We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tracee Seals a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Tracee, thanks for joining us today. When you’ve been a professional in an industry for long enough, you’ll experience moments when the entire field takes a U-Turn, an instance where the consensus completely flips upside down or where the “best practices” completely change. If you’ve experienced such a U-Turn over the course of your professional career, we’d love to hear about it.
Oh my where do I start. The road to good intentions is not paved in gold as the popular term states. I have experienced many obstacles and hurdles. Especially in the nonprofit industry. I have had opportunities to work from some of the most impactful organizations. They do great work within the community, but if the community saw what the inside lens looked like they would keep their monies safely in their bank. I had to overcome a scandal within an organization that I never knew existed, I overcame a boss’s misappropriation of funds, and a boss that hired all of her family and friends. This journey in my nonprofit career has been an amazing one and one with its downfalls.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Tracee Seals is an award winning small business entrepreneur, 2019 SXSW Presenter of Innovative Technology and International Speaker. She is the CEO of
RUENtertained™️ Enterprises who has worked within the private sector as well as
government sector in the business industry. She also serves as the Vice President of
Elevated Women Empowerment Group where she has helped them to become a
globally branded organization. She serves as an Advocate for Healthcare and
Wellness. Tracee works within the community educating individuals on aspects of
healthy living and disease processes. She is an entrepreneur, wearing many hats; one
of her business ventures is serving as the Vice-President for Elevating Women
Empowerment Group. In addition, she’s a Branding, Imaging, and Marketing
Consultant who works with Independent Artists, Public Speakers, and Spoken Word
Artist. Author of the upcoming book; “The Day I Planned It All But God Said …………Ha!
Tracee Seals is also a part-time College Professor at Houston Community College
teaching Houston Community College. In addition, she offers 501c3 document
preparation for start-up nonprofit organizations. Tracee holds a B.S.B.A degree in
Business Administration and Literary Arts, Masters in Healthcare Administration, from
Belhaven Christian University and currently working on her PhD in Healthcare
Administration. Tracee holds certifications as a CFRE (Certified Fund Raising
Executive) OPA-C (Orthopedic Physician Assistant-Certified), CHW (Certified
Community Health Worker), and CPS (Certified Public Speaker). She currently serves
as the Board chair for the LGBT Council on Aging and Board member at Large for the
APS (Adult Protective Service) Region 6.
Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?
I knew at this point in my career I needed to be very intentional. I had a slew of bad/not-so-great bosses and that I never wanted to work under someone like that again. So, I set out to be the boss. I have educated myself effectively and earnestly. I would say the most helpful is setting good intentions and sticking to those self desired goals.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I think what has helped me so much in y market is the fact that I am truthful with the relationships that I have been fortunate to cultivate. So what does that mean exactly. I communicate constantly with them, I send gifts, and I make sure that they know its just not about the funding opportunity.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: traceespeaks
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracee-seals-mba-cchw-321768134/
- Twitter: traceespeaks
Image Credits
shots by Arion