Adam Larson: 00:05

Hey, welcome to Count Me In. This year at IMA26, I had the privilege of recording live on the podcast stage in Tampa, Florida. Throughout the conference, I sat down with a lineup of presenters who took time out of their schedules to share their passion and expertise in a range of topics. So I'm excited to bring you these special Count Me In episodes featuring some of the brightest voices from IMA26. So without further ado, let's get started.

Adam Larson: 00:36

Recording, I'm so happy to have you here.

Traci Mitchell: 00:38

Oh my God, it's so exciting to be here, Adam.

Adam Larson: 00:40

So you have quite the career. You were in journalism, you were in television news. Know, can you maybe walk me back

Traci Mitchell: 00:47

to that journey? What drew you to that in the first place? You know, it's kind of a crazy story when I think about it. I was in middle school, I was in sixth grade and we had a journalist come and talk to us and I was fascinated and I remember I asked her, I kind of leaned in and I said they pay you to talk? No joke, like you know I'm a kid right?

Traci Mitchell: 01:09

And she's like yeah and she goes and asked questions I was like and you can ask any question you want it's like I was hooked right? I'm like I'm sorry I talk a lot if you can't tell and I ask questions all day long. I believe questions are better than answers and then they're paying me to do this. Yeah. So it's like my job was always like fun and interesting and I knew that that's what I was gonna do from the time I was what was it, 11, 10?

Traci Mitchell: 01:37

Wow. Yeah.

Adam Larson: 01:38

Were you like one of those kids who was just interviewing random, like you just interview family members just for fun?

Traci Mitchell: 01:43

Yeah. It's like, would stand in the mirror. I taught, I practiced how I could talk. I'd write down questions and sit down and interview people. I'd say, you know what?

Traci Mitchell: 01:51

What's it like to be you? You know what I mean? Like, I don't know, I I would make up all of these silly questions and then, you know, my mother put me in modeling school. Oh. So that So

Adam Larson: 02:02

you can get that poise?

Traci Mitchell: 02:03

So I can get the poise and learn. And so I modeled for a long time and it was great because being in front of the camera it makes you unafraid of the camera

Adam Larson: 02:12

yes yeah I can understand that

Traci Mitchell: 02:13

right yeah so by the time I got to TV I was like oh this is natural this is what I do

Adam Larson: 02:18

Wow.

Traci Mitchell: 02:19

Yeah.

Adam Larson: 02:19

Yeah. So I think I one thing I one thing I love about interviewing and doing things like this is you get to hear people's stories.

Traci Mitchell: 02:25

Yes.

Adam Larson: 02:25

And you're almost like, especially when you're doing television news, you're in people's most important moments. What was that like as you're asking people questions when there's all this emotion happening? Like how do you how do you manage that as an interviewee?

Traci Mitchell: 02:37

You know what? It's really hard. I I think that, know, it's it's so two stories just came to mind when you asked that. I remember there was a story about this guy who got shot in the butt. Okay.

Traci Mitchell: 02:48

It was a horrible story, but he was like an innocent bystander who got shot in the butt and they sent me to do sort of the side story to the horrible story. Had to find the guy who was shot in the butt. Right?

Adam Larson: 02:58

Okay.

Traci Mitchell: 02:59

And so he opens the door and he says to me, oh my god, this is my dream. I get to meet Traci Mitchell and I we both fell out laughing. And so you know what I mean? Sometimes you don't think about the fact that you're in people's living rooms all the time.

Adam Larson: 03:17

Yeah.

Traci Mitchell: 03:18

You you got that emotional connection that you don't really have, but they know you.

Adam Larson: 03:23

Mhmm.

Traci Mitchell: 03:23

Right? So we had such like, I gave him a hug. He's like, oh my god. That's too hard. You're hurting my butt.

Traci Mitchell: 03:29

Like, get what I mean? Like, and we were kinda laughing about the whole thing. It was great. But then you walk into those really hard, difficult stories where the second story that came to mind, it was a story that I was assigned because sometimes you don't have a choice. I was a lead reporter, I normally got

Adam Larson: 03:48

Yeah.

Traci Mitchell: 03:48

The horrible story, which was the lead story. And the story that day was an 11 year old boy smuggled a gun out of his house and went outside and was pointing at all of his friends. They started running. He pulled the trigger, and it shot a nine year old girl. And I was sent to her house to talk to her family.

Traci Mitchell: 04:08

Oh my gosh. And it was interesting because it was such an eye opening experience for me because we're sitting there talking, and I was talking to the grandmother, and she had no emotion. No crying, no concern. Mhmm. And I was like, was the little girl okay?

Adam Larson: 04:24

Yeah.

Traci Mitchell: 04:25

And she goes, yeah, she's fine. And and she goes, you ain't never been shocked. And I talk about it in my speech where I'm kinda like, no. I've never been shocked. You know I mean?

Traci Mitchell: 04:38

I'm like, it took me a beat because I'm like, she said it so matter of factly. Then I'm like, no, no. I was like, have you? And she goes, yeah. And in her family, every female had been shot.

Traci Mitchell: 04:52

It was like inevitable. So she's looking at this.

Adam Larson: 04:54

She got it done early. The baby

Traci Mitchell: 04:56

got it done early. Yeah.

Adam Larson: 04:58

I see where you're going.

Traci Mitchell: 04:59

Yeah. It was minor.

Adam Larson: 05:00

Yeah.

Traci Mitchell: 05:01

She survived. She's done. It's not gonna happen again. And it just goes to show that sometimes, especially as reporters, right, we live in our world of we're just here to tell the story,

Adam Larson: 05:13

but

Traci Mitchell: 05:14

I'm now sitting in her world, same air, but seeing the situation very differently. And it goes to show that, and I tell people all the time, my truth isn't the truth. Oh. It's not. So that's what journalism gives me.

Traci Mitchell: 05:29

Yeah. I get to step into other people's views, their worlds, their truth.

Adam Larson: 05:35

We gotta dig into that.

Traci Mitchell: 05:36

I know. I know.

Adam Larson: 05:39

There's something that I think I realize after a crazy life experience. Loss of someone very close. And I realized two things can be true at the same time.

Traci Mitchell: 05:49

Absolutely.

Adam Larson: 05:50

And when you grow up in certain atmospheres and certain religious organizations, you were taught at a very young age that there's only one truth and that's it.

Traci Mitchell: 06:01

One truth.

Adam Larson: 06:02

And when you go through life and have life experience, recognize that two things can be true at the same time. And that's hard to recognize, but when you recognize it, kind of, I think you kind of grow up a little bit. Absolutely. And you have a whole different perspective on life.

Traci Mitchell: 06:18

And it's not bad.

Adam Larson: 06:19

No. It's not bad.

Traci Mitchell: 06:20

But two things and I feel like when you have those conversations with people, you understand the world a little bit better. Yes. You're able to give people grace. You're able to accept people as they are because not everyone is like you and it's a hard thing, right? Because this is what I know, you know what I mean?

Traci Mitchell: 06:39

So of course everybody's like me, right? Of course, Everybody's like this is great. It's me. Mhmm. You know what I mean?

Traci Mitchell: 06:47

And so we sometimes count people out Mhmm. Because they're doing something different from us.

Adam Larson: 06:53

Yeah. And not realizing that their life experience and everything they've gone through has led them to that moment and that's what's true for them at that moment. Right. And what I've gone through in my life experience can't be your life experience because we've had completely different lives but yet what's true for you is true for you and what's true for me is true for me. And that's a weird thing, especially in a world that people want things to be black and white and we live in the gray.

Traci Mitchell: 07:16

We live in the gray and I'm gonna go a little bit deeper.

Adam Larson: 07:18

Oh yeah,

Traci Mitchell: 07:19

let's go. A little bit deeper. When you talk about defining your mindset, which is what my book is about, what I talk about, you got to first understand that the mindset that you have was never yours to begin with.

Adam Larson: 07:34

Right? It

Traci Mitchell: 07:36

wasn't. It's just what people put in your head, right? You can make a conscious decision to live and think the way you want to live and think, not the way you've been trained to live and think.

Adam Larson: 07:52

So when you're talking to professionals who have been living their whole lives and you tell them that, is a lot of times their first reaction?

Traci Mitchell: 08:02

Well you know a lot of people are like well I mean I can't change Like, that's that's what I get. And I'm like, why? You know what I mean?

Adam Larson: 08:10

Yeah. Why?

Traci Mitchell: 08:10

Because, honestly, if you say I can't change, you can't. You truly can't. That's your choice right now. Need a moment. Choice, and you're making a choice.

Adam Larson: 08:19

It's not recognize that they're making the choice?

Traci Mitchell: 08:21

No. A lot of people don't. Okay. And I think I it's it's it takes a unique person to be able to step back and be like, holy crap. So my whole life has been a lie?

Traci Mitchell: 08:32

You know what I mean? Like, you know what I mean? Yeah. And so to to be able to say, yeah. It's there's so much we can do that we don't do.

Traci Mitchell: 08:42

Right? You have to decide. I part of defining your mindset, I talk about negotiations.

Adam Larson: 08:46

Right? Negotiations. Yeah.

Traci Mitchell: 08:47

And the biggest negotiation you have, the most expensive negotiation you have is with yourself.

Adam Larson: 08:54

Oh, let's talk about that.

Traci Mitchell: 08:55

You can't negotiate with someone else if you perfect example. Example. Before I walk in the room, one of the things I do is I walk in winning. I always say, I walk in winning. Mhmm.

Traci Mitchell: 09:07

Not I don't know who's in the room. I don't know what the outcome is gonna be, but I've already taken it to this is the mindset I'm walking into this room with, and that's the only thing I can control.

Adam Larson: 09:19

Mhmm.

Traci Mitchell: 09:20

So I negotiate with myself before I get in there. Right? It could be a horrible it could be I had to speak in front of, 26,000 people.

Adam Larson: 09:27

Yes. That's a lot of people.

Traci Mitchell: 09:28

And I was like, oh my God, my nerves. Oh, I was like a basket case. I'm sweating. And I'm like, oh my God, the deodorant is not working. It's bad.

Traci Mitchell: 09:37

I said to him, I said, wait a minute. You can be nervous and confident at the same time. They can exist in the same space.

Adam Larson: 09:45

Two things are true at

Traci Mitchell: 09:46

the same Two things are true at the same time. Wow. And I just kind of flipped the script. I'm going out there confident. I'm trained, I'm prepared, I'm claiming it, let's go.

Traci Mitchell: 09:55

Nerves are a wreck, but I got a job to

Adam Larson: 09:58

do.

Traci Mitchell: 10:00

So I need to check myself, negotiate with myself before I walk into any room to deal with anybody else.

Adam Larson: 10:07

That's interesting. Yeah. Just had this happen yesterday.

Traci Mitchell: 10:10

Tell me. Tell me.

Adam Larson: 10:12

I just had this happen yesterday where I was going on stage for the first time to emcee IMA26 conference, and I've never emceed anything, like, at this scale before. And I had to tell myself, you got this. You've prepared. You can read. You know how to work a crowd.

Adam Larson: 10:30

You got this. But like before that, I don't react outside of myself, but my internal set self is like inside. It's are all come discombobulated. But I had to stop and do that moment for myself because I knew that if I continued on how my internal is feeling that I wouldn't be able to be successful.

Traci Mitchell: 10:48

100%.

Adam Larson: 10:49

And so what you just described is something I just had to do yesterday. And it's an amazing feeling when you recognize that, hey. I am nervous, but I'm prepared, and I'm I have the skills, and I have the ability, and I got this. And so it was an interesting experience for me. And then when it happened and it was done, I just felt this complete empty of adrenaline rush and I finally could eat something.

Adam Larson: 11:11

Finally could go, oh, you you finally, you're able to do that. But being able to step beyond where you're at is hard to do. Because like you said, that negotiation.

Traci Mitchell: 11:21

It's a negotiation.

Adam Larson: 11:22

And I think, I don't think anybody ever talks about that it's an you're negotiating with yourself. How's that? Everybody says, oh, negotiations are happening around board tables, all these other things, as opposed to, you know, you're constantly negotiating. You're when you're making a choice, you're negotiating with yourself. Is that what you're saying?

Traci Mitchell: 11:39

You're choosing something. Right?

Adam Larson: 11:40

Yeah.

Traci Mitchell: 11:40

You're you're and you have choices.

Adam Larson: 11:42

Yes.

Traci Mitchell: 11:42

Right? So it's it's funny. I when I was a kid, my mother I freaking loved my mother. I would never say anything bad about my mother ever, never, ever, ever, never. But my mother, I was I was a lot as a kid.

Traci Mitchell: 11:55

Right? Very petitious. And I loved challenging adults even when I was little bit. It would drive my mother crazy. So she would see me.

Traci Mitchell: 12:05

I'd be talking to my pastor, instance. And I remember he said, why aren't you in the choir? And I said, well, why isn't your daughter in the choir? When she gets in the choir, maybe we can talk. My mother's like, lord.

Traci Mitchell: 12:15

Why? So she comes scurrying over, pump the brakes, stop, stop, yanks me up, and she was protecting me. Right? Mhmm. That was her way of Yeah.

Traci Mitchell: 12:27

Protecting. My dad, on the other hand, was loosey goosey. Right? So he would agree with my mother. He's like, Traci, stop.

Traci Mitchell: 12:35

And then, you know, she'd walk out and he alright. Go do it, but don't get caught. You know what I mean? So you have these two voices. Right?

Traci Mitchell: 12:43

Yeah. Like, go for it, but don't. You know what I mean? And so as a kid, I even had to negotiate with myself. Like, should I do it?

Traci Mitchell: 12:53

My mom might be mad if I do it, but my dad's gonna cover me if I do it. You you see what I mean?

Adam Larson: 12:58

Yeah. I do.

Traci Mitchell: 12:59

And we've done it our whole lives.

Adam Larson: 13:00

We have done it our whole lives. So how do we help professionals, especially accounting and finance professionals? When we were chatting a few weeks ago, you told me about we need to audit our lives. What does that look like as somebody who's been living the same way their whole life? They're like, I'm stuck in my ways.

Adam Larson: 13:18

I can't change. Like, that's a choice. We've already said that, but they they want to make that choice. How do you how do you what's that first step of auditing your life?

Traci Mitchell: 13:26

You talk about recognizing the choice

Adam Larson: 13:28

that you have. That's the first step.

Traci Mitchell: 13:30

That that would be the first step. Recognizing that the life you have doesn't have to be the life you live. It doesn't. So recognizing that you have a choice. And then you have to determine what you wanna be, what you wanna do.

Traci Mitchell: 13:44

Like like either put a number on it, right? Maybe it's I'm not making enough money to live the life I want to live. Yeah. Put a number on it. Or I need a new job.

Traci Mitchell: 13:53

Or I need a new life. I need a new new personal life. You know what mean? Whatever it is. Yeah.

Traci Mitchell: 13:58

Decide you got to figure out what the core of that discomfort is. Mhmm. Right? Identify it and kinda sit with it. And then when you sit with it, be strategic about moving forward.

Traci Mitchell: 14:11

Mhmm. I think I think a lot of people are just stuck. They don't know how to move forward. Right? Yeah.

Traci Mitchell: 14:18

And and I've heard this I've heard people say to me all the time when I'm coaching someone, well, don't know what I don't know.

Adam Larson: 14:26

True?

Traci Mitchell: 14:27

It is true. But how do you find out what you don't know? Because we're learning every single day. And you didn't know how to do your job. No.

Traci Mitchell: 14:37

You didn't know how to you know what I'm saying? Yeah. So so be proactive in going after the thing you want. They're all very different things. Yeah.

Traci Mitchell: 14:45

But I always tell people use your voice. Mhmm. You know, one of the exercises during the speech tomorrow, I'm gonna take people through when does this air?

Adam Larson: 14:54

In July sometime.

Traci Mitchell: 14:55

Okay. Sorry. One of the exercises I'm gonna take people through is I'm gonna have them write down the number that scares the crap out of them.

Adam Larson: 15:02

Okay.

Traci Mitchell: 15:03

Something that makes them sweat nervous. I want them to, you know, think there's no way I'm ever gonna get this ever, never, ever. Yeah. And then I tell a story about how when I was a news reporter, right, I may, you know, I think taps, I probably made a $150,000. Right?

Traci Mitchell: 15:21

And people don't ever wanna talk about money. When we talk about money, people are like, who? A and $50,000. And when I left TV news, I was making maybe $600 a day freelancing during these different things. Then I was hired by this company.

Traci Mitchell: 15:33

I was making $2,500 a day. And I was like, my god.

Adam Larson: 15:36

This is I

Traci Mitchell: 15:37

know. Right?

Adam Larson: 15:38

That's a good And

Traci Mitchell: 15:39

then one of the women I work with, she goes, hey. Can I pitch you for a job that I'm working on? I was like, absolutely. I said, how does that work? Because I didn't know what I didn't know.

Traci Mitchell: 15:48

Right? She goes, just give me a tape of some of the things you worked on. I said, okay. So I give her this video. And she comes back and she says to me, oh my god, they're interested.

Traci Mitchell: 15:57

I said, who are they? She goes, can't tell you. I said, what is the event? She goes, I can't tell you. And I was like, where is it?

Traci Mitchell: 16:05

And she goes, Las Vegas. I said, when is it? And she gave me the date. And I said, well, what can you tell me? She goes, nothing right now.

Traci Mitchell: 16:13

That's it. And I was like she goes, well, what's your budget? And I was like, well, you didn't tell me who it was. You didn't tell me what I'm doing. And I said, can I ask you a question off the record and she goes yes I said what did you budget for me?

Traci Mitchell: 16:26

Oh, that's a good question to ask. That's a good negotiation.

Adam Larson: 16:29

Yeah, yeah.

Traci Mitchell: 16:30

And she goes she kind of laughed and she goes $30,000 and I was like

Adam Larson: 16:36

that's about that's about right.

Traci Mitchell: 16:37

No no and then I said do I get makeup? Like someone to do my makeup, someone to do my hair, hotel, driver, all of these things right that I've probably seen on TV but that's whole gangster And so she goes, no, that's not included. So I took a beat, three, four seconds, and I said, can we go back on record? And she goes, yeah. I said $37,000 to cover all of the other expenses.

Traci Mitchell: 17:04

Right? Mhmm. And so she goes, okay. I'll get back to you. She calls me back almost immediately and said, you're good to go.

Traci Mitchell: 17:11

Wow. I know. So my first instinct was to throw out $2,500 because that's all I knew.

Adam Larson: 17:19

That's all you knew at the time, yeah.

Traci Mitchell: 17:21

But I flipped it so she can then tell me what was the budget. That was $37,000 for two days.

Adam Larson: 17:28

Wow.

Traci Mitchell: 17:29

I had never made that much money before in my life. Yeah. And if I had to put on paper how much money I would make in a day, I probably would have been like 5,000. Do you see what I'm saying? Yeah, I do.

Traci Mitchell: 17:41

So when you put a number out there, that's ridiculous. And fun fact, I had written $30,000 as a number that I wanted to hit. I know, a few months earlier. Wow. And I just, I put it on my little board.

Adam Larson: 17:53

Okay.

Traci Mitchell: 17:54

Never thought it would ever.

Adam Larson: 17:55

And then it suddenly happened. Can I ask who you interviewed for that?

Traci Mitchell: 17:59

I actually worked with Pfizer. Pfizer? I launched Eliquis,

Adam Larson: 18:04

Wow. The drug for

Traci Mitchell: 18:06

Yeah, it was amazing. And it was you kinda walk in with all of your stuff and you shred it all before you leave. Oh. So it's all top secret, but, yeah, no. Was great.

Traci Mitchell: 18:16

That's They were amazing, and I had a really nice time going.

Adam Larson: 18:20

So, you know, somebody's listening to this. They're like, well, I'm not a news reporter. I can't get to that. You know, how what's that first step in that going in that direction to saying, hey. I want to I wanna write these things.

Adam Larson: 18:32

I wanna audit my life. I wanna get there. Because if you start going down this, it could become a rabbit hole where you realize, I'm not happy with my family. I might not be happy with this. I might not be happy with my job.

Adam Larson: 18:43

And not everybody is equipped or ready to disrupt everything in their life. And not saying they have to, but if they're really auditing things and trying to follow what you're saying, what does that look like then?

Traci Mitchell: 18:55

Well, you gotta get really uncomfortable. Okay. Like you get really uncomfortable. I can give you an example. I have a good friend who I told her I was gonna talk about her, so it's not secret secret.

Traci Mitchell: 19:04

But she hated her life, hated her job, and I was like, you know what? Let's go hang out. So we're hanging out by the pool. We're talking. And I said, tell me what it is that's bothering me.

Adam Larson: 19:14

Yeah.

Traci Mitchell: 19:14

And she's gone on and on and on about the job. And I said, but where is that coming from? And we just kept digging. Right? What what's where when did the job start bothering me?

Traci Mitchell: 19:24

When did the da da da da da? So we just kept asking questions, and turns out it was her personal life that was bothering me.

Adam Larson: 19:31

Oh. Yeah.

Traci Mitchell: 19:32

And she said to me that day, if I'm not divorced two years from now, I need you to remind me. She was divorced two years and one week from that conversation.

Adam Larson: 19:42

Oh my gosh.

Traci Mitchell: 19:43

Isn't that crazy, though?

Adam Larson: 19:44

Yeah. That is

Traci Mitchell: 19:44

very So it's it's one of those things. Maybe it's get a coach.

Adam Larson: 19:48

Yeah.

Traci Mitchell: 19:48

Maybe it's talk to a therapist. Maybe it's find someone, maybe it's talk to a good friend who knows you, who can say, who can see your brilliance, right? So there was a lady standing at the photo booth right across the way, and she's like, oh, I can't take a picture. And I was like, why? And she goes, I just don't look at it.

Traci Mitchell: 20:09

I said, you look fabulous. Are you kidding me? And she's like, do you think so? And sometimes we need someone else to be our mirror

Adam Larson: 20:17

Mhmm.

Traci Mitchell: 20:17

To see what we can't see

Adam Larson: 20:19

Yeah.

Traci Mitchell: 20:20

And be able to say, I'm real good at telling people what they need. Right? I don't know what I need. You know what I mean? It's so true.

Traci Mitchell: 20:27

I'm telling you. I'm like, okay. Don't wait. What you wanna do? Because I can help But you with myself, I can't do that.

Adam Larson: 20:33

So I wanna circle back. We know we've been covering a lot of different things, especially about auditing ourselves. But the whole, like, two truths being the same, especially in a professional setting. You have might have one executive who's saying, this is what we need to do. And another executive saying, this is what we need do.

Adam Larson: 20:49

And maybe we need to do both things. But a lot of times in boardrooms or in C level things, it's like one person's like, we need to come to one consensus at all times. And how do we how do we change that mindset, especially in a a professional setting?

Traci Mitchell: 21:04

I think sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture. Right? Yeah. And you have to have somebody in that room who's willing to pull back Mhmm. And say, maybe one of the two people say, wait a minute.

Traci Mitchell: 21:14

So this is what I'm offering, but this is what you're offering. The big picture is we're trying to get you here.

Adam Larson: 21:20

Yeah.

Traci Mitchell: 21:21

How do we incorporate both of those to make sure that we're always moving? I think the most successful people in life are those who can see beyond what they know.

Adam Larson: 21:31

Yeah.

Traci Mitchell: 21:32

Because I remember, oh, can't think of his name, he's the head of NASA.

Adam Larson: 21:36

Okay.

Traci Mitchell: 21:37

And I had to interview him. Oh, And he goes, when you're in a fight, you have to have everybody there. Right? You can't be the only dog in the fight. Right?

Traci Mitchell: 21:44

He goes, I want crooks. I want professionals. I want you know I mean? He goes, because everybody brings something else to the table, and that's how we grow. Right?

Traci Mitchell: 21:53

And if you sit in if your idea is the only idea as the executive or the board member, my idea is the only idea that we're gonna go through, you're looking at it from your lens, and you're forgetting a whole bunch of other people, not just in the boardroom, but in the company.

Adam Larson: 22:09

Yeah.

Traci Mitchell: 22:09

Right? Everybody can contribute. Everybody can grow at the same time. The person who you least expect probably has the best idea. So be open enough to hear and create an environment where people aren't afraid to speak up.

Traci Mitchell: 22:25

I think that's the big thing because a lot of people are afraid. Right? Yeah. If I say anything, I might lose my job.

Adam Larson: 22:30

They're gonna jump on my throat and wonder why am

Traci Mitchell: 22:32

I gonna be so I'm just gonna do my job. Yeah. So you have people who show up every day just to do their job because you created an environment where only your idea works.

Adam Larson: 22:40

Yeah. And I think that's that goes back to ego.

Traci Mitchell: 22:43

Oh, 100%.

Adam Larson: 22:44

Letting a little bit of your ego. And as your good friend Rachel likes to say, it's not about you.

Traci Mitchell: 22:48

It's not about you. Yes. I love that.

Adam Larson: 22:51

I think that's where it comes back to is, like, we have to learn how to be humble ourselves Yes. And reflect in ourselves first before we can even come to that realization that, hey. There might be another idea that's better than this one in creating that culture, that environment, but that's not easy to do.

Traci Mitchell: 23:05

Oh, no. It's not easy to it it it starts here, though. Right?

Adam Larson: 23:08

You you

Traci Mitchell: 23:09

really have to deal with your own issues. Before I had an executive. We were talking and works at a huge company, huge position.

Adam Larson: 23:18

Mhmm.

Traci Mitchell: 23:19

And she just started crying, broke down crying all of a sudden. She goes, it is so hard being me. Mhmm. And I was like, oh, we're crying? It's just like, yes.

Traci Mitchell: 23:30

And she goes, I show up every day, I have to do this, I have to do this, I have to do this, and I said, well what do you want to do? And she goes, what do you mean? I can't even focus on what I want to do because I have to. I was like, but do you? You know what I'm saying?

Traci Mitchell: 23:46

And I was like, you are the head of this huge company. There's so many people under you. There's not one person who can do some of the I have to dos? And she was like, oh my god. She goes, you're challenging me.

Traci Mitchell: 24:02

And I was like, oh, am. You know what mean? And so we we had a great conversation and she came back. She goes, you're right. Like, I'm putting all of this on myself and I just couldn't see it.

Traci Mitchell: 24:14

Mhmm. So sometimes you have to take a step back. It's just it's hard.

Adam Larson: 24:18

It is hard.

Traci Mitchell: 24:19

It is hard. It really is. But you gotta consciously do the work. Only you.

Adam Larson: 24:24

Well, have so much pressure on us, whether it's family life or work life, and our works are going through challenges and changes, and with the disruption that's happening all over the world, it's not easy to say, hey, I need to take a step back. A lot of times, like, what do you want? People don't get asked that question ever. And I think that's really hard in a professional setting where you don't realize what you want because you have job, you need to take care of the kids, you need health insurance, and those things. And if I ask what I want, that might mean I have to leave here.

Adam Larson: 24:56

And if I recognize that, then that's gonna cause disruption. I'm gonna be uncomfortable. And I think that's really that's really hard for people.

Traci Mitchell: 25:02

Oh, it's it's very hard. But, yeah, I tell people all the time, you only have one life to live. Mhmm. And time is always ticking. The you you know better than most.

Traci Mitchell: 25:12

Tomorrow is not promised.

Adam Larson: 25:13

It is not promised.

Traci Mitchell: 25:14

And so we have this life, and we put all this stress on ourselves, ourselves and and we we have real problems. These are real problems. These are not like I made up this thing. Like serious issues. My dad died last March, not a year ago and the gift he died at 80 years old.

Traci Mitchell: 25:33

My dad had a fabulous life, right?

Adam Larson: 25:35

I

Traci Mitchell: 25:37

told him, When you die, I'm going to dance at your funeral. He was just a great guy, but the gift that he gave me is the realization that time will not wait for us to become who we want Oh, to

Adam Larson: 25:50

I know that lesson very well.

Traci Mitchell: 25:51

Exactly. And so for me, it hit really hard when he died, because I was like, oh, what am waiting for? There's this I can't think of it. It's when when the astronauts go out the overview effect. Yeah.

Traci Mitchell: 26:04

Do you know the overview effect?

Adam Larson: 26:05

I know what you're talking about.

Traci Mitchell: 26:06

We kind of talked about that and how when they get out there, they see Earth as like this little blue wall.

Adam Larson: 26:13

Yeah. And

Traci Mitchell: 26:14

it see they could see all of our interconnected lives no matter if we're here in Russia, in Spain, in port wherever. Mhmm. We're all one Earth. Right? And if you can sort of think like that, like the overview effect, I'm here on this earth with you, Adam, with all of these people sharing this time, sharing this space, what is my purpose, what is my job, why am

Announcer: 26:38

I here?

Traci Mitchell: 26:38

And you sit in those questions and really sit with it, life has to be bigger than this.

Adam Larson: 26:44

It has to be better than

Traci Mitchell: 26:45

this. It has to be. Yeah, so what does that look like

Adam Larson: 26:48

when you're working with somebody, they're doing that deep inner work and they realize the life they're living isn't the one they wanna live, but they still feel stuck because they don't know how to take that first step.

Traci Mitchell: 26:57

It's step by step. I mean, the realization is I mean, that could take that's like deep work. Right? Realizing that the life you're living is not the life you should be living. Mhmm.

Traci Mitchell: 27:06

And then what life do you want to live? It's like that taking that first step is like It's like taking that

Adam Larson: 27:11

first what do want to live? Yeah.

Traci Mitchell: 27:12

Because sometimes I mean, I was in TV news. I never forget. I was doing a job, and I decided I don't wanna be in TV anymore. This is not fun anymore, it's not what it was when I first started, and then I took the GMAT, I got into UVA's business school, and I was like, I'm going to be an investment banker. Right, that's what I decided, And what I didn't realize that it was the station I didn't like.

Traci Mitchell: 27:37

Interesting. And not TV news. So I ended up getting another job before I decided to go to business school and I start this job and I was like, oh my god, I love this. So sometimes it's just, you you need to cross the street and go somewhere else, right? Maybe it's the job.

Adam Larson: 27:52

Maybe it's the actual job that's Right. Causing

Traci Mitchell: 27:54

Yeah. I literally was way I was throwing away my whole career because I hated that station, but I couldn't see that it was the station. I just thought I hated television news.

Adam Larson: 28:04

Yeah. It's like it's almost like you're taking a step off

Traci Mitchell: 28:07

of a cliff Yes.

Adam Larson: 28:09

And you don't realize you have wings Yes. And you're gonna glide

Traci Mitchell: 28:11

I and you're love

Adam Larson: 28:12

gonna the find the way.

Traci Mitchell: 28:13

You're always gonna find the way.

Adam Larson: 28:15

You're always gonna find a way, but it's scary.

Traci Mitchell: 28:17

It's scary, but I also talk about preparing yourself for yes, right? When you go into negotiation, most people prepare for no. Prepare for sitting at the table, they prepare for the conversation, they do the homework on the person, they knew the questions, they practice the questions, but what happens when they say yes?

Adam Larson: 28:35

Yeah, you never think about that, you're always preparing for all the no's.

Traci Mitchell: 28:38

Yes, so prepare for yes, right? What does that look like when you I prepare for interviewed Oprah.

Adam Larson: 28:45

Okay.

Traci Mitchell: 28:45

And when I was trying to make that happen, I had no access, no ticket, no nothing. I don't know Oprah. I don't know anybody who knew Oprah. Like but I decided I was gonna interview Oprah. So I go to my my news director

Adam Larson: 28:58

Yep.

Traci Mitchell: 28:58

And I said, hey. We don't have any photographers available on the weekend. Can I get a photographer for for weekend on this date? And she's like, for what? I said, oh, I'm gonna interview Oprah.

Traci Mitchell: 29:09

And she falls out laughing. She

Adam Larson: 29:11

goes Mhmm.

Traci Mitchell: 29:11

You're gonna interview Oprah.

Adam Larson: 29:13

And I was

Traci Mitchell: 29:13

like, yeah. She's like, how? I said, oh, no idea.

Adam Larson: 29:19

It's just gonna happen.

Traci Mitchell: 29:20

It's gonna happen. But I need a photographer. So I tell people, book the photographer first. Claim the reality and make it happen.

Adam Larson: 29:27

Yeah.

Traci Mitchell: 29:28

Right? Yeah. So there's a way to do everything. It's like we're so limited. It drives me crazy when people say, oh, I can't.

Traci Mitchell: 29:35

Oh, but you can. Right? It may be difficult. Yeah. But you can.

Traci Mitchell: 29:40

Because when you look at other people creating companies, creating cars, creating ideas, coming up with stuff Mhmm. Where they're like, oh my god. My, you know, kid was sick, so I needed to come up with a smoothie. That this actually

Adam Larson: 29:56

happened. Okay.

Traci Mitchell: 29:56

This this in in Smoothie King, do you know

Adam Larson: 29:58

Smoothie King?

Traci Mitchell: 29:59

So Smoothie King, I went to school with the owner of Smoothie King's daughter.

Adam Larson: 30:03

Oh, wow. Right. Okay.

Traci Mitchell: 30:04

And I said to her, how did your dad come up with this? And she goes, funny story. He had all these, like, food allergies as a kid. So his mother would create smoothies for him because that was the only thing he could have as a meal. And so she started creating them, and then when he got old enough, he started creating his own smoothies and kinda taking it to a different level.

Traci Mitchell: 30:21

Friends were to come over and say, oh my god. Can I have some of your smoothie?

Adam Larson: 30:25

I want some of that. Yeah.

Traci Mitchell: 30:26

And then they're like, have you thought about selling these? These are fantastic. And he's like, no. He creates Smoothie King because he had food allergies as a kid. Do you see what I'm saying?

Adam Larson: 30:35

Yeah. Like,

Traci Mitchell: 30:36

it's it's like, take that thing.

Adam Larson: 30:38

That one thing.

Traci Mitchell: 30:39

That one thing and kinda run with it. Right? It could be your thing. I'm not saying we all need to create smoothies or a thing, but it's so simple. And the people are like, well, he's brilliant.

Traci Mitchell: 30:50

That's why he came up. No. He had food allergies. That's why.

Adam Larson: 30:53

He had food allergies, but he also had the ambition to say, hey. I wanna make turn this into something. It's taking that next step saying, I love this, but what can I do with it?

Traci Mitchell: 31:02

And he had no idea how to do it. He has Smoothie King all over the world, so did to a Japanese businessman Wow. Retired and is incredibly wealthy.

Adam Larson: 31:15

So as we wrap up this conversation, what's something that you want our listeners to remember as they take this next step? They're they've been listening to this. They're inspired, but they're like, okay. Tomorrow when I open my email, I'm gonna be overwhelmed by all this stuff going on. What's that first step tomorrow as they kinda take that that first step in this right direction, auditing their life and figuring out what's going on?

Traci Mitchell: 31:36

Well, I think first you need to literally sit down with yourself and have that negotiation. Really figure out who you wanna be

Adam Larson: 31:42

Yeah.

Traci Mitchell: 31:43

And be that person

Adam Larson: 31:44

Mhmm.

Traci Mitchell: 31:44

From then on. It's not an overnight thing, but it can happen. Secondly, I always tell people, walk in winning. Prepare for the yes. Right?

Traci Mitchell: 31:52

If you walk in that room preparing for the yes, if you can negotiate with yourself, every other room is possible. So then you walk in winning. And secondly, people are like, you know, well, how do I do that? And I said, well, I did it, so can you. It's not easy, but you can.

Adam Larson: 32:08

You can. That's it. That's it. I love that. Well, Traci, thank you so much for joining us here at IMA 26 and coming on the Count Me In podcast.

Adam Larson: 32:15

It's been amazing.

Traci Mitchell: 32:16

It has been amazing. Thank you so much, Adam. I This love

Announcer: 32:22

has been Count Me In, IMA's podcast, providing you with the latest perspectives of thought leaders from the accounting and finance profession. If you like what you heard and you'd like to be counted in for more relevant accounting and finance education, visit IMA's website at www.imanet.org.