Speaker 1: A hey ba fam, we are back with another episode
Speaker 1: of Brown Ambition as ever, sending lots of love and
Speaker 1: endless be a fan virtual hugs to our beloved Tiffany.
Speaker 1: I am excited about today's show. I have to say
Speaker 1: this has been a work in progress. I had to
Speaker 1: sort of do a little convincing to get our guests
Speaker 1: on the show today. As you guys know, our girl
Speaker 1: Tiffany is still healing and we love that.
Speaker 2: But I don't know, can we.
Speaker 1: Call you Tiffany's kind of stand in. I feel like
Speaker 1: if I couldn't get Tiffany, I was gonna go to
Speaker 1: the Elicha family and get somebody, you know. So I
Speaker 1: think I got a good one, y'all. Today we are
Speaker 1: joined by the one and only fabulous Tracy Alich, who
Speaker 1: you guys may know Tiffany has talked about her as
Speaker 1: her publicist for the last couple of years. Yes, so
Speaker 1: if you want to know the pr brains behind the
Speaker 1: get Go with Money press campaign and all that good stuff,
Speaker 1: Tracy is here. I am so excited to talk to her.
Speaker 1: But before I do, she is not just Tiffany's sister, y'all. Okay,
Speaker 1: she is the founder and CEO of her very own
Speaker 1: PR consulting firm called Tracy Alich Consulting.
Speaker 2: So she has a really interesting career.
Speaker 1: Y'all know, I'm all about career trajectories and career strategy
Speaker 1: and going in a bunch of different directions over the
Speaker 1: course of your career, and Tracy is no exception. She
Speaker 1: started out with an educational background in finance. She has
Speaker 1: an MBA because of course the Elchas all have MBAs, right,
Speaker 1: you guys are like Hella educated an MBA in marketing,
Speaker 1: and she actually began as a financial analyst before she
Speaker 1: transitioned to a career as a fashion buyer for major retailers.
Speaker 1: She loves fashion spotting trends and realized with all of
Speaker 1: those skills she actually could become something called an image consultant.
Speaker 1: So she actually works as an image consultant for some
Speaker 1: high profile clients. As that styling roster grew, they actually
Speaker 1: her clients started asking Tracy to help them curate their
Speaker 1: media relation strategy as well, and so that is how
Speaker 1: Tracy Alich Consulting was born. So today I am honored
Speaker 1: and excited because she sounds so much like Tiffany. I
Speaker 1: can kind of close my eyes and for ten leg
Speaker 1: as Tiffany to welcome Tracy LJ to Brown Ambition.
Speaker 2: Hey, Mandy, thank you so much.
Speaker 1: It's hard to get you PR folk to come and
Speaker 1: be the face for a minute because you're so used
Speaker 1: to being in the background. On a scale of one
Speaker 1: to ten, how uncomfortable is it for you to be
Speaker 1: the one in the hot seat?
Speaker 2: Ten's highest, let's to ten.
Speaker 1: Well, Tracy, there's a reason I wanted you to come
Speaker 1: on today's show because ever since i've sort of I've
Speaker 1: been on my own entrepreneurship journey over the past close
Speaker 1: to a year now. I can't believe it's almost but
Speaker 1: it'll be a year this spring. And one of the
Speaker 1: things that I have talked about again and again is
Speaker 1: the importance of your professional brand, and now you as
Speaker 1: a PR professional with your own consulting firm. I think
Speaker 1: when a lot of people think of oh, my brand
Speaker 1: and my brand identity and how I'm positioning myself, they
Speaker 1: think more of the PR side. So how am I
Speaker 1: going to position myself so that I can go on
Speaker 1: Good Morning America like Tiffany's Ben, or how can I
Speaker 1: get in the billboard? You know at Times Square and
Speaker 1: get my book out there, or my ideas and my
Speaker 1: thoughts and get press mentions.
Speaker 2: But I love the idea.
Speaker 1: Of taking some of the same sort of strategies and
Speaker 1: thoughtfulness that people put into PR strategy and actually applying
Speaker 1: that to our careers, like our professional brand. And I
Speaker 1: don't know that too many people think about that or
Speaker 1: talk about that. And it's something that with all my
Speaker 1: career coaching, talking to like dozens of women, especially Mandy
Speaker 1: money Makers over the past few weeks, this is something
Speaker 1: that I am. I just know this is the magic
Speaker 1: secret sauce that people that they're missing if they're feeling
Speaker 1: stuck in their careers or like, why hasn't anyone tapped
Speaker 1: me on the shoulder yet and given me a big
Speaker 1: fat raise in promotion. It could be because your professional
Speaker 1: brand is not as strong, you know, as you want
Speaker 1: it to be. So of course I invite you the
Speaker 1: image consultant, the brand specialist, the marketing MBA strategist, amazing
Speaker 1: PR mind that is tracy to talk about this, right right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, No, absolutely no, I totally agree.
Speaker 3: You don't need to, you know, necessarily have the on
Speaker 3: GMA in order to wait when thinking about your personal brand.
Speaker 3: You can you can do that, you know, in a corporation.
Speaker 3: So I think the key to you know, honing in
Speaker 3: on your personal brand based on cliche, but I think
Speaker 3: it's just being yourself. It sounds easy, but not everybody
Speaker 3: does it. I don't know, you know, people were kind
Speaker 3: of tempted to look to the right into the left.
Speaker 3: But being yourself is your shore, is your sure bet
Speaker 3: because no one else is you. So if you can
Speaker 3: just do that, you differentiate yourself from the next person
Speaker 3: because we're all unique, right, and then leaning into like
Speaker 3: your uniqueness, you know, our quirks, you know, because that's
Speaker 3: what those nuances make us special.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: For instance, I am somebody who is like wildly maybe
Speaker 3: too analytical and meticulous at times, but honestly, those things
Speaker 3: have served.
Speaker 2: Me well in PR.
Speaker 3: You know, I'm somebody who likes to I'm always tracking
Speaker 3: metrics on how PR campaigns are going and putting together
Speaker 3: report to my clients. They love that, and I'm like, girl,
Speaker 3: I love it too, you know, because I love that,
Speaker 3: you know, and I'm sure that doesn't work for everybody,
Speaker 3: but lean into what works for you because you will
Speaker 3: exceed at that because you're just being yourself. That's part
Speaker 3: of who you are. So I encourage folks to start
Speaker 3: with just you know, being comfortable with yourself and leaning
Speaker 3: into into those nuances that made you you.
Speaker 1: I have a couple of thoughts. My first thought is,
Speaker 1: like it is. It does sound cliche, but it's also
Speaker 1: a cliche that I feel like is not always the
Speaker 1: cliche of just be yourself and be authentic. It's really
Speaker 1: difficult to do that as black women in corporate America.
Speaker 1: Can we just talk about that, because sometimes when we
Speaker 1: think about being yourself, we often, especially in this climate,
Speaker 1: does feel like corporations are trying to diversify. And I
Speaker 1: tell some of my clients, I'm like, listen, it's good
Speaker 1: to be black and brown in today's job pool, because
Speaker 1: I do feel like they're waking up to the fact
Speaker 1: that they need to diversify. So we are valuable, Okay,
Speaker 1: we are a rare entity and we are valuable. At
Speaker 1: the same time, they often may hire us because they
Speaker 1: want to increase their diversity numbers, you know, get more
Speaker 1: black women in senior leadership positions, et cetera. But do
Speaker 1: they really want us, you know what I mean? And
Speaker 1: it's hard to be a black woman and how would
Speaker 1: you like toggle between, yes, being authentically yourself, but then
Speaker 1: recognizing that in situations where we are our full authentic selves,
Speaker 1: it sometimes comes back to bite us in the ass,
Speaker 1: you know, it becomes, oh, you're a bit aggressive or.
Speaker 2: I've been intimidating.
Speaker 1: Was always the way it was like thrown back at me.
Speaker 1: What was your experience as you were sort of navigating
Speaker 1: the different corporate worlds that you came from, you know,
Speaker 1: over the course of your career, in finding that balance
Speaker 1: between being yourself but not to the point where as
Speaker 1: we all know it can penalize us as black women.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, absolutely, I definitely will say I evolved. I
Speaker 3: mean what I'm saying today is not necessarily how what
Speaker 3: I would have said ten years ago, fifteen years ago,
Speaker 3: because it was it's not always so easy to do
Speaker 3: that in very corporate, strict environments where most folks don't
Speaker 3: look like you, you know, starting off in finance, it didn't.
Speaker 2: It wasn't very diverse.
Speaker 3: So I definitely felt myself as a protective mechanism to
Speaker 3: kind of withdraw a little bit or just to show
Speaker 3: myself in part, you know, And I did, I undest say,
Speaker 3: looking back, I did the company.
Speaker 2: Into service because if I had, I feel like shown
Speaker 2: up more fully.
Speaker 3: I mean, that's when you can perform at your peak,
Speaker 3: I think, and I think you know, I know it. Yeah,
Speaker 3: So I would say that it's not easy to do that,
Speaker 3: but if you're really out of alignment, you may need
Speaker 3: to find a culture that is more accepting of all
Speaker 3: of all of you, you know, who are looking to
Speaker 3: truly be diverse, not for diversity's sake. So I know
Speaker 3: it's easier said than done, but we spend so much
Speaker 3: time at work it's really tiring and exhausting to pretend and.
Speaker 2: Withdraw and withhold.
Speaker 3: So you know, I encourage you and myself speaking to myself,
Speaker 3: to continue to you know, lean into to being ourselves.
Speaker 3: And if it's not a fit, then there are companies
Speaker 3: that truly embrace their employees as they are. So look
Speaker 3: for those companies that do that. That's what my suggestion
Speaker 3: would be.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, I think if you're sitting across from the table
Speaker 1: and if you are being interviewed by people who don't
Speaker 1: look like you, I think that's a really good indication
Speaker 1: of what the culture is going to be like. And
Speaker 1: if someone with your personality and your uniqueness and your
Speaker 1: quirks is really going to feel welcome there. And I
Speaker 1: do think we have that responsibility to be picky when
Speaker 1: it comes to choosing a work environment. And you're absolutely right,
Speaker 1: Like I want to say that black women can walk
Speaker 1: into any corporate environment and be our authentic cells and
Speaker 1: we won't be penalized by that. But the reality is
Speaker 1: that you may be.
Speaker 2: But it's about.
Speaker 1: Recognizing when it's their problem and not you. And believe me,
Speaker 1: I have had those moments where I have been had
Speaker 1: I'm like is it me? But and then I would
Speaker 1: let the facts speak for themselves, like it can't be me,
Speaker 1: like you know, and then you recognize, Okay, this is
Speaker 1: just not a good fit. So I'm gonna be Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna move on professionally though, like with your brand,
Speaker 1: I think the core the kind of thing that I
Speaker 1: take for granted even with my career coaching clients, is
Speaker 1: you have to be great at your work. I mean,
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, being known for excellent
Speaker 1: work product. Is I feel like the foundation of a
Speaker 1: good personal brand. Where people struggle sometimes is I feel
Speaker 1: like doing the work but shining their own spotlight on it.
Speaker 1: And I imagine for your clients as well. They may
Speaker 1: feel like, but I've done all this good work, but
Speaker 1: it's like if a tree falls in the forest, will
Speaker 1: anyone hear it? You know what I mean? So what's
Speaker 1: one of the first things you tell clients when it's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I've done this great work, but how do I get
Speaker 1: it noticed? How do I you know, how do I
Speaker 1: get comfortable talking about it? Where do you kind of
Speaker 1: go from there?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: I always encourage clients when they first come on board
Speaker 3: is to is to share it, you know, And sometimes
Speaker 3: there's some resistance, like, h you don't want to seem
Speaker 3: like they're bragging. But otherwise I don't know, yes, yes,
Speaker 3: but to share it. Share it.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 3: You don't have to necessarily share it in a media interview,
Speaker 3: but that's great. Maybe you're sharing it in your weekly newsletter.
Speaker 3: Maybe you're sharing it in your your profile, across your
Speaker 3: social platforms, your IG profile, your TikTok profile, you know,
Speaker 3: just whatever differentiates you. I think it should be consistently
Speaker 3: said everywhere in your bio on your website, like I said,
Speaker 3: in those profiles and your social platforms. And then if
Speaker 3: you are someone who is take press interviews in your
Speaker 3: key messages that you're communicating with the press, it should
Speaker 3: be you should share it everyoney.
Speaker 1: That whole braggy thing can be really uncomfortable for some people.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm a leo, so I never really struggled.
Speaker 2: In that sense.
Speaker 1: I kind of mine sitting there and tell you what's
Speaker 1: so great about me? No, but you don't want and
Speaker 1: especially in social media, I think a lot of us
Speaker 1: are kind of afraid of becoming part of the problem,
Speaker 1: that perceived problem with social media, like, oh, people just
Speaker 1: come on here for attention and things like that. But
Speaker 1: even professionally like LinkedIn for example, LinkedIn is bea If
Speaker 1: y'all are not on LinkedIn and you're feeling stuck in
Speaker 1: your career, then I just ask you, why are you
Speaker 1: hurting yourself?
Speaker 2: Why do you not want.
Speaker 1: Yourself to succeed? Get thee to LinkedIn because it is
Speaker 1: such a tracy. You're really active on LinkedIn too, Why
Speaker 1: do you think it's such a I mean, I could
Speaker 1: talk about LinkedIn all day. It's such a powerful platform,
Speaker 1: especially for working professionals. If you want to target your audience,
Speaker 1: like your audience which is throughout your career, people who
Speaker 1: could offer you great opportunities, career opportunities, people at your
Speaker 1: company to see what you're doing and what you're up to.
Speaker 1: What better platform is then LinkedIn to share and amplify
Speaker 1: the work that you're doing, right, I mean it is
Speaker 1: like low, low hanging fruit. And yet people think it's like, oh,
Speaker 1: I'm just going to be bragging about myself. No.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, and LinkedIn is definitely an untapped resources for most.
Speaker 3: Like you said, even if you're not looking, you know,
Speaker 3: just to kind of let folks know the moves you're making.
Speaker 3: I know I've secured clients through LinkedIn because they're looking.
Speaker 3: People do go there and to scout and look for
Speaker 3: not just opportunities but partnerships and things like that. So
Speaker 3: you know, that's why it's good to stay current even
Speaker 3: if you're not necessarily in the market looking for a
Speaker 3: new position.
Speaker 1: I mean target audience something I just touched on. I
Speaker 1: mean that's such an important part of PR, right, is
Speaker 1: like who are you trying to speak to? And I
Speaker 1: think professionally too, when you think about, Okay, do I
Speaker 1: have a target audience? But what's your goal? Is your
Speaker 1: goal to get big, fat, juicy career opportunities or to
Speaker 1: get a big raise at work, then your target audience
Speaker 1: is your colleagues, your management, and if you're looking for
Speaker 1: new opportunity, it's everyone who could potentially be in a
Speaker 1: position to hire or refer you for a job. So
Speaker 1: that's why LinkedIn is such a wonderful platform for that.
Speaker 1: When it comes to expanding beyond like that world, you know,
Speaker 1: getting your work out there, and in some professions it
Speaker 1: is important to get your work seen on a bigger stage.
Speaker 1: I came up as a journalist, you know, in one
Speaker 1: of the ways that I was able to get poached
Speaker 1: and get good opportunities was by getting my written work published,
Speaker 1: you know, outwardly. And I know that's a piece of
Speaker 1: you know, what you do with your clients as well.
Speaker 1: So let's say you're someone who you know you feel
Speaker 1: like I'm ready for I'm ready to get my expertise
Speaker 1: and my message across beyond just my colleagues. I'm looking
Speaker 1: to go beyond LinkedIn. I actually want to get published.
Speaker 1: I want to get quoted in articles or get my
Speaker 1: own written work published in articles. What sort of advice
Speaker 1: would you have for someone just starting out, whether it's
Speaker 1: getting your name in print, getting connected with media, do
Speaker 1: you need a publicist to start with? You know, what
Speaker 1: are some of those strategies you can use to start with?
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, for sure, I mean I definitely to start
Speaker 3: I wouldn't say go hire a PR firm or go
Speaker 3: hire a PR pro. There are definitely certain certain things
Speaker 3: you can do on your own, Like, for instance, if
Speaker 3: you're looking to secure like an opt dead opportunity, maybe
Speaker 3: crafting that opted ahead of time, and you know, as
Speaker 3: relevant news comes about that, like relates and connects to
Speaker 3: your expertise, you can tweak it accordingly and basically have
Speaker 3: the opted like ready to go. You know, so writing
Speaker 3: op deads reaching out to folks, so people.
Speaker 1: May not even know what that is. It's like first
Speaker 1: person opinion on something that's happening. And so the simple
Speaker 1: thing of actually keeping track of what's going on in
Speaker 1: your industry, right, so following those trends and then having
Speaker 1: an opinion about it. That's a baby stuff before you
Speaker 1: even hire Tracy, right because you know what, everyone's ready
Speaker 1: for a Tracy. I'm sure they come to you. You're like,
Speaker 1: You're like, you're not ready for me yet, but yeah,
Speaker 1: so developing your point of view, yeah, which in my
Speaker 1: case took a long time.
Speaker 2: Hmmm.
Speaker 1: Took me a long time before I felt like I
Speaker 1: had well, before I felt confident to share my point
Speaker 1: of view. Right now, I've found my niche at the
Speaker 1: intersection of career, wealth building, and race, and I've kind
Speaker 1: of come to this naturally. I'm like, what do I
Speaker 1: get fired up talking about?
Speaker 2: What do I feel?
Speaker 1: You know, what do I feel fluent in kind of
Speaker 1: speaking about? And I couldn't have said this, I don't
Speaker 1: think a decade ago. And I feel like sometimes letting
Speaker 1: your letting your career kind of go and realizing that
Speaker 1: with time you will develop you know, your point of
Speaker 1: view and something to say. And until you got something
Speaker 1: to say, it's okay, you can just kind of be
Speaker 1: in the background lurking learning.
Speaker 2: Yes, totally.
Speaker 3: So in addition to you know, securing op dead opportunities,
Speaker 3: you can also you know, get quoted as an expert
Speaker 3: in by journalists by maybe there's some journalists that you follow.
Speaker 3: So it's very important to determine and identify like who
Speaker 3: writes about your type of industry, your type of work,
Speaker 3: your expertise. And once you determine whom those folks are,
Speaker 3: I suggest you follow them, follow them on Twitter. Twitter
Speaker 3: is a great place because they're sharing a lot of
Speaker 3: what they're writing there. Perhaps Instagram, but a lot of
Speaker 3: folks use that personally, but follow them. So if you
Speaker 3: know they talk about beauty and you have I don't know,
Speaker 3: maybe you have a skincare line, why not. They're seeking pitches.
Speaker 3: Their email is in the profile. Reach out to them.
Speaker 3: Craft a really short pitch, maybe two paragraphs, talking about
Speaker 3: your brand story, talking about you know, the problem that
Speaker 3: you're solving, and you know, again, making sure there's some
Speaker 3: type of relevancy tie in. It's not just I have
Speaker 3: a skincare brand, but maybe maybe it's winter season and
Speaker 3: maybe you have a couple of products that relate to
Speaker 3: and help out with dry skin. Because my skin has
Speaker 3: been dry this win.
Speaker 2: I'm like, what is this?
Speaker 3: I've been looking crazy? But you know, so cracking a
Speaker 3: short pitch, reaching out to that journalist and following up.
Speaker 3: Sometimes people will tell me.
Speaker 2: I pitched, so I'm like, okay, how many times? But yeah,
Speaker 2: So determining who those folks are who write about the
Speaker 2: topics that you are an expert in and reaching out
Speaker 2: to them and making meaningful connections and relationships with them,
Speaker 2: you know, maybe just writing them just to comment out
Speaker 2: a story they've written. Maybe not just only to pitch.
Speaker 3: But I think that's a good kind of like entry way,
Speaker 3: you know, starting to build you know, a little media
Speaker 3: less for yourself and have maybe two three pitches on
Speaker 3: deck that that speak to certain topics that.
Speaker 2: You like to be covered.
Speaker 3: But I definitely have had folks that have done that
Speaker 3: prior to coming to me, and it's been helpful to
Speaker 3: get a little momentum.
Speaker 2: You know, all those you know.
Speaker 3: Mentions can be helpful in building your credibility, it can
Speaker 3: be helpful and you know, establishing yourself as an expert.
Speaker 3: I think all that goes back to the personal branding piece,
Speaker 3: because that's that's part of personal branding. You want to
Speaker 3: look to, You want to people look at you like
Speaker 3: an authority figure. I'm an expert, So media can for
Speaker 3: sure help with that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I love what you said about being targeted.
Speaker 1: And even if your media list is like five people,
Speaker 1: so you are you have a very specific niche in
Speaker 1: like science or something like that, there's only like five
Speaker 1: reporters nationally who cover that topic. Well that's your target audience, right,
Speaker 1: and that's who you should be targeting. It's you shouldn't have.
Speaker 1: It doesn't make sense to start with like a massive
Speaker 1: list of every single writer for every single publication. But
Speaker 1: who's actually who actually needs you to help their day
Speaker 1: be easier. As a former journalist myself, I know reporters
Speaker 1: are out there, always looking for sources, always trying to
Speaker 1: come up with the next story idea. And if you
Speaker 1: can give them a story idea, babe, Like that is
Speaker 1: their currency. That's how they get their paychecks every day.
Speaker 1: They got to have something new to feed the Internet machine.
Speaker 1: And I think that's why I've had my understanding of
Speaker 1: that animal, the beast that is journalists out there. I
Speaker 1: see you, I am you, I am one of you.
Speaker 1: Has really help. But in your profession too, it's about like, so,
Speaker 1: let's say, if you're someone working your way up in
Speaker 1: your in your industry, you know professionally, who are the
Speaker 1: influential people in your space, the kind of people who
Speaker 1: if they endorse you, or someone in a room hears
Speaker 1: them say your name out loud, that they'll have an impact,
Speaker 1: and just by virtue of you being associated with them,
Speaker 1: it will lend you credibility. It's kind of the reason
Speaker 1: why folks like like Tiffany for example, or me even
Speaker 1: why will want to go on other people's podcasts or
Speaker 1: get interviewed to other places because when you sort of
Speaker 1: sit across from someone and they have a big audience
Speaker 1: by virtue of them selecting you to also speak to
Speaker 1: their audience, you get to benefit from that like credibility. Right,
Speaker 1: Like I was telling Tracy, I'm like, people are gonna
Speaker 1: love you.
Speaker 2: You're Tiffany's sister.
Speaker 1: Like you're gonna be on Brown Ambition, they love her.
Speaker 2: You get to get that, like you did say I
Speaker 2: love to you too.
Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, So image consulting. Tell me about image consulting, Tracy,
Speaker 1: Like that's all about I mean I think that's like
Speaker 1: the outward brand people think about it is what do
Speaker 1: I look like?
Speaker 2: You know, what's my image?
Speaker 1: But I mean that plays into professional branding as well too,
Speaker 1: like it can anyway, you know, what is your image?
Speaker 1: So can you talk about that that little detour in
Speaker 1: your career journey into image consulting and yeah, like any
Speaker 1: relevant like tips or strategies from that time.
Speaker 3: Mm hmm, yeah, no, for sure that I really loved
Speaker 3: my work in image consulting. I love connecting with people
Speaker 3: understanding their brand, because I was always conscious of not
Speaker 3: putting someone in something that wasn't in alignment with their brand.
Speaker 3: So there, I don't know, a sports person, I'm not
Speaker 3: going to put them in something that's not in alignment
Speaker 3: with their brand.
Speaker 2: So it was it was twofold.
Speaker 3: It was, you know, making sure it was whatever I
Speaker 3: style them in was in alignment with their own personal
Speaker 3: brand and also in alignment with for instance, if, for instance,
Speaker 3: my clients today in pr if I'm helping them with
Speaker 3: an image consulting project, making sure it's in alignment what
Speaker 3: they're wearing is in alignment with the platform. You know,
Speaker 3: maybe they're on again on ESPN. They're not going to
Speaker 3: necessarily wear something that they would be on a casual
Speaker 3: show like I don't know, a casual morning show or
Speaker 3: something like that. So just making sure that it's cohesive
Speaker 3: with your brand story and also cohesive with the media
Speaker 3: outlet type if it's a particular interview that I'm styling for.
Speaker 3: But yeah, so I always kind of kept those in
Speaker 3: mind and made sure that I styled clients very much
Speaker 3: true to themselves. I remember having a client who was like,
Speaker 3: I don't wear skirts.
Speaker 2: I don't wear heels like, all right, that's fine, that's
Speaker 2: totally fine. I wouldn't.
Speaker 3: I'm not looking to make someone feel uncomfortable. I just
Speaker 3: want them to feel as polished and comfortable as possible with.
Speaker 2: What they're they like to wear.
Speaker 3: So I was very conscious of working within their comfort
Speaker 3: zone but elevating it. But I also like to, you know,
Speaker 3: push my clients to try, you know, that's why they
Speaker 3: hired me, to push them into trying new shapes and silhouettes,
Speaker 3: colors and things like that. But for sure, I during
Speaker 3: that time, I had to be very in tune and
Speaker 3: listen and make sure that I was styling them appropriately
Speaker 3: and comfortably. So I think that's you know, that definitely
Speaker 3: resonates that they're uncomfortable. So I was very aware of that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that also comes from when you're trying
Speaker 1: to look like what you think people want you to
Speaker 1: look like. I can't tell you how many pairs of
Speaker 1: like old slacks and blazers and sensible black pumps I
Speaker 1: have in my closet that I'm just like, I really
Speaker 1: was trying to do the thing, you know, look professional
Speaker 1: and all of that, and I feel so much more
Speaker 1: comfortable now that I just get to Well, it's different
Speaker 1: when you're Now I'm working for myself and I'm a
Speaker 1: very relaxed kind of boss. You know, I don't mind
Speaker 1: my style. But anyway, when you're in a corporate environment,
Speaker 1: it's like, where do I find that happy spot between
Speaker 1: me feeling unique but still you know, suitable for the office,
Speaker 1: but anything you can do, I do feel like those
Speaker 1: we live.
Speaker 2: In a in an image.
Speaker 1: I don't know what's the word. Like, people are really
Speaker 1: focused on image. That's just like the nature of the beast.
Speaker 1: And I think the way that you present yourself. Yes,
Speaker 1: it matters if your work is good, but also you know,
Speaker 1: are you presenting yourself? Are you feeling confident when you're
Speaker 1: in a space, And if you're not, it sounds shallow,
Speaker 1: but I don't think it is at all like what
Speaker 1: you're dressing in. You know, the fact that I put
Speaker 1: on it like a red lip for today, you know,
Speaker 1: that makes me feel kind of more like a badass.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: So I'm ready to talk to Tracy. Now.
Speaker 1: You had these really sick glasses on too. They were
Speaker 1: big and red, and I was like, dang, that's awesome.
Speaker 1: We took them off, But like you're gonna remember the
Speaker 1: girl with the red lip or the big bread glasses,
Speaker 1: you know, or the funky shoes or the funky earrings.
Speaker 1: Whatever you feel like makes you what makes you you?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I want to shift.
Speaker 1: I want to shift a little, but now because I
Speaker 1: want to go into you must have some funny stories
Speaker 1: about like really bad mistakes people have made trying to
Speaker 1: pitch you or even trying to like pitch media. So
Speaker 1: I mean, can we go there for a second. You know,
Speaker 1: what are just some like, oh lord, have mercy mistakes
Speaker 1: you can make when you're trying to pitch yourselves, whether
Speaker 1: it's to pr for representation or to the media for coverage.
Speaker 3: Sometimes I'll get requests from folks looking to, you know,
Speaker 3: work with my team and I to represent them, and
Speaker 3: you know, we have like an intake forum that they
Speaker 3: complete so we can get an understanding of like what's
Speaker 3: their brand, like you know, I, you know, questions about
Speaker 3: their website and things like that, their target audience. I
Speaker 3: just don't want to waste anyone's time on the phone,
Speaker 3: so we kind of create that to get a sense
Speaker 3: see we're a good bit. So sometimes on that form
Speaker 3: folks will respond to the target audience question and say
Speaker 3: like everybody, like literally they'll write everybody or I think
Speaker 3: there's a question around like who's and.
Speaker 2: It's not a target audience. Yeah, the intake form is
Speaker 2: are will be a task?
Speaker 3: But but you know, if you haven't identified that, you know,
Speaker 3: that's not something that I can identify for you. So
Speaker 3: I typically will just kind of write them back and
Speaker 3: let them know to you know, that is like really
Speaker 3: required in order to move forward, because otherwise I'm I
Speaker 3: wouldn't know who to pitch. Who do I pitch if
Speaker 3: you don't know who you're speaking to find that out
Speaker 3: and then we can talk. So I would say I've
Speaker 3: gotten that a handful of time, not too much. Or
Speaker 3: when we talk, there's another question on the form about
Speaker 3: who they kind of like, not their competition, but who
Speaker 3: they aspire to be, And a lot of times it's
Speaker 3: like it's again a really general answer, and you know,
Speaker 3: it gives me that question I used to see because
Speaker 3: sometimes I'm not really familiar with the service of the product.
Speaker 3: But if you let me know someone who's kind of
Speaker 3: like you, I'm like, okay, okay, I get it. But yeah,
Speaker 3: those really generic answers a lot of times means they're
Speaker 3: not so serious or they're not quite ready.
Speaker 2: You have to do.
Speaker 1: You have to know whether you're out of company and
Speaker 1: you're vying for promotion, or you are a skincare you know,
Speaker 1: a beauty brand that you're trying to get your product
Speaker 1: on the same stage as like for some reason, I
Speaker 1: can think about as Tracy Yellisross's new hair care line,
Speaker 1: so you're a hair care you know, line creator and anyway,
Speaker 1: you have to know your competition. And it's it's okay
Speaker 1: to say competition. It's fine, but it doesn't mean that
Speaker 1: there's not space for you. But it is important to,
Speaker 1: you know, do some research and do some light casual
Speaker 1: internet stalking. Where have they been mentioned, where are they
Speaker 1: showing up? Who's written about them before? You know? And
Speaker 1: it's not so much about it's definitely not about mimicking
Speaker 1: them or trying to copy what they've done. But it
Speaker 1: goes if you've got a similar audience and they are
Speaker 1: appearing somewhere, you want to like hang out there too,
Speaker 1: just lurk. You may have to just like be in
Speaker 1: the background, fly on the wall. You could be in
Speaker 1: the audience at the conference where they're the keynote speaker,
Speaker 1: and then a couple of years later you could be
Speaker 1: the keynote speaker. You know, but you want to what
Speaker 1: is that saying it's about? And we were kind of
Speaker 1: get touching on this before, talking about like the people
Speaker 1: you surround yourself with or they're audience, you kind of
Speaker 1: benefit from their credibility. It kind of rubs off on you.
Speaker 1: But I think that also goes for where, you know,
Speaker 1: who are you surrounding yourself with, who are your peers,
Speaker 1: your friends in the space. Are you connecting with other
Speaker 1: people in your industry to make those connections, because I
Speaker 1: do feel like all of that matters. You know, you
Speaker 1: can't sort of be isolated often a corner. I think
Speaker 1: there is way more power in not joining a group,
Speaker 1: but being involved within your community, you know, and put
Speaker 1: your name forward. Have you seen that dynamic even work out,
Speaker 1: you know with your clients, like examples of when because
Speaker 1: they've been involved with their community, it's resulted in like
Speaker 1: an opportunity for them.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, no, absolutely, Yeah to your example of you know,
Speaker 3: a client not being able to take advantage of an
Speaker 3: interview because of another time commitment they'll offer up. You know,
Speaker 3: a colleague and you know that's always a win win.
Speaker 3: Or maybe I have clients that are you know, have
Speaker 3: complimentary kind of services where we'll put together some type
Speaker 3: of you know, collaboration, activation or something.
Speaker 2: So yeah, that's really powerful.
Speaker 3: It's always powerful, you know, having that community is really
Speaker 3: instrumental and making those those opportunities happen.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's one of those things where it's like you
Speaker 1: want to of course, you want to promote yourself and
Speaker 1: brag about yourself, but it becomes a lot more natural
Speaker 1: and it becomes easier just when you spread that goodwill
Speaker 1: around and you're shining on yourself, but you're also sharing
Speaker 1: shine with other people, and I don't know, it just
Speaker 1: creates good, positive karmic energy and if you're feeling like
Speaker 1: a lot of times I talk to clients career coaching
Speaker 1: clients who are feeling stuck and they want a new
Speaker 1: opportunity but nothing has like followed in their labs yet.
Speaker 1: And one of my first questions is, so, who are
Speaker 1: you telling that you're ready for into something new? Who
Speaker 1: in your network? Who are you leaning on and talking to?
Speaker 1: Some people just are like a lot of people rather
Speaker 1: you know, their networks have gone stale, not because they're
Speaker 1: just not nice people, you know what I mean, But
Speaker 1: like there's been a pandemic. Maybe they've just been so
Speaker 1: down with their job they haven't been out putting themselves
Speaker 1: out there. But putting yourself out there, you know, whether
Speaker 1: it's joining a professional organization or joining your you know,
Speaker 1: employee resource group at work, just getting in the room
Speaker 1: with other like minded people, getting your name out there.
Speaker 1: That is a way to brand yourself, you know, and
Speaker 1: to get your your name and your brand out there
Speaker 1: and may and start to build those connections so that
Speaker 1: people again, that power happens when people are like saying
Speaker 1: your name in rooms that you were not in. So
Speaker 1: where in the world people are probably talking about Tracy
Speaker 1: right now, hopefully good things like I know an amazing
Speaker 1: PR consultant. You should reach out to Tracy.
Speaker 3: It's word of mouth, man, Yeah, it really is. I'm
Speaker 3: gonna say that's how I you know you were talking about.
Speaker 3: I think when we were speaking earlier about like my
Speaker 3: nonlinear path, nonlinear career path. And for sure when I
Speaker 3: started out in finance, so have a bachelor's in finance
Speaker 3: and INBA marketing. So my first several years in my
Speaker 3: career were as an analyst, you know, moving around different positions,
Speaker 3: but in that industry, and when I grew a little uneasy,
Speaker 3: not uneasy, but you know, I was just ready for change,
Speaker 3: was ready to kind of stretch myself more. I just
Speaker 3: felt like I needed there was more that I wanted
Speaker 3: to tap into. So I started, you know, thinking about
Speaker 3: what would be next for me. And I started, like
Speaker 3: you said, after I was thinking about what I could
Speaker 3: do next, fashion came to mind quite a bit, and
Speaker 3: I was just like, how do you go from finance
Speaker 3: and fashion? Is that even a thing?
Speaker 2: You know? Is there a path? And I think there is.
Speaker 2: There's always a path. You can create your own path.
Speaker 3: And I took those thoughts out of my mind, and
Speaker 3: to your point, I started talking about them just to
Speaker 3: friends and family that this is something I want to explore.
Speaker 3: You know, I think I'd be great in this industry,
Speaker 3: particularly in buying, because buying is like seventy percent numbers crunching, forecasting,
Speaker 3: looking at sales, and then the thirty percent is the
Speaker 3: thing that everyone else knows, like in the storeroom, looking
Speaker 3: at pretty. So I thought that was a great blend
Speaker 3: of like of me. I'm like, that's me. I'm in
Speaker 3: a little coo, I love fashion, you know, So I
Speaker 3: say that to say I landed on my next opportunity
Speaker 3: by talking to friends and fam One of my sisters said, oh, hey,
Speaker 3: I actually have a friend who's opening a men'swear boutique
Speaker 3: and he's actually looking for someone to buy for the store.
Speaker 3: And I'm like, uh, how does that?
Speaker 2: Okay?
Speaker 3: Sure, let me let me talk to him, you know.
Speaker 3: So it was working with him for a while, still
Speaker 3: working at my full time finance gig, but working part
Speaker 3: time with him. I went a couple of days a
Speaker 3: week after work and just started to review reporting with him,
Speaker 3: looking on how sales were going, seeing if we can
Speaker 3: identify trends, going to trade shows with him. He gave
Speaker 3: me a lot of autonomy to make, you know, key
Speaker 3: buying decisions for the store. So just by me saying
Speaker 3: I want to explore this thing, I want to I
Speaker 3: want to I want to buy. I would love to
Speaker 3: be a buyer, and you know, my sister happened to
Speaker 3: have an opportunity and he happened to be you know,
Speaker 3: you know, so are we really connected? So it was
Speaker 3: something that I was able to do part time just
Speaker 3: to really just see if it was something I wanted
Speaker 3: to do because I wasn't quite sure because I didn't
Speaker 3: really know it in practice.
Speaker 2: So by working.
Speaker 1: There doing that while you're working full time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was a yeah, And that's.
Speaker 1: How you got your pivot. That's how you did the
Speaker 1: pivot from fashion to finance.
Speaker 2: I love that. Yeah, that's exactly.
Speaker 1: Really it's about opening your mouth and telling people. People
Speaker 1: want to be helpful and connect other people, but too
Speaker 1: many of us. I'm telling you people and my career
Speaker 1: clients know this. At the last five minutes of a
Speaker 1: coaching session with me is usually when the dreams come out.
Speaker 1: That's when they're like, so, I got this bakery.
Speaker 2: I mean I don't really talk.
Speaker 1: About it, and I'm like what, And I feel like
Speaker 1: their dreams there, We all have them. I feel like
Speaker 1: if they're just the quiet, the quiet ambitions, the quiet
Speaker 1: desires that we all have, and it may feel scary
Speaker 1: to say them out loud, but how else can people
Speaker 1: help you?
Speaker 2: That's the challenge.
Speaker 1: If you're listening, what is that secret thing that you
Speaker 1: know that you think that you want to do next,
Speaker 1: but you it's little, it's different, and you don't know
Speaker 1: how you're going to get there. Open your mouth and
Speaker 1: tell someone yeah, and then tell another person and then
Speaker 1: just keep telling people until until you get there, because
Speaker 1: that's the magic, right, Yeah, you don't have to do
Speaker 1: it alone, like if just like you said, open your mouth.
Speaker 1: There are resources, there are people who literally love to help.
Speaker 2: There's a way. I love this, There's always a way.
Speaker 1: And as much as Tracy's amazing at what she does,
Speaker 1: you don't always like it. I mean it's hard. I
Speaker 1: feel like if you're a client, even coming to Tracy
Speaker 1: and you haven't learned how to talk about yourself, how
Speaker 1: she going to learn? Like that's not necessarily right, you know,
Speaker 1: Like like you said earlier, it really is up to
Speaker 1: us to determine what value are we bringing, you know,
Speaker 1: what is our pov? What makes us different? And if
Speaker 1: we can't articulate that, how can we expect other people
Speaker 1: to get the message?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: And how and what am I? You know, as a publicist,
Speaker 3: we tell stories, you know, we craft stories. And if
Speaker 3: you haven't, if you're not able to tell me your story,
Speaker 3: what should I tell the press on your behalf?
Speaker 2: You know?
Speaker 3: So just being super clear with your brand story how
Speaker 3: you're different, and that makes the job so easy, you know,
Speaker 3: for me, because I'm able to, you know, package you
Speaker 3: in a way, make sure there's a relevant tie in,
Speaker 3: reach out to the right folks and hopefully get some
Speaker 3: interests from the right publications.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I gave my I have this group coaching cohort
Speaker 1: called Mandy money Makers, and one of their assignments we
Speaker 1: did a whole week on this, like a whole session
Speaker 1: on professional branding, and the assignment at the end of
Speaker 1: it was write your brand story. And I love that
Speaker 1: you said that because I could just see some of
Speaker 1: their eyes like what my story, and some of them
Speaker 1: I got back were so good. You know, you don't
Speaker 1: realize you're the main character in your own crazy fun
Speaker 1: movie until you sit down and write the plot, you know,
Speaker 1: And it's as simple as how did you get to
Speaker 1: where you are today? And what decisions did you make
Speaker 1: along the way in your career? And there is magic there,
Speaker 1: I promise there is.
Speaker 2: There is so much.
Speaker 1: Power in your unique story. And I think a lot
Speaker 1: of folks just are not necessarily sitting there thinking that
Speaker 1: they're all that special or interesting. But I promise you,
Speaker 1: when you focus on your unique journey and your unique
Speaker 1: story and all the little quirks and nuances, there is
Speaker 1: something magical there that will stick with someone, you know,
Speaker 1: whether it's something.
Speaker 2: You share in your next interview.
Speaker 1: Some of the people that did those brand stories for me,
Speaker 1: those were going to go up on their professional websites
Speaker 1: as their bios. You know, absolutely, you've got to be
Speaker 1: able to tell your own story.
Speaker 3: Yes, yeah, those are key, and those would allow folks
Speaker 3: to connect with you once they see, like, oh wow,
Speaker 3: they are even more connected to you once they see
Speaker 3: why you do what you do, how you arrived here,
Speaker 3: and they were able to tell it too. If you
Speaker 3: have a good brand story, I can be grat teate
Speaker 3: your brand story quite easily, you know, so making sure
Speaker 3: it makes sense, it's concise, and it's compelling.
Speaker 2: You are the main character.
Speaker 1: We're all the main character.
Speaker 2: Okay, you don't have to.
Speaker 1: Be a Leo to be a main character. It does
Speaker 1: take some practice, though it's uncomfortable for you. Well listen, Tracy,
Speaker 1: I wish we had more time, but I just want
Speaker 1: to say thank you so much for killing some very
Speaker 1: big budget Theese issues. Thank you for warming up her
Speaker 1: office for her, and get warming up that mic make
Speaker 1: sure it still works. I can't thank you enough for
Speaker 1: joining us. Thank you where can be a fan, find
Speaker 1: you and follow all your wonderful work with Tracy L Consulting. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so I am on the Gram. I mean I'm on
Speaker 1: all platforms, but I would say Instagram is where I'm
Speaker 1: most active. So my handle is Tracy L J p
Speaker 1: R so t r A c y A l I
Speaker 1: c h E p R. Well, you could just top
Speaker 1: on my website tracy lja dot com. We can get
Speaker 1: more info.
Speaker 2: Excellent. Thank you so much, Tracey, Thank you so much,
Speaker 2: Manny