March 12, 2025 • 21 mins
Powered by The House of Joy Live from Super Bowl 59’s Radio Row, LaTasha Causey, President of NASCAR’s Phoenix Raceway, joins Tommi Vincent for an inspiring conversation on leadership, balance, and breaking barriers in a male-dominated industry. She shares how prioritization, delegation, and embracing authenticity have shaped her journey, along with the lessons she’s learned about trusting her team and making space for herself. LaTasha also reflects on the importance of creating inclusive spaces, empowering the next generation, and showing up fully as yourself in every room you enter.
Guest: LaTasha Causey
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Music By: Stichiz - Big T. Music / Roj & Twinkie
Guest: LaTasha Causey
Subscribe & Follow:
Don’t miss an episode of "Stay A While"! Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform. Stay connected and get the latest updates by following us on Instagram @StayAWhileShow and follow our host Tommi Vincent @cheftommiv. Watch full episodes on our YouTube channel www.youtube.com/@ChefTommiV
Join the Conversation:
We’d love to hear your thoughts on this episode! Share your insights and stories with us using #StayAWhilePodcast on social media.
Music By: Stichiz - Big T. Music / Roj & Twinkie
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to a special edition of Stale Wild, recorded live
on Radio Row at Super Bowl fifty nine. I'm your host,
Tommy Vincent, and we are going to be hearing some
dynamic conversations with phenomenal guests.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Here on Radio Row.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
So take a seat, get comfortable in stale will. This
episode is sponsored by the House of Joy. Hey everyone,
it's Tommy Vincent, your host of Stale Wild podcast and
I am so excited today for our next guest. We
have Latasha Causey who is joining us and she is
the president of NASCAR's Phoenix Runway.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Latasha, welcome to the table. Thank you so much, Thank
you so much for having me today. Absolutely so you
and I.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Before we even just got into this conversation, we were
talking about the mini balls that women holding the air
in order for us to beat all the things. Absolutely
which is great that we can choose to be all
the things, but that does not necessarily mean we should
be aspiring to be all of the things.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
That's exactly right.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
So for you, in your accomplished role, you're a mother,
you have other things going on in your life besides
being a mom, being a business leader. How do you
prior to prioritize what it is that you're uplifting and
what it is that you're releasing and at any point
(01:29):
in time.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Yeah, absolutely, Well, like you said, we have so many balls,
so many things in the air at once. And for me,
I think the biggest thing I have had to learn
is that it is a prioritization raining. People always ask you,
how do you do it all? I don't do it all?
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Right?
Speaker 3 (01:44):
You know you have to think that, like, hey, it
takes a village to do so many things. It doesn't
just take a village to help you raise your kids,
but it takes a village to help you be in
a position like I'm in to be the president of
Phoenix Raceway. As a team that helps get me there, right,
And I think that or me, I have to make
sure that not only am I prioritizing the fact of
wherever I am or whatever the moment is.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
You know that the schedule changes every day in the league.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
You got something scheduled, but something else came up, right,
so the scheduled I messed up, And.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
So you have all of those things that are happening.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
But at the same time, Temmy, if you do not
take care of you and prioritize you and yourself, give
yourself some grace. You won't be able to take care
of or help all of those people and all of
those things that are around you. Right, Sometimes we need
people to help us, help us internally to be able
to Okay, I'm good now, I'm good. Now I can
(02:36):
rest a little because I know that this one thing
is taken care of, and so now you know, I
can focus on me for a minute and give myself
grace to come bounce back and be ready to go
the next day and be all of the titles that
we are, whether it's wife, whether it's mom, whether it's president,
you know, whether it's you know, sister, daughter, whatever those
things are.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Me just I just want to be me, Yes, just me, Yes, absolutely,
no talk to but you said team.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
The only way a team is effective is if you're
willing to allow the teammate to do their assignment and
get an alignment. Yes, right, and the ability to delegate
out responsibilities and not micromanaged.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Do you have any advice for anybody in this area,
because you know, micromanaging.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Is a thing and it stunts growth. Absolutely, it's a
real thing.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
You know, one of one of the things I think
as a leader for me personally, I always make sure
that I hire people in the right positions, right, you know,
so when they are in a position, you know, you
say you're the administrative assistant, Well, I'm gonna let you
do administrative assistant things. I'm not going to do those
administration things for you. Or if you are the leader
of marketing on my team, I'm not going to be
the one out there getting creative doing their creative.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
You can't be all of those things because why else
why have a team? Right now?
Speaker 3 (03:59):
There are times when you do need to step in
and you do need to help, You need a guide
to give some direction. But culturally, you need to be
able to set a foundation and set a foundation so
that people know that, Hey, when I come into the space,
I know that my leader is going to allow me
the opportunity to do me and to do my job,
whatever that job may be. And so you know, a
lot of leaders do have a hard time with that
(04:20):
because you know, your team is a reflection of you.
But that's the same thing as your team at home
as well. Right, your team at home is a reflection
of you, right, You created these kids. You have a
spouse right as well. Right, And you know, I think
I probably learned this like through being married. So my
husband I will celebrate eighteen years. We got married very young,
thank you so much. And we've been together since we
were in college and so been together for over twenty
(04:40):
four years.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
And you know, there are times you have kids, right
right away you're.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Like, well, I do it better, right, but I'm packing
the baby band or whether I'm feeding.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
The baby or wherever it is, I do that better, right.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
But there comes a time where you have to realize
I may do it better for me and what I'm doing,
but he doesn't, and he gets done in his way,
and so you have to come up with a compromise
or you have to be okay, well, letting go. Hey, listen,
if the baby comes out the way that the baby
comes out, you know, the baby is said, right, you know,
the baby's said, the baby is healthy, the baby is fine, right,
And so all the things that you did, he did too.
(05:15):
So you have to be able to come to those
compromises and let people do get there the way that
they're going to get there, because in the end, the
same goals, the same result is still going to happen.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
When you were a young woman, you know, figuring out life.
Did you see your life on this trajectory?
Speaker 3 (05:38):
It definitely wasn't on my Bengo car to work at
NASCAR and to be a president of a race way, right,
being the first black woman to be in this space,
that was not on my card the things that I
was going to do. But what I will tell you
is that at a very early age, I certainly set
myself up. Part my parents helped me with that, you know,
very early they say, you know, you need to make
sure you get an education, and you know, you need
(06:00):
to make sure that you do things the way that
you do. You don't have to follow around and do
whatever it is that your friends are doing. If you
want to do something different, that's okay. And different doesn't
mean good or bad, right, it just means something different.
And so my dad would always tell me, Hey, in
order to set yourself apart, you have to work. You
have to work for it, right. It's not just about
you know, showing up getting the degree. It's not just
(06:20):
about you know, you got to work for those things. Yeah,
you had to work to graduate from college. But like
what else, right, Like what else did you do. And
so I started working. I went to college full time
and I worked full time as well. Just was really
blessed with opportunities at a very young age. And so
you know, when you have these people that are like
you know, you have you know women, you're like the
(06:42):
only woman in the space, or you're the only person
of color in the space. That's all I've known. And
so I have chosen to not be a victim in
that space. I've just chosen to take my seat, right.
I know that I worked to get the seat, so
I'm gonna take it. I'm gonna sit there just like
everybody else, whether they look like me or not, and
have that seat. But then I think that at some
point created this space of like, Okay, well I can't
(07:04):
be the only one here, right, what am I going
to do for somebody else to get other people here
that will look like.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Me as well?
Speaker 3 (07:10):
And so I can't say that I was in a
space where I was going to be the president of
Phoenix Raceway.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
But I can definitely say that I was.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
In a space very early on to not be like
whatever the society tells you that you have to be
in whatever position that society tells you you have to
be in.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
When you're in leadership, and especially if it's not something
you've done before. We can get into positions and then
we look to our right and our left, and we.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Look to see how someone else is doing it.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
And while we can learn from other people, we can
also begin to mimic a style that causes us not
to be all authentic self, and so we're not leading
at our best, yes, because we're doing get the way
someone else does it.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
How have you been able to navigate.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Not falling into the trap where you're thinking I need
to do it like them in order to be successful.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
I love that question, you know, because I think that
even if we say we haven't fallen into that trap,
every single one of us have fallen into that trap,
no matter what. And for me, because I started out
so early in corporate world, I thought that corporate meant
so many things. Right, you have to dress a certain way,
you have to look a certain way, you have to
talk a certain way, right like, there's certain things you
(08:34):
can and cannot say right, all of these things, and there,
I don't know where the point came, but a point
came to where I just felt like I'm exhausted. Right,
I'm exhausted of like acting this way right when I'm
here in this workspace. But then when I'm at home,
I'm like my hair, I let my hair, literally let
my hair down, and I'm in a space to where
(08:55):
I'm like here she is, I'm back, right, And so
I had to come up with the way.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
To merge those two things.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
And I just I think that once I became aware
that it was a thing, then that's when I started
to intentionally start to work on I'm just gonna show
up as me and I will tell you this this
story of you know, I have two boys, thirteen and
a seventeen year old. I had my thirteen year old
who at the time was just three years old. He
(09:22):
was my parents have helped us from day one watching
our kids. And so it was Memorial Day weekend, you know,
we went to my parents' house. We swam, did all
the you know, did a barbecue, did all this stuff. Right,
But on then we were off on Monday. But on Tuesday,
I was going to go back to work and I
had my interns starting for the summer, right because the
kids were out. The kids are out of school. Was
my first time having my own team of interns, so
(09:43):
not just one, but I had a team of interns.
So we slam, We did all this stuff, and you know,
I was like, Okay, I'm going to leave the boys
here because I have to go home so I can
straighten my hair and turn into what corporate was, right.
So the boys are going to spend the night at
my parents' house because it's going to take me at
a minimum two hours, right to transform, righting, to get
into this space. And so, you know, we leave, I'm
(10:03):
transforming my life, right. And it's about midnight, and I
get this phone call. Now you know when somebody calls
you at midnight, Okay, you know they're not calling just
to be like, hey girl, what's up? Yeah, you know
something's not one hundred percent right, right? So I answered
the phone. On the other hand, it's my dad, and
my dad says, hey, listen, you need to come back
over because Mason, who is my younger son, I believe
he has broken his arm.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
And he's a little three year old. Right. I'm like, well,
first of all, it's twelve o'clock, and.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
What on earth is he even doing up at twelve
o'lo break your arms? So I get there, Mason has
surely broken his arm, and so you know that messed
up my schedule, right because on Monday. On Tuesday, I
was going to go be on my interns, but now
I have to readjust I have to be with my
child because now he has truly broken his arm. So
long story short, I spent the next three days, didn't
go to work. I never miss working, and when I
(10:48):
had my babies, I mean that's the only time I
miss working. I mean I'm there all the time. That's
the one thing my team can say. She's reliable.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
She can't take dacation, but she's not calling and sick.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
And so you know, as I get there, you know,
after these three days, my hair is now a disaster,
right because you know, I just want through this process
to strain my hair. But I've been focused for the
last three days on my baby and making sure that
he is okay. So by the time I go back
to work, here all of my listen, girl, this was
this was.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Have they never seen me like that? Though? Ever? Never
seen a bone straight hair.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
All the time I walk in with my corporate dress,
but my hair is all over the place. And my
boss at the time, he was like, oh my god,
like who are you?
Speaker 2 (11:28):
And I was like, you know. He was like is
that a wig? Is that for real?
Speaker 3 (11:30):
And I was like, no, it's real and he was like,
so when you do the other thing, he was like
like why do you do that?
Speaker 2 (11:37):
And he was like how long does that take you?
Speaker 3 (11:38):
And now all the questions are coming and I said,
you know, it takes a couple of hours go through
that process. And he said one simple thing, PO would
never do that if I was you. And I was
like a white man, right, like white gentleman, who just
I mean? And I was like you wouldn't. He was
like no, he was like, that's like the Tasha. He
was like, you're just giving me a different kind of vibe,
(12:00):
in a different type of attitude and a different type
of everything. I think because I was like, f it,
it's been a week, my lady. I'm trying to main
wrapping my hair. I time for this. And from that
moment on, I felt like I never straightened my hair again.
And I went to work showing up every day and
they created a brand. But it created my brand not
just on the exterior. I don't know what, but something
(12:21):
released inside of me that I was like, oh no,
here she is, there she is. And I figured out
that merger or that connection of like, you don't have
to be so different when you show up to work
every day. And I am telling you from that moment on,
that is when my career just started to propel. I
started to speak up or started to you know, when
I again, when I was having that seat at the table,
it wasn't the seat at the end, it was a
seat in the middle because I knew you needed to
(12:42):
hear exactly what I was saying. And so I do
feel like there comes a point in all of our
lives where something happens, something triggers you, when something comes
up inside of you that you were just like, I
got why am I doing this? Why am I trying
to be something that I truly am not?
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Yessolutely, you know, there's a difference between being yourself, like
really owning your identity as a person and understanding the
decorum of an environment.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Yes, and.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
I believe that we have bought into this idea that
the decorum of an environment is based off of what
we look like, what we talk like, and so we
morph into what we believe that looks like. But I
can be me. I can wear my hair how I
wear my hair. I can, you know, show up and
(13:41):
be exactly who I am as a person. Yes, but
there is a decorum sometime in places that I think
we need to teach especially young people about, yes, for
when they show up in spaces.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Do you encounter that with some of the younger people
that come into your organization?
Speaker 2 (14:00):
And if so, how do you handle that? Yes? You
you are so right?
Speaker 3 (14:04):
You know there there is this, like you said, perception
or this thing of you know, if you are here,
if you are this title, you have to look like.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
This, be like this, and do these things.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
And I've encountered it plenty of times, even in my
current role and the president and trace Way for two years.
I walked into the environment and we're in sports right,
sports and sports right. I walk in and some of
the women in there you could tell they were super
uncomfortable and their heels and their suit was buttoned all
the way up. The dudes the same had ties on
sweating and stuff. We live in Arizona, Okay, And so
(14:34):
how I walk I roll in and I was like,
everyone is so stuffy, right, Like, let's just take a minute,
Let's take a moment. Right, you could wear your sneakers
if you want to with your suit or you actually
and you it's two hundred degrees.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
In July, right, if you are not meeting with the client.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Where's a business, professional, business casual type of environment. We're
a nice current polo, right, Like, let's let's loosen up
the vibe. I'm telling you, I've never in my life
seen more Jordan's more sneakers and.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
They are on the whole. But you set them free.
I set them free.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
But you know when I did that, it set us
free holistically the production that I get out of that team,
I mean, the things that we do in that environment,
all the things that we people are having fund Like
people will come to our races and be like, this
is a different Arizona. Like when we come here, this
vibe is so different than the vibe that we have
ever experienced in Arizona before. Because people know that they
can actually show up right and they you know, you
(15:28):
could come in and you could do what you need
to do because you're your leader. Your teammates around you
are going to support you and they're gonna be like,
you know, just because you don't have your suit and
we're not gonna listen to what you say. No, Actually,
you know everything about your job, and we know that
we need to respect you in your job, whether you
have sneakers on or whether you have a suit on.
And so I think that that creating that and creating
that in my environment. And I even found it not
(15:49):
just for the younger people in my office, even the
older people in my office.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
I'm like, you don't even have to be so like stuffy.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
And with these younger people, you can actually learn something
from them. It's okay that they're younger than you. You
can have a conversation. And the relatability of people now too,
Like when you see people in their style, whatever that
style is or whatever they come through, the things that
they talk about now like oh imagine that, Yo, you
didn't even know that this person had kids.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Yeah, no, it's.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Your leadership is the type of leadership that I believe,
especially this generation can benefit from. You know, understanding that
you can be professional, you can still be accomplished, you
can still be productive, but that doesn't mean you have
to like yees, be tight, because now you're going to
be you know, it's like you're restricting creativity, you're restricting
(16:47):
conversation because people feel like they have to like mine
every single word, and they don't have the things around
them that give them joy like Jordan's like d sneakers,
you got.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
On right here, They give me joy.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Yes, so I can appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
So before I let you go, will you just take
a moment just to share some words with another young lady, Yeah,
who is really just trying to figure things out and
she's not quite sure yeh. She's gifted, yeah, and she
has an abundance of potential, but she hasn't yet unlocked
(17:28):
the door that allows it to flow.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
Absolutely, there are a few things that I would tell
that young lady. First, you know, I think that kids
these days have gotten away from the relationships and relationship
building where we are so quick or so easy to
hide behind, you know, our cell phones and not just
on social media but text messages. Right, We've gotten away
from having like those one on one conversations in person, right,
(17:51):
even just little things like you know, kids, even kids
these days go to startbus try they go to coffees
or just have meetings, just meet up with somebody and
have a conversation. And so for those young girls, I
would say, start to build your network. Build your network early,
very very early. When people use that term network, people
get scared, right, You're like, oh my god, that's such
a big word, and it's all network means business.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
No, it doesn't.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Network means if it's somebody that maybe maybe you like
to do cosmetology, maybe it's just a beautician that you like.
Maybe somebody does lashes right that you want to build
a relationship with, or maybe someone in a church right
an anything, it could be any or maybe somebody just
like you sitting next to you in your classroom, but
you want to have a conversation about something else outside
of the English class that you all are in.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
And so I say, start to build your network, and
build that early.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
And then I would say, do the things that make
you happy, do those things early. I think kids these
days grow up so fast and they're always in this
rush of like, I'm going to be an adult. I
have a seventeen year who's going to graduate from high school.
And you know, he thinks, as soon as you graduate
from high school you're an adult.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
I'm like, you have even God, you have best from
still paying somebody around.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
Exactly, you have no idea yeah, technically not even legally yet.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Right, don't get I don't understand that, right.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
I think that just being able to understand that, like
life goes really really really fast. However, just start to
do the things that you enjoy, embrace those things, and
give yourself grace. I'm gonna tell you, as a young girl,
a lot of doors will close, but those doors are
closing it because they're getting prepared for the doors that
will open for you later. And so I want young
girls to be like, just because you failed at something,
(19:26):
you think it's a failure right now, those failures are
what make you great. They make you really really really
good later on in life. And so I would tell
that young girl of you know, hang in there, because girl, one.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
Day you will be it.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
You're it right now, but you will be it it
later on in life.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Oh man, stage advice. Listen.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
I am so grateful that you came and you grace
this with your presence, with this look you got going
on here.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Listen. I love it.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
And I could see how you go into your working
environment and you are just a light. Thank you, and
so I appreciate you and I wish you all the
success in the world. And I want you to know
that you're welcome to come and stay a while with
me any point in time. My table is always open
for you, and you have a seat at my table.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
Oh thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
I really appreciate you having me here, and just like you,
like you said about me, I mean, I just really
feel the joy in you and I just all the way,
even go into your brunch yesterday. I mean, it wasn't
just about the biscuits, because the biscuits were amazing, okay,
but just what you do in your heart. When I
walked in that room, I am not kidding you. I
told Tammy Yeshay. When I walked in, I was like,
I don't want to leave here. There is just like
(20:43):
this vibe, this sense of peace that I just received
when I walked in and I met you, and I
you know, and I met your husband and I just felt.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
And then your family.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
I knew right away who each of the individuals that
were part of your family before you pulled them up.
I was like, oh, there's one, there's one, and there's another.
Because you're so import system and everything that you all
are doing is so unselfish and so thank you. I'm
just really really grateful to have even been introduced to
you and to be in the same space.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
So thank you, thank you. I appreciate that, I thank you.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
I hope you felt the love and connection in today's conversation.
Every woman you heard from has faced the impossible and
emerged stronger. This is your personal invitation to stale while
longer at Tommy V dot com. That's t O M
MIV dot com for more inspiration for your mind, body
(21:33):
and soul and let's not forget your belly. You're always
welcome at my table. Please be sure to subscribe, make
yourself at home, and stay a wild Wow Gone Stale
Welcome to a special edition of Stale Wild, recorded live
on Radio Row at Super Bowl fifty nine. I'm your host,
Tommy Vincent, and we are going to be hearing some
dynamic conversations with phenomenal guests.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Here on Radio Row.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
So take a seat, get comfortable in stale will. This
episode is sponsored by the House of Joy. Hey everyone,
it's Tommy Vincent, your host of Stale Wild podcast and
I am so excited today for our next guest. We
have Latasha Causey who is joining us and she is
the president of NASCAR's Phoenix Runway.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Latasha, welcome to the table. Thank you so much, Thank
you so much for having me today. Absolutely so you
and I.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Before we even just got into this conversation, we were
talking about the mini balls that women holding the air
in order for us to beat all the things. Absolutely
which is great that we can choose to be all
the things, but that does not necessarily mean we should
be aspiring to be all of the things.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
That's exactly right.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
So for you, in your accomplished role, you're a mother,
you have other things going on in your life besides
being a mom, being a business leader. How do you
prior to prioritize what it is that you're uplifting and
what it is that you're releasing and at any point
(01:29):
in time.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Yeah, absolutely, Well, like you said, we have so many balls,
so many things in the air at once. And for me,
I think the biggest thing I have had to learn
is that it is a prioritization raining. People always ask you,
how do you do it all? I don't do it all?
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Right?
Speaker 3 (01:44):
You know you have to think that, like, hey, it
takes a village to do so many things. It doesn't
just take a village to help you raise your kids,
but it takes a village to help you be in
a position like I'm in to be the president of
Phoenix Raceway. As a team that helps get me there, right,
And I think that or me, I have to make
sure that not only am I prioritizing the fact of
wherever I am or whatever the moment is.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
You know that the schedule changes every day in the league.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
You got something scheduled, but something else came up, right,
so the scheduled I messed up, And.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
So you have all of those things that are happening.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
But at the same time, Temmy, if you do not
take care of you and prioritize you and yourself, give
yourself some grace. You won't be able to take care
of or help all of those people and all of
those things that are around you. Right, Sometimes we need
people to help us, help us internally to be able
to Okay, I'm good now, I'm good. Now I can
(02:36):
rest a little because I know that this one thing
is taken care of, and so now you know, I
can focus on me for a minute and give myself
grace to come bounce back and be ready to go
the next day and be all of the titles that
we are, whether it's wife, whether it's mom, whether it's president,
you know, whether it's you know, sister, daughter, whatever those
things are.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Me just I just want to be me, Yes, just me, Yes, absolutely,
no talk to but you said team.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
The only way a team is effective is if you're
willing to allow the teammate to do their assignment and
get an alignment. Yes, right, and the ability to delegate
out responsibilities and not micromanaged.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Do you have any advice for anybody in this area,
because you know, micromanaging.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Is a thing and it stunts growth. Absolutely, it's a
real thing.
Speaker 3 (03:32):
You know, one of one of the things I think
as a leader for me personally, I always make sure
that I hire people in the right positions, right, you know,
so when they are in a position, you know, you
say you're the administrative assistant, Well, I'm gonna let you
do administrative assistant things. I'm not going to do those
administration things for you. Or if you are the leader
of marketing on my team, I'm not going to be
the one out there getting creative doing their creative.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
You can't be all of those things because why else
why have a team? Right now?
Speaker 3 (03:59):
There are times when you do need to step in
and you do need to help, You need a guide
to give some direction. But culturally, you need to be
able to set a foundation and set a foundation so
that people know that, Hey, when I come into the space,
I know that my leader is going to allow me
the opportunity to do me and to do my job,
whatever that job may be. And so you know, a
lot of leaders do have a hard time with that
(04:20):
because you know, your team is a reflection of you.
But that's the same thing as your team at home
as well. Right, your team at home is a reflection
of you, right, You created these kids. You have a
spouse right as well. Right, And you know, I think
I probably learned this like through being married. So my
husband I will celebrate eighteen years. We got married very young,
thank you so much. And we've been together since we
were in college and so been together for over twenty
(04:40):
four years.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
And you know, there are times you have kids, right
right away you're.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Like, well, I do it better, right, but I'm packing
the baby band or whether I'm feeding.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
The baby or wherever it is, I do that better, right.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
But there comes a time where you have to realize
I may do it better for me and what I'm doing,
but he doesn't, and he gets done in his way,
and so you have to come up with a compromise
or you have to be okay, well, letting go. Hey, listen,
if the baby comes out the way that the baby
comes out, you know, the baby is said, right, you know,
the baby's said, the baby is healthy, the baby is fine, right,
And so all the things that you did, he did too.
(05:15):
So you have to be able to come to those
compromises and let people do get there the way that
they're going to get there, because in the end, the
same goals, the same result is still going to happen.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
When you were a young woman, you know, figuring out life.
Did you see your life on this trajectory?
Speaker 3 (05:38):
It definitely wasn't on my Bengo car to work at
NASCAR and to be a president of a race way, right,
being the first black woman to be in this space,
that was not on my card the things that I
was going to do. But what I will tell you
is that at a very early age, I certainly set
myself up. Part my parents helped me with that, you know,
very early they say, you know, you need to make
sure you get an education, and you know, you need
(06:00):
to make sure that you do things the way that
you do. You don't have to follow around and do
whatever it is that your friends are doing. If you
want to do something different, that's okay. And different doesn't
mean good or bad, right, it just means something different.
And so my dad would always tell me, Hey, in
order to set yourself apart, you have to work. You
have to work for it, right. It's not just about
you know, showing up getting the degree. It's not just
(06:20):
about you know, you got to work for those things. Yeah,
you had to work to graduate from college. But like
what else, right, Like what else did you do. And
so I started working. I went to college full time
and I worked full time as well. Just was really
blessed with opportunities at a very young age. And so
you know, when you have these people that are like
you know, you have you know women, you're like the
(06:42):
only woman in the space, or you're the only person
of color in the space. That's all I've known. And
so I have chosen to not be a victim in
that space. I've just chosen to take my seat, right.
I know that I worked to get the seat, so
I'm gonna take it. I'm gonna sit there just like
everybody else, whether they look like me or not, and
have that seat. But then I think that at some
point created this space of like, Okay, well I can't
(07:04):
be the only one here, right, what am I going
to do for somebody else to get other people here
that will look like.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Me as well?
Speaker 3 (07:10):
And so I can't say that I was in a
space where I was going to be the president of
Phoenix Raceway.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
But I can definitely say that I was.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
In a space very early on to not be like
whatever the society tells you that you have to be
in whatever position that society tells you you have to
be in.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
When you're in leadership, and especially if it's not something
you've done before. We can get into positions and then
we look to our right and our left, and we.
Speaker 2 (07:42):
Look to see how someone else is doing it.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
And while we can learn from other people, we can
also begin to mimic a style that causes us not
to be all authentic self, and so we're not leading
at our best, yes, because we're doing get the way
someone else does it.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
How have you been able to navigate.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Not falling into the trap where you're thinking I need
to do it like them in order to be successful.
Speaker 3 (08:13):
I love that question, you know, because I think that
even if we say we haven't fallen into that trap,
every single one of us have fallen into that trap,
no matter what. And for me, because I started out
so early in corporate world, I thought that corporate meant
so many things. Right, you have to dress a certain way,
you have to look a certain way, you have to
talk a certain way, right like, there's certain things you
(08:34):
can and cannot say right, all of these things, and there,
I don't know where the point came, but a point
came to where I just felt like I'm exhausted. Right,
I'm exhausted of like acting this way right when I'm
here in this workspace. But then when I'm at home,
I'm like my hair, I let my hair, literally let
my hair down, and I'm in a space to where
(08:55):
I'm like here she is, I'm back, right, And so
I had to come up with the way.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
To merge those two things.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
And I just I think that once I became aware
that it was a thing, then that's when I started
to intentionally start to work on I'm just gonna show
up as me and I will tell you this this
story of you know, I have two boys, thirteen and
a seventeen year old. I had my thirteen year old
who at the time was just three years old. He
(09:22):
was my parents have helped us from day one watching
our kids. And so it was Memorial Day weekend, you know,
we went to my parents' house. We swam, did all
the you know, did a barbecue, did all this stuff. Right,
But on then we were off on Monday. But on Tuesday,
I was going to go back to work and I
had my interns starting for the summer, right because the
kids were out. The kids are out of school. Was
my first time having my own team of interns, so
(09:43):
not just one, but I had a team of interns.
So we slam, We did all this stuff, and you know,
I was like, Okay, I'm going to leave the boys
here because I have to go home so I can
straighten my hair and turn into what corporate was, right.
So the boys are going to spend the night at
my parents' house because it's going to take me at
a minimum two hours, right to transform, righting, to get
into this space. And so, you know, we leave, I'm
(10:03):
transforming my life, right. And it's about midnight, and I
get this phone call. Now you know when somebody calls
you at midnight, Okay, you know they're not calling just
to be like, hey girl, what's up? Yeah, you know
something's not one hundred percent right, right? So I answered
the phone. On the other hand, it's my dad, and
my dad says, hey, listen, you need to come back
over because Mason, who is my younger son, I believe
he has broken his arm.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
And he's a little three year old. Right. I'm like, well,
first of all, it's twelve o'clock, and.
Speaker 3 (10:27):
What on earth is he even doing up at twelve
o'lo break your arms? So I get there, Mason has
surely broken his arm, and so you know that messed
up my schedule, right because on Monday. On Tuesday, I
was going to go be on my interns, but now
I have to readjust I have to be with my
child because now he has truly broken his arm. So
long story short, I spent the next three days, didn't
go to work. I never miss working, and when I
(10:48):
had my babies, I mean that's the only time I
miss working. I mean I'm there all the time. That's
the one thing my team can say. She's reliable.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
She can't take dacation, but she's not calling and sick.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
And so you know, as I get there, you know,
after these three days, my hair is now a disaster,
right because you know, I just want through this process
to strain my hair. But I've been focused for the
last three days on my baby and making sure that
he is okay. So by the time I go back
to work, here all of my listen, girl, this was
this was.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Have they never seen me like that? Though? Ever? Never
seen a bone straight hair.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
All the time I walk in with my corporate dress,
but my hair is all over the place. And my
boss at the time, he was like, oh my god,
like who are you?
Speaker 2 (11:28):
And I was like, you know. He was like is
that a wig? Is that for real?
Speaker 3 (11:30):
And I was like, no, it's real and he was like,
so when you do the other thing, he was like
like why do you do that?
Speaker 2 (11:37):
And he was like how long does that take you?
Speaker 3 (11:38):
And now all the questions are coming and I said,
you know, it takes a couple of hours go through
that process. And he said one simple thing, PO would
never do that if I was you. And I was
like a white man, right, like white gentleman, who just
I mean? And I was like you wouldn't. He was
like no, he was like, that's like the Tasha. He
was like, you're just giving me a different kind of vibe,
(12:00):
in a different type of attitude and a different type
of everything. I think because I was like, f it,
it's been a week, my lady. I'm trying to main
wrapping my hair. I time for this. And from that
moment on, I felt like I never straightened my hair again.
And I went to work showing up every day and
they created a brand. But it created my brand not
just on the exterior. I don't know what, but something
(12:21):
released inside of me that I was like, oh no,
here she is, there she is. And I figured out
that merger or that connection of like, you don't have
to be so different when you show up to work
every day. And I am telling you from that moment on,
that is when my career just started to propel. I
started to speak up or started to you know, when
I again, when I was having that seat at the table,
it wasn't the seat at the end, it was a
seat in the middle because I knew you needed to
(12:42):
hear exactly what I was saying. And so I do
feel like there comes a point in all of our
lives where something happens, something triggers you, when something comes
up inside of you that you were just like, I
got why am I doing this? Why am I trying
to be something that I truly am not?
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Yessolutely, you know, there's a difference between being yourself, like
really owning your identity as a person and understanding the
decorum of an environment.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Yes, and.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
I believe that we have bought into this idea that
the decorum of an environment is based off of what
we look like, what we talk like, and so we
morph into what we believe that looks like. But I
can be me. I can wear my hair how I
wear my hair. I can, you know, show up and
(13:41):
be exactly who I am as a person. Yes, but
there is a decorum sometime in places that I think
we need to teach especially young people about, yes, for
when they show up in spaces.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Do you encounter that with some of the younger people
that come into your organization?
Speaker 2 (14:00):
And if so, how do you handle that? Yes? You
you are so right?
Speaker 3 (14:04):
You know there there is this, like you said, perception
or this thing of you know, if you are here,
if you are this title, you have to look like.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
This, be like this, and do these things.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
And I've encountered it plenty of times, even in my
current role and the president and trace Way for two years.
I walked into the environment and we're in sports right,
sports and sports right. I walk in and some of
the women in there you could tell they were super
uncomfortable and their heels and their suit was buttoned all
the way up. The dudes the same had ties on
sweating and stuff. We live in Arizona, Okay, And so
(14:34):
how I walk I roll in and I was like,
everyone is so stuffy, right, Like, let's just take a minute,
Let's take a moment. Right, you could wear your sneakers
if you want to with your suit or you actually
and you it's two hundred degrees.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
In July, right, if you are not meeting with the client.
Speaker 3 (14:50):
Where's a business, professional, business casual type of environment. We're
a nice current polo, right, Like, let's let's loosen up
the vibe. I'm telling you, I've never in my life
seen more Jordan's more sneakers and.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
They are on the whole. But you set them free.
I set them free.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
But you know when I did that, it set us
free holistically the production that I get out of that team,
I mean, the things that we do in that environment,
all the things that we people are having fund Like
people will come to our races and be like, this
is a different Arizona. Like when we come here, this
vibe is so different than the vibe that we have
ever experienced in Arizona before. Because people know that they
can actually show up right and they you know, you
(15:28):
could come in and you could do what you need
to do because you're your leader. Your teammates around you
are going to support you and they're gonna be like,
you know, just because you don't have your suit and
we're not gonna listen to what you say. No, Actually,
you know everything about your job, and we know that
we need to respect you in your job, whether you
have sneakers on or whether you have a suit on.
And so I think that that creating that and creating
that in my environment. And I even found it not
(15:49):
just for the younger people in my office, even the
older people in my office.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
I'm like, you don't even have to be so like stuffy.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
And with these younger people, you can actually learn something
from them. It's okay that they're younger than you. You
can have a conversation. And the relatability of people now too,
Like when you see people in their style, whatever that
style is or whatever they come through, the things that
they talk about now like oh imagine that, Yo, you
didn't even know that this person had kids.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Yeah, no, it's.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
Your leadership is the type of leadership that I believe,
especially this generation can benefit from. You know, understanding that
you can be professional, you can still be accomplished, you
can still be productive, but that doesn't mean you have
to like yees, be tight, because now you're going to
be you know, it's like you're restricting creativity, you're restricting
(16:47):
conversation because people feel like they have to like mine
every single word, and they don't have the things around
them that give them joy like Jordan's like d sneakers,
you got.
Speaker 3 (16:57):
On right here, They give me joy.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Yes, so I can appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
So before I let you go, will you just take
a moment just to share some words with another young lady, Yeah,
who is really just trying to figure things out and
she's not quite sure yeh. She's gifted, yeah, and she
has an abundance of potential, but she hasn't yet unlocked
(17:28):
the door that allows it to flow.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
Absolutely, there are a few things that I would tell
that young lady. First, you know, I think that kids
these days have gotten away from the relationships and relationship
building where we are so quick or so easy to
hide behind, you know, our cell phones and not just
on social media but text messages. Right, We've gotten away
from having like those one on one conversations in person, right,
(17:51):
even just little things like you know, kids, even kids
these days go to startbus try they go to coffees
or just have meetings, just meet up with somebody and
have a conversation. And so for those young girls, I
would say, start to build your network. Build your network early,
very very early. When people use that term network, people
get scared, right, You're like, oh my god, that's such
a big word, and it's all network means business.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
No, it doesn't.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
Network means if it's somebody that maybe maybe you like
to do cosmetology, maybe it's just a beautician that you like.
Maybe somebody does lashes right that you want to build
a relationship with, or maybe someone in a church right
an anything, it could be any or maybe somebody just
like you sitting next to you in your classroom, but
you want to have a conversation about something else outside
of the English class that you all are in.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
And so I say, start to build your network, and
build that early.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
And then I would say, do the things that make
you happy, do those things early. I think kids these
days grow up so fast and they're always in this
rush of like, I'm going to be an adult. I
have a seventeen year who's going to graduate from high school.
And you know, he thinks, as soon as you graduate
from high school you're an adult.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
I'm like, you have even God, you have best from
still paying somebody around.
Speaker 3 (18:59):
Exactly, you have no idea yeah, technically not even legally yet.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Right, don't get I don't understand that, right.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
I think that just being able to understand that, like
life goes really really really fast. However, just start to
do the things that you enjoy, embrace those things, and
give yourself grace. I'm gonna tell you, as a young girl,
a lot of doors will close, but those doors are
closing it because they're getting prepared for the doors that
will open for you later. And so I want young
girls to be like, just because you failed at something,
(19:26):
you think it's a failure right now, those failures are
what make you great. They make you really really really
good later on in life. And so I would tell
that young girl of you know, hang in there, because girl, one.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
Day you will be it.
Speaker 3 (19:40):
You're it right now, but you will be it it
later on in life.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Oh man, stage advice. Listen.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
I am so grateful that you came and you grace
this with your presence, with this look you got going
on here.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Listen. I love it.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
And I could see how you go into your working
environment and you are just a light. Thank you, and
so I appreciate you and I wish you all the
success in the world. And I want you to know
that you're welcome to come and stay a while with
me any point in time. My table is always open
for you, and you have a seat at my table.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
Oh thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
I really appreciate you having me here, and just like you,
like you said about me, I mean, I just really
feel the joy in you and I just all the way,
even go into your brunch yesterday. I mean, it wasn't
just about the biscuits, because the biscuits were amazing, okay,
but just what you do in your heart. When I
walked in that room, I am not kidding you. I
told Tammy Yeshay. When I walked in, I was like,
I don't want to leave here. There is just like
(20:43):
this vibe, this sense of peace that I just received
when I walked in and I met you, and I
you know, and I met your husband and I just felt.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
And then your family.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
I knew right away who each of the individuals that
were part of your family before you pulled them up.
I was like, oh, there's one, there's one, and there's another.
Because you're so import system and everything that you all
are doing is so unselfish and so thank you. I'm
just really really grateful to have even been introduced to
you and to be in the same space.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
So thank you, thank you. I appreciate that, I thank you.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
I hope you felt the love and connection in today's conversation.
Every woman you heard from has faced the impossible and
emerged stronger. This is your personal invitation to stale while
longer at Tommy V dot com. That's t O M
MIV dot com for more inspiration for your mind, body
(21:33):
and soul and let's not forget your belly. You're always
welcome at my table. Please be sure to subscribe, make
yourself at home, and stay a wild Wow Gone Stale
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