Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tracy T. Rowe. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Tracy , so many exciting things to discuss, we can’t wait. Thanks for joining us and we appreciate you sharing your wisdom with our readers. So, maybe we can start by discussing optimism and where your optimism comes from?
I get my optimism from first knowing who I am and more importantly, knowing Whose I am. I come from a family of believers, and that has given me the foundation to know anything is possible. As I grown older, I realize that each trial or test is meant to make me better and stronger. It’s more than a “glass-half full” perspective; it’s really more about knowing in spirit that things are meant to work out for me.
Now, I practice self-affirmations and understand the power of manifestation. I strongly believe that what you focus on will grow. I choose to focus on appreciation and faith versus anxiety and fear. That mantra was formed from an experience I’d wish on no one.
On Christmas Day 2022, my father-in-law went to the emergency room and was admitted for severe dehydration. He had suffered other life-threatening illnesses in previous years making his visit more dire than one would ordinarily imagine. On December 28, 2022, my mother, who lives almost one thousand miles away, was rushed to the hospital! She is battling uterine cancer and breast cancer and had been diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) or pre-leukemia in November.
My father-in-law’s prognosis was looking bleak, and my mother’s labs proved that she had COVID-19, a staph infection, sepsis, and a brain bleed from the effects of a low platelet count. At this point most anyone would most likely be an emotional wreak. I was on the phone with the hospital around the clock getting updates on my mom, checking in on my stepdad (who also had COVID-19), and spending as many hours as possible at the hospital with my wife and her family.
I still had to maintain working and daily living activities. I’m not going to tell you that I had bluebirds singing on my shoulders. At one point, I literally, started feeling my stomach get hot and my chest tensing up. The sleep deprivation and stress were catching up to me! I was being overcome by anxiety and fear. I remember this very vividly as I said I need to make a choice about how I was going to handle this feeling. I closed my eyes, did some intentional deep breathing and focused on Spirit. Spirit reminded me that I tell my clients they get to decide how they’re going to react to what they’re given. Now, how about that for some ‘practice what you preach, Tracy’ kind of reminder!
I made a choice that while I can acknowledge anxiety and fear, it will not drive my emotions. On the morning of December 29, 2022, I chose to focus on appreciation and faith because that’s what I wanted to grow. I decided that no matter what I’m given, I’ll look at it from a place of appreciation and apply my faith. Optimism is born from appreciation and faith! My newfound focus was tested to the max!
On the evening of December 29, 2022, my mother had a cardiac event and was put on life support. My father-in-law made a peaceful transition on December 31, 2022, surrounded by family love. It was even more vital for me to apply my focus on appreciation and faith now. I had to support my wife and her family as we made arrangements with my mother-in-law and trust a Higher Power to restore my mother.
I’m happy to report that my wife and in-laws are closer than ever and honoring their grief journey. We all miss Pops yet allow him to live on through our memories. My mother was discharged from the hospital on January 13, 2023, to go home and start hospice care. All of the ailments and MDS left her with a platelet count of 5,000 (normal count is 130-250,000). She was expected to live for another 30 days. Did I tell you my mom is also an optimistic person?
On April 12, 2023, my mom revoked hospice care. She was determined to get out of bed and resume her regular activities. I go see her every month and while she’s been told the cancer is spreading, we’re planning her 77th birthday party in October!
I encourage you to focus on what you want to grow. Your mindset makes all the difference!
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Tracy T. Rowe Mindset Expert | Certified Master Life Coach | Speaker | Podcast Host | Certified Moderator | Author | Voice Actor | Certified Change Practitioner In my capacity as a Certified Master Life Coach and Certified Change Management Practitioner Consultant working with CEOs, executives and companies focusing primarily on unlocking patterns to create mindset shifts. After more than two decades at a Fortune 500 company, I know adaptation and identifying unconscious (and sometimes conscious) patterns are vital to cultivate growth. My gift is how well I connect with people to help them get their “S.H.I.F.T.” together to embrace being what I coined ‘Everyday Amazing’.
I believe children, parents, and community members deserve to be seen, affirmed, and loved. I created Everyday Amazing Mindset affirmation journals and Everyday Amazing Mindset affirmation cards to foster the practice of seeing, affirming, and loving ourselves first. Both items are available on my website: tracytrowe.com/shop
While I have a degree in business and decades as a communicator, I pride herself most on honoring the moniker “human whisperer” empowering others to tap into their own self-development. To enable enhanced relationships with family and community, I use various interactive and engaging exercises of self-assessment, mindfulness, communications, wellness, growth, vulnerability, inclusion, and adaptation with my clients.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Looking back, I think the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in my journey are determination, compassion, and interpersonal communication. When I was young, I faced many challenges, including racism and sexism. I was determined to participate in every academic pursuit I desired and never allowed being a girl keep me from learning the ‘boy stuff’ like going to auto shop and wood shop classes in school. I went to a predominately white school, and we lived in a predominately white, two-parent single-family home neighborhood. I was a short, fat, smart, black child of four in a single-parent townhouse. In the seventies, the aforementioned environment was a hard enough pill to swallow on its own, then add being from Memphis, Tennessee living in Saginaw, Michigan! Can you say, CULTURE SHOCK!
Determination, in the midst of being different, was paramount. I’m grateful that I’m naturally gifted with being a good communicator and never met a stranger. While the other students may have known I wasn’t like them, I quickly let them see that I wouldn’t bite if they didn’t. I made some great connections in elementary school that lasted through college and even now. My compassion was developed from the ‘golden rule’ mindset. I wanted to be treated well, so I had to treat others well. Having compassion for people and moreover their circumstances, has helped me tremendously in my life. Everyone and I mean everyone has something going on in their life. You can be sure that someone is better off than you and someone is worse off than you. If we allow ourselves to remember that it may help us better support each other on this bold journey of life.
My advice for folks that are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on your qualities, skills, and areas of knowledge is to first be very clear about what you came here with from birth. There are so many gifts you have that you may not give yourself credit for or someone may not have encouraged you to honor that gift. You have the gift to use it! We’re told to be humble and not brag, but you if you have the juice, you have the juice: Don’t deny yourself ownership of your gifts!
There will also be some things you may be interested in learning that you can enhance. Be realistic with yourself about what works for you and what doesn’t. If you’re not mathematically inclined, perhaps being a scientist isn’t for you, you know? There are a whole host of learning opportunities now to enhance your areas of knowledge. Find out what you like and then determine what your truly passionate about. Once you have that filtered down, find out how to apply that and get paid to do it. Doing something you love and are passionate about won’t feel like work, that’s an ideal state.
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
The most impactful thing my parents did for me was get divorced. My parents divorced when I was three years old. It modeled that love and relationships are dynamic and it proved to be what provided an opportunity for me to live two different lives. “I’m amazingly well-rounded and can easily adapt because I practiced it every year up to my eighteenth birthday. My mom moved my sibling and me to Saginaw, Michigan in the seventies to a predominately white neighborhood in a relatively affluent area of town, a township to be exact.
I’m grateful she had the foresight to position us in an environment that would expose us to different people, different cultures, and adversity. Throughout the school year, I met the challenge of academic excellence and participated in extra-curricular activities. I learned leadership, responsibility, and critical thinking. My mom ran a super tight ship, but we lacked for nothing. Retrospectively, I don’t know how my mom did it – we had a nice home, structure, security, and we all even had cars in high school! My mom wanted us prepared, so she even made my siblings and me practice telephone etiquette and dining etiquette. If it was up to her, we’d face the world knowing we were somebody!
The minute school was out, we headed to Memphis, Tennessee for the entire summer with daddy. Let me preface this by saying that my dad loved us and would do anything in the world for us. Daddy was old school and thought a woman was supposed to take care of home and a man was supposed to provide. Not changing one single thing in the house after he and mom split, he lived a life as a bachelor with very lean accommodations. He would get up before dawn to work until dusk. There was little-to-no supervision and not a white person in sight. We had a ball in the summertime as our friends anxiously awaiting our arrival each year. My parents were smart and purchased a home in a wonderfully family-centric neighborhood. We were all connected complete with a Big Mama and Big Daddy that watched over us along with the other parents and our friends’ older cousins, aunties, and uncles. Thanks to daddy’s simple lifestyle, we earned some fantastic skills that we use currently. For example, my daddy used to grow his own vegetables and my sister has a great garden today.
The most impactful thing my parents did for me was get divorced. It provided an organic, cultural dual citizenship that gave me the fortitude to survive in any and in every environment.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tracytrowe.com
- Instagram: @tracytrowe
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/troweandco
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracytrowe
- Twitter: @tracytrowe
- Other: linktr.ee/tracytrowe
Image Credits
Ike and Angie Photography
