Meet Molly Tracy

We recently connected with Molly Tracy and have shared our conversation below.

Molly, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

Imposter syndrome is definitely something I battled with when I started my solo-entrepreneurial journey. I had always heard that entrepreneurship was “lonely” and I had interpreted that to mean that as a solopreneur, you’re going to be working on your own and not surrounded by a team at first. What I came to learn was that entrepreneurship was lonely because you didn’t have a team or a boss to hand down praise to you any longer. There was no “you nailed that presentation” or “great job on that report”; you needed to become your own hype woman. Without that external validation, it was easy to fall into the trap of feeling like “Am I doing this right?”. What helped me overcome it was a singular realization that NO ONE knows what they are doing. Truly. Everyone is figuring it out as they go, and they might be making it look easy on social media, but they’re asking themselves the same questions; they’re facing the same challenges as you are. Once you understand the notion that no one else holds the secret to success, you feel a lot more comfortable putting yourself in the same room as them.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

VRAI is an influencer marketing and talent management agency for multicultural female content creators in the motherhood, wellness and lifestyle space. We’re a creative force of influencer matchmakers, talent builders and storytellers obsessed with expanding the digital footprint of our brand partners. On the talent side of the business, our team is responsible for helping our influencers and creators navigate the business side of the multi-media landscape, advising on growth strategy and securing brand partnerships to expand their portfolio. We also collaborate with female-centric CPG brands on strategic influencer marketing integrations that drive awareness, brand affinity and ROI.

I have been in the influencer marketing space for over 12 years, so almost the entirety of my professional career, and started the agency 5 years ago in April 2019. Influencer marketing was a space I fell in love with instantly being that it was an industry that was founded by women, for women. Women were pioneers in the blogging industry and it was female-lead brands that were early adopters to this marketing tool because we as women knew the power of digitized word of mouth marketing. The idea of being in an industry that supports women and is largely run by women from the creator/agency/talent side is still what lights a fire under me each day!

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?

I attribute a lot of my success to plain ole hard work. I very much came into the workforce with the idea that I was thankful to be there and willing to do what I needed in order to prove myself. It was a lot of late nights and early mornings, saying yes when I knew I was already over committed, missing time with family/friends to meet deadlines etc. Did it end of resulting in burnout? Sure. But did it allow me to be in a position where I could start my own agency at 29 with a firm foundation on how to grow and scale a business and a more flexible schedule? It did.

Secondly, I adopted the notion that “asking is free” early in my career. We’re often afraid of rejection and even to ask favors, but closed mouths don’t get fed. Ask to join the meeting, inquire to speak on the panel, ask for your friend to make the connection.

Lastly, kindness is an underrated skillset in business. Above all, people want to do business with people they like. Be kind, be courteous, be on time. People will always remember if you were kind to them.

Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?

I personally think it’s best to go all in on your strengths. We’ve heard that adage where a child received an A in English but a C in math and the rush is to get them a math tutor, when really the emphasis should be to expose them to more literature and encourage their creative writing skills. I’d rather be spectacular at one thing vs. mediocre at all things. When it pertains to business, I learned early on that outsourcing was not only the key to growth, but the key to sanity. I knew that bookkeeping was not my strong suit, so it was my first hire I brought into the business. Your weakness is someone else’s expertise so focus your time on playing to your strengths.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://vraidigital.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vraidigital/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mollyatracy/

Image Credits

Hannah Schweiss Photography