November 19, 2021 • 37 mins
Traci Harrell is a consultant, author, producer & radio show host, happiness coach, diversity & inclusion change agent, trainer and an explorer on our shared journey of life.
Traci is the youngest of a family of 5, raised in Florida, attended the University of Florida, and she has two Masters level degrees in Finance, Business and Project Management. She has over 25 years of diverse professional experience in Corporate America including work internationally (8 years at IBM, 14 years at the Walt Disney Company and 5 years at Microsoft). Traci loves nature, is an avid gardener, and she considers herself a bit of a “flower child”. She is an eternal optimist…a Fearless and Courageous Change Agent, focused on “Authentic Living”.
Follow Traci on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/traci.harrell.12
Visit Traci's Website
https://itsallbiggerthanme.com/
Learn more about Traci's I.G.N.I.T.E. Series
https://igniteyou.life/why/our-mission/
Listen to the It's Bigger Than Me Podcast
https://www.podcastone.com/its-bigger-than-me-with-traci-harrell
Find out more about GAIN THE PASSION Coaching
https://www.gainthepassion.com
Access past episodes and more of the GAIN THE PASSION Podcast
https://www.gainthepassionpodcast.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Voiceover (00:01):
Welcome to the SUCCESS Coaching Podcast. On
today's episode, our guest TraciHarrell shares her own personal
journey to success. Becausesuccess is a journey, not a
destination. Here's the hosts ofthe SUCCESS Coaching Podcast,
Todd Foster, Alyssa Stanley andKelley Skar.
Alyssa Stanley (00:26):
Welcome to this SUCCESS Coaching Podcast. My
name is Alyssa Stanley and I amhere with Kelley Skar and Todd
Foster my co hosts. And I'm soexcited to bring you a woman
that I met just recently in oneof our SUCCESS Coaching
challenges, Traci Harrell,you're gonna love her, you guys
she is outwardly expressing shelives her best life and she 100%
(00:51):
puts everything out in thisworld to make it a better place
to tune in, put your earbuds in,you're not gonna want to miss
this. Traci, thanks so much fortaking the time with us today.
Traci Harrell (01:00):
The SUCCESS Coaching Podcast, let's do it!
Alyssa Stanley (01:04):
So why don't you start off to tell the audience
what you you would like them toknow, first off, then we'll
start digging a little bitdeeper. But who's Traci right
now?
Traci Harrell (01:15):
So Traci is someone who has, I don't know
people say this, and I'm gonnasay it. And I really mean I'm
living my best life. That meansis if you ever heard that term,
iki guy where they talk about aJapanese term. It's really about
how do you live your best life.
And when you find what you loveto do, people see and you've
heard this concept, but you loveto do what you do well, where
there's a need in the universe.
(01:36):
And where you can get paid thosefour intersecting circles in
life is really where you'reliving your best life. So I'm
actually got three of the fourcircles Dahmen at 100%. So I'm
doing what I love I'm doing Iknow for 100% confident with
100% confidence. I'm doing whatI was meant to do what I was put
on this earth to do. I do itwell, people like me, I'm like
(01:58):
Kabbalah and it's fun. And it'shigh energy. So. So I'm doing
what I love to do, I'm doingwhat, where there's a need in
the universe. And so part ofwhat I do is helping people to
live their best life, that'spart of it. The other half is
really focused on this conceptof leadership in the area of
diversity and inclusion. Sohelping people to live their
best life and being optimized inthat area to be the connected.
(02:21):
But those are the two focusareas that I'm that I'm thriving
in right now in the fourthcircle, which I'm not thriving
is is I haven't been a coach. Sowhen I saw the call to coach,
turn your coaching into abusiness with one of yours
challenges. I'm like, I got beendoing this for free, because I
feel like I have some level ofaccountability to take the
(02:42):
things I've learned in corporateAmerica apply them to this
social challenge that we're alltrying to figure out. It's
actually not as complex as youthink. And so for me, it's like,
Yes, I have a coach, and I'mdoing some coaching now. And
it's like, yes, the will I knowfor a fact the world meets what
I what I offer, but I've beengiving it away for free because
I wanted so many people to haveaccess. But the truth is, but
you guys taught me as being acoach, especially being a
(03:04):
certified coach, which I'm allin to this certification with
success is really how you getpeople to invest in themselves
to invest in a process to trulyinvest in change. So you guys
are my people.
Todd Foster (03:18):
I have a question for you. So you are animated,
you're active, you're energetic.
You're passionate about certainthings in life, that sort of
young age or when did thatactually kick into Tracy?
Traci Harrell (03:29):
Oh my God, I wish I could get up and go show you.
First grade Traci, she'sadorable. So I actually did a
lot. I do live podcast as wellcalled bigger than me. And on my
last show, I actually showed apicture of first grade Traci,
and I am an internationally bestselling author who's contributed
three books. And I'm telling youthat because in the last book
called Ignite possibilities, Iintroduced first grade Tracy,
(03:52):
she was a flower child.
absolutely confident,courageous, super happy love
flowers and birds. I still do.
But yes, I would have to say Iwas blessed with this kind of
inner knowing. Again, I'm abusiness woman who's worked 25
years in corporate America, butsomeone told me when I was
(04:13):
younger, that I was you know,divine, the child of the Divine,
the creator of the universe. I'mlike, how cool is that? If you
have that type of inner knowing,it's kind of hard. What are you
worried about? Like, where'sthere any any energy to not
thrive? So I would say yes, I'vebeen pretty blessed. Some people
think I'm ridiculouslyoptimistic. And I think that's
(04:34):
my charm. So yes, I embracethat.
Todd Foster (04:38):
That's awesome. So you were 10 years old, or six
years old in first grade, Iguess or, or you could have been
three years old with youreducation. It sounds like and so
just for everyone to know thatTraci has two master's degrees.
She's done all sorts of thingswith corporate work. The thing
I'd like to really touch on isyour time at Disney because many
people talk about Disney beingthis cultural icon right where
(04:59):
they have people come in andthey have standards which are
really high and provides anexperience that many people will
pay lots and lots and lots ofmoney to attend not just the
theme park, yet also theirDisney University, or Disney
College, call it can you tell usa little bit about what your
experience was with the DisneyCorporation?
Traci Harrell (05:18):
I can. And let me just start by saying, I'm a
Florida girl. So I was born inFlorida, I went to school at the
University of Florida, we I grewup relatively poor. So I never
really went to Disney. I don'trecall growing up going to
Disney. But I knew of Disney andmaybe I went once or something
as as a young child, I justthink I went for grad night. So
(05:40):
in high school, something likethat, but it was not accessible
to me as a child. And so myfirst job out of college was
with IBM, and I worked in NewYork and North Carolina, Mexico
City, Rio, Brazil, then I cameback to Florida and work in
South Florida as well. So andthen, my dad got sick in
(06:00):
Florida. So that's when I movedback to Florida and started with
Disney. And that was kind of adream job. And it was it was a
family issue where I left livingon the beach and Rio, I heard my
father had colon cancer. And Ithought, well, clearly I need to
be closer to home. So I moved toDisney, and I moved back to
Florida. And I went to theconference called the National
Black MBA AssociationConference, and got a job within
(06:25):
I don't know, it was probablythere for a couple of weeks,
like it was a divine connection.
And so I started with Disney andfinance, which is the original
degree my undergraduate degree.
And Disney is not a Mickey Mouseoperation. Let me just say that
they are it's all about data andtechnology. And at IBM, when I
joined, you know, my firstcorporate job. It was a 92. And
(06:51):
they were moving from Big Blue,to a whole new shade of blue is
what they called it. And so mybrain was being tuned from this
mat, you know, this, this thistop five, you know, organization
on the s&p 500, to anorganization who is now focused
on solutioning. And partneringand conducting. So my first job
and my brain was kind of wiredaround solutions and
(07:13):
collaboration and connectivity.
So I brought that into Disney asif they needed that, right?
Because Disney had this level ofpassion around customer service.
So if you combine that DisneyExperience of solutioning,
optimizing, working togetherpartnering with the Disney
Magic, it is all about themagic, right? It's all about,
you know, how do you Disney wasabout the term I would use to
(07:35):
summarize Disney was surpriseand delight. If you had
expectations about what yourDisney experience was going to
be, they want it to surprise youand delight you and exceed your
expectations, which is all aboutkind of how my mentality is as
well. So My Disney Experiencewas amazing. I can stop talking
until you tell you more. But itwas amazing.
Todd Foster (07:54):
You were very happy at Disney, you enjoyed what
you're doing yet, then it lookslike you're offered other
opportunities. So what was theexperience? Like because you
love Disney loved experiences?
Was that a tough choice or atough decision to say, hey, you
know what? I'm leaving? Why? No,I've done this for what five or
so years
Traci Harrell (08:11):
14. So let me be clear. I was at Disney for at
IBM for eight years, at Disneyfor 14. So I had a number of
different roles at Disney again,not a Mickey Mouse operation
very corporate in nature. So Istarted in finance, forecast and
planning team then I was part ofa special project, which we
(08:31):
designed a new forecast andplanning system for the entire
Disney enterprise. So there wasa three person team there was
one person in charge of theparks, one person in charge of
the resorts, and little Traciwas in charge of everything
else. So marketing operations,you know, sports, etc. Because
my brain like was able toconnect all this information. We
had to understand the businessesand create a financial system
(08:54):
that would work for parksresorts and everything else. And
amazing opportunity, verytechnology oriented, but also
very much about listening. Youguys talk a lot about active
listening as a coach. And sothat worked for me as a coach.
Everything I did was I felt likeI was a coach every day at
Disney. Right. So I also was aleader of leaders. After that
(09:14):
role, I worked in marketingtechnology sales strategy, I met
the Sumur, one of the travelindustry marketing teams, within
a call center that I was part oftheir consumer insights or the
research team. That was the lastrole I had and when they were
doing the super secret, somesuper secret projects like the
Disney band related to all thetechnology getting Disney is a
(09:37):
high technology, amazing companyfocused on exceeding
expectations but also beingleading edge and technology and
processing. Really that idea ofcoaching. It's always been key
to the work that made mesuccessful. So I think I'm a
coach and you know, my core andI left Disney after 14 years.
And there was an opportunity atMicrosoft once again through the
(09:58):
National Black MBA. AssociationConference, which happened to be
in Houston that that year, and Iwas visiting a friend for her
wedding. And so I wasn't lookingfor a job. But it was like, you
know, just Microsoft I could, Icould explore an opportunity
with Microsoft, and so met themost amazing gentlemen. Fred
Jordan was his name. And therewas an immediate connection. And
(10:20):
what I loved about it is heoffered to coach me, I was like
the, you know, the leader ofleaders. I was president at
Disney, which at the time, wasthe largest single source,
single site, employer in thenation. And I was president of
their diversity resource groupcalled Pulse P UL s. E, people
united to lead serve in Excel.
So I was leading things like Iwas I was a leader, and this guy
(10:43):
actually said he would coach me,he said, I want to he wanted to
be my Sherpa. Who doesn't wantto serve by that's the term I
use now, when I'm helpingpeople. So I've been coaching
people and leading people. Andnow I had someone who said, I
would coach you. Honestly, thatwas my job. Full disclosure.
When you said coach, goodcoaches need coaches. I knew
that, but I wasn't gettingcoached at Disney. Not that
(11:03):
there was anything wrong withthat, because people were
looking to me to be the coach.
Great. But I needed to becoached. And there were a lot of
project managers and projectmanagement roles at Disney. So I
thought, This sounds like astretch opportunity for me, like
maybe someone could pour intome. And so I really went
following this cool dude, FredJordan, who said, I'll be your
(11:27):
Sherpa. And I moved fromFlorida, which is the furthest
south east corner of the US toSeattle, which is the furthest
northwest corner of the US. Andit was it's been an it was an
amazing experience as well. Butit wasn't a leap. It wasn't I
wasn't afraid. After the firstinterview, I called my honeymoon
said, hey, when I get a job atDisney, at Microsoft, or you
come with me to Seattle, it'sit's ideal. Had no question that
(11:50):
I was going to get the job. Itwas just perfect timing. And it
wasn't a question because Ineeded to be coached. But I knew
I was also a resource to helpcoach up.
Kelley Skar (12:01):
Was it you wanting to focus on leadership, then
moving moving forward into youryour current role. Is it based
on on your, you know, pastexperiences in leading, you
know, organizations? Or do youfeel like there's a need for a,
like a rebranding of source interms of leadership in North
America specifically, both isand I guess, is that what your
(12:22):
focus is? Is that what you're isthat where you're trying to
accomplish?
Traci Harrell (12:25):
Yes, I'm gonna say both. And yes, and both of
those answers are correct. Sobecause I had cumulatively, I
have now 20, over 25 years ofexperience in corporate America,
eight years at IBM, 14 years atDisney five years at Microsoft,
I won't do like a spoiler alert.
But what I wrote about when Ileft Microsoft, what I wrote
about was, that'll be we'll talkabout that. And, Tracy, podcast
(12:48):
number two, we'll go into somedetails on that. But to stay
focused on your question, I hadamazing leaders that were that
poured into me and I got to pourinto others and into other
communities. I mentioned theNational Black MBA Association
twice. And I mentioned itbecause I'm currently the
president of the National BlackM V, A Association, I say MBA
(13:11):
for Masters in BusinessAdministration, not NBA because
I don't have a hoop game. But mybrain is my best asset. And I
say that because there's 42chapters around the country. I'm
president of the Seattlechapter, the Seattle Tacoma
Portland chapter, basically, wehave a pretty broad reach. And
as a leader of thatorganization, there was some
(13:31):
some energy that I was expendingbeing also part of, in
Microsoft, part of the blacks atMicrosoft leadership team. These
are volunteer job roles, part ofthe women and operations
leadership team volunteer role,again, leader of leaders, and
then being president of theNational Black MBA Association.
And so Microsoft had amazingleaders has amazing leaders,
(13:53):
again, one of some of my dearestfriends are still there. But my
level of responsibility and myobligation as a leader in both
roles, right, was that, oh, boy,there's work that needs to still
happen internally as it relatesto equity and inclusion. My
leadership team was all in. Istarted doing some additional
training as president of theNational Black MBA as part of
(14:15):
the blacks at Microsoftleadership team, as the black
woman in America trying to dothe right thing, right, whatever
you want to call it, right? As acoach, by trade, realizing that
I could make a difference. So mycoaching and my leadership was
called, internally what's calledthe adaptive leadership, Equity
and Inclusion Initiative. And itwas like, Hey, we're saying all
these great things, but thelived experience for some
(14:37):
people, right? It's not alignedwith what we're saying, but we
can get there. Here's how we cando it. You know, I'm all
positive you don't care. Youknow? People loved it, because
it was the right thing to dowhen when when the truth speaks
to your hearts. Anything ispossible like when you take the
next right action, so I was in aplace to coach and to lead into
train as a leader because toyour point, there needs to be a
(15:00):
different conversation aroundleadership. And adaptive
leadership is about systemschange. So it wasn't about what
any one person was doing, it wasabout the system that we were
all a part of. So we're all partof a system that we want to
change, we have to firstacknowledge that we're complicit
in the process, right, good, badand ugly, which means we're also
complicit and able to drivechange in the process. So that
was the work I was doing withinthe organization. And it was
(15:23):
because I'm a natural leader, anatural coach. But people also
wanted to change, they wantedthe work to happen. And they
were saying all the rightthings. And my goal was to as a
leader, I think you guys talkedabout accountability. You can't
say one thing and let the livedexperience or your actions to
not align with that, like,physically, I couldn't, that was
not an option for me. And so asa recruiter of people into the
(15:45):
National Black, enter, throughthe National Black MBA
Association, into Microsoft, Ihad a personal responsibility
when people would shareexperiences to help make things
better. And again, because allparties were complicit, they
were also all involved. And so Iwas being successful, to a
certain extent up to a certainpoint, actually able to make
(16:08):
change. So that's what reallygot me excited and kept me
excited for a while.
Kelley Skar (16:13):
What is so based on your experience, and what you've
seen, what what do you see isone of the, the the biggest
mistakes that leaders maketoday.
Traci Harrell (16:21):
So as relates to leadership, I would say
especially now, we have toacknowledge where we are. And
you all said this in thecoaching sessions as well, being
really clear about where we are.
So we're in the middle of apandemic. So acknowledging that
people's lives have beendisrupted, some more than
others. And so it's trying tocontinue things as they were in
the middle of a pandemic, isproblem number one. So kind of
(16:43):
acknowledging that you can'tjust move forward through
current state. Number two isreally acknowledging and being
more aware that Zoom calls,right, when we do these
communities, Zoom calls, I thinkthey're amazing. But one of you
all said on your coaching in ourcoaching session today, I like
to see people face to face and Ialso like to connect with people
one on one, so making sure thatthey take the time to also
(17:05):
connect with individuals, one onone, oftentimes, people are not
willing to say, you know, Xoomcall is probably being recorded,
but 20 people on the call foryour team, what they're really
thinking. So I think there'sbeen a lot of disconnection, a
lot of lack of connectivity, youknow, with with people that you
are responsible for supporting,right. And I think the other
(17:27):
thing is looking beyondyourself. So my, my company is
called, it's all bigger than meconsulting. When I first left
Microsoft, I started it's allbigger than me ministry, because
it was like a ministry of themind. I'm like, Guys, we can,
like we can change things. Andso bigger than me is the name of
my podcast, bigger than me withTracy Herrera. So really, I
think a big problem is peoplenot realizing that, that it's
(17:48):
bigger than them. Like, it's notjust about you, as an
individual. You know, puttingout that one widget, that might
be your thing in business. Ithink as an organization, you're
part of a system and you're partof a structures, I think,
looking at the work that you doin a more systemic way,
realizing that you're part ofthe solution, and being able to
think bigger than themselveswould be item number three.
Voiceover (18:14):
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Todd Foster (18:21):
It sounds like I need a flowchart for everything.
I mean, I'm a visual guy. 14spreadsheets. Yeah, so you will
find out keep track of this. Soyou have a lot of success, your
life and you're definitely happyand you love life. And I'm
assuming you've had somefailures at some point, too.
Yes. Could you share with one ofthose failures that you had that
you actually learned more fromfailing than you did from
(18:42):
succeeding?
Traci Harrell (18:43):
I can't, and I can't wait for session number
two, because I'm gonna have mybooks, which I normally keep
right here. But like I said, Itook them to the podcast this
past Sunday, I haven't broughtabout so I was fired from
Microsoft, people will considergetting fired a failure. It was
the happiest day of my life. Iwrote about it in the book
called Ignite happiness. Andwhat was so cool about that is I
(19:05):
wrote what I wrote in the book,just to two minutes summary is
that when I was younger, Ilearned about like this value by
values, right? And there wasthis whole bigger than me
concept in my head all along.
Like, you know, I knew that Iwas meant to do something great
in this world. I knew at somepoint in my life, I'd be in this
iki guy moment where I was doingwhat I loved doing were, you
know, doing work that was neededin the world and where I could
(19:26):
get paid to do it. And so fastforward to the day I got fired.
It was the day after had justdone this amazing adaptive
leadership Equity and Inclusionsession where people from around
the company was saying, oh, youshould be doing this for a
living. That was amazing. I'mlike, I know. Like, thank you
that I know that I was great,but I know this for a living.
(19:47):
But I really liked the comfortof having my check arrived in my
bank account. Every week, everybi weekly like there was
something coming when you'repoor. The last thing You want it
to be poor again? Right? And soI've been successful, thank God,
there's some divineintervention. I was did well in
school without trying too hard.
(20:11):
I'm thankful for that. I didwell, at IBM, I did well at
Disney, I was doing well atMicrosoft, I did submit a, what
do you call accommodationsrequest? So it was more like I
was willing to put my well beingon the line for my people for
the process. So if you say onething, and that means we
(20:32):
actually have to do this thing,or, you know, where's the fun
in? Like, where's the? Where'sthe? Where's the fun in it?
Right? So my show, so for me, itwas like fighting a corporate
bully. And I only use thatterminology, not that Microsoft
was bad. No, Microsoft was awonderful leaders are amazing.
But it's the system that we'reall dealing with no matter what
company it is, you can be asgreat and have as many awesome
(20:54):
leaders. If you're not willingto go deeper at a systemic level
and say, what are the elementsthat are? What are the what are
the challenges that might bethat I might be complicit with?
Or in this process, what can wedo to drive changes. So for me,
I wrote about the first time Iprotected a girl that was about
to be bullied on the bus, andI've been bullied for years. But
you know, but when someone wasgonna bully, this other girl who
(21:15):
was new, I didn't even know hername. But I was just like, you
know, enough is enough. And Idescribed in that story, how I
got off the bus. So I can'tremember the details of it. But
I got beat up. But as I wasgetting ready for I was feeling
super good about myself becausethe value was in standing up for
what was right. And so as I gotfired from Microsoft, halfway
through the session, right,halfway through my firing
(21:37):
session, as I said, all Iremember from the fight was this
girl hitting me in the face. Andmy mouth filled with like blood,
it was like this warm blood thatfilled my mouth. And I looked
down, and I guess I had on awhite shirt or light shirt, and
it was blood on my shirt. But Iremember my mouth feeling
filling with, you know,something liquid, right? Tears,
probably. There's a lot going onin that moment. So when I was
(22:00):
when I was getting fired atMicrosoft, halfway through the
session, I literally heard thisdivine voice say it's bigger
than you. And I was like, Thankyou literally smiled to the
second half of getting fired. Iliterally hug one of the ladies
on my way out. I was like, oh mygod, I said, we didn't want to
happen. I said, You I said, Doyou believe in divine
intervention? And she said, Yes.
And I was like, this is thatmoment for me. Like, I just
(22:21):
remember, this is bigger than
Alyssa Stanley (22:23):
Compound component of what you've talked
me.
about with being a good leaderand a strong leader is you never
ask your people to do anythingyou're not willing to do
exactly. And Tracy, you know,like, I believe in divine
intervention. But girl, you haveworked your tail off, you have
done everything from the bottomup, that as a leader, you would
(22:46):
ask your people to do can't doit any other way. And that has
to have contributed to yourstrength as a leader.
Traci Harrell (22:53):
In some in some areas don't get too excited,
because in some areas, yes. Likethis was a no brainer for me
like this was like, I'mpresident of the National Black
MBA Association, Seattlechapter, which is part of
recruiting in the year beforethat, I did this, like major
push on Microsoft wasrepresented at the National
Conference with this amazingleader, the senior black female
(23:15):
leader was there and we had allthese booths and all these
sessions. And it was amazing.
And it was great the year prior.
But again, that was my internalenergy saying, Guys, if we say
this, then we should be a partof this thing. And they were and
it was great. Again, let me beclear, Microsoft is an amazing
company. If anyone is going tobe able to be a part of the
solution. It's going to beMicrosoft. So the leader who
(23:35):
fired me, I actually who wasactually the one who hired me,
I've actually reached out tohim. And he's like, Tracy, with
the work I'm doing. I'm like,I'm all in. He's like, I'm all
in. I said, Are you sure you'reall in India? He's like, I'm all
in. All in. So when I say theseare leaders and people who
recognize that, again, the bestthing they could have done is
fire me, because I wasn't Icouldn't. Oh, so the key part.
(23:56):
So what even though they weregiving me space to do this
training at a, like operationsteam was giving me space to do
this training, adaptiveleadership, equity and inclusion
initiative, that the new personthat came in from DNI, she was
from IBM. She had worked at IBMfor 30 years. So I know the IBM
culture again, I was in the new,you know, phase of IBM becoming,
(24:18):
you know, but if you've been infor 35 years, and you knew big
blue when Big Blue was big blue,right? So you knew that space,
and there's something about thatenergy. And so amazing lady,
Lindsey Ray, I think her day wasso amazing. We had some amazing
conversations, but new soeveryone's on a journey. They're
just at a different point in herin their journeys. And so when
Lindsey Ray came into Microsoftfrom Disney after being there
(24:41):
for 35 years what she said to melovingly and I'm so thankful for
you, Lindsay right and why MilanLA is, you know, I she said, I'm
Tracy I'm sure there's somepockets of Microsoft that are
ready for what you're doing thisbigger than me this this
adaptive leadership stuff. I'veonly heard good things, but
we're going back to the basicsnow. Back to the Basics means
(25:01):
we're ready to actually to, tothe things that we're saying,
basically, we need to go back tothe basics. So I can, you know,
we thank you, that was the bestthing she could have said and
done for me. And so we lovingly,lovingly, and she said all the
right things, like I said,everyone's at a different place.
I was just at a place in mypersonal life where I needed to
(25:22):
see change at a much, much morerapid space and a rapid, you
know, pace. And I even hadleaders come to me say, you
know, what's the worst thingwhen you tell someone who's so
smart? And you know, that, youknow, we're a big organization,
you know, it moves like thetech, like the Titanic, but like
a, you know, like a tanker,right? You're not making any
(25:42):
fast. You're not, you know,diving in between. It's a tanker
type move. And so, you know,it's the worst thing for us. And
I heard all the words, butnothing was slowing me down. As
you can see, I got a littleenergy on this topic. Nothing
was slowing me down. And Ireally couldn't hear it like I
needed to be fired. So peopleconsider firing a failure. It
was the happiest day of my life,best day of my life. Because I
(26:03):
went into, then I had to go intothis work around how can I make
the world a better place, likegrateful for what I had, I had
also saved money in my 401k.
I've now cashed in my 401k. AndI'm officially deficient when it
comes to financial, which is whyI say that that's the part of my
life that I'm amplifying now.
But I'm here to invest inmyself, I need to invest in my
community. So I came outstarting this podcast, which was
(26:26):
called bigger than me, thebigger bigger than me, right?
And so that work was huge. Itwas the failure turned into a
triumph, because it was like, Ihad to fight that corporate
bully Did I did I went no, as Isat down, I say, as I sat there
with the tears running down myface. I was like, I was just
like, I didn't win the battle,when I first thought my first
believe my first fight. I didn'twin the battle. But I definitely
(26:49):
won the war, right. Becauseinside, I knew that I had done
the right thing, right. And thesame thing happened. As I was
leaving Microsoft, it was like,Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,
for all I've learned. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you, for allthe amazing people that are
here. Thank you, thank you,thank you for being honest, that
you weren't ready to do thiswork at the level in the speed
that I was moving. Thank you forcutting me free, basically. So I
could go do some other things.
(27:10):
And so thank you, and thank you,thank you failure, you know,
being fired could be a failure,but it was the happiest day of
my life. And it allowed me tocreate content that was really
for others. So I was beencoaching to the universe on a
podcast.
Kelley Skar (27:22):
It really doesn't, it really doesn't sound like a
failure turrisi at all, likeyou. So I think, and I think the
reason why it doesn't sound likea failures is a couple of
different things. First off,people are not as blessed as you
to be able to have thatperspective in the middle of a
meeting where they're being letgo from a company, right? They
don't typically gain thatperspective, if they ever gain
(27:43):
that perspective, until, youknow, days later, weeks later,
months later, right? I you know,I've been fired from jobs. And
it took me years to realizethat, you know, the guy that
fired me from, you know, theshop position actually did me a
favor. And the funny thing is mybrother actually is now working
for that guy. And I told mybrother, hey, go thank that guy
for it. The next time you'retalking to him, tell him he did
(28:06):
me a favor, thank him for me,right? So years later, so you
have this perspective. So that Iguess that's probably why it
doesn't sound like a failure. SoI don't really, I don't know
that I fully accept yourexplanation that being fired
from fires for Microsoft is atrue failure for you, just
because of the perspective thatyou had the blessed perspective
(28:26):
that you had in middle of thatmeeting. Second, second to that
secondary to that is, you know,you also had the foresight to
really know exactly, maybe notexactly what you wanted to do,
but you knew exactly where yourstrengths were. Right. And you
knew that doubling down on yourstrengths, we're going to, you
(28:48):
know, as Gary, Gary Vaynerchuk,has said, this, you know, part
of self awareness is, isunderstanding what your
weaknesses aren't doubling downon your strengths. Right. And so
this is, you know, you're veryself aware individual, you have
this ability to be able to, youknow, take, you know, drain your
401k, double down on yourstrengths and push forward. So,
I'm gonna, I'm going to pushback just a little bit and say,
(29:08):
this probably wasn't a bigfailure for Tracy that you
absolutely, you had this divinein front intervention or
perspective, whatever you wantto call it. And then the self
awareness and ability to doubledown on on what it is that a
truly makes you happy and be,you know, the impact that you
can have on the world. Socongratulations to you.
Traci Harrell (29:26):
Thank you. And let me tell you, thank you. It's
good to I think you almost haveto claim the failure. I'm using
the word failure because beingfired isn't fun, right? And I
wanted to make sure people knewthat being fired is not the end
of the world. It could be thehappiest day of your life if you
allow it to be and so I gottasay it and put it out there
because I think people need toknow that it's possible and like
(29:47):
I said in the meeting, like Isaid, divine intervention, as
the tears filled my mouth.
Literally, I reflected back tothe first time I was fighting a
bully and those My mouth wasfilled with blood and it was it
was was so surreal. I justblacked out for a minute, I
think I don't think I even heardwhat they were saying at what
part of so I just like stuffthat like, thank you. Like, Wow,
is this really my life? Right?
(30:10):
They're like, yay. And so I satthere and just kind of wiped my
tears and was like, all rightnow what's the next part? Called
a friend of mine, I called twoladies who will testify that I
called him I said, Oh my god,ladies, you gotta go out with
Let's meet. Let's meet atthere's a place called Blue
bistro hits on the water, youget this beautiful view of
Bellevue from the Seattle side.
So it's gorgeous. So let's gomeet for lunch. I had no idea.
(30:33):
But I'm, I'm in celebration modeat this point, right? I'm like,
Let's go meet for lunch. Youhave to get this lady one of the
ladies. Her name is Kim Kim.
She's a white lady. The otherlady was a black lady. They both
worked at Boeing. And, um, and,and when I said, you know, I was
like, hey, so today is like Isaid, Remember how I talked
(30:55):
about I wanted to do some, youknow, coaching and I wanted to
do this work full time. Well,guess what, today I got the full
purpose approval to do that. Iwas like, I got laid off from
Microsoft. And so now I get tobla bla, bla, bla, bla, bla,
whatever those things are. Andthey're looking at me like she
having a breakdown. I didn'tknow this until later, they were
smiling. They're verysupportive. But they told me
like months later, they werelike, we weren't quite sure if
(31:18):
you were going to have abreakdown later, you were very
positive in the moment, but theyweren't really sure what was
happening. And I was like, Thankyou for supporting me, I didn't
know that there was any doubt ontheir part. But yeah, it was
pretty exciting. And thenfailure was just just just to
clarify real quick, the failurepart, I only use that I have to
use that word, because I didinvest in myself for X number of
(31:40):
years. In October, I couldn'tpay my rent. Like I just started
coaching for dollars this month,like I just got those dollars.
And so I'm not gonna call it afailure per se, but financially
to go from the My biggest fear,which I talked about in book
number one, I think it was, was,you know, being homeless, well,
not being able to pay your rentis freaking homeless, right. So,
(32:03):
to me five minutes from beinghomeless is a problem, clearly,
and I wasn't ready to like makethat switch, if that makes
sense. I was on unemployment fora while the unemployment stopped
early was supposed to go throughNovember, it stopped in
September, I was you know,living paycheck to paycheck, I
live in unemployment, check theunemployment check for a while,
and, and I was doing work forfree for everyone because I
(32:26):
wanted to change the world forfree. And what I realize is that
November timeline, justtimeline, I was working toward
November, it ended early, but Iwas able to get the check
starting in November, like Ithought was gonna be the plan.
And so I'm not, you know, I'mnot homeless now. But it was it
was, you know, clearly facing mylast fear, which getting fired
(32:47):
was pretty high on the list,because I never really fit in,
right, like, I'm always darkercolor louder. smarter, honestly,
in a lot of cases. But that's awhole nother story. So you don't
actually fit in, there's alwaysthis back of your mind, fear
that you might get, you know,you might not fit in, you know,
I mean, the whole point of humanexistence is being in tribes
(33:07):
together and being on a teametc. So, you know, being not
fitting in was kind of achallenge, always in the back of
my mind, but also beingcomfortable being as authentic
as I can, while also fitting inthere was always that for me, so
I got to face my fear of notfitting in and getting fired, it
was like, Okay, those aren'tyour people anymore, but you can
find your people. So, which iswhy when I say I sat in a class
(33:28):
with you all just a few daysago, it was like, these are some
more of my people I fit here,you don't have to fit
everywhere, but I fit withpeople who are high integrity,
will hold me accountable for medoing the right thing and help
and help to elevate my game. Sofinancially, again, that's the
area of my life that I'm focusedon right now. But this is gonna
be a million dollar year. Forme, I'm like, already, I've
(33:50):
already seen that too. So I'mnot concerned about and I'm
gonna still be able to do tonsof stuff for free. And to create
this bigger movement, amessaging around what it takes
to truly be inclusive. It'sreally not as complex as I think
a lot of people make it.
Alyssa Stanley (34:03):
So I'm gonna counter Kelley here for a
second, where he said that thismight not be a failure, coming
for you, Kelley. So I firmlybelieve that failure is a choice
things that happen to you mightbe out of your control, but
failure is a choice. So when youwere sitting in that boardroom
and you got fired, you had fiveseconds, five minutes, 10
(34:23):
minutes in your heart where youmight have felt failure, but
then you decided to make achoice or divine intervention or
whatnot, to transfer that fromfailure to opportunity. So
whether or not you failed forthree years, or whether or not
you failed for 10 minutes,failure is a choice. So I think
(34:45):
I think that could be considereda failure. She just didn't fail
for very long.
Traci Harrell (34:48):
I like her. I'm down with I like that. You
comfortable Kelley with thacompromise?
Kelley Skar (34:57):
Yeah, you know w at, I think we're actually sayi
g the same thing. If I I'm honst, I mean, it's you know, it'
this is all perspective, riht? I mean, you can, you can
ither choose whether you're failng in that moment or choose w
ether there's opportunity ithat moment. So, you know, it's
it's, it all matters in the choce in which which road you dec
de to take, like, as an exampe, my brother who got hired by t
(35:18):
e guy that fired me like yeas and years and years ag
, was actually fired by, you kow, a fairly large constructi
n guy like there, finning is thname of the company, he's a mec
anic, and, and so he was like,o buy them, and he, he's still
eally upset. You know, I can justell by talking to him and seei
g the Facebook posts and stuf, but he's sitting in that,
(35:39):
ight, he's sitting in that yet halso got hired on by this c
mpany that I was employed by, anhe's making like seven or $8
extra per hour, right? And it'slike, hold on a second, like, w
y are you sitting in all of thiself loathing in this this ne
ative environment? Why arent you embracing what's, you kno
, the true positivity, that'this happened to you here in th
last couple of weeks, you kno, you got a big buyout fro
(36:00):
that company, you're now woking, making $8 more per hou
, you know, than you were bfore. Like, there's so many pos
tives to but he chose to go negtive, you know, unfortunately,
and I think it ultimately itcomes down to a matter of perspe
tive. And so I hope for him tat he gains that that same persp
ctive that you found within, youknow, halfway through your me
ting, hopefully, it doesn't tae him as long as it took me t
(36:22):
gain that perspective, you kow, a couple of years or whatno
. But yeah, I think this I thinkwe're kind of saying the same
hing. Todd, why don't you jump ihere and be our modera
Todd Foster (36:31):
I agree with both f you. I think all three of you
re corre
Kelley Skar (36:33):
And there you go.
Alyssa Stanley (36:35):
I'm not coming for you, Kelley. Be a littl
intimidating
Kelley Skar (36:42):
Alright, well, why don't we hold that thought,
guys? You know, I think we'vehad an amazing conversation. So
far. This has been, you know,probably one of the funnest,
Todd, you nailed it earlier onthat saying that this is
probably going to be the funnestshow that we've shot outside of
the Ben Fairfield show. I mean,I think this is actually funner
than Ben Fairfield I think tat's exactly what you said. B
t anyways, let's let's leave iright there. Let's jump into yo
(37:05):
know, the bad days and the chidhood and all that kind of stuf
. Let's do that on part two ofhe Traci Harrell interview. How
oes that sound?
Traci Harrell (37:14):
Thank you for having me. I'm so excited.
Voiceover (37:17):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the SUCCESS
Coaching Podcast. If you'veenjoyed this episode, please
follow or subscribe to theSUCCESS Coaching Podcast at your
favorite podcast provider. Forspecial access to past
recordings, videos of pastepisodes and more. Please become
a SUCCESS Coaching PodcastCompanion at www.successcoach
(37:38):
ngpodcast.c
Welcome to the SUCCESS Coaching Podcast. On
today's episode, our guest TraciHarrell shares her own personal
journey to success. Becausesuccess is a journey, not a
destination. Here's the hosts ofthe SUCCESS Coaching Podcast,
Todd Foster, Alyssa Stanley andKelley Skar.
Alyssa Stanley (00:26):
Welcome to this SUCCESS Coaching Podcast. My
name is Alyssa Stanley and I amhere with Kelley Skar and Todd
Foster my co hosts. And I'm soexcited to bring you a woman
that I met just recently in oneof our SUCCESS Coaching
challenges, Traci Harrell,you're gonna love her, you guys
she is outwardly expressing shelives her best life and she 100%
(00:51):
puts everything out in thisworld to make it a better place
to tune in, put your earbuds in,you're not gonna want to miss
this. Traci, thanks so much fortaking the time with us today.
Traci Harrell (01:00):
The SUCCESS Coaching Podcast, let's do it!
Alyssa Stanley (01:04):
So why don't you start off to tell the audience
what you you would like them toknow, first off, then we'll
start digging a little bitdeeper. But who's Traci right
now?
Traci Harrell (01:15):
So Traci is someone who has, I don't know
people say this, and I'm gonnasay it. And I really mean I'm
living my best life. That meansis if you ever heard that term,
iki guy where they talk about aJapanese term. It's really about
how do you live your best life.
And when you find what you loveto do, people see and you've
heard this concept, but you loveto do what you do well, where
there's a need in the universe.
(01:36):
And where you can get paid thosefour intersecting circles in
life is really where you'reliving your best life. So I'm
actually got three of the fourcircles Dahmen at 100%. So I'm
doing what I love I'm doing Iknow for 100% confident with
100% confidence. I'm doing whatI was meant to do what I was put
on this earth to do. I do itwell, people like me, I'm like
(01:58):
Kabbalah and it's fun. And it'shigh energy. So. So I'm doing
what I love to do, I'm doingwhat, where there's a need in
the universe. And so part ofwhat I do is helping people to
live their best life, that'spart of it. The other half is
really focused on this conceptof leadership in the area of
diversity and inclusion. Sohelping people to live their
best life and being optimized inthat area to be the connected.
(02:21):
But those are the two focusareas that I'm that I'm thriving
in right now in the fourthcircle, which I'm not thriving
is is I haven't been a coach. Sowhen I saw the call to coach,
turn your coaching into abusiness with one of yours
challenges. I'm like, I got beendoing this for free, because I
feel like I have some level ofaccountability to take the
(02:42):
things I've learned in corporateAmerica apply them to this
social challenge that we're alltrying to figure out. It's
actually not as complex as youthink. And so for me, it's like,
Yes, I have a coach, and I'mdoing some coaching now. And
it's like, yes, the will I knowfor a fact the world meets what
I what I offer, but I've beengiving it away for free because
I wanted so many people to haveaccess. But the truth is, but
you guys taught me as being acoach, especially being a
(03:04):
certified coach, which I'm allin to this certification with
success is really how you getpeople to invest in themselves
to invest in a process to trulyinvest in change. So you guys
are my people.
Todd Foster (03:18):
I have a question for you. So you are animated,
you're active, you're energetic.
You're passionate about certainthings in life, that sort of
young age or when did thatactually kick into Tracy?
Traci Harrell (03:29):
Oh my God, I wish I could get up and go show you.
First grade Traci, she'sadorable. So I actually did a
lot. I do live podcast as wellcalled bigger than me. And on my
last show, I actually showed apicture of first grade Traci,
and I am an internationally bestselling author who's contributed
three books. And I'm telling youthat because in the last book
called Ignite possibilities, Iintroduced first grade Tracy,
(03:52):
she was a flower child.
absolutely confident,courageous, super happy love
flowers and birds. I still do.
But yes, I would have to say Iwas blessed with this kind of
inner knowing. Again, I'm abusiness woman who's worked 25
years in corporate America, butsomeone told me when I was
(04:13):
younger, that I was you know,divine, the child of the Divine,
the creator of the universe. I'mlike, how cool is that? If you
have that type of inner knowing,it's kind of hard. What are you
worried about? Like, where'sthere any any energy to not
thrive? So I would say yes, I'vebeen pretty blessed. Some people
think I'm ridiculouslyoptimistic. And I think that's
(04:34):
my charm. So yes, I embracethat.
Todd Foster (04:38):
That's awesome. So you were 10 years old, or six
years old in first grade, Iguess or, or you could have been
three years old with youreducation. It sounds like and so
just for everyone to know thatTraci has two master's degrees.
She's done all sorts of thingswith corporate work. The thing
I'd like to really touch on isyour time at Disney because many
people talk about Disney beingthis cultural icon right where
(04:59):
they have people come in andthey have standards which are
really high and provides anexperience that many people will
pay lots and lots and lots ofmoney to attend not just the
theme park, yet also theirDisney University, or Disney
College, call it can you tell usa little bit about what your
experience was with the DisneyCorporation?
Traci Harrell (05:18):
I can. And let me just start by saying, I'm a
Florida girl. So I was born inFlorida, I went to school at the
University of Florida, we I grewup relatively poor. So I never
really went to Disney. I don'trecall growing up going to
Disney. But I knew of Disney andmaybe I went once or something
as as a young child, I justthink I went for grad night. So
(05:40):
in high school, something likethat, but it was not accessible
to me as a child. And so myfirst job out of college was
with IBM, and I worked in NewYork and North Carolina, Mexico
City, Rio, Brazil, then I cameback to Florida and work in
South Florida as well. So andthen, my dad got sick in
(06:00):
Florida. So that's when I movedback to Florida and started with
Disney. And that was kind of adream job. And it was it was a
family issue where I left livingon the beach and Rio, I heard my
father had colon cancer. And Ithought, well, clearly I need to
be closer to home. So I moved toDisney, and I moved back to
Florida. And I went to theconference called the National
Black MBA AssociationConference, and got a job within
(06:25):
I don't know, it was probablythere for a couple of weeks,
like it was a divine connection.
And so I started with Disney andfinance, which is the original
degree my undergraduate degree.
And Disney is not a Mickey Mouseoperation. Let me just say that
they are it's all about data andtechnology. And at IBM, when I
joined, you know, my firstcorporate job. It was a 92. And
(06:51):
they were moving from Big Blue,to a whole new shade of blue is
what they called it. And so mybrain was being tuned from this
mat, you know, this, this thistop five, you know, organization
on the s&p 500, to anorganization who is now focused
on solutioning. And partneringand conducting. So my first job
and my brain was kind of wiredaround solutions and
(07:13):
collaboration and connectivity.
So I brought that into Disney asif they needed that, right?
Because Disney had this level ofpassion around customer service.
So if you combine that DisneyExperience of solutioning,
optimizing, working togetherpartnering with the Disney
Magic, it is all about themagic, right? It's all about,
you know, how do you Disney wasabout the term I would use to
(07:35):
summarize Disney was surpriseand delight. If you had
expectations about what yourDisney experience was going to
be, they want it to surprise youand delight you and exceed your
expectations, which is all aboutkind of how my mentality is as
well. So My Disney Experiencewas amazing. I can stop talking
until you tell you more. But itwas amazing.
Todd Foster (07:54):
You were very happy at Disney, you enjoyed what
you're doing yet, then it lookslike you're offered other
opportunities. So what was theexperience? Like because you
love Disney loved experiences?
Was that a tough choice or atough decision to say, hey, you
know what? I'm leaving? Why? No,I've done this for what five or
so years
Traci Harrell (08:11):
14. So let me be clear. I was at Disney for at
IBM for eight years, at Disneyfor 14. So I had a number of
different roles at Disney again,not a Mickey Mouse operation
very corporate in nature. So Istarted in finance, forecast and
planning team then I was part ofa special project, which we
(08:31):
designed a new forecast andplanning system for the entire
Disney enterprise. So there wasa three person team there was
one person in charge of theparks, one person in charge of
the resorts, and little Traciwas in charge of everything
else. So marketing operations,you know, sports, etc. Because
my brain like was able toconnect all this information. We
had to understand the businessesand create a financial system
(08:54):
that would work for parksresorts and everything else. And
amazing opportunity, verytechnology oriented, but also
very much about listening. Youguys talk a lot about active
listening as a coach. And sothat worked for me as a coach.
Everything I did was I felt likeI was a coach every day at
Disney. Right. So I also was aleader of leaders. After that
(09:14):
role, I worked in marketingtechnology sales strategy, I met
the Sumur, one of the travelindustry marketing teams, within
a call center that I was part oftheir consumer insights or the
research team. That was the lastrole I had and when they were
doing the super secret, somesuper secret projects like the
Disney band related to all thetechnology getting Disney is a
(09:37):
high technology, amazing companyfocused on exceeding
expectations but also beingleading edge and technology and
processing. Really that idea ofcoaching. It's always been key
to the work that made mesuccessful. So I think I'm a
coach and you know, my core andI left Disney after 14 years.
And there was an opportunity atMicrosoft once again through the
(09:58):
National Black MBA. AssociationConference, which happened to be
in Houston that that year, and Iwas visiting a friend for her
wedding. And so I wasn't lookingfor a job. But it was like, you
know, just Microsoft I could, Icould explore an opportunity
with Microsoft, and so met themost amazing gentlemen. Fred
Jordan was his name. And therewas an immediate connection. And
(10:20):
what I loved about it is heoffered to coach me, I was like
the, you know, the leader ofleaders. I was president at
Disney, which at the time, wasthe largest single source,
single site, employer in thenation. And I was president of
their diversity resource groupcalled Pulse P UL s. E, people
united to lead serve in Excel.
So I was leading things like Iwas I was a leader, and this guy
(10:43):
actually said he would coach me,he said, I want to he wanted to
be my Sherpa. Who doesn't wantto serve by that's the term I
use now, when I'm helpingpeople. So I've been coaching
people and leading people. Andnow I had someone who said, I
would coach you. Honestly, thatwas my job. Full disclosure.
When you said coach, goodcoaches need coaches. I knew
that, but I wasn't gettingcoached at Disney. Not that
(11:03):
there was anything wrong withthat, because people were
looking to me to be the coach.
Great. But I needed to becoached. And there were a lot of
project managers and projectmanagement roles at Disney. So I
thought, This sounds like astretch opportunity for me, like
maybe someone could pour intome. And so I really went
following this cool dude, FredJordan, who said, I'll be your
(11:27):
Sherpa. And I moved fromFlorida, which is the furthest
south east corner of the US toSeattle, which is the furthest
northwest corner of the US. Andit was it's been an it was an
amazing experience as well. Butit wasn't a leap. It wasn't I
wasn't afraid. After the firstinterview, I called my honeymoon
said, hey, when I get a job atDisney, at Microsoft, or you
come with me to Seattle, it'sit's ideal. Had no question that
(11:50):
I was going to get the job. Itwas just perfect timing. And it
wasn't a question because Ineeded to be coached. But I knew
I was also a resource to helpcoach up.
Kelley Skar (12:01):
Was it you wanting to focus on leadership, then
moving moving forward into youryour current role. Is it based
on on your, you know, pastexperiences in leading, you
know, organizations? Or do youfeel like there's a need for a,
like a rebranding of source interms of leadership in North
America specifically, both isand I guess, is that what your
(12:22):
focus is? Is that what you're isthat where you're trying to
accomplish?
Traci Harrell (12:25):
Yes, I'm gonna say both. And yes, and both of
those answers are correct. Sobecause I had cumulatively, I
have now 20, over 25 years ofexperience in corporate America,
eight years at IBM, 14 years atDisney five years at Microsoft,
I won't do like a spoiler alert.
But what I wrote about when Ileft Microsoft, what I wrote
about was, that'll be we'll talkabout that. And, Tracy, podcast
(12:48):
number two, we'll go into somedetails on that. But to stay
focused on your question, I hadamazing leaders that were that
poured into me and I got to pourinto others and into other
communities. I mentioned theNational Black MBA Association
twice. And I mentioned itbecause I'm currently the
president of the National BlackM V, A Association, I say MBA
(13:11):
for Masters in BusinessAdministration, not NBA because
I don't have a hoop game. But mybrain is my best asset. And I
say that because there's 42chapters around the country. I'm
president of the Seattlechapter, the Seattle Tacoma
Portland chapter, basically, wehave a pretty broad reach. And
as a leader of thatorganization, there was some
(13:31):
some energy that I was expendingbeing also part of, in
Microsoft, part of the blacks atMicrosoft leadership team. These
are volunteer job roles, part ofthe women and operations
leadership team volunteer role,again, leader of leaders, and
then being president of theNational Black MBA Association.
And so Microsoft had amazingleaders has amazing leaders,
(13:53):
again, one of some of my dearestfriends are still there. But my
level of responsibility and myobligation as a leader in both
roles, right, was that, oh, boy,there's work that needs to still
happen internally as it relatesto equity and inclusion. My
leadership team was all in. Istarted doing some additional
training as president of theNational Black MBA as part of
(14:15):
the blacks at Microsoftleadership team, as the black
woman in America trying to dothe right thing, right, whatever
you want to call it, right? As acoach, by trade, realizing that
I could make a difference. So mycoaching and my leadership was
called, internally what's calledthe adaptive leadership, Equity
and Inclusion Initiative. And itwas like, Hey, we're saying all
these great things, but thelived experience for some
(14:37):
people, right? It's not alignedwith what we're saying, but we
can get there. Here's how we cando it. You know, I'm all
positive you don't care. Youknow? People loved it, because
it was the right thing to dowhen when when the truth speaks
to your hearts. Anything ispossible like when you take the
next right action, so I was in aplace to coach and to lead into
train as a leader because toyour point, there needs to be a
(15:00):
different conversation aroundleadership. And adaptive
leadership is about systemschange. So it wasn't about what
any one person was doing, it wasabout the system that we were
all a part of. So we're all partof a system that we want to
change, we have to firstacknowledge that we're complicit
in the process, right, good, badand ugly, which means we're also
complicit and able to drivechange in the process. So that
was the work I was doing withinthe organization. And it was
(15:23):
because I'm a natural leader, anatural coach. But people also
wanted to change, they wantedthe work to happen. And they
were saying all the rightthings. And my goal was to as a
leader, I think you guys talkedabout accountability. You can't
say one thing and let the livedexperience or your actions to
not align with that, like,physically, I couldn't, that was
not an option for me. And so asa recruiter of people into the
(15:45):
National Black, enter, throughthe National Black MBA
Association, into Microsoft, Ihad a personal responsibility
when people would shareexperiences to help make things
better. And again, because allparties were complicit, they
were also all involved. And so Iwas being successful, to a
certain extent up to a certainpoint, actually able to make
(16:08):
change. So that's what reallygot me excited and kept me
excited for a while.
Kelley Skar (16:13):
What is so based on your experience, and what you've
seen, what what do you see isone of the, the the biggest
mistakes that leaders maketoday.
Traci Harrell (16:21):
So as relates to leadership, I would say
especially now, we have toacknowledge where we are. And
you all said this in thecoaching sessions as well, being
really clear about where we are.
So we're in the middle of apandemic. So acknowledging that
people's lives have beendisrupted, some more than
others. And so it's trying tocontinue things as they were in
the middle of a pandemic, isproblem number one. So kind of
(16:43):
acknowledging that you can'tjust move forward through
current state. Number two isreally acknowledging and being
more aware that Zoom calls,right, when we do these
communities, Zoom calls, I thinkthey're amazing. But one of you
all said on your coaching in ourcoaching session today, I like
to see people face to face and Ialso like to connect with people
one on one, so making sure thatthey take the time to also
(17:05):
connect with individuals, one onone, oftentimes, people are not
willing to say, you know, Xoomcall is probably being recorded,
but 20 people on the call foryour team, what they're really
thinking. So I think there'sbeen a lot of disconnection, a
lot of lack of connectivity, youknow, with with people that you
are responsible for supporting,right. And I think the other
(17:27):
thing is looking beyondyourself. So my, my company is
called, it's all bigger than meconsulting. When I first left
Microsoft, I started it's allbigger than me ministry, because
it was like a ministry of themind. I'm like, Guys, we can,
like we can change things. Andso bigger than me is the name of
my podcast, bigger than me withTracy Herrera. So really, I
think a big problem is peoplenot realizing that, that it's
(17:48):
bigger than them. Like, it's notjust about you, as an
individual. You know, puttingout that one widget, that might
be your thing in business. Ithink as an organization, you're
part of a system and you're partof a structures, I think,
looking at the work that you doin a more systemic way,
realizing that you're part ofthe solution, and being able to
think bigger than themselveswould be item number three.
Voiceover (18:14):
If you're enjoying this episode, please rate,
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Todd Foster (18:21):
It sounds like I need a flowchart for everything.
I mean, I'm a visual guy. 14spreadsheets. Yeah, so you will
find out keep track of this. Soyou have a lot of success, your
life and you're definitely happyand you love life. And I'm
assuming you've had somefailures at some point, too.
Yes. Could you share with one ofthose failures that you had that
you actually learned more fromfailing than you did from
(18:42):
succeeding?
Traci Harrell (18:43):
I can't, and I can't wait for session number
two, because I'm gonna have mybooks, which I normally keep
right here. But like I said, Itook them to the podcast this
past Sunday, I haven't broughtabout so I was fired from
Microsoft, people will considergetting fired a failure. It was
the happiest day of my life. Iwrote about it in the book
called Ignite happiness. Andwhat was so cool about that is I
(19:05):
wrote what I wrote in the book,just to two minutes summary is
that when I was younger, Ilearned about like this value by
values, right? And there wasthis whole bigger than me
concept in my head all along.
Like, you know, I knew that Iwas meant to do something great
in this world. I knew at somepoint in my life, I'd be in this
iki guy moment where I was doingwhat I loved doing were, you
know, doing work that was neededin the world and where I could
(19:26):
get paid to do it. And so fastforward to the day I got fired.
It was the day after had justdone this amazing adaptive
leadership Equity and Inclusionsession where people from around
the company was saying, oh, youshould be doing this for a
living. That was amazing. I'mlike, I know. Like, thank you
that I know that I was great,but I know this for a living.
(19:47):
But I really liked the comfortof having my check arrived in my
bank account. Every week, everybi weekly like there was
something coming when you'repoor. The last thing You want it
to be poor again? Right? And soI've been successful, thank God,
there's some divineintervention. I was did well in
school without trying too hard.
(20:11):
I'm thankful for that. I didwell, at IBM, I did well at
Disney, I was doing well atMicrosoft, I did submit a, what
do you call accommodationsrequest? So it was more like I
was willing to put my well beingon the line for my people for
the process. So if you say onething, and that means we
(20:32):
actually have to do this thing,or, you know, where's the fun
in? Like, where's the? Where'sthe? Where's the fun in it?
Right? So my show, so for me, itwas like fighting a corporate
bully. And I only use thatterminology, not that Microsoft
was bad. No, Microsoft was awonderful leaders are amazing.
But it's the system that we'reall dealing with no matter what
company it is, you can be asgreat and have as many awesome
(20:54):
leaders. If you're not willingto go deeper at a systemic level
and say, what are the elementsthat are? What are the what are
the challenges that might bethat I might be complicit with?
Or in this process, what can wedo to drive changes. So for me,
I wrote about the first time Iprotected a girl that was about
to be bullied on the bus, andI've been bullied for years. But
you know, but when someone wasgonna bully, this other girl who
(21:15):
was new, I didn't even know hername. But I was just like, you
know, enough is enough. And Idescribed in that story, how I
got off the bus. So I can'tremember the details of it. But
I got beat up. But as I wasgetting ready for I was feeling
super good about myself becausethe value was in standing up for
what was right. And so as I gotfired from Microsoft, halfway
through the session, right,halfway through my firing
(21:37):
session, as I said, all Iremember from the fight was this
girl hitting me in the face. Andmy mouth filled with like blood,
it was like this warm blood thatfilled my mouth. And I looked
down, and I guess I had on awhite shirt or light shirt, and
it was blood on my shirt. But Iremember my mouth feeling
filling with, you know,something liquid, right? Tears,
probably. There's a lot going onin that moment. So when I was
(22:00):
when I was getting fired atMicrosoft, halfway through the
session, I literally heard thisdivine voice say it's bigger
than you. And I was like, Thankyou literally smiled to the
second half of getting fired. Iliterally hug one of the ladies
on my way out. I was like, oh mygod, I said, we didn't want to
happen. I said, You I said, Doyou believe in divine
intervention? And she said, Yes.
And I was like, this is thatmoment for me. Like, I just
(22:21):
remember, this is bigger than
Alyssa Stanley (22:23):
Compound component of what you've talked
me.
about with being a good leaderand a strong leader is you never
ask your people to do anythingyou're not willing to do
exactly. And Tracy, you know,like, I believe in divine
intervention. But girl, you haveworked your tail off, you have
done everything from the bottomup, that as a leader, you would
(22:46):
ask your people to do can't doit any other way. And that has
to have contributed to yourstrength as a leader.
Traci Harrell (22:53):
In some in some areas don't get too excited,
because in some areas, yes. Likethis was a no brainer for me
like this was like, I'mpresident of the National Black
MBA Association, Seattlechapter, which is part of
recruiting in the year beforethat, I did this, like major
push on Microsoft wasrepresented at the National
Conference with this amazingleader, the senior black female
(23:15):
leader was there and we had allthese booths and all these
sessions. And it was amazing.
And it was great the year prior.
But again, that was my internalenergy saying, Guys, if we say
this, then we should be a partof this thing. And they were and
it was great. Again, let me beclear, Microsoft is an amazing
company. If anyone is going tobe able to be a part of the
solution. It's going to beMicrosoft. So the leader who
(23:35):
fired me, I actually who wasactually the one who hired me,
I've actually reached out tohim. And he's like, Tracy, with
the work I'm doing. I'm like,I'm all in. He's like, I'm all
in. I said, Are you sure you'reall in India? He's like, I'm all
in. All in. So when I say theseare leaders and people who
recognize that, again, the bestthing they could have done is
fire me, because I wasn't Icouldn't. Oh, so the key part.
(23:56):
So what even though they weregiving me space to do this
training at a, like operationsteam was giving me space to do
this training, adaptiveleadership, equity and inclusion
initiative, that the new personthat came in from DNI, she was
from IBM. She had worked at IBMfor 30 years. So I know the IBM
culture again, I was in the new,you know, phase of IBM becoming,
(24:18):
you know, but if you've been infor 35 years, and you knew big
blue when Big Blue was big blue,right? So you knew that space,
and there's something about thatenergy. And so amazing lady,
Lindsey Ray, I think her day wasso amazing. We had some amazing
conversations, but new soeveryone's on a journey. They're
just at a different point in herin their journeys. And so when
Lindsey Ray came into Microsoftfrom Disney after being there
(24:41):
for 35 years what she said to melovingly and I'm so thankful for
you, Lindsay right and why MilanLA is, you know, I she said, I'm
Tracy I'm sure there's somepockets of Microsoft that are
ready for what you're doing thisbigger than me this this
adaptive leadership stuff. I'veonly heard good things, but
we're going back to the basicsnow. Back to the Basics means
(25:01):
we're ready to actually to, tothe things that we're saying,
basically, we need to go back tothe basics. So I can, you know,
we thank you, that was the bestthing she could have said and
done for me. And so we lovingly,lovingly, and she said all the
right things, like I said,everyone's at a different place.
I was just at a place in mypersonal life where I needed to
(25:22):
see change at a much, much morerapid space and a rapid, you
know, pace. And I even hadleaders come to me say, you
know, what's the worst thingwhen you tell someone who's so
smart? And you know, that, youknow, we're a big organization,
you know, it moves like thetech, like the Titanic, but like
a, you know, like a tanker,right? You're not making any
(25:42):
fast. You're not, you know,diving in between. It's a tanker
type move. And so, you know,it's the worst thing for us. And
I heard all the words, butnothing was slowing me down. As
you can see, I got a littleenergy on this topic. Nothing
was slowing me down. And Ireally couldn't hear it like I
needed to be fired. So peopleconsider firing a failure. It
was the happiest day of my life,best day of my life. Because I
(26:03):
went into, then I had to go intothis work around how can I make
the world a better place, likegrateful for what I had, I had
also saved money in my 401k.
I've now cashed in my 401k. AndI'm officially deficient when it
comes to financial, which is whyI say that that's the part of my
life that I'm amplifying now.
But I'm here to invest inmyself, I need to invest in my
community. So I came outstarting this podcast, which was
(26:26):
called bigger than me, thebigger bigger than me, right?
And so that work was huge. Itwas the failure turned into a
triumph, because it was like, Ihad to fight that corporate
bully Did I did I went no, as Isat down, I say, as I sat there
with the tears running down myface. I was like, I was just
like, I didn't win the battle,when I first thought my first
believe my first fight. I didn'twin the battle. But I definitely
(26:49):
won the war, right. Becauseinside, I knew that I had done
the right thing, right. And thesame thing happened. As I was
leaving Microsoft, it was like,Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,
for all I've learned. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you, for allthe amazing people that are
here. Thank you, thank you,thank you for being honest, that
you weren't ready to do thiswork at the level in the speed
that I was moving. Thank you forcutting me free, basically. So I
could go do some other things.
(27:10):
And so thank you, and thank you,thank you failure, you know,
being fired could be a failure,but it was the happiest day of
my life. And it allowed me tocreate content that was really
for others. So I was beencoaching to the universe on a
podcast.
Kelley Skar (27:22):
It really doesn't, it really doesn't sound like a
failure turrisi at all, likeyou. So I think, and I think the
reason why it doesn't sound likea failures is a couple of
different things. First off,people are not as blessed as you
to be able to have thatperspective in the middle of a
meeting where they're being letgo from a company, right? They
don't typically gain thatperspective, if they ever gain
(27:43):
that perspective, until, youknow, days later, weeks later,
months later, right? I you know,I've been fired from jobs. And
it took me years to realizethat, you know, the guy that
fired me from, you know, theshop position actually did me a
favor. And the funny thing is mybrother actually is now working
for that guy. And I told mybrother, hey, go thank that guy
for it. The next time you'retalking to him, tell him he did
(28:06):
me a favor, thank him for me,right? So years later, so you
have this perspective. So that Iguess that's probably why it
doesn't sound like a failure. SoI don't really, I don't know
that I fully accept yourexplanation that being fired
from fires for Microsoft is atrue failure for you, just
because of the perspective thatyou had the blessed perspective
(28:26):
that you had in middle of thatmeeting. Second, second to that
secondary to that is, you know,you also had the foresight to
really know exactly, maybe notexactly what you wanted to do,
but you knew exactly where yourstrengths were. Right. And you
knew that doubling down on yourstrengths, we're going to, you
(28:48):
know, as Gary, Gary Vaynerchuk,has said, this, you know, part
of self awareness is, isunderstanding what your
weaknesses aren't doubling downon your strengths. Right. And so
this is, you know, you're veryself aware individual, you have
this ability to be able to, youknow, take, you know, drain your
401k, double down on yourstrengths and push forward. So,
I'm gonna, I'm going to pushback just a little bit and say,
(29:08):
this probably wasn't a bigfailure for Tracy that you
absolutely, you had this divinein front intervention or
perspective, whatever you wantto call it. And then the self
awareness and ability to doubledown on on what it is that a
truly makes you happy and be,you know, the impact that you
can have on the world. Socongratulations to you.
Traci Harrell (29:26):
Thank you. And let me tell you, thank you. It's
good to I think you almost haveto claim the failure. I'm using
the word failure because beingfired isn't fun, right? And I
wanted to make sure people knewthat being fired is not the end
of the world. It could be thehappiest day of your life if you
allow it to be and so I gottasay it and put it out there
because I think people need toknow that it's possible and like
(29:47):
I said in the meeting, like Isaid, divine intervention, as
the tears filled my mouth.
Literally, I reflected back tothe first time I was fighting a
bully and those My mouth wasfilled with blood and it was it
was was so surreal. I justblacked out for a minute, I
think I don't think I even heardwhat they were saying at what
part of so I just like stuffthat like, thank you. Like, Wow,
is this really my life? Right?
(30:10):
They're like, yay. And so I satthere and just kind of wiped my
tears and was like, all rightnow what's the next part? Called
a friend of mine, I called twoladies who will testify that I
called him I said, Oh my god,ladies, you gotta go out with
Let's meet. Let's meet atthere's a place called Blue
bistro hits on the water, youget this beautiful view of
Bellevue from the Seattle side.
So it's gorgeous. So let's gomeet for lunch. I had no idea.
(30:33):
But I'm, I'm in celebration modeat this point, right? I'm like,
Let's go meet for lunch. Youhave to get this lady one of the
ladies. Her name is Kim Kim.
She's a white lady. The otherlady was a black lady. They both
worked at Boeing. And, um, and,and when I said, you know, I was
like, hey, so today is like Isaid, Remember how I talked
(30:55):
about I wanted to do some, youknow, coaching and I wanted to
do this work full time. Well,guess what, today I got the full
purpose approval to do that. Iwas like, I got laid off from
Microsoft. And so now I get tobla bla, bla, bla, bla, bla,
whatever those things are. Andthey're looking at me like she
having a breakdown. I didn'tknow this until later, they were
smiling. They're verysupportive. But they told me
like months later, they werelike, we weren't quite sure if
(31:18):
you were going to have abreakdown later, you were very
positive in the moment, but theyweren't really sure what was
happening. And I was like, Thankyou for supporting me, I didn't
know that there was any doubt ontheir part. But yeah, it was
pretty exciting. And thenfailure was just just just to
clarify real quick, the failurepart, I only use that I have to
use that word, because I didinvest in myself for X number of
(31:40):
years. In October, I couldn'tpay my rent. Like I just started
coaching for dollars this month,like I just got those dollars.
And so I'm not gonna call it afailure per se, but financially
to go from the My biggest fear,which I talked about in book
number one, I think it was, was,you know, being homeless, well,
not being able to pay your rentis freaking homeless, right. So,
(32:03):
to me five minutes from beinghomeless is a problem, clearly,
and I wasn't ready to like makethat switch, if that makes
sense. I was on unemployment fora while the unemployment stopped
early was supposed to go throughNovember, it stopped in
September, I was you know,living paycheck to paycheck, I
live in unemployment, check theunemployment check for a while,
and, and I was doing work forfree for everyone because I
(32:26):
wanted to change the world forfree. And what I realize is that
November timeline, justtimeline, I was working toward
November, it ended early, but Iwas able to get the check
starting in November, like Ithought was gonna be the plan.
And so I'm not, you know, I'mnot homeless now. But it was it
was, you know, clearly facing mylast fear, which getting fired
(32:47):
was pretty high on the list,because I never really fit in,
right, like, I'm always darkercolor louder. smarter, honestly,
in a lot of cases. But that's awhole nother story. So you don't
actually fit in, there's alwaysthis back of your mind, fear
that you might get, you know,you might not fit in, you know,
I mean, the whole point of humanexistence is being in tribes
(33:07):
together and being on a teametc. So, you know, being not
fitting in was kind of achallenge, always in the back of
my mind, but also beingcomfortable being as authentic
as I can, while also fitting inthere was always that for me, so
I got to face my fear of notfitting in and getting fired, it
was like, Okay, those aren'tyour people anymore, but you can
find your people. So, which iswhy when I say I sat in a class
(33:28):
with you all just a few daysago, it was like, these are some
more of my people I fit here,you don't have to fit
everywhere, but I fit withpeople who are high integrity,
will hold me accountable for medoing the right thing and help
and help to elevate my game. Sofinancially, again, that's the
area of my life that I'm focusedon right now. But this is gonna
be a million dollar year. Forme, I'm like, already, I've
(33:50):
already seen that too. So I'mnot concerned about and I'm
gonna still be able to do tonsof stuff for free. And to create
this bigger movement, amessaging around what it takes
to truly be inclusive. It'sreally not as complex as I think
a lot of people make it.
Alyssa Stanley (34:03):
So I'm gonna counter Kelley here for a
second, where he said that thismight not be a failure, coming
for you, Kelley. So I firmlybelieve that failure is a choice
things that happen to you mightbe out of your control, but
failure is a choice. So when youwere sitting in that boardroom
and you got fired, you had fiveseconds, five minutes, 10
(34:23):
minutes in your heart where youmight have felt failure, but
then you decided to make achoice or divine intervention or
whatnot, to transfer that fromfailure to opportunity. So
whether or not you failed forthree years, or whether or not
you failed for 10 minutes,failure is a choice. So I think
(34:45):
I think that could be considereda failure. She just didn't fail
for very long.
Traci Harrell (34:48):
I like her. I'm down with I like that. You
comfortable Kelley with thacompromise?
Kelley Skar (34:57):
Yeah, you know w at, I think we're actually sayi
g the same thing. If I I'm honst, I mean, it's you know, it'
this is all perspective, riht? I mean, you can, you can
ither choose whether you're failng in that moment or choose w
ether there's opportunity ithat moment. So, you know, it's
it's, it all matters in the choce in which which road you dec
de to take, like, as an exampe, my brother who got hired by t
(35:18):
e guy that fired me like yeas and years and years ag
, was actually fired by, you kow, a fairly large constructi
n guy like there, finning is thname of the company, he's a mec
anic, and, and so he was like,o buy them, and he, he's still
eally upset. You know, I can justell by talking to him and seei
g the Facebook posts and stuf, but he's sitting in that,
(35:39):
ight, he's sitting in that yet halso got hired on by this c
mpany that I was employed by, anhe's making like seven or $8
extra per hour, right? And it'slike, hold on a second, like, w
y are you sitting in all of thiself loathing in this this ne
ative environment? Why arent you embracing what's, you kno
, the true positivity, that'this happened to you here in th
last couple of weeks, you kno, you got a big buyout fro
(36:00):
that company, you're now woking, making $8 more per hou
, you know, than you were bfore. Like, there's so many pos
tives to but he chose to go negtive, you know, unfortunately,
and I think it ultimately itcomes down to a matter of perspe
tive. And so I hope for him tat he gains that that same persp
ctive that you found within, youknow, halfway through your me
ting, hopefully, it doesn't tae him as long as it took me t
(36:22):
gain that perspective, you kow, a couple of years or whatno
. But yeah, I think this I thinkwe're kind of saying the same
hing. Todd, why don't you jump ihere and be our modera
Todd Foster (36:31):
I agree with both f you. I think all three of you
re corre
Kelley Skar (36:33):
And there you go.
Alyssa Stanley (36:35):
I'm not coming for you, Kelley. Be a littl
intimidating
Kelley Skar (36:42):
Alright, well, why don't we hold that thought,
guys? You know, I think we'vehad an amazing conversation. So
far. This has been, you know,probably one of the funnest,
Todd, you nailed it earlier onthat saying that this is
probably going to be the funnestshow that we've shot outside of
the Ben Fairfield show. I mean,I think this is actually funner
than Ben Fairfield I think tat's exactly what you said. B
t anyways, let's let's leave iright there. Let's jump into yo
(37:05):
know, the bad days and the chidhood and all that kind of stuf
. Let's do that on part two ofhe Traci Harrell interview. How
oes that sound?
Traci Harrell (37:14):
Thank you for having me. I'm so excited.
Voiceover (37:17):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the SUCCESS
Coaching Podcast. If you'veenjoyed this episode, please
follow or subscribe to theSUCCESS Coaching Podcast at your
favorite podcast provider. Forspecial access to past
recordings, videos of pastepisodes and more. Please become
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(37:38):
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.