturer and wherewere you doing?
Speaker 1 (29:05):
Yeah, so for 14 years I've been teaching at the
university graduate level.
I just started my 14th yearthis year.
So my first five years were atUCLA Luskin, my alma mater, and
then the commute kind of gotwhere it was wearing on me and
Cal State, long Beach, offeredme a teaching position.
So I taught there for sevenyears.
(29:25):
But I'm back.
I'm back in the classroom andit's so fun.
It's two things.
One is it keeps you at thecutting edge of your field,
right.
So I'm teaching theory, I'mteaching policy.
I taught an advanced policy andpoverty class this spring.
I mean we're at the forefrontof what's happening.
We were watching each week asthe big, beautiful bill was
(29:49):
being proposed and enacted.
What does that mean forlow-income communities, what
does that mean for the wealthy?
And really analyzing the billand the policy, but also, at the
same time, looking back overthe last 100 years of what
policies have presidents enactedto try to alleviate policy?
Did they work, did they not?
That was fun.
(30:09):
And then the second piece issharing real life stories.
What was it like developing thecity's first language access
policy?
Or the citywide violenceprevention plan, which was a
policy document put forward bymayor and council?
National and global policy andunpack and analyze it.
(30:34):
If you will.
I also can give them real lifeexamples of local policy that
I've helped develop and whatthat experience was like the
good, the bad and the ugly.
Speaker 3 (30:40):
That's awesome.
I think that makes a lot ofsense.
And those are, you know, Ithink, some of the reasons that
we don't think about, like whysomeone would be an adjunct
professor.
Right Like you have a full-timejob, you have things going on
right For the most part.
You're not being an adjunctprofessor for the money.
Right, like it's not, you'renot going to get like rich doing
the thing.
But if you enjoy being in theclassroom and if you enjoy
(31:01):
exposing rising professionals tothe work, right and to the
actual things that have happenedand how to actually use,
leverage your experience toimpart some of that wisdom,
right, I think there's a lot ofvalue there, absolutely and I'm
still in contact with a lot ofmy former students.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
I have one student he's a veteran and formerly
incarcerated, you know later inlife got his life together and
got his bachelor's and hismaster's.
He was in my class 2021 andduring class I remember halfway
through the semester I saidManny, you need to go get a
doctorate.
You are so intelligent, youunderstand this theory so well
(31:39):
and the practicality of how itworks or doesn't work for
certain communities.
I want to encourage you to goget your doctorate.
He's like Professor Kolumbayou're crazy, I'm barely making
it here, I'm just getting mylife together.
Well, lo and behold, he got intoa doctoral program at
California Baptist University.
He texted me yesterday.
(32:00):
He's in his second year andhe's creating a theory of change
around veterans, veterans andinnovation.
And because he's a veteran andhe understands the lived
experience, he's actuallycreating a dissertation in the
theory of change around how tohow to help veterans.
I mean, if that's not like whatI'm called to do is help create
(32:23):
these amazing future leaders,then I found my gifting is
helping people, like you know,figure out these world problems
and believing in them so theycan believe in themselves.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
That's amazing.
He's not the only one goingback to school, though, right.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
You're right.
So thank you for asking andsaying that comment.
Quietly, while my son wasapplying and getting into NYU, I
was quietly.
My family my husband andchildren knew I was applying to
USC to get my doctorate insocial work.
So they started recruiting mearound the time that I was
(32:59):
creating my business plan and Ireally believe in alignment and
open doors.
So I took the leap of faith andapplied and got in and I just
started my doctoral program thisweek.
Speaker 3 (33:11):
Congratulations.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (33:14):
Why did you decide to actually go back to school and
how do you envision kind ofleveraging that or utilizing
that in the future?
Speaker 1 (33:22):
Yeah.
So back when I had my daughterand got my master's degree, I
always wanted a doctorate.
However, at the time I knew Ineeded to raise my daughter and
I got married, had our son andbut just the timing wasn't right
.
It was always one of thosedreams, you know, like, deep
down in my heart I knew I wantedto do it.
Can I just tell you aboutalignment and, you know,
(33:45):
intuition.
This USC person kept calling meand emailing me like we really
think you'd be a great candidate, you really should apply.
It's like the universe willsend you signals, whether you
realize it or not, like it'stime.
And I really I applied on atotal act of faith of like I
don't know, like my son's goingto college, I just started a new
(34:08):
company.
I'm starting the second half ofbasically my life and my career
.
Everything looks completelydifferent than it did a year ago
or five years ago.
The whole landscape of my life.
We're empty nesters.
There's a lot of things.
I don't work in city governmentanymore.
I own an LLC and I was like,all right, I'm just going to
(34:30):
take the leap of faith.
And can I tell you,everything's lined up.
The stars have aligned, even myfirst day of class, some of the
newer theories that are beingproposed and the integration of
innovation, user-centered designand social work.
These are things that I wasdoing in the city of Long Beach
and now I have language.
(34:50):
Now they're presenting theoryand I'm like my mind is blown.
I am exactly where I'm supposedto be today.
Speaker 3 (34:59):
That's remarkable.
Congratulations.
That is a huge, huge, hugeaccomplishment and I'm excited
to continue to follow you as youfinish this degree and what you
do with it beyond that.
So, are there any?
I call them forms of media, sothat can be books, podcasts,
things that have shaped youpersonally or professionally
(35:20):
that you encourage other peopleout there to check out.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Yeah, absolutely.
So you're hearing this on mysecond you know my mid-career,
or how do I say, the second halfof my career.
I'm launching it right now.
One of the books that reallyhas shaped me over the years is
the 21 laws of irrefutableleadership.
This is a phenomenal book.
I highly recommend it.
It's a book I read a long timeago by John Maxwell.
(35:45):
One of my former mentors, youknow, mentioned it and I read it
and I've actually read itseveral times.
We did it as a book club withmy employees and my last job,
because they were training andmentoring mayors and, you know,
city staff.
That has been really a guidingdocument of my leadership.
I would say the other thing isthe emotional intelligence.
(36:08):
So if you know, takingStrengthsFinder, the Enneagram
there's a couple different.
You know methods out there, butreally being in tune with who
you are as a leader and in andtuning in with your leading
right, whether it be your staff,your team, my bench of
consultants that's reallyimportant in taking that really
just a human approach to leadingpeople.
(36:29):
A recent book that I'm readingoh my gosh, it's blowing my mind
.
It's called Smart Women FinishRich.
Now, something to know about meis I am not a money-driven
person.
I didn't get into any of thisfor money.
Now I'm realizing, though moneyhas a purpose and some people
are.
I'm not controlled by money.
(36:50):
I am like agnostic.
I have no feelings towardsmoney.
However, with more money, I cando more good, right?
So what I mean by that is, forinstance, in my family, we give
away 10% to nonprofits and goodcauses, and that has really
served us well.
We've been abundantly blessedfinancially for many years
because of that cause and action, also investing, of course, in
(37:14):
your retirement, in your future.
And then the last thing is likepaying off our mortgage early.
So this book Smart Women,finish Rich has been just a game
changer.
So David Bach he's out of NewYork, he worked in the financial
industry for 30 years and hereally wants to help educate
people, and specifically women,about how to manage your
(37:35):
finances and how to livefinancially free.
One of the activities he hasyou do in the book is write down
your 10 goals that you want toaccomplish in the next three
years, and then he walks youthrough step-by-step, pick five
of the most important ones, andthen you develop a smart goals
(37:56):
right.
We all.
We all do this at work.
We all have created smart goalsand strategic plans for our
companies that we work for.
The question is have you everdone it for your own life?
So I actually did this for mylife.
My husband and I did ittogether.
So we actually have a Columbofamily value statement and
strategic plan.
(38:16):
I have a Tracy Columbo valuestatement and strategic plan,
can I tell have in my 20 yearsin government and I did a lot of
great things and I was veryfocused at work but it's it's
taken it to a whole new level ofalignment of my personal values
(38:40):
and goals in life.
Speaker 3 (38:41):
That's some great advice to go along with the book
recommendation, just so peopleunderstand the real value add.
That's that's within the bookand this is just.
You know, I learned a lot justfrom hearing you say it.
But, like now, if you dive intothe actual book you know
there's even more there.
Speaker 1 (38:56):
So I appreciate you sharing that If I could share
about a few podcasts and othercouple other little hacks that I
do.
So every morning I listened todaily meditation.
It's about like a 20 minutepodcast on meditation.
So again, you can choose yourfavorite channel.
I'm really big on this because Ifeel like the meditation, it
centers me.
(39:16):
You know, mentally andspiritually I get very like
zenned out and then I usually gofor a run or lift weights or do
some kind of workout.
I do something to educatemyself and then I start my day.
And so the 5 am club it is abook.
I'm not going to lie, I didn'tread it.
You know what I did.
(39:37):
I threw it.
I asked AI to tell me what werethe highlights.
Oh, that's a hack If you don'thave time, but you want to know
what are the key takeaways andthat was what it was is have
spiritual meditation or quiettime, have some kind of exercise
in the morning and then learnsomething new and then get your
day started.
(39:57):
So that also has reallycentered me and I feel like I'm
more intentional with my timebecause by the time I turn on my
laptop I'm like I'm focused onthe moment.
I'm in the moment and I knowwhat goals I want to accomplish
for the day.
Speaker 3 (40:13):
Are there any other career cheat codes that you've
come across or that you've takenadvantage of that you think
people should should consider intheir lives?
Speaker 1 (40:25):
So I have a whole bunch of them so, but I'll just
share.
I'll just share a few.
One of them is scheduling timeto do things.
So you know, one of the thingsI learned in government and I've
been applying it really wellwith my company is that if you
want to get something done, youhave to schedule a meeting with
yourself.
Right?
We have a long, long list of,let's say, 20 things to do.
(40:47):
So what I've been doing for thelast several years is I calendar
time.
Let me give you an example.
When I worked at the BloombergCenter for Public Innovation, we
were running multiple programs,but we also had to write
curriculum.
So I would book time withmyself throughout the week an
hour here, an hour there, twohours on Friday where I was
reading, I was writing, I wasdeveloping curriculum, reviewing
(41:11):
curriculum and I treated itlike it was a meeting with
myself that I had to get thesethings done.
What I've seen is, year overyear, as I've booked time with
myself to accomplish my to-dolist, I actually have been able
to really outperform peers, andit's not because I'm smarter or
more equipped I mean, I'veworked with some data scientists
(41:33):
, some people who are smarterthan me it's because I get stuff
done and the way you do that isyou have to schedule time with
yourself to make sure you tackle.
That's one hack.
I will say another hack is theEisenhower matrix.
So I think a bunch of uslearned that in grad school.
There are things on your to-dolist that are time wasters or,
(41:54):
like man, if I had more time, Iwish I could do that thing.
So I constantly am looking atmy to-do list.
Am I getting paid by a firm tocomplete this action, or one of
my clients?
Is this for coursework or isthis something that just feels
good and I wish I had more timeto do?
And can I delegate it or do Idelete it?
(42:16):
That actually has helped me.
I'm trying to look for the wordlike go further, faster,
because I've decided it'shealthy to say no and sometimes
it's healthy to say you knowwhat?
I don't have the bandwidth forthat right now, maybe in the
future or maybe never, but it'sactually a time waster.
Speaker 3 (42:35):
Thank you.
Those are great cheat codes.
Is there anything else wehaven't discussed today that the
world should know about Tracy?
Speaker 1 (42:43):
The second half of your career, right.
So the first half is fun and Iwant to speak to the younger
people first, and then the youknow, the older folks in the
room.
So first part of your careerand I again, just at my age,
watching the people I'mmentoring.
My own experience, my you knowcolleagues, experience In your
(43:03):
younger years you're ambitious,you're getting a lot done.
It feels like you know you canconquer the world and you can
and you do and do it all.
Do it all and have fun.
You know, it's interestingbecause I remember when my
daughter graduated I was intears and I was like baby.
You know, should I have been astay at home, mom?
Did I, you know?
Did I mess you up?
(43:23):
And she was like, don't you?
She was like mom, don't youever say that again?
She said I knew that my mom hadan important job.
I never really knew what youdid, but I knew it was important
, right?
So she knew that I was doingwork that was important for the
community, the city, thecommunities that we care about.
(43:44):
So in your younger years, gofor it, make it happen.
Be an adjunct faculty, you know.
Work on projects, sign up, sayyes when your boss is looking
for volunteers on that newproject.
I really believe that's how Igot promoted was saying yes to
things.
Now that I'm on my you knowsecond half of my career, I
still can dream big, but it justlooks a little bit different.
(44:06):
I feel like the landscape iswide open.
I understand the world better.
I know who I am.
I know what I want out of life.
I know what projects I'mpassionate about, my company,
what projects I can say yes to,and what projects are.
Maybe I make a referral toanother company who could do a
better service, and that's okay,but I feel more established in
(44:29):
myself.
I want to write books.
When you offered for me tospeak on this podcast, I'm like
I just I feel more establishedin myself.
I want to write books.
I want to talk.
Like when you offered for me tospeak on this podcast, I'm like
, yes, I want to talk onpodcasts.
I want to share with the worldthings that I've learned.
I think most importantly,though, is I want to inspire
other people, like, if you havea dream in your heart, go for it
.
It is scary.
Starting this business wasscary.
Applying for my doctoratehalfway through my career was
(44:54):
scary, but I promise you, if youfollow those dreams, so many
doors are going to fly open foryou that you just never knew
were possible.
Speaker 3 (45:01):
It's awesome.
Well, thank you.
Thank you for joining us onCareer Chico today.
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (45:06):
I hope you enjoyed this episode.
If you did and believe on themission we're on, please like,
rate and subscribe to thispodcast on whatever platform
you're using, and share thispodcast with your friends and
your networks.
Make sure you follow us onInstagram and LinkedIn at Career
Cheat Code and tell us peopleor careers you would like to see
highlighted.
See you next week with somemore cheat codes.
Peace.
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