We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tracey Morrison a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Tracey, appreciate you joining us today. Do you take vacations? How do you keep things going – any advice for entrepreneurs who feel like they can’t step away from their business for a short vacation?
Absolutely! I’m a travel guru; I love seeing a world outside of my surroundings and exposing myself to different cultures and environments.
As a business owner, work-life balance is the key to not only running a business but to living a holistic life. I can attest that sometimes it is hard to step away from the work, especially when your entrepreneurial juices are flowing. But there’s “six words” that stuck in my head that a former coworker would say when coworkers within our unit would still be working at 4:58 or 4:59 and not getting ready to get out of the building for work. Those words were “The work will be there tomorrow.” Those words stuck with me.
I would tell entrepreneurs to set aside a time limit for themselves to do their work and shut down. If your entrepreneurial juices are still flowing near or beyond your set time, jot down a list of to-do list items to complete the following day. Additionally, don’t hesitate to seek assistance from your employer or any supporters who are working in your best interest.
It’s great when it comes to being consistent and growing your business, but getting the proper self-care is necessary in order to be productive, both physically and mentally, in the work entrepreneurs do.
My hobby is vacationing, but it doesn’t have to always be a vacation to take a break. The power of self-care can manifest in various forms, such as visiting a spa, enjoying a movie day, strolling through the park, attending a festival, or spending time with family and friends. I would recommend engaging in activities that bring you joy.
Tracey, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My journey on how I got into this business is a journey of pushing myself to make room for my gift. Life to the Raeford, NC native is like a puzzle, in which you don’t understand the pieces until God pieces it together. I always had a passion for writing, finding myself writing lengthy stories and documentation in the classroom and at work. I had a brief stint, blogging for an online blog, in the mid-2000s, before the owner closed down the website. Writing wasn’t a priority for me at the time, as I worked my 8-5 while raising my daughter, volunteerism, and attended graduate school, online. I did take an online writing course through UCLA Online Writer’s Extension, but didn’t fully venture into my writing path at the time.
In 2018, I received news that I would lose my job 30 days after relocating to my new home. While I was writing, I wanted to play the field safe by having a stable, permanent job. But boy was I wrong. The job that I had—working in child protective services—was so demanding that I quit to accept a less stressful one. It wasn’t until a year later that the same friend who had encouraged me to pursue my passion in 2018 announced her intention to take a risk and run for city council. Using my expertise in community engagement and professional corporate world experience, I served as her campaign manager. You may be familiar with the saying, “Your gift will make room for you.” The act of pushing my friend, who didn’t have any political experience and was not well-known in the community at the time, and use her gift to defeat a well known City Council/Mayor Pro Tem, who served on council for 10 years, ignited a passion within me to “Just Do It.”
A friend of mine, whom I knew in the community, was doing an initiative with Greater Diversity News (GDN), a black-owned newspaper, to recruit HBCU students to join the NAACP. It wasn’t until I sent him an email, he recognized my writing talent. Just as I was supporting others in achieving their goals through my profession & volunteerism, he reciprocated the energy to me by encouraging me to write for GDN. This led to him introducing me to the Fayetteville Observer to write as a guest columnist with the paper.
I had so many stories to write and share about places, people’s journey, events, and much more, but felt limited. One day, my close friend told me, quote, “Tracey, you should do it on your own.” Her words resonated with me. I mean she made the sacrifice to pursue her passion.
After doing my research, I took a leap of faith – taking own personal money to start a blog and paid a website designer to fix the site. I fully launched the site in 2023 and started doing social media content late last year.
It was the best move I could have ever made, as I had the freedom to write what I wanted and share those amazing stories I witness throughout the community and beyond without any geographic limitations. It open doors not only share those stories, but for others to reach out to other people for me to share their amazing stories.
My social media page is a combination of trending news, entertainment, current events, sports, supporting locals, etc. My page have reached broader audience in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta. So far, my Instagram page has received many tractions and likes from celebrities such as Vivicia A. Fox, former NBA star Cedric Ceballos & Kevin Garnett, Queen Latifah, Sanaa Lathan, Atlanta Rapper Killer Mike, Andra Day, Actor Kareem Grimes, Former WNBA star Tina Thompson, and Taj from SWV. Also on TikTok, I had many videos with over 100K views, with the most TikTok posts hitting over 5 million views.
As far as how I came up with the name, I wanted to create a catchy commercial appeal type name for the audience. My brand is unique because not only do I write about trendy news, but I believe stories revolves around everything we see, hear, or do – stating that there’s no limit to writing stories. She uses strong listening skills and her unique ability to translate ideas onto paper, receiving feedback on her emotionally charged articles and well-written content.
As an interviewer, it’s as if I’m listening to a friend chatting with me about their story, and I translate what they conveyed onto paper, as if I’m giving them a voice with an added touch of positive meaning to the story.
I call my fanbase my “Peeps!” Peeps is a common word used among my family growing up. The content I share is as if I’m sharing with my fanbase/peeps news through social media – giving them the exclusive on what’s going on around the world, celebrity news, trends, and opinion related content. “It’s as if I’m conversating with family,” Tracey said.
Each day, I appreciate the small milestones as I journey on the path to a much larger audience. It’s the determination and passion in me that perseveres. All I know is my consistency is paying off. In the near future, I will be expanding the Exclusive Press to add a traveling content and hosting a podcast.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I think the best part about being creative is being able to turn your passion into a successful business and enjoy the freedom that comes with it. Allowing my imagination to run wild and getting in tap with my senses & how it evolves in this world are all tools at my disposal when I write.
On top of that, I can use social media to interact and engage with my fanbase in a way that mimics a casual conversation, sharing updates on current events, pop culture, politics, my personal life, and even that funny TV moments.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
A lesson I had to unlearn is to not do things as planned when it comes to starting your career in doing what you love most.
The backstory behind what I had to unlearn was through a friend of mines. I believe God place people in your life for a reason, season, and lifetime. Courtney Banks-McLaughlin is one of those lifetime people God placed in my life. She’s the type that goes with the flow type of person, and I’m more of the organizer – doing things as plan. In my opinion, I feel if you don’t have a safety net behind your plan everything will crash.
Her example of running for city council with limited resources, and going with the flow was moving to me to not worry about a “safety net”, and just do it. In the campaign it was only her, myself, and her children working behind the scenes with the campaign, in which she defeated. It motivated me that working on your dreams will require a sacrifice. I knew I will be a star in this business, but I was one the type that look at things from a “BIG PICTURE” perspective, and not seeing it from a “SMALL PICTURE” perspective – the seed that grows into the big tree. It dawn on me to not despite small beginnings. All it takes is to plant the seed, keep watering it until it grows into the fruitful tree.
Also, life circumstances of being laid off from two jobs within a two-year span, taught me that your safety net (corporate job) will not always be there, and to grind hard. Courtney’s example made me unlearn and break certain habits, and it’s never going to be the right time, don’t rely on the safety net, and just do it.
We also do event planning; it was a situation in which we didn’t see any progress on ticket sales for our first major event in 2021. The event was at least 30 days out. I was frustrated, wanting to revert back to a safety plan. I told her that I want to reschedule the event. She didn’t quickly make a sound decision, but prayed on it – asking God for a sign. When God gave her the sign, she reached out to me through a text message.
After God gave her a sign to “push forward,” she told me that it may seem scary or impossible to do it (reaching ticket sales) in a month, but we got this. Those critical lessons, I had to apply to myself to “Just Do It” and don’t worry about the fear of the unknown. The fear of the unknown makes you want to find a safety net, and not fully walking by faith.
She also learns from me when it comes to executing things such as planning events in a timely manner, and making sure every task are organize so the event can flow smoothly.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.theexclusivepress.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theexclusivepress/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100094145652011&mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/traceycm/
- Twitter: https://x.com/theEXCLPress
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@theexclpress?si=z2uqo7ZXrc2e7-o9
- Other: Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/theexclusivepress/?invite_code=374eb149a7044cad880156a83605d62d&sender=866309815729780271
TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@the_exclusive_press?_t=8oqiL0L7xr5&_r=1
Image Credits
All photos are a courtesy of Tracey Morrison