We were lucky to catch up with Tracy McHugh recently and have shared our conversation below.
Tracy, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
My career started around the 2008 recession. In addition to my early 20s naivety and lack of experience, I had an unsteady economy and few job prospect working against me as well. I was fortunate to come from a great family that gave me love, stability, and education to be able to fight and advocate for myself. But every new job, promotion, milestone, etc. that I achieved in adulthood came from me planning, pushing, repetition, networking, and fighting most of the way. Since I’ve been in the workforce, for most people like myself, you are not going to just be handed things.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I grew up in a small town in New Jersey, living in the same house from 2 years old until college, which was contrasted by my adulthood living in 7 different cities, 4 states, countless apartments, and quite a few road trips getting to each destination. I have also traveled to 46 states and 28 countries. These experiences have immensely shaped me as a person and my career trajectory. For eight years I worked in the tour and travel industry. In 2020 I started a travel blog to highlight my experiences and photography.
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?
1) Not everyone is always going to meet you where you’re at, or even meet in the middle for that matter. Sometimes you just need to leave them where they are and that is fine to let it go.
2) Gain as many experiences where you can because you never know where it will come to play in your life. For so long when I was a kid, I thought clubs or classes were for people who excelled in those areas, not those interested in gaining experience. I missed out on so many opportunities as a kid to take classes, join clubs, obtain internships, and such, because I thought I wasn’t just naturally proficient. I missed out on all these resources in school and college to hone a skill or find something I maybe interested in.
3) Network, network, network. Meet as many people as you can. Genuinely listen to their story. Not only see how they can help you but how you can help them. Even if there is no assistance provided, you never know when someone can offer a good suggestion.
To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
Past giving me love and the basic essentials as a child (food, clothes, shelter, culture, and some additional luxuries) they also assisted with my education. In my mind, that is the number one gift you can give someone (if able to), so they do not start adulthood with mounds of debt. They also lead by example. Taught me to accept criticism when needed but also advocate for myself when needed. They also gave me the room as a young adult to have an idea and run with it, experience new things, and the comfort to have an opinion as well as voice it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.chasingwonderful.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chasingw0nderful/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chasingw0nderful
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracy-joy/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TracyMcHugh/videos
Image Credits
Personal photos.
