We recently connected with Terra Elan Mcvoy and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Terra Elan, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
My work ethic comes largely from my gratitude. Every day I’m astounded in one way or another by this complex, interesting, beautiful, difficult world we live in, and my gratitude for being a part of it drives me to show up for it with my best efforts. I think also my mentors and influences have shown me that the things we want in life (abundance, joy, connection, a sense of purpose) only appear when we consistently do the work it takes to get there.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
In general, I’m a creative, problem-solving, process-oriented people-person who also has a knack for great storytelling and wordsmithing. As Editor & Chief of Staff at Rootstock, I wield my combined experience in the fields of project and team management, event programming, customer service, teaching, and professional writing and editing to develop strong teams and systems, create exceptional meetings and events, humanely troubleshoot challenges of all kinds, and both write and shape great content for leaders who want to grow their brands with their thought leadership.
What’s special about what I do is that I get to collaborate with innovative organizations on their most human level in an ever more automated world. I work with great people, in fun and challenging ways, in order to craft terrific content that’s shared with the intention of truly connecting with others and making the world a better place.
Recently we launched a new offering — what we call the Kernel of Truth. This is a two-hour interview to help leaders find their truth and speak it clearly. Who are you? What are you making? What does it mean to you, and why does it matter?Entrepreneurs who feel solid in answering these questions know what they are selling and have protection against barriers of self-doubt and shiny-objects. And other team members who can answer these questions for themselves become leaders with skin in the game because they know their voice matters.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Two of the qualities that I think have been most impactful in my career journey seem to be at opposites, I suppose. The first is discovering what I loved doing, and dedicating myself almost solely to learning as much as I could about how to do it well. From my earliest memories I have loved stories, and even in kindergarten wanted to learn how to craft them with excellence. I’ve dedicated myself to studying writing with great seriousness since about middle school, and have never wavered from that path.
So, finding something you really love and care about, and having laser focus on learning all the ins an outs of it is one bit of advice I have. But the second thing that’s been impactful for me (here comes what feels like the opposite) is being flexible about HOW I shared my talent and skill (and made money from it). Though I have, in fact, had a successful career as a YA novelist, if I’d believed that was the ONLY way I could make money and be happy, I’d be sorely disappointed. But I’ve deeply benefited from lots of other jobs: working in professional publishing, being Program Director of the Decatur Book Festival, managing a children’s bookstore (Little Shop of Stories), managing marketing teams, and now in my role at Rootstock. In this world, you have to be flexible: especially as a creative, but I think even in other fields like tech, medicine, law — kind of anything.
The third quality that’s impacted my journey is a genuine interest in other people. Part of that goes back to my gratitude, I think. We are pack animals built for human connection, and out of gratitude for being put on this planet among so many interesting human beings, I always want to cultivate authentic, meaningful relationships — whether I’m meeting someone at a party, interviewing a new client, or moderating a panel at a conference. I think every person we interact with has the potential to teach or give us something if we show genuine interest and curiosity about their lived experience. Their gift might be a new way of understanding yourself, a connection with someone who gives you a job, a boost of confidence, a new approach to your own career, a fantastic book or film recommendation that changes your life . . . you just never know, so you’ve got to get out there and meet people and be open to whatever comes from the conversation.
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
I think the number one challenge we’re all facing is the perception that abundance, happiness, success, fulfillment, etc. somehow comes without much effort or help from other people. Sure, there are some out there who have made a lot of money simply posting superfluous content on whatever platform, but there’s a ton behind the scenes that goes into all of that, including other people sharing their content, and then getting business advice once the money’s being made. No one who’s had long-term, sustained success of any kind has done it in a vacuum or without hard work and a lot of mistakes. But sadly I think many people aren’t reaching their potential — or even taking the first step toward it — because they’re paralyzed thinking there’s something wrong if they can’t magically figure it all out on their own, or if the results take time to accumulate. Everyone wants low risk, high yield, immediate satisfaction. And that’s just not how it works.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://rootstock.agency/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terra-elan-mcvoy-00a5782/
Image Credits
Genya O’Neall, Atlanta Event Photography, Terra McVoy
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