A hey ba fam, we are back with another episode of Brown Ambition as ever, sending lots of love and endless be a fan virtual hugs to our beloved Tiffany. I am excited about today's show. I have to say this has been a work in progress. I had to sort of do a little convincing to get our guests on the show today. As you guys know, our girl Tiffany is still healing and we love that.
But I don't know, can we.
Call you Tiffany's kind of stand in. I feel like if I couldn't get Tiffany, I was gonna go to the Elicha family and get somebody, you know. So I think I got a good one, y'all. Today we are joined by the one and only fabulous Tracy Alich, who you guys may know Tiffany has talked about her as her publicist for the last couple of years. Yes, so if you want to know the pr brains behind the get Go with Money press campaign and all that good stuff, Tracy is here. I am so excited to talk to her.
But before I do, she is not just Tiffany's sister, y'all. Okay, she is the founder and CEO of her very own PR consulting firm called Tracy Alich Consulting.
So she has a really interesting career.
Y'all know, I'm all about career trajectories and career strategy and going in a bunch of different directions over the course of your career, and Tracy is no exception. She started out with an educational background in finance. She has an MBA because of course the Elchas all have MBAs, right, you guys are like Hella educated an MBA in marketing, and she actually began as a financial analyst before she transitioned to a career as a fashion buyer for major retailers.
She loves fashion spotting trends and realized with all of those skills she actually could become something called an image consultant. So she actually works as an image consultant for some high profile clients. As that styling roster grew, they actually her clients started asking Tracy to help them curate their media relation strategy as well, and so that is how Tracy Alich Consulting was born. So today I am honored
and excited because she sounds so much like Tiffany. I can kind of close my eyes and for ten leg as Tiffany to welcome Tracy LJ to Brown Ambition.
Hey, Mandy, thank you so much.
It's hard to get you PR folk to come and be the face for a minute because you're so used to being in the background. On a scale of one to ten, how uncomfortable is it for you to be the one in the hot seat?
Ten's highest, let's to ten.
Well, Tracy, there's a reason I wanted you to come on today's show because ever since i've sort of I've been on my own entrepreneurship journey over the past close to a year now. I can't believe it's almost but it'll be a year this spring. And one of the things that I have talked about again and again is the importance of your professional brand, and now you as
a PR professional with your own consulting firm. I think when a lot of people think of oh, my brand and my brand identity and how I'm positioning myself, they think more of the PR side. So how am I going to position myself so that I can go on Good Morning America like Tiffany's Ben, or how can I get in the billboard? You know at Times Square and get my book out there, or my ideas and my thoughts and get press mentions.
But I love the idea.
Of taking some of the same sort of strategies and thoughtfulness that people put into PR strategy and actually applying that to our careers, like our professional brand. And I don't know that too many people think about that or talk about that. And it's something that with all my career coaching, talking to like dozens of women, especially Mandy money Makers over the past few weeks, this is something
that I am. I just know this is the magic secret sauce that people that they're missing if they're feeling stuck in their careers or like, why hasn't anyone tapped me on the shoulder yet and given me a big fat raise in promotion. It could be because your professional brand is not as strong, you know, as you want it to be. So of course I invite you the image consultant, the brand specialist, the marketing MBA strategist, amazing PR mind that is tracy to talk about this, right right.
Yeah, No, absolutely no, I totally agree.
You don't need to, you know, necessarily have the on GMA in order to wait when thinking about your personal brand. You can you can do that, you know, in a corporation. So I think the key to you know, honing in on your personal brand based on cliche, but I think it's just being yourself. It sounds easy, but not everybody does it. I don't know, you know, people were kind of tempted to look to the right into the left. But being yourself is your shore, is your sure bet
because no one else is you. So if you can just do that, you differentiate yourself from the next person because we're all unique, right, and then leaning into like your uniqueness, you know, our quirks, you know, because that's what those nuances make us special.
You know.
For instance, I am somebody who is like wildly maybe too analytical and meticulous at times, but honestly, those things have served.
Me well in PR.
You know, I'm somebody who likes to I'm always tracking metrics on how PR campaigns are going and putting together report to my clients. They love that, and I'm like, girl, I love it too, you know, because I love that, you know, and I'm sure that doesn't work for everybody, but lean into what works for you because you will exceed at that because you're just being yourself. That's part
of who you are. So I encourage folks to start with just you know, being comfortable with yourself and leaning into into those nuances that made you you.
I have a couple of thoughts. My first thought is, like it is. It does sound cliche, but it's also a cliche that I feel like is not always the cliche of just be yourself and be authentic. It's really difficult to do that as black women in corporate America. Can we just talk about that, because sometimes when we think about being yourself, we often, especially in this climate,
does feel like corporations are trying to diversify. And I tell some of my clients, I'm like, listen, it's good to be black and brown in today's job pool, because I do feel like they're waking up to the fact that they need to diversify. So we are valuable, Okay, we are a rare entity and we are valuable. At the same time, they often may hire us because they want to increase their diversity numbers, you know, get more black women in senior leadership positions, et cetera. But do
they really want us, you know what I mean? And it's hard to be a black woman and how would you like toggle between, yes, being authentically yourself, but then recognizing that in situations where we are our full authentic selves, it sometimes comes back to bite us in the ass, you know, it becomes, oh, you're a bit aggressive or.
I've been intimidating.
Was always the way it was like thrown back at me. What was your experience as you were sort of navigating the different corporate worlds that you came from, you know, over the course of your career, in finding that balance between being yourself but not to the point where as we all know it can penalize us as black women.
Yeah, no, absolutely, I definitely will say I evolved. I mean what I'm saying today is not necessarily how what I would have said ten years ago, fifteen years ago, because it was it's not always so easy to do that in very corporate, strict environments where most folks don't look like you, you know, starting off in finance, it didn't.
It wasn't very diverse.
So I definitely felt myself as a protective mechanism to kind of withdraw a little bit or just to show myself in part, you know, And I did, I undest say, looking back, I did the company.
Into service because if I had, I feel like shown up more fully.
I mean, that's when you can perform at your peak, I think, and I think you know, I know it. Yeah, So I would say that it's not easy to do that, but if you're really out of alignment, you may need to find a culture that is more accepting of all of all of you, you know, who are looking to truly be diverse, not for diversity's sake. So I know it's easier said than done, but we spend so much time at work it's really tiring and exhausting to pretend and.
Withdraw and withhold.
So you know, I encourage you and myself speaking to myself, to continue to you know, lean into to being ourselves. And if it's not a fit, then there are companies that truly embrace their employees as they are. So look for those companies that do that. That's what my suggestion would be.
Yeah.
Absolutely, I think if you're sitting across from the table and if you are being interviewed by people who don't look like you, I think that's a really good indication of what the culture is going to be like. And if someone with your personality and your uniqueness and your quirks is really going to feel welcome there. And I do think we have that responsibility to be picky when
it comes to choosing a work environment. And you're absolutely right, Like I want to say that black women can walk into any corporate environment and be our authentic cells and we won't be penalized by that. But the reality is that you may be.
But it's about.
Recognizing when it's their problem and not you. And believe me, I have had those moments where I have been had I'm like is it me? But and then I would let the facts speak for themselves, like it can't be me, like you know, and then you recognize, Okay, this is just not a good fit. So I'm gonna be Okay, I'm gonna move on professionally though, like with your brand, I think the core the kind of thing that I take for granted even with my career coaching clients, is
you have to be great at your work. I mean, at the end of the day, being known for excellent work product. Is I feel like the foundation of a good personal brand. Where people struggle sometimes is I feel like doing the work but shining their own spotlight on it. And I imagine for your clients as well. They may feel like, but I've done all this good work, but it's like if a tree falls in the forest, will
anyone hear it? You know what I mean? So what's one of the first things you tell clients when it's like, Okay, I've done this great work, but how do I get it noticed? How do I you know, how do I get comfortable talking about it? Where do you kind of go from there?
Yeah?
I always encourage clients when they first come on board is to is to share it, you know, And sometimes there's some resistance, like, h you don't want to seem like they're bragging. But otherwise I don't know, yes, yes, but to share it. Share it.
You know.
You don't have to necessarily share it in a media interview, but that's great. Maybe you're sharing it in your weekly newsletter. Maybe you're sharing it in your your profile, across your social platforms, your IG profile, your TikTok profile, you know, just whatever differentiates you. I think it should be consistently said everywhere in your bio on your website, like I said,
in those profiles and your social platforms. And then if you are someone who is take press interviews in your key messages that you're communicating with the press, it should be you should share it everyoney.
That whole braggy thing can be really uncomfortable for some people. You know, I'm a leo, so I never really struggled.
In that sense.
I kind of mine sitting there and tell you what's so great about me? No, but you don't want and especially in social media, I think a lot of us are kind of afraid of becoming part of the problem, that perceived problem with social media, like, oh, people just come on here for attention and things like that. But even professionally like LinkedIn for example, LinkedIn is bea If y'all are not on LinkedIn and you're feeling stuck in your career, then I just ask you, why are you hurting yourself?
Why do you not want.
Yourself to succeed? Get thee to LinkedIn because it is such a tracy. You're really active on LinkedIn too, Why do you think it's such a I mean, I could talk about LinkedIn all day. It's such a powerful platform, especially for working professionals. If you want to target your audience, like your audience which is throughout your career, people who could offer you great opportunities, career opportunities, people at your company to see what you're doing and what you're up to.
What better platform is then LinkedIn to share and amplify the work that you're doing, right, I mean it is like low, low hanging fruit. And yet people think it's like, oh, I'm just going to be bragging about myself. No.
Absolutely, and LinkedIn is definitely an untapped resources for most. Like you said, even if you're not looking, you know, just to kind of let folks know the moves you're making. I know I've secured clients through LinkedIn because they're looking. People do go there and to scout and look for not just opportunities but partnerships and things like that. So you know, that's why it's good to stay current even if you're not necessarily in the market looking for a new position.
I mean target audience something I just touched on. I mean that's such an important part of PR, right, is like who are you trying to speak to? And I think professionally too, when you think about, Okay, do I have a target audience? But what's your goal? Is your goal to get big, fat, juicy career opportunities or to get a big raise at work, then your target audience is your colleagues, your management, and if you're looking for new opportunity, it's everyone who could potentially be in a
position to hire or refer you for a job. So that's why LinkedIn is such a wonderful platform for that. When it comes to expanding beyond like that world, you know, getting your work out there, and in some professions it is important to get your work seen on a bigger stage. I came up as a journalist, you know, in one of the ways that I was able to get poached and get good opportunities was by getting my written work published,
you know, outwardly. And I know that's a piece of you know, what you do with your clients as well. So let's say you're someone who you know you feel like I'm ready for I'm ready to get my expertise and my message across beyond just my colleagues. I'm looking to go beyond LinkedIn. I actually want to get published. I want to get quoted in articles or get my
own written work published in articles. What sort of advice would you have for someone just starting out, whether it's getting your name in print, getting connected with media, do you need a publicist to start with? You know, what are some of those strategies you can use to start with?
Yeah, no, for sure, I mean I definitely to start I wouldn't say go hire a PR firm or go hire a PR pro. There are definitely certain certain things you can do on your own, Like, for instance, if you're looking to secure like an opt dead opportunity, maybe crafting that opted ahead of time, and you know, as relevant news comes about that, like relates and connects to your expertise, you can tweak it accordingly and basically have
the opted like ready to go. You know, so writing op deads reaching out to folks, so people.
May not even know what that is. It's like first person opinion on something that's happening. And so the simple thing of actually keeping track of what's going on in your industry, right, so following those trends and then having an opinion about it. That's a baby stuff before you even hire Tracy, right because you know what, everyone's ready
for a Tracy. I'm sure they come to you. You're like, You're like, you're not ready for me yet, but yeah, so developing your point of view, yeah, which in my case took a long time.
Hmmm.
Took me a long time before I felt like I had well, before I felt confident to share my point of view. Right now, I've found my niche at the intersection of career, wealth building, and race, and I've kind of come to this naturally. I'm like, what do I get fired up talking about?
What do I feel?
You know, what do I feel fluent in kind of speaking about? And I couldn't have said this, I don't think a decade ago. And I feel like sometimes letting your letting your career kind of go and realizing that with time you will develop you know, your point of view and something to say. And until you got something to say, it's okay, you can just kind of be in the background lurking learning.
Yes, totally.
So in addition to you know, securing op dead opportunities, you can also you know, get quoted as an expert in by journalists by maybe there's some journalists that you follow. So it's very important to determine and identify like who writes about your type of industry, your type of work, your expertise. And once you determine whom those folks are, I suggest you follow them, follow them on Twitter. Twitter is a great place because they're sharing a lot of
what they're writing there. Perhaps Instagram, but a lot of folks use that personally, but follow them. So if you know they talk about beauty and you have I don't know, maybe you have a skincare line, why not. They're seeking pitches. Their email is in the profile. Reach out to them. Craft a really short pitch, maybe two paragraphs, talking about your brand story, talking about you know, the problem that you're solving, and you know, again, making sure there's some
type of relevancy tie in. It's not just I have a skincare brand, but maybe maybe it's winter season and maybe you have a couple of products that relate to and help out with dry skin. Because my skin has been dry this win.
I'm like, what is this?
I've been looking crazy? But you know, so cracking a short pitch, reaching out to that journalist and following up. Sometimes people will tell me.
I pitched, so I'm like, okay, how many times? But yeah, So determining who those folks are who write about the topics that you are an expert in and reaching out to them and making meaningful connections and relationships with them, you know, maybe just writing them just to comment out a story they've written. Maybe not just only to pitch.
But I think that's a good kind of like entry way, you know, starting to build you know, a little media less for yourself and have maybe two three pitches on deck that that speak to certain topics that.
You like to be covered.
But I definitely have had folks that have done that prior to coming to me, and it's been helpful to get a little momentum.
You know, all those you know.
Mentions can be helpful in building your credibility, it can be helpful and you know, establishing yourself as an expert. I think all that goes back to the personal branding piece, because that's that's part of personal branding. You want to look to, You want to people look at you like an authority figure. I'm an expert, So media can for sure help with that.
Yeah, and I love what you said about being targeted. And even if your media list is like five people, so you are you have a very specific niche in like science or something like that, there's only like five reporters nationally who cover that topic. Well that's your target audience, right, and that's who you should be targeting. It's you shouldn't have. It doesn't make sense to start with like a massive
list of every single writer for every single publication. But who's actually who actually needs you to help their day be easier. As a former journalist myself, I know reporters are out there, always looking for sources, always trying to come up with the next story idea. And if you can give them a story idea, babe, Like that is their currency. That's how they get their paychecks every day. They got to have something new to feed the Internet machine.
And I think that's why I've had my understanding of that animal, the beast that is journalists out there. I see you, I am you, I am one of you.
Has really help. But in your profession too, it's about like, so, let's say, if you're someone working your way up in your in your industry, you know professionally, who are the influential people in your space, the kind of people who if they endorse you, or someone in a room hears them say your name out loud, that they'll have an impact, and just by virtue of you being associated with them,
it will lend you credibility. It's kind of the reason why folks like like Tiffany for example, or me even why will want to go on other people's podcasts or get interviewed to other places because when you sort of sit across from someone and they have a big audience by virtue of them selecting you to also speak to their audience, you get to benefit from that like credibility. Right, Like I was telling Tracy, I'm like, people are gonna love you.
You're Tiffany's sister.
Like you're gonna be on Brown Ambition, they love her.
You get to get that, like you did say I love to you too.
Right, Yeah, So image consulting. Tell me about image consulting, Tracy, Like that's all about I mean I think that's like the outward brand people think about it is what do I look like?
You know, what's my image?
But I mean that plays into professional branding as well too, like it can anyway, you know, what is your image? So can you talk about that that little detour in your career journey into image consulting and yeah, like any relevant like tips or strategies from that time.
Mm hmm, yeah, no, for sure that I really loved my work in image consulting. I love connecting with people understanding their brand, because I was always conscious of not putting someone in something that wasn't in alignment with their brand. So there, I don't know, a sports person, I'm not going to put them in something that's not in alignment with their brand.
So it was it was twofold.
It was, you know, making sure it was whatever I style them in was in alignment with their own personal brand and also in alignment with for instance, if, for instance, my clients today in pr if I'm helping them with an image consulting project, making sure it's in alignment what they're wearing is in alignment with the platform. You know, maybe they're on again on ESPN. They're not going to necessarily wear something that they would be on a casual show like I don't know, a casual morning show or
something like that. So just making sure that it's cohesive with your brand story and also cohesive with the media outlet type if it's a particular interview that I'm styling for. But yeah, so I always kind of kept those in mind and made sure that I styled clients very much true to themselves. I remember having a client who was like, I don't wear skirts.
I don't wear heels like, all right, that's fine, that's totally fine. I wouldn't.
I'm not looking to make someone feel uncomfortable. I just want them to feel as polished and comfortable as possible with.
What they're they like to wear.
So I was very conscious of working within their comfort zone but elevating it. But I also like to, you know, push my clients to try, you know, that's why they hired me, to push them into trying new shapes and silhouettes, colors and things like that. But for sure, I during that time, I had to be very in tune and listen and make sure that I was styling them appropriately and comfortably. So I think that's you know, that definitely resonates that they're uncomfortable. So I was very aware of that.
Yeah, I think that also comes from when you're trying to look like what you think people want you to look like. I can't tell you how many pairs of like old slacks and blazers and sensible black pumps I have in my closet that I'm just like, I really was trying to do the thing, you know, look professional and all of that, and I feel so much more comfortable now that I just get to Well, it's different when you're Now I'm working for myself and I'm a very relaxed kind of boss. You know, I don't mind
my style. But anyway, when you're in a corporate environment, it's like, where do I find that happy spot between me feeling unique but still you know, suitable for the office, but anything you can do, I do feel like those we live.
In a in an image.
I don't know what's the word. Like, people are really focused on image. That's just like the nature of the beast. And I think the way that you present yourself. Yes, it matters if your work is good, but also you know, are you presenting yourself? Are you feeling confident when you're in a space, And if you're not, it sounds shallow, but I don't think it is at all like what
you're dressing in. You know, the fact that I put on it like a red lip for today, you know, that makes me feel kind of more like a badass. You know.
So I'm ready to talk to Tracy. Now.
You had these really sick glasses on too. They were big and red, and I was like, dang, that's awesome. We took them off, But like you're gonna remember the girl with the red lip or the big bread glasses, you know, or the funky shoes or the funky earrings. Whatever you feel like makes you what makes you you?
Yeah, I want to shift.
I want to shift a little, but now because I want to go into you must have some funny stories about like really bad mistakes people have made trying to pitch you or even trying to like pitch media. So I mean, can we go there for a second. You know, what are just some like, oh lord, have mercy mistakes you can make when you're trying to pitch yourselves, whether it's to pr for representation or to the media for coverage.
Sometimes I'll get requests from folks looking to, you know, work with my team and I to represent them, and you know, we have like an intake forum that they complete so we can get an understanding of like what's their brand, like you know, I, you know, questions about their website and things like that, their target audience. I just don't want to waste anyone's time on the phone, so we kind of create that to get a sense
see we're a good bit. So sometimes on that form folks will respond to the target audience question and say like everybody, like literally they'll write everybody or I think there's a question around like who's and.
It's not a target audience. Yeah, the intake form is are will be a task?
But but you know, if you haven't identified that, you know, that's not something that I can identify for you. So I typically will just kind of write them back and let them know to you know, that is like really required in order to move forward, because otherwise I'm I wouldn't know who to pitch. Who do I pitch if you don't know who you're speaking to find that out and then we can talk. So I would say I've
gotten that a handful of time, not too much. Or when we talk, there's another question on the form about who they kind of like, not their competition, but who they aspire to be, And a lot of times it's like it's again a really general answer, and you know, it gives me that question I used to see because sometimes I'm not really familiar with the service of the product. But if you let me know someone who's kind of
like you, I'm like, okay, okay, I get it. But yeah, those really generic answers a lot of times means they're not so serious or they're not quite ready.
You have to do.
You have to know whether you're out of company and you're vying for promotion, or you are a skincare you know, a beauty brand that you're trying to get your product on the same stage as like for some reason, I can think about as Tracy Yellisross's new hair care line, so you're a hair care you know, line creator and anyway, you have to know your competition. And it's it's okay to say competition. It's fine, but it doesn't mean that
there's not space for you. But it is important to, you know, do some research and do some light casual internet stalking. Where have they been mentioned, where are they showing up? Who's written about them before? You know? And it's not so much about it's definitely not about mimicking them or trying to copy what they've done. But it goes if you've got a similar audience and they are appearing somewhere, you want to like hang out there too, just lurk. You may have to just like be in
the background, fly on the wall. You could be in the audience at the conference where they're the keynote speaker, and then a couple of years later you could be the keynote speaker. You know, but you want to what is that saying it's about? And we were kind of get touching on this before, talking about like the people you surround yourself with or they're audience, you kind of benefit from their credibility. It kind of rubs off on you.
But I think that also goes for where, you know, who are you surrounding yourself with, who are your peers, your friends in the space. Are you connecting with other people in your industry to make those connections, because I do feel like all of that matters. You know, you can't sort of be isolated often a corner. I think there is way more power in not joining a group, but being involved within your community, you know, and put
your name forward. Have you seen that dynamic even work out, you know with your clients, like examples of when because they've been involved with their community, it's resulted in like an opportunity for them.
Oh yeah, no, absolutely, Yeah to your example of you know, a client not being able to take advantage of an interview because of another time commitment they'll offer up. You know, a colleague and you know that's always a win win. Or maybe I have clients that are you know, have complimentary kind of services where we'll put together some type of you know, collaboration, activation or something.
So yeah, that's really powerful.
It's always powerful, you know, having that community is really instrumental and making those those opportunities happen.
Yeah, it's one of those things where it's like you want to of course, you want to promote yourself and brag about yourself, but it becomes a lot more natural and it becomes easier just when you spread that goodwill around and you're shining on yourself, but you're also sharing shine with other people, and I don't know, it just creates good, positive karmic energy and if you're feeling like a lot of times I talk to clients career coaching clients who are feeling stuck and they want a new
opportunity but nothing has like followed in their labs yet. And one of my first questions is, so, who are you telling that you're ready for into something new? Who in your network? Who are you leaning on and talking to? Some people just are like a lot of people rather you know, their networks have gone stale, not because they're just not nice people, you know what I mean, But like there's been a pandemic. Maybe they've just been so down with their job they haven't been out putting themselves
out there. But putting yourself out there, you know, whether it's joining a professional organization or joining your you know, employee resource group at work, just getting in the room with other like minded people, getting your name out there. That is a way to brand yourself, you know, and to get your your name and your brand out there and may and start to build those connections so that people again, that power happens when people are like saying
your name in rooms that you were not in. So where in the world people are probably talking about Tracy right now, hopefully good things like I know an amazing PR consultant. You should reach out to Tracy.
It's word of mouth, man, Yeah, it really is. I'm gonna say that's how I you know you were talking about. I think when we were speaking earlier about like my nonlinear path, nonlinear career path. And for sure when I started out in finance, so have a bachelor's in finance
and INBA marketing. So my first several years in my career were as an analyst, you know, moving around different positions, but in that industry, and when I grew a little uneasy, not uneasy, but you know, I was just ready for change, was ready to kind of stretch myself more. I just felt like I needed there was more that I wanted to tap into. So I started, you know, thinking about
what would be next for me. And I started, like you said, after I was thinking about what I could do next, fashion came to mind quite a bit, and I was just like, how do you go from finance and fashion? Is that even a thing?
You know? Is there a path? And I think there is. There's always a path. You can create your own path.
And I took those thoughts out of my mind, and to your point, I started talking about them just to friends and family that this is something I want to explore. You know, I think I'd be great in this industry, particularly in buying, because buying is like seventy percent numbers crunching, forecasting, looking at sales, and then the thirty percent is the thing that everyone else knows, like in the storeroom, looking at pretty. So I thought that was a great blend
of like of me. I'm like, that's me. I'm in a little coo, I love fashion, you know, So I say that to say I landed on my next opportunity by talking to friends and fam One of my sisters said, oh, hey, I actually have a friend who's opening a men'swear boutique and he's actually looking for someone to buy for the store. And I'm like, uh, how does that?
Okay?
Sure, let me let me talk to him, you know. So it was working with him for a while, still working at my full time finance gig, but working part time with him. I went a couple of days a week after work and just started to review reporting with him, looking on how sales were going, seeing if we can identify trends, going to trade shows with him. He gave me a lot of autonomy to make, you know, key buying decisions for the store. So just by me saying I want to explore this thing, I want to I
want to I want to buy. I would love to be a buyer, and you know, my sister happened to have an opportunity and he happened to be you know, you know, so are we really connected? So it was something that I was able to do part time just to really just see if it was something I wanted to do because I wasn't quite sure because I didn't really know it in practice.
So by working.
There doing that while you're working full time.
Yeah, I was a yeah, And that's.
How you got your pivot. That's how you did the pivot from fashion to finance.
I love that. Yeah, that's exactly.
Really it's about opening your mouth and telling people. People want to be helpful and connect other people, but too many of us. I'm telling you people and my career clients know this. At the last five minutes of a coaching session with me is usually when the dreams come out. That's when they're like, so, I got this bakery.
I mean I don't really talk.
About it, and I'm like what, And I feel like their dreams there, We all have them. I feel like if they're just the quiet, the quiet ambitions, the quiet desires that we all have, and it may feel scary to say them out loud, but how else can people help you?
That's the challenge.
If you're listening, what is that secret thing that you know that you think that you want to do next, but you it's little, it's different, and you don't know how you're going to get there. Open your mouth and tell someone yeah, and then tell another person and then just keep telling people until until you get there, because that's the magic, right, Yeah, you don't have to do it alone, like if just like you said, open your mouth. There are resources, there are people who literally love to help.
There's a way. I love this, There's always a way.
And as much as Tracy's amazing at what she does, you don't always like it. I mean it's hard. I feel like if you're a client, even coming to Tracy and you haven't learned how to talk about yourself, how she going to learn? Like that's not necessarily right, you know, Like like you said earlier, it really is up to us to determine what value are we bringing, you know, what is our pov? What makes us different? And if we can't articulate that, how can we expect other people to get the message?
Yeah?
And how and what am I? You know, as a publicist, we tell stories, you know, we craft stories. And if you haven't, if you're not able to tell me your story, what should I tell the press on your behalf?
You know?
So just being super clear with your brand story how you're different, and that makes the job so easy, you know, for me, because I'm able to, you know, package you in a way, make sure there's a relevant tie in, reach out to the right folks and hopefully get some interests from the right publications.
Yeah, I gave my I have this group coaching cohort called Mandy money Makers, and one of their assignments we did a whole week on this, like a whole session on professional branding, and the assignment at the end of it was write your brand story. And I love that you said that because I could just see some of their eyes like what my story, and some of them
I got back were so good. You know, you don't realize you're the main character in your own crazy fun movie until you sit down and write the plot, you know, And it's as simple as how did you get to where you are today? And what decisions did you make along the way in your career? And there is magic there, I promise there is.
There is so much.
Power in your unique story. And I think a lot of folks just are not necessarily sitting there thinking that they're all that special or interesting. But I promise you, when you focus on your unique journey and your unique story and all the little quirks and nuances, there is something magical there that will stick with someone, you know, whether it's something.
You share in your next interview.
Some of the people that did those brand stories for me, those were going to go up on their professional websites as their bios. You know, absolutely, you've got to be able to tell your own story.
Yes, yeah, those are key, and those would allow folks to connect with you once they see, like, oh wow, they are even more connected to you once they see why you do what you do, how you arrived here, and they were able to tell it too. If you have a good brand story, I can be grat teate your brand story quite easily, you know, so making sure it makes sense, it's concise, and it's compelling.
You are the main character.
We're all the main character.
Okay, you don't have to.
Be a Leo to be a main character. It does take some practice, though it's uncomfortable for you. Well listen, Tracy, I wish we had more time, but I just want to say thank you so much for killing some very big budget Theese issues. Thank you for warming up her office for her, and get warming up that mic make sure it still works. I can't thank you enough for joining us. Thank you where can be a fan, find you and follow all your wonderful work with Tracy L Consulting. Yeah,
so I am on the Gram. I mean I'm on all platforms, but I would say Instagram is where I'm most active. So my handle is Tracy L J p R so t r A c y A l I c h E p R. Well, you could just top on my website tracy lja dot com. We can get more info.
Excellent. Thank you so much, Tracey, Thank you so much, Manny