Rewriting the Story: From NBC Journalist to Chief Growth Officer with Heather Trumpfheller

In this episode of Clover, I sit down with fellow Austinite, community builder, and multi-pivot queen Heather Trumpfheller for a conversation that hits on career, identity, sobriety, boundaries, and what it really means to build community with intention.

We talk about:

• Her winding career path & permission to pivot
  • Growing up a storytelling-obsessed kid in Dallas, studying broadcast journalism at Mizzou, and working at an NBC station
  • The scary identity shift of leaving journalism, trying PR, and then being “discovered” in the Central Market checkout line and pushed into sales
  • Working 11 years for the same leader, getting moved to Boston, and realizing she had outgrown a company she deeply loved
• That “make it obvious” moment & walking away from misalignment
  • The gut-check prayer the morning she asked for a sign to quit
  • The wild 1:1 where her boss suggested a new role and she realized the real answer was: “I quit.”
  • How she took six months to get clear on her values, not her job title
• Networking, mentorship & operationalizing relationships (without feeling icky)
  • Why you should never wait until you need a job to start networking
  • Building “relationship capital” with systems: calendar-blocked Friday follow-ups, notes on people, and being intentional about second-degree connections
  • Her take on mentorship as seasonal, specific, and often most powerful outside your current company
  • How to make a compelling outreach ask that actually gets answered
• Sobriety, boundaries & redefining worth beyond achievement
  • Hitting her two-year sober anniversary and realizing how much she’d been numbing with alcohol
  • Recognizing when your self-worth is tied to numbers, titles, and likability
  • Using how you feel after events and interactions as data to set better boundaries
  • Why she now sees boundaries as a gift—to herself and to the people around her
• Leading Austin Women in Tech & building true community
  • Moving to Austin not knowing anyone and finding Austin Women in Tech through a random Meetup
  • Starting as membership director, then becoming president, and helping grow the org to hundreds of members
  • What it’s like to motivate and lead in a volunteer-only environment
  • Why volunteering is a low-risk way to practice leadership, test new skills, and expand your network
• Her current work: community, referrals & women-owned businesses
  • Her role as Chief Growth Officer at Switchboard, a platform connecting skilled virtual volunteers with global mission and ministry organizations
    Switchboard+1
  • Her work with What She Said and the RFRL app, a referral platform that routes everyday recommendations (CPAs, lawyers, favorite coffee shops) to women-owned businesses and rewards the people making referrals
    What She Said, Inc.+1
  • Why she believes abundance follows alignment—and how these roles line up perfectly with the life she actually wants
• Influence without the title
  • How to lead before you have the formal authority
  • Why influence isn’t always the loudest person or the biggest title—it’s consistency, clarity, and alignment

Links & resources mentioned:

• Connect with Heather on LinkedIn
• Austin Women in Tech (AWT) – the nonprofit community Heather led as president
  • Website: awtaustin.org 
• Switchboard – virtual volunteering platform connecting skilled volunteers with

Episode Transcript

Unknown (00:00):
Heather.

(00:10):
Welcome everybody to the latestepisode of the clover podcast I
have with me, Heather TrumpFeller, oh my god, Heather. I
had just so much fun evenchatting with you before we
started, like, I guess I shouldhit record. But welcome,
welcome. Welcome to the show.
We're so excited to have you.
Thank you for having me. I loveit so cool. And so Heather is a

(00:31):
fellow Austinite, so we bothlive in the fair city of Austin,
which I always love. You know,when I get to connect to others,
especially females in the biz inthis city. So we do actually
need to catch up in person aswell. Since we are in certain
proximity, let's do it. ButHeather, so I told you, I always

(00:52):
just jump right in, and I wouldlove to hear your journey. I
feel everybody has a story, andI'm here for it. So what you
know? How did you start out andweave in personal stuff as well.
I mean, I think that's alwayspart of somebody's story. It's
not we're not just our jobs, youknow, but what led you to where
you are today? Yeah? Well, I'mexcited to share and be

(01:13):
vulnerable and really put it allout there, because I agree. I
would say biggest themes in mylife have been storytelling,
community and relationships,right? So being here, even on a
podcast like we get to do allthe above, because those each
look different in differentseasons. I grew up in Dallas and

(01:34):
went to South Lake, if there'sany DFW listeners on here, I
studied broadcast journalism. Iwas the five year old who would
walk around with a hairbrush sosure of herself just asking
questions and telling stories,and would just truly like walk
up to a stranger and ask themhow they felt about something
with my my hairbrush, right? Wewere talking, I probably

(01:56):
interviewed my beanie babies,like the ones you have in the
backyard or the back behind you,but I went to study Broadcast
Journalism at University ofMissouri, and I worked there for
four years at an NBC station,and then I wanted to get back to
Dallas. And being in thejournalism world, it's hard to
get some bigger markets, so Icareer pivoted, which was really
hard. I was very afraid to givemyself permission to change my

(02:20):
mind, so I'm sure we'll probablycome back to that, but that was
something that was really hardfor me. Was just giving myself
permission to change my mind.
But I pivoted to publicrelations, which was similar in
the vein of being in the mediaworld, but completely different.
But I didn't really vibe with itas much, because then I was
pitching stories that, honestly,I would have never covered as a
journalist, that really being onthe other end, I wasn't overly

(02:42):
passionate about and then pivotagain through a random
connection at a central marketgrocery store, I met a gentleman
and was telling him, justtalking to him in line, and he
was like, You need to be insales. And I was like, sir, I'm
a journalist. And he was like,tell me about being a
journalist. And I was like,Well, I meet people. I get to
know them. I ask open endedquestions, I build rapport, I

(03:02):
advocate on their behalf. And hewas like, okay, so you're in
sales, and it was probably oneof the first times someone was
able to look at it like, notunbiased, like they did not know
me from 1000 foot view, and belike you have these transferable
skills that transcend a specificindustry or career. And so my

(03:22):
identity was so rigid in thisagain, like I can't change my
mind, like I could pivotwithout, like, full spending on
changing my mind. But he gave mehis business card. He was like,
Call me if you want to do sales.
And the next morning, I calledhim, and I was like, let's chat.
And then I worked for this manfor 11 years, and he changed my
life in so many ways. Andultimately, he moved me to

(03:46):
Boston, and that's how I endedup here for the tech company I
was at. And because I grew somuch and because they poured so
much into me, I ended upevolving to a place where I felt
like I had to leave the companyjust because I didn't fit
anymore. And I think that'sanother thing that, especially
women, we sometimes strugglewith, right of just thank you

(04:06):
for pouring into me, but it'stime to go. This season has
ended, so I had to grieve alittle bit of that, but
ultimately, step out on my own,and then I embarked on a six
month journey of really justtrying to find clarity. And
through that, I ended up in thestartup world, and now I'm on
two different startup platformsthat are both really aligned

(04:26):
with what I'm doing, with who Iam through all these pivots,
right? They're both communityreferral platforms, essentially.
So that's not how I met Aaronhere in the female Founder World
in Austin, but that's a littlebit of my resume history. I
would say, yeah, no, I love it.
I love that. You You know,you're just like, pivoting left
and right and kind of givingyour permission to do so, I
think so many times we don't.

(04:49):
We're like, nope. We said wewent to school for this, and we
said we were going to do this.
And, you know, you have blinderson and that's it, and you miss
so many opportunities. And youknow, if you're so close.
To that. So talk a bit aboutthat. Like, how, how did you
allow yourself, or give yourselfpermission to be like, You know
what? I'm gonna shift over here,pivot over there, even though

(05:10):
like wasn't on my radar at,yeah, it's so funny the Central
Market story, because you hearpeople get like, discovered, you
know? And it's like, it's almostlike you were discovered. I
actually just shared that inthat way. I spoke at University
of Texas on Tuesday this week,and I actually said that I'm
like, you know how the modelsare always like, they found me
in the mall. Mine was like, Iheard her talk, heard her

(05:33):
yapping out a central market.
And was like, she could Yap formy company. And it really was a
little bit of just mentorshipand community comes from
different angles, like I always,I always think like people often
only network when they'relooking for a job, and that is a
missed opportunity, because ifyou only network when you need

(05:53):
it, you're behind. You wouldproactively need to have that
community. And then also, Ithink when people are only
networking for their company,like you need to represent
yourself, because if you leaveyour company, because that was
something that I learned. I hadbeen at this tech company for 11
years, and when I left, I waslike, Oh, wow. I know a lot of
people, but they only know methrough this lens, and that most

(06:16):
recently was particularly likegovernment technology. And I was
like, that's not the space thatI'm staying in. So I need to
make sure I'm networking onbehalf of Heather. And I think
that's why, like, LinkedIn usesreally specific language of
second connection, becausethat's where the magic often
happens, right? The people whoknow you super well, they've got
blind spots for you, and theyare delusionally like, Oh no,

(06:40):
Aaron Heather, you're too goodfor that. Or like, that's not
the right fit. But the secondconnection, the person who's
really indifferent, right? Thatmight be the central market
person, that might be someonefrom a networking event, they're
more likely to have a connectionthat you could actually take
advantage of, and would actuallybe a foot in the door. And so I
always tell people, too, it'slike networking does not just

(07:01):
look like navigating a careerpath, journey or looking for a
job or finding a specific mentorfor a reason. And also, I feel
like people often only havementors at their company. If you
only have a mentor at yourcompany, you're probably not
going to get help with careerpivoting. So just so much, so
much there, so much there. Likemy mind is going so and on the

(07:24):
mentorship thing too, I feellike it's, it's not finding one
mentor that's going to like, bethere for everything, because
I've talked to so many, youknow, women in leadership, and
we're just like, What is amentor? Like? When people come
to me and ask me, Well, you bemy mentor. It's like, what is
that? Because it's like, I cancounsel you on certain aspects

(07:46):
of, you know, certain expertiseand that sort of a thing. But
to, like, have, like, a weeklycall and sit down and, you know,
and it's like, when things areso fluid, you know, like, what?
What is your stance on? Like,so, yeah, mentorship, you know,
I love that, because I'veactually been reflecting on
that, because right now I'm intwo formal mentorship programs,

(08:07):
right? Like, I'm have a mentor.
I'm a mentor to mentees in aformal capacity. And then I
would also say I'm mentoringpeople in different avenues,
like, I don't drink alcohol,right? I actually, today is my
two year sober anniversary.
Thank you, yes, but I'vementored people through things
like that, where it's been acouple of specific, tailored

(08:29):
ways. Honestly, half of themstart through like Instagram,
like hey, thank you for sharing.
I'm really struggling withalcohol numbing as well. Can I
pick your brain? Or what aresome good resources you have, or
what are some good non alcoholicbeverages you love? Like, that's
mentoring. But then I havethese, like, formal programs
where it's like, this is ourstrategic plan, this is your

(08:50):
outcome. But I find myself inthose more formal avenues being
less vulnerable, and sometimesthe rigidity is actually a
barrier. And when you're justsort of like organic and raw
with someone, that mentorship iswhere the magic happens. And so
I'm actually trying to redefineeven what it means for me to

(09:11):
have mentees and the being amentor in a more formal
capacity. But I totally agree,and half of the most effective
mentors in my life have been,like you said, seasonally
starting a certain area, andmost are personal and less than
professional, like if you see ajob at your current company you

(09:31):
want, yes, maybe go find someonewho's in that exact role and
have them pour into you. Buthalf the time, they probably
don't come from your company,because they're caring about
Heather, the human, not Heather,the person that the revenue is
tied to exactly. And I thinkthere's something to be said for
specificity, you know, becausethen it's like, be my mentor.

(09:53):
It's like, well, for whataspect, right? Because I have
knowledge on certain things, orI can guide you through x, y, z.
So I think for so many, youknow, we come to the table with
like, well, I just need amentor. Check that box, you
know, rather than like, 1,000%right?
I think the same thing aboutthat's how people look at
networking too, is they're like,oh, I have to go to a networking

(10:14):
event this month. Well, if youdon't show up in a posture of
intentionality with goals,right? You need to have goals
for a mentorship program. Youneed to have goals for
networking. So I always tellpeople, like, if you're going to
go to an event, have a goal ofmaybe I want to meet three
people, and I'm going to followup with one of them, and this is
who I want to present myself as.
Like, I want to leave thatconversation with them knowing

(10:35):
this about me, and sometimesit's that intentional, but I
agree, like, if formal andintentional aren't always the
same thing, yeah? And it's like,and don't be intimidated, you
know, because somebody like, I'mgoing to this networking event,
and I have to, you know, beintentional. And it's like, yes,
but it can be intentional evenso far as I'm going to have fun
tonight, I'm going to meetsomeone cool, yes, you know,

(10:57):
great. That's a goal. That'sintention. Yeah, too. I even
took that so when I was lookingfor a job, right? So every
single job I've ever found hasbeen through networking. So I
also think I've seen the fruitfrom it, right? So if you're an
introvert who's really stressedabout it and has never gotten a
job from networking, I can seewhy. Maybe that's you're a

(11:17):
little more put off by it forme, like, I luckily never had
to, like, make a resume, toblindly submit to a company. So
that is just to share, like, thelens that I'm coming from. But I
think for me, being able to tellyour story is so effective.
That's why that man hired me ina central market, because I, in
30 seconds, was able to be like,This is who I am. This is what I

(11:40):
want to do. These are the theseare my superpowers. These are my
transferable themes and mycareer. And I think storytelling
and brand have really evolved ina beautiful way. But there's
also the the lens of socialmedia and like, what you put out
there in the world, right? Ithink it's powerful because
we're getting more and morecontrol over it, but you really

(12:00):
do, like, the more raw andvulnerable you show up. Like,
that's potential that peoplesee. Like, people want to be
around potential, right?
Exactly. And I love that,because it's like, it's almost
like operationalizingrelationships, quite honestly,
yes.

(12:21):
So we all know, like, okay,relationships drive business.
And by the way, I startedlearning golf a few months ago,
so maybe I could put that intopractice on the golf course.
We'll see you. There you go. Soa lot of us don't really
systematize it, right? So it'slike, Are there any kind of
like, structures that you've putaround, like, using relationship

(12:42):
building, you know, do you Yeah?
Do you see it as, like, scalableand measurable? I kind of talk a
little bit about that too. Yeah.
Well, I so in the vein ofnetworking and things like that,
I always make myself have actionitems. So on Fridays from two to
230 my calendar is blocked fornetworking follow ups. And it
literally is like, I've got someof them here. It's like, the

(13:03):
business cards that I'm going toemail that person. It's the
person I added on LinkedIn thatI wanted to actually review
their profile. Whatever it mightbe, there's always some form of
like, relationship capitalfollow up. And I think that's
the thing is, people often thinklike, Oh, if we didn't
organically set the meal like weweren't supposed to meet, and I

(13:24):
am, like, too busy, people haveschedules. Like, it takes
intentionality again, right?
Like, I feel like I've said thatword too much, but I have carved
in some operating rhythm, timearound relationships, and if I
didn't go to a networking eventthis week or a conference or
something like that. Sometimesit's truly just engage with
people on LinkedIn, or seesomeone that you used to work

(13:45):
with that's looking for a job,and write them a review or a
referral on LinkedIn right likethere's some form of moving the
relationships forward that I tryto do weekly that is really
important. So I think again, itcan feel operational and
transactional at some times, butit's also just a muscle you have
to practice. And now it's soembedded in it that I don't even

(14:07):
think about it anymore. And halfthe time, like we, you know,
Aaron and I meet at it's anorganization here in Austin
called Fiesta, and when theysend the follow up email of,
this is who you met at it, thisis who was at the event. I
always go through that, and I'mlike, let's read who was there,
who needs to meet this, who aresome connections I can have. And
I think that's the other thingis sometimes relationships start

(14:29):
with you being the one givingright? You might have the
connection for that person. Youmight have met someone who's
looking for a job, and you knowsomeone at the company that
they're interviewing at that youcan connect them with. And so I
also think, if we're only goingfrom this lens of like, well, I
didn't learn anything, I didn'tmeet anyone that pushed me
along, I'm not going to go backlike, that's not the posture to

(14:50):
have, right, exactly. And so,and for you, like, you started
in journalism, right? And so,and then you move to sales, both
of those rely.
Heavily on communication, youknow, communication habits,
right? So what communicationhabits have you kind of formed?
Because people will be like,Okay, great. Like, I got it

(15:11):
like, be intentional with thenetworking. This will be myself.
Let's tell a story, you know. Sowhat kind of tips do you have in
that? Like, how can because youcould use that as an edge in
business, in your business,right? And so, but you want to
keep people engaged, you know,yeah. But how do you kind of,
like, use that storytelling as astrategy, honestly? Yeah,
absolutely. I mean, definitelythe follow up, right? I always

(15:34):
tell people, you know, don't,don't knock the cold call. But
back to even the same way ofmentorship, have a specific ask.
Like, if you just DM someonelike, Hey, thanks for
connecting. Would love to grabcoffee. Like, there's that's not
a really compelling ask. But ifit's like, Thanks for the
connection. I saw we were bothat this women in tech outing

(15:56):
your profile says this, like, Ialso come from a supply chain
background space. Would love topick your brain on blank or
whatever it might be, like thespecific ask. So that's kind of
what I started learning, ispeople genuinely want to connect
and help, but they can't have tofill in the blanks of the what's
in it for me and vice versa,kind of tell them, like, here's

(16:19):
what I'm hoping to gain out ofthis, and here's what I'm
offering you in return. And Ithink especially like college
students, they're always like,why would that person want to
mentor me? Or why would thatperson want to meet with me? And
I'm like, sometimes it's justtruly the dopamine of helping
someone else feels really good,but it was hard because, you
know, I was in journalism, andthen I went into an uncapped

(16:40):
commission sales role where somuch of my worthiness was tied
to achievements, and so much ofmy worthiness and success was
tied to likability. If acustomer didn't want to meet
with me, maybe they were busy,but I'm like, they hate me, and
it was super unhealthy, though,because then I'm tying all of

(17:01):
these metrics with my own selfworth, and you know, then I'm
this boundary list person. And Iwould say, if someone were to
ask me, like, what's the biggestlesson you've learned in the
last year? It's that boundariestruly are a gift, like they are
incredible. I wish I would havelearned them earlier in every
area of my life. But I alsothink there's this like, lens

(17:23):
of, like, not having boundarieswith friends because we think,
or, like, networking connectionsor things like that, because
it's like, oh, I want them tolike me, but sometimes the
boundary is what makes them stayliking you, right? And so I
think just learning a little bitof that too, but definitely the
follow up. I also think ifremembering connections is not

(17:46):
organic for you, it's not ickyto have systems, right? Like I
make in my calendar a once amonth, like follow up with these
person in the same way I add myfriends, kids, birthdays, my
calendar. You can be like,follow up with Aaron, or listen
to Aaron's new podcast and hitsubscribe, right? You can make
these reminders in yourcalendars. And I feel like we

(18:08):
think something should be moreorganic than they are, and that
feels icky. But I also thinkjust like develop a system that
works for you, I often just takenotes in my iPhone too. Of met
this person. This is what wetalked about, the job my memory.
And sometimes when you type itor write it down, you remember
it a little bit easier to asyou're, like, newly developing a

(18:30):
relationship with that person.
But I think having systems inplace is huge. Yeah, no, I
agree. And people can use thatin the personal life too. It's
just once you kind of take theickiness out of it being like
about business, like yourealize, Wait, I do things,
these things, my personal lifeas well. You might move to a
neighborhood and you put notes,oh, two houses down from New
York, you know, whatever it'slike, so that you remember when

(18:53):
you see them the next time,yeah, yeah. When you realized,
okay, I'm placing a lot of myself worth on numbers or job
performance. Is that what droveyou to make that shift to more
sort of community drivenorganizations? Or tell us a
little bit more about that?

(19:15):
Yeah, I mean, the the bluntanswer is, my therapist one day
was like, you can keep paying meto talk about this every two
weeks, or you can just dosomething about it. Like you can
just quit, like I was startingto feel the misalignment. And
I'm a big believer thatabundance follows alignment,
and that doesn't always looklike how you think it does. Like

(19:38):
I'm not making more money, butI'm more aligned. I'm more
fulfilled. I i value rest andrecovery as productivity. Now I
was able to exit a company takea moment of pause, and then when
I re entered the workforce, Idid so not from a scarcity

(19:58):
perspective, not from a place ofburnout.
But with boundaries, that I'm away healthier employee, and as a
result, like my company gets thebenefit of it, but so do I. And
so I think for me, it was, I wasburnt out. I was really tying
too much of my worthiness fromachievement, my identity was
just really put in unhealthyplaces. And from a personal

(20:21):
perspective, I mean, I'll sharethis like, I'm 36 I'm not
married, I don't have kids, andI felt like my friends were
beating me in the family area.
So the further that they were infamily, the further I needed to
be in my career to be relevant.
And I mean, I remember literallysaying to someone like, you have
two kids, like, I have twomortgages, like, I had to do

(20:43):
this to have relevancy, and thatis so just harsh to ourselves,
and I was really inauthentic,like I was not living in
alignment, like, not that Idon't want to be like a badass,
but like I was not operating ata place that those were my
goals. It was to be likeness,and my motivation was to impress

(21:05):
other people. And so the secondI gave myself permission, right?
And I literally, kind of had afluke moment of I had told
myself right that morning. I waslike, Okay, God, make it obvious
if I'm supposed to quit my job.
And this is a true story. I'vebeen here 11 years at this
company. They were not layingoff, praise God, they were not
doing reorgs or anything likethat. I talked to my same boss,

(21:26):
who I've worked for for 11years, but that morning I was
like, Okay, God, like, make itobvious how I'm supposed to
quit. I get on my one on onewith Him virtually, and he's
like, I just like, had this gutfeeling this morning that we
should move you to a differentrole at the company. And I said,
Why? Why do you say this? And hewas like, I literally don't
know. I was just brushing myteeth. And it was like, I'm your

(21:48):
one on one with Heather. Youshould explore different
opportunities. And I said, letme show you what I wrote down
today. Make it obvious if I'msupposed to quit. And I said, so
I do. I quit. And he was like,no, no, no. I said internal. And
I said, correct, I quit. And soliterally, I'm people are like,
Did you rage quit? And I'm like,No, there was no rage and there

(22:09):
was no ill will. It was truly weboth felt this. He we just
weren't putting them in the samebox. And so that's the other
thing. Like, I think there'ssometimes this beautiful exit
that we can have where he waschampioning me, because he was
like, wow, look at how muchyou've grown. You're right. Your
alignment had shifted. And I,just as a person, was shifting.

(22:30):
It was a big part of it, again,right? Like, I knew that I was
numbing with alcohol and not to,like, really go down this rabbit
hole. It's just hard, like,especially here in Austin, I'm
Social, I'm single, soeverything's like, let's grab a
drink. Oh, there's wine at thenetworking events. Oh, you're in
sales, you're taking yourcustomers out. And I remember
really feeling like I cannotchange this about my personal

(22:53):
life without changing some of myprofessional habits. And I think
I was also just sitting at thattension too, and I just at this
crux of, we got to get analignment. And so then I really
did. I spent six months reallyintentionally getting aligned,
like, who is Heather? Who are mycore values? How do I want to
feel at work, which is such likea woo, woo thought, but like we

(23:15):
should feel a certain way atwork, like we assign purpose to
how work feels. And when Ireally started looking at it,
was like, What are my favoriteparts about my job? What is my
core values? It was allcommunity and relationships. And
the second I put that out there,like, I got it back tenfold,
yeah, yeah, that's incredible,yeah. And like, let's talk about

(23:39):
Austin women in technology,right? Yeah, so what? So how did
you get involved in thatorganization you were leading? I
don't even know how manyvolunteers. 700 seems like a
huge organization. I've been apart of it as well. So what? How
did you get involved with them?
And then separately, like,that's a whole other type of

(24:01):
leadership, right? Becausetotally, that's a community
that's not financiallymotivated. They're there, you
know, for other reasons. Andit's like, how, how did you get
involved with them, and how didyou kind of keep that momentum
moving? Yeah, so when I moved toAustin in 2017 I didn't know
anyone, which is crazy to think,like Dallas to Austin, not that

(24:21):
far, but back in 2017like there was not a lot of
blend between the two. And thisis really before I would say
most people were moving toAustin. So when I moved here, I
didn't know anyone. I was at atech company. I had a whole new
set of clients. And I said,Where can I go to learn about
the city, learn about the techecosystem? And I'm just not a
reinvent the wheel person,right? So I said I'm going to go

(24:42):
to this event. Found it onmeetup.com, so again, like
Google, the places and thethings near you, and community
calendars and stuff like that.
So I went to an event, and Iwalked in, there was about 30
women there, and I'll be I'll befrank, it was like.
Like 30 middle aged white womenwho worked at Dell and the city

(25:04):
of Austin. And I was like, yeah.
I was like, this does notreflect the ecosystem of what
being a woman in tech is inAustin. And they said, congrats,
you're our new membershipdirector. And so I did, I
stepped into a volunteer role toreally assess their membership,
and what would it take to toattract members like myself? And

(25:26):
that's essentially what I did.
So while I was learning thesystem, I essentially just
invited people into that withme, and then yes, so I was
membership director of theorganization that had probably
been around for about 15 yearsalready, but it was small. It's
probably 100 it was probably 100people, and yeah, now they're
about 700 members. And as thetech world has evolved, the the

(25:49):
membership has evolved in agreat way, right? Like there's
different industries, there aredifferent ages, it's more
diverse. It's really thisbeautiful blend of this, like
one stop shop for that. But Ireally got involved by
volunteering. So I always tellpeople to again, it doesn't
always start with you receiving.
It might be me giving backfirst. I mean, I've gotten way
more from Austin women in techthan like I've given in the

(26:11):
sense of like community andfriendships and jobs and
confidence and speakingengagements, and again, leading
me toward alignment. Butvolunteering is such a beautiful
way to learn differentperspectives, meet different
people, practice a skill setthat you probably don't get to
use in your job, a little bitlike, like your golf, for
example, right? Like we shouldplay. And I was sort of like,

(26:34):
what are that's that I can tryon, where I'm less afraid to
mess up, and that's in avolunteer capacity. So I started
volunteering, and really thatturned into such a beautiful
journey. I started as thepresident in 2020 so then I was
president, like coming out ofthe pandemic in this virtual
shift and at a big growthperiod. But yes, motivating

(26:58):
people who are not compensatedis a wild journey, and it's
awesome, because you have to beso clear and connected to the
mission. And that was a reallygreat way to be like, Okay, do
we believe this mission? Are wealigned with this mission? And
again, when I've reflected onthat, because that was also the
crux of it, right? So I'd rolledoff as my presidency in the fall

(27:20):
of 2023 and when I rolled off ofthat to just being an advisor,
it exposed how much of my life Iwas happy because of us women in
tech. But it really that's whatexposed how unaligned I was in
my professional job. Like AWT,awesome women in tech was really
getting my superpower, and thatwas where I was also, like,

(27:42):
pulling energy from. And thenwhen I just had my day job left,
that's when I was like, Oh, wow,I don't feel overly aligned here
anymore. Yeah. So I also think,like, in a great way, like
volunteering and organizationsreally pull out this, like,
different person that you don'tget to wear in these hats at
your company. So yeah, Idefinitely say, like, don't just

(28:03):
go to networking groups. Like,get involved. The more you
volunteer. Like, people are alsolike, wow, Heather, you know
everyone at AWT. And I'm like,Yeah, I worked the check in
desk. I said, hi. I said, Hi,Aaron, to every single person.
So I remembered their name, theyadded me on LinkedIn. That
builds my network. Like,sometimes you just gotta, like,

(28:23):
put yourself out there, not asjust an attendee, but also in a
volunteer capacity. Yeah, and Ithink that ties to the whole
idea of, like, okay, becausepeople are okay. I don't have
the authority, but I want tobuild that influence. I don't
have the title, I don't have,you know, and so you know, with
yourincredible background of this,

(28:43):
like, mix of, like, shifting andpivoting and volunteerism and
everything else advocacy andcommunity building. Like, what
do you say to those people?
Like, what tactics did you usefor like, you want to create buy
in and momentum? Like, whetheror not it's in their
professional job or within avolunteer organization, but
they're like, I don't have thetitle. Like, how do I build

(29:03):
influence without the authoritybehind me? What do you say to
that? Yeah, I think we're in areally beautiful place,
especially just in themarketplace, where company, name
and title is weighing lessRight. Like, because people are
measuring success differentlythese days it is not, oh, I
worked there for 40 years untilI got my pension. Well, like

(29:26):
none of us are getting pensions.
So like, I think a little bit ofthe like, the things that were
monetized, like the monetarilymotivating people, has shifted.
So now influence, right? Comesfrom different areas. And I also
think, like, I just tell people,like, shoot your shot, like,

(29:47):
step into the role before youhave the title. Like, that's
what follows it. But I thinkputting less pressure on getting
that specific title is oftenwhat leads to the relatability,
right? Like, again, like lead.
Thing before you have thattitle, is how you're going to
become the leader. For me, likeI had so much imposter syndrome
stepping into the president ofAustin women attack. I was

(30:09):
younger than all the board. Iwas the least technical, so I
was like, wow, I don't even fitthe title of this, but it was
like, but that was a perfect wayto be like, what are our core
values? What is our vision? Whatis our why, and then that's what
motivates people and buys themin. Is, really, I would rather
have a aligned bottom of thetotem pole person than a

(30:31):
misaligned sea level person,right? I mean, I think that's a
little bit of it, but I alwaystell people to, like, don't if
that's not your strength, like,don't try to force yourself into
that either. Like, I have nevermet a mic I didn't love Right?
Like, love the mic, likejournalist to stage to being
here on the podcast with you.
But I also know, like, it's notalways the loudest person in the

(30:54):
room. That's the influence. So Ialso think just because maybe
you're quiet or you're anintrovert or you don't love the
center stage doesn't mean you'renot having influence, like
people are probably watchingyou, but your influence just
might look a little differently.
But I often think people likedefer to the person in the tone

(31:15):
off because they're loud witheach other, but that's just not
the case, and I think beingvirtual has also changed that,
because people are able to gettime with different executives,
from a zoom perspective thatmaybe you wouldn't have marched
into their office. So I alsothink like shooting your shot
looks a little different. So Idon't know if I answered that
question, but went down there.
No, you did, but, and I love ittoo, because when you said, oh,

(31:38):
like, you may have influence,and it looks different than, you
know, what others influencewould be, right? And so you may
be just going to your day to dayand think, like, oh, I need to,
you know, like, really have thisinfluence. And, you know, I
don't have the title, whateversomeone is looking at you,
thinking, Whoa, look at her.

(31:59):
Look at what she's doing, right?
Just by showing up, just bylike, volunteering or getting
involved in something new, or,like, trying a new skill, or
whatever, there's always goingto be someone that's like,
newer, or you know that you are,you know, and so that they're
going to be like, Whoa. Like,look what she's doing, look what
she's trying, look what shesaid, and you have zero idea,
you know that you totallyYeah, and sometimes you get to

(32:22):
see the fruit from it. Like, Ialways tell people, like,
actually, this was just one ofmy like, filler questions to
someone at a networking event,actually. And I said, who is
someone that you need to circleback and tell them that they've
impacted you, that maybe youhaven't, because we often also
don't like thank those people.

(32:43):
But how good does it feel ifsomeone is like, Hey, thank you
for giving me that speakingopportunity that gave me the
confidence now to host my ownpodcast, or thank you for the
opportunity to lead that projectthat showed me that I should
turn my side hustle into fullspend, into a main hustle, or
whatever it might be. And Ithink often we don't go back and

(33:04):
thank that person too. And soI've been in this season right,
like, Thanksgiving moment ofjust like, Who do I need to go
back? And also, thank you forthe opportunity to influence and
lead before I even knew I wasready. Yeah, 100%
and it's like, when you're like,kind of making these changes. Do
you have, I always, I love theword playbook. I don't know why.

(33:26):
Yeah, let's use it. Do you have,like, how do you know when to
move on, because you've kind ofshifted your industries and
types and that sort of a thing.
So how do you know when to moveon, and how do you kind of,
like, reposition those skillsfor the next thing? Yeah, okay,
I love that question, becauseI've really been marinating on
that, that I'm an Enneagramthree, right? So I'm an achiever

(33:47):
with a wing two of helper, soI'm the enchanter. So it's very
achieve, achieve, achieve. Andso I've often thought like, oh,
you move on when you accomplishyour goal, right? Or like, I
mean, think about how we wereraised. Like, we're in school
from zero to 22 most of us in atraditional like, four year
college path. There's reallyclear cut times when to move on,

(34:12):
and then they throw us into themarketplace, and no one really
tells you when it's time to go.
And I think I had to navigatethat the hard way, right? Like
giving myself permission slip,like something my therapist
actually said to me one day wasshe was like, give yourself
permission a permission slipbefore you need a hospital note.

(34:32):
Like before you're so reactivelyburnt out, resentful, bitter
that over something like giveyourself permission to exit. But
no one really showed us that ortaught us that, and especially
like older generations, likemeasuring success from loyalty
at a company. But I would sayone like, especially for the
women, like, women's intuitionis real. Like, trust your gut.

(34:54):
Like, I literally was like,Okay, make it obvious and I'm
supposed to leave. I could havejust thought that that one on
one was like.
Like, Oh, wow, it's time for meto get a new role. Or I had a
trust in my gut that I literallyasked for a sign was given it,
and then don't What do I do withthat? So I think definitely like
listening to your body, trustingyour gut, for sure, but also,

(35:14):
just as someone who lovedefficiency, right? Efficiency
will never outweigh obedience.
Yeah. And I think really, like,like, if we're too busy being
efficient, and we're too busy,like, trying to control, like,
we stop just creating, and westop just, like, being obedient
to what we're supposed to donext, and then you might
actually missthe opportunity to step into the

(35:37):
more aligned thing. So, yeah,absolutely, yeah. And so like,
when you as a high achiever, andby the way, I'm pretty sure I'm
the same, Enneagram, I need togo check, as you're saying, I'm
like, I'm pretty sure I'm thesame too, but I will check it.
You've you kind of thrownyourself in high achievement
cultures, and not because I'mgoing to be in high achievement

(35:58):
cultures. That's just kind ofwho you are, right? So you
gravitate to them exactly. Solike, what do you and this will
wrap up, I swear, although Icould talk to you forever, but
what like boundaries or habitsto have you put into place that
work for yourself? It kind oflike it keeps your ambition
sustainable, quite honestly.

(36:20):
Yeah, no, I boundaries hasreally been where I'm in the
thick of it, I would say, Right?
And I both think, bothpersonally and professionally, I
started doing especially when Istopped drinking, right? Like,
alcohol was this beautiful wayto numb things, but I was, like,
kind of always out of five,like, you don't sit in the highs
as deep. And even so, the lowsis deep when you're just like,

(36:41):
kind of having a drink sort ofthing. And again, like
everyone's on their own journeywith alcohol. But for me, when I
stopped drinking, my lack ofboundaries was really exposed.
Of just who had access to me, Iwould hear the word no, and that
would be a creative way tofigure out how I could do it
all. Oh, can you be at this? No,but I can hire someone to be at
it, or, Oh, I can dial in onZoom, or whatever. Like, I was

(37:02):
always going to get savvy. And Ifeel like when my nervous system
was allowed to slow down, justfrom, like, also physically
slowing down, stopping numbingand, like, doing an audit,
really, of my life, like I trulywent through all interactions,
if I would leave, I'd be like,how did I feel around that
person? Because from my lens,mine was more of, did I need a

(37:24):
drink around that person? And ifthe answer was yes, that's a
boundary that needs to go up. SoI had this very like, obvious
thing that was like, starting toshow like, Oh, you were a little
icky around that person or thatevent. Felt like you wanted to
drink your way through it, likethat was a good reminder of it.
So like, one again, listening toyour body for that. But two,

(37:45):
like sticking to thoseboundaries, like you can't put
up a boundary in hopes of thatother personal change, like the
boundaries to protect you, andif someone violates the
boundary, there has to beconsequences. So I also think
really sticking to theconsequences. I mean, they suck
and they suck for me and theysuck for that person, especially
someone who's, like, truly,biggest motivator in life is to

(38:08):
be liked. Like, that's so hardfor me, but really just having
those boundaries with certainpeople, with certain activities,
with my calendar, like I'veblocked things, like, I now run
the track, or I do travel ons,and I'll put my training
calendar in there. I'll put mytherapy in my calendar. I don't
care that that's public. We'reno longer in this like, out busy

(38:29):
each other way, right? I feellike 10 years ago, used to be
like, Oh my gosh, how are youI'm so busy. Oh my gosh. I'm so
busy too. Now I feel like it'slike, with AI, we're like, oh
yeah, I only work 30 hours aweek. Isn't that great? Like,
we're proud of, like, efficiencyin that sense. So I think, like,
really looking at boundaries aslike a gift to yourself, so that

(38:52):
every single thing you can docan be more aligned and
intentional. But it's by havingthem. It's fine putting up
consequences. It's by stickingto them, like, not canceling on
myself and the boundaries that Isaid I was going to have, and,
yeah, figuring out what you'realigned to. Like, I actually did
this workbook essentially, ofreally just like, What are my

(39:16):
core values? What are my coregoals, and if things don't align
with them, like they don't havea place right now, yeah, and I
love the point that you made of,like, consider how you feel,
because so many times we're inthese situations and we'll leave
an event or whatever, and we'relike, Oh my gosh. Like, how did
I come across? Or what did theythink of me? Or, like, did I say

(39:37):
was that joke funny? Or, like,you know, that kind of a thing,
rather than, how did I feel? AndI don't think we do that enough,
if ever, you know, like, how didI feel about that event? How did
I feel about the people I wasaround? How did I feel, you
know, that sort of a thing.
Because that tells youeverything that you need to

(39:57):
know, totally. And I juststarted asking.
Asking that of events, and thenthe events that I throw, I ask
other people also, how did youfeel at my event? Because if I'm
going to be throwing events orbeing a community builder, I
also want it to be life givingfor people. And so that kind of
brings me to so like the the tworoles that I'm in right now, I'm

(40:18):
the Chief growth officer for astartup called switchboard,
which essentially is a virtualvolunteering platform. And this
is something that I learned fromthe pandemic. But like, How can
a graphic designer in Austin usetheir skills to empower a
nonprofit in Nepal that helpswomen who have been trafficked
or something like that, right?
Like, how can your skills beused? And the second platform is

(40:40):
called what she said, and weessentially drive revenue from
referrals, right? So peopleoften will text me and be like,
Heather, who's your CPA or yourlawyer, or what was that
podcast, or what's your localcoffee shop? And they live in
your text message, within yourDMS, and then when you're often
looking for them, you can't findthem. So we built an app called

(41:01):
referral rfrl, where you can goon and essentially search for
what you're looking for, and itroutes you to a woman owned
business, and it's the personwho doesn't have the marketing
budget and the SEO dollars, butthe true community and frequent
users and the referrals. How canwe put them at the front of it?
And so it was really great whenI did my essentially, like 2023

(41:23):
audit on my life, and I wrotedown for 2024 it was like, I
want to be community giving. Iwant to point people from a
volunteer perspective, to changetheir lives, and I want to
empower women owned businesses.
So here I am at South By. I meetboth of the founders of these,
they tell me their vision, andthey're like, are you in the
market? And I'm like, I am, andthis is what I want to do. And

(41:45):
here's how I align with both ofthose things. Like, what's a
better pitch for job seekersthan literally, like, this is
exactly what I want to do. Like,I wanted to create this space.
And so I think just like, again,that was a boundary that I
wanted to have So, long storyshort, like knowing who you are,
knowing your own story, is theonly way you're gonna be able to

(42:06):
tell other people that. But whenyou invite community into it,
and you invite intentionalityinto it, like that's the magic,
yeah, 100% and both of thoseorganizations are so important,
and I'm gonna include links tothose in the show notes so
people can learn more,especially what she said, It's
just incredible. I love thatyou're, you're spearheading

(42:26):
those. It's, it's really amazingwork. So thank you
for being, you know, involved inthose. If people want to connect
with you online, or should theybest do? So yeah, definitely add
me on LinkedIn. I'll accept youmessage me. Let's chat Heather
Trump Feller, and I know that'llbe in the show notes there too,

(42:48):
and I think my email is under mycontact information, so would
love to chat. Perfect. And thenI ask one fun question. Some
people say it's mean. I thinkit's fun. We are big music heads
over here. So I always ask ifyou could listen to one music
artist for the rest of yourlife. Who would it be?
Trans atlanticism album by DeathCab for Cutie is the best album.

(43:13):
I mean, I'll be honest, like,I'm a Swifty, so I have loved
the life of the show girllately, and just truly, like, I
feel like Taylor Swift gettingher Master's back has been this,
yeah, the playbook for women tolike, own what they're creating,
and it's been so inspiring. AndI'm an 89 baby, so always a
Swifty. But yeah, transatlanticism by death cat for

(43:35):
Cutie, yeah, no. Skips, no.
Skips, no, no, not all. I'm ahuge death cap for Katie fan.
So I think I've seen them live,like, every city that I've lived
in. I'm like, let's go. But, andI actually just saw like, side
note when Postal Service camethrough Austin. Oh, I was there.
I was there too. It was, thatwas incredible, yeah, like, when

(43:57):
they played the whole album,yeah, green, yeah. Give up. Is
Yes, I have it on my vinyl.
Clark Gable is one of myfavorite songs of all time. I
mean, I like, wept, yes, it wasso good. We're getting, I was
like, we're getting an entiredeath cap album and postal
service. What is happening,right? I was like, yeah, it was

(44:20):
amazing. It was so good. So yay,I'll see. I knew I liked you.
That's awesome. You're the firstperson who said death calves. I
get really excited. So awesome.
Okay, well, Heather, thank youso much. We will be hanging out
in person. I just decided thisis happening. But thank you for
taking the time to chat. Superappreciate it. Yes, talk to you
soon. All right, thanks.