From Limitation To Leverage

We share how a change in perspective turned a lifelong insecurity into a platform for growth and purpose. Tracy walks through grief, intuition, and belief work to show practical steps for reclaiming your voice and designing a life that fits.

• reframing a cleft palate from barrier to strength
• grief counseling as the spark for change
• curating inputs across friends, media and habits
• moving from no dreams to a clear vision
• writing a book as a channel for voice
• intuition as a trainable skill and guide
• step-by-step belief audits and affirmations
• navigating layoffs, identity and aligned work
• simple actions to discover purpose through stillness
• using micro-moves to exit misaligned careers

Get ready to break free from obstacles and live life on your terms!

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Chapters

• 0:50 Welcome And Purpose Of The Show
• 1:35 Meet Tracy: Bio And Mission
• 4:12 Growing Up With A Cleft Palate
• 6:11 Grief As Catalyst For Change
• 8:15 Curating Environment And Inputs
• 11:15 From No Dreams To New Vision
• 15:13 Writing The Book And Using Her Voice
• 19:15 Intuition And Developing Psychic Skills
• 21:05 Core Message: Personal Growth Tools
• 22:39 Practical Framework For Belief Change
• 27:03 Layoff, Identity, And Starting Over
• 28:13 Finding Purpose Through Stillness
• 29:29 Owning The Mission And Next Steps
• 32:07 Real Talk On Leaving Misaligned Work
• 34:21 Closing Reflections And Farewell

Transcript

Cassandra: 0:25

To all my listeners, and I'd like to welcome you to Is Your Way in Your Way. And for my new listeners out there, that's actually the name of my book, Is Your Way in Your Way. And that that changed my life, actually. But let me share with you what this podcast is all about. It's actually about individuals who are I say stuck or complacent, or there's something that you really want to do, but you've not made it, you've not done it. So, in other words, this podcast is about individuals living their best life on their terms, basically. And we talk about topics like self-improvement, personal development. And I have a question for you Have you ever looked at the very thing you thought was holding you back and wondered if it might actually be your greatest gift? My guest today knows this story all too well. Once convinced her voice was a limitation, she's now using it to inspire countless people to reclaim their power and rise beyond perceived barriers. She's a coach, a speaker, an author, and a healer. And she's on a mission, a mission to help you master your own life. So stay tuned. You don't want to miss my conversation with Tracey and ABL. Let me introduce her to the stage. Hi, Tracy. Hello, how are you? I am doing great. And I thank you so much for being a guest on my show today. Thank you for having me. I so appreciate it. Yeah, and um, my listeners, our topic today is going to be how changing your perspective can change your life. Now, before we uh get into this conversation with Tracy, before I get into the conversation with Tracy, I want to read her bio so you can get a little understanding of what qualifies her to talk about what we can ready to talk about. Uh, Tracy is an intuitive life coach, author of Get Changed, how to become the master of your own life, speaker, psychic, Reiki practitioner with a gift for helping others reframe their perceived limitations. Tracy empowers people to see that what they once thought held them back can actually propel them forward. She was born with a cleft palate. She wants to lead her voice, it was a barrier, but today it is her greatest gift, her greatest tool for inspiring others to step into their limitless potential through her book, coaching, and she even has a podcast. She guides individuals on a journey of self-discovery, healing, and transformation. Welcome again, Tracy, to the Is Your Way, In Your Way podcast. Thank you so much. Listen, let's could you tell us about yourself? Tell tell my listeners about your backstory.

Tracey: 3:46

Sure. Yeah. So, like you said, I was born with a cleft palette and cleft lip. And a cleft palette in particular creates challenges with my speaking voice. And it as you can tell, I sound a bit nasal and can be a little hard to understand. And it's because of his structure and the weak muscles of the palate and the the different uh challenges that that creates. And I always was really shy growing up and insecure because I always thought it would limit me. I can't change my voice, so it is what it is, and I was just really insecure. And I didn't help that kids make fun of me and until speaking to me sometimes, unfortunately, would make comments like I can't understand a word you're saying, or you're gonna have to speak up so I can hear you. Yeah, and you know, I let those words get down into my spirit and bring me down. And I just felt limited. I felt like I was always going to be limited because of my voice. And you know, fast forward, you know, I didn't do much of my life, I didn't have many goals or dreams, and it wasn't until after my mom passed away in 2018 when I went on this journey of self-discovery, a little spiritual journey. And it was then when I started learning about your belief system and how that can really impact how you show up in the world. And that's when I started making shifts in my life and beliefs.

Cassandra: 5:44

Listen, tell us when you went on that journey, what was that like? Explain that journey.

Tracey: 5:49

Yes, it was a gradual journey, I would say. I was miserable in my job at the time, and you know, I had been in that particular uh working within the corporate world, and I had been in the industry for 26 years, and for this particular company for 17 years, and I was just miserable, it wasn't alight, and so when my mom passed away, when I was probably at my most miserable point in my job, yeah, I started this journey thinking I have to make changes in my life. My best friend is gone, which is my mom, and I didn't know what to do with my life. I was so lost, I felt so alone and miserable. And so I knew I had to make changes because I could not live like that anymore. And so I started by going to church because a friend recommended grief counseling because I was so grief chicken and I ended up going to church for a while, and it was fantastic. It was exactly what I needed at that time, and then I started feeling like I wanted more. I felt like church is great, but there's more, like I meant for more. How do I find more? And that's when I really started down more of a spiritual path and started meditating and breathwork and just learning about spiritual concepts. And so it was a gradual process, but it was also a process of letting go of things that no longer scared me, like drinking alcohol, like watching crime shows all the time that made me changing my habits in routines, and so I gradually started shifting into a more spiritual existence.

Cassandra: 7:48

Okay, okay. So you became um so it sounds like it's important of what you hear, what you listen to, what you what you listen to, also your environment and the people in your circle, because you had mentioned how your environment can support your growth. Would you unpack that for us? Like what like what in your environment supported your growth?

Tracey: 8:18

Yeah, so I I've learned to practice discernment. And the what you surround yourself with, who and what you surround yourself with will impact your life. You know, I um I when I saw drinking, for example, I really I pretty much felt like I needed a whole new set of friends because all I did was drink alcohol. It was all around, you know, my social life was all around alcohol, going to hex hour, going wine tasting, um, anything to do with with alcohol. And I had to kind of step away from that group of friends. They were fantastic, there was nothing wrong with them. But I just knew that in order for me to grow, I had to surround myself with people that didn't drink alcohol, certainly not as much as my friends were and I were, and that would challenge me to learn and grow, that would support me in different ways than I was supported before. And so I had to surround myself with new people. And so I started making that shift. And even with the TV that I watch, um, I started shifting. I watched less and less crime shows and started watching more afflicting social TV. I'm sorry, but it was on the client right now, so sorry if you hear that. Um but I started shifting what I consumed on TV. I started watching and listening and reading less news because it would bring me down. So I started shifting my environment. And as I did that, I started becoming more, I want to say happy, more optimistic, is probably kind of weird. I started looking forward to um, you know, every now and then. I wouldn't watch TV as much either, but I would look forward to watching TV instead of feeling like, okay, you know, who's gonna get removed today?

Cassandra: 10:37

Right. Uh-huh.

Tracey: 10:39

It really shifted my whole perspective about my life in general.

Cassandra: 10:45

Right, right. And and and as you said, that that perspective you had is actually changed your life. Yeah. Which is great. So my listeners are hearing from you that you know your surroundings are critical, what you listen to, um, um, what you what you who your your your friends, your environment, and all of that to help you get to where you knew you should be going to. And you said that even going to church, it was helpful, but you also knew from there there was still more. Right now, you you said when you were growing up you didn't really have any dreams, but yet now you're saying it's so important to listen to your dreams. Why the shift from didn't have any to now listening to them?

Tracey: 12:00

Yeah, so when I was growing up, it's funny, I so I am intuitive, and my intuitive, you know, psychic abilities didn't really emerge more like a lot until after I was laid off from my Google job in December 2022. But even growing up, I kind of sensed some things, and one of the things I sensed was that I was going to be a speaker, and I just had this image of me holding a microphone on a stage in front of people. And I felt like I was going to be some kind of role model to some people, and at the time I was young, and I thought, why would I ever be a speaker? I can't even talk.

Cassandra: 12:46

Yeah.

Tracey: 12:47

I just missed it completely. And I thought that was odd. And uh, but now that I'm shifting my perspective, it's really um it's changed my life. And I have more dreams now because I'm more optimistic that I look forward to things. And I know I've learned that the challenges that we're all given that and that we all face are for them. We're here to learn and grow. Our souls are here to learn and grow and expand. And any challenges that we face, for example, me and my class palette, is to help my soul learn and grow. And so I look forward to challenges to some extent, of course, right? I am human, nobody wants challenges. But we all I know that they're all learning experiences, and I look forward to what I can learn from them. And as far as the dreams, I know, and again, it's a challenge. Our dreams that we have are there for a reason, there to teach us to learn and grow. And we all have our own dreams, and we're all here to learn different lessons.

Cassandra: 14:03

And I look forward to achieving my dreams because that means I am learning the lessons that I'm here to learn, and so I so when you were seeing um speaking, right? You saw yourself, you were holding the microphone, and by you seeing yourself that manifest that you're speaking. So were people coming to you, or you were going to them? How did how did you begin to speak? Like what happened that started that?

Tracey: 14:41

So I thought you mentioned when I was laid off for my job in December 2022, I started becoming more psychic, and I was receiving messages to speak and to use my voice in various capacities, and that it was important for me to be seen and heard. And one of the first tasks, if you will, was for me to use my voice through writing a book, and so I started writing this book. I I didn't have experience as a writer, my background was in corporate world, it wasn't in writing in any way, right? So I knew that I was being guided to write this book for a reason, and so I started writing this book, and I not long after I started writing it, I received a message that I heard and I saw the words, get changed, how to become the master of your own life. And I knew that was supposed to be the topic and title of my book, and I thought, oh no. I was recently unemployed, so like I'm unemployed, still trying to figure out what I want to be when you when I grow up. And you want me to write a book on mastering life? I think you have the wrong person. But um more so I learned that the book was not just for readers, it was just as much for me as it was for them because it was learning about how to step into my power. And um, I have so sorry, I felt awfully tangent.

Cassandra: 16:24

The question that you asked was Yeah, well, well, well, the question I asked was, you know, you you visualize yourself speaking. Okay, and so it's and I said, Well, how did that come? Did the did the engagements come to you or you sought them out? Um and and what I'm hearing is once you wrote the book, it was like a segue for your absolutely, yeah.

Tracey: 16:54

And you know, and I'm just being guided to use my voice, and and speaking comes in many forms. Speaking is, you know, includes being on podcasts, um, through podcasts, uh, summits, um, you know, any kind of speaking opportunity, whether traditional or untraditional.

Cassandra: 17:12

Yeah.

Tracey: 17:13

Um, that's my being guided to do, and so I'm seeking out these experiences. Uh, I also started my own podcast, you know, with a new podcast, and uh in lectures it was a solo podcast, kids to get me comfortable. Sure. I was always so shy. Um it's evolving, but it's using my voice. So it's however I can use my voice is what I'm doing. And sometimes people are coming to me, and sometimes um oftentimes I'm seeking them out.

Cassandra: 17:45

Wow, that's incredible. Um, what once you thought that was a limitation, you know, and your self-confidence and that you indicated when you were growing up, people like, I can't hear a word you're saying, you know, so that just diminished what you, you know, and maybe that's why you didn't have any dream because you were so focused. And it sounded like it took your mom, you know, something to happen to shake you, you know. Yeah, I I I was just speaking with a with another guest on my podcast, and she said something that I've not heard, and it's so true. She said your your um your your brokenness can be like your breakthrough.

Tracey: 18:30

Yeah, exactly. I tried as it was and is, it changed my life for the better.

Cassandra: 18:41

Right, yeah, yeah. You know, Tracy, you mentioned a couple of times your psychic ability. Is that something you're born with? Is that a skill? Like, how why do you believe you have that? And where did that psychic ability come from, you think?

Tracey: 19:03

Yeah, my belief is that we are all born with intuitive ability. Right. And we all get that feeling, and we know sometimes um you know that something is right or not right or whatever it is. And we all have that, and we can all develop that intuitive ability. And I know oftentimes a lot of people who are psychic refrain from using that term because there is some kind of like a negative connotation to it. Um, I personally am not afraid to use that term, but I feel like there is this like distinction between being intuitive and psychic. You know, intuitive to me in my experience is more of a kind of a gut feeling. Whereas psychic abilities are more of being able to see, hear, know, sense, feel things beyond your five senses. And so I hear for me personally, I hear auditory messages, I see images, I sometimes just know things, I receive impressions, uh, feelings. And those are all psychic abilities, and those two are like a muscle. So the more you practice developing them, the stronger they can get.

Cassandra: 20:31

Okay. Okay. Now you said that you you actually love speaking because you have something to say. All right. So tell us tell us what you say when you're speaking. What what is that something you have to say?

Tracey: 20:47

I have a lot of things to say. Yeah, you know, when I speak, I try to see I usually speak about personal growth, personal development, self-improvement types of things. Because I'm realizing how important that is. And it's surprising to me that I never really thought about it before my mom's asking. Sure. I think it wasn't part of my life. I didn't hear around people that were interested in that, at least what I was aware of. And I just never even gave any fat. And what they were down my surely is like, wow, because it opened up a whole new world. And so I do primarily talk about that. You know, I have, you know, a TikTok where I do videos and it's almost always about personal growth tools, you know, information. And so most of the time it's personal growth, really, right?

Cassandra: 21:52

Uh-huh. Yeah. Yeah, I've seen some of them and they're funny. I like them. Yeah, yeah. It's like a short snippet.

Tracey: 22:01

Yeah, they're short. Yeah. Okay, you should keep them short.

Cassandra: 22:06

Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Well, that that's good. Now, give my listeners some practical tips and tools to uncover those beliefs, those habits, actually, their mindsets that held people back. So give us some tips and tools to help uncover that.

Tracey: 22:23

Yeah, I think the first thing that is critically important is to become self-aware. To be aware of what you're thinking, what you're doing. Be aware of how you feel. Be aware of your responses to different situations. And just becoming aware alone is critically important. Because once you're aware, then you can start making changes. You can start questioning them. You're questioning how you why you're responding the way you did, or how you feel the way you feel, and start getting into that, you uncover those beliefs. So becoming self-aware is the number one tip that I have. But once you become self-aware and start uncovering the beliefs, then you challenge them and uh reflect on them, kind of figure out where they came from. Um so for example, let's see here. You know, I used to tell myself that I'm just gonna stay quiet because uh nobody can hear or understand me anyway. And you know, your beliefs are powerful, and so what you believe, you think.

Cassandra: 23:40

Yeah.

Tracey: 23:41

What you think, you feel. What you feel, you do, and what you feel produced results, yeah. And those results reinforce your original belief. So now I tell myself, you know, I I'm just gonna stay quiet because nobody can hear or understand me anyway. I thought there was no point in talking, yeah. Which made me feel futures and her. Then yeah, and it made me feel pissed and her, and I decided to keep quiet, which reinforced my belief that my voice was bad.

Cassandra: 24:20

Right.

Tracey: 24:20

And so uh once I identified that belief, I started to challenge it. So I asked myself, is it really true that nobody can hear or understand you? Is it possible that some people can?

Cassandra: 24:37

Sure.

Tracey: 24:39

Now, is it universally true or is it only true because you're seeing it from your own lens?

Cassandra: 24:46

Right.

Tracey: 24:46

And then once you understand, okay, it's probably not universally true, it's my own, you know, negatively limited belief, sure. Then you reclaim it, and you reclaim it to something that is more empowering. And so that's what I came up with. My my affirmation, my new belief, uh, you know, I have something valuable to say, and I'm worthy of being heard.

Cassandra: 25:13

Right. Right.

Tracey: 25:15

So you repeat that and tell yourself that, you know, consistently, whatever acclimation, whatever it is you come up with, and it kind of changed your brain to actually believe it. Sure, sure.

Cassandra: 25:29

Yeah, Tracy, you did something courageous. Uh you, I think you said in 2022, did you leave your job? Yeah, I was laid off from my job. You were laid off. Okay. And and from that point, that's when you started your business. Okay.

Tracey: 25:52

Yeah, it took me about a year to start because I'm still trying to figure out when I wanted to be when I grabbed.

Cassandra: 25:57

That's right, that's right, right. And I'm asking that because there are my listeners, uh, many of them are not enjoying what they're doing and know that they're called for something else. And sometimes it may take a layoff, you know, or something for you to figure out, okay, now what? You know, so you have time, you have to grieve over it. And of course, we many of us work. I know I did because of I enjoy what I did, but I knew I was gonna get a paycheck, you know. And I was, I, I, I fretted. I'm like, now, you know, I don't, no, I don't want to be foolish now. I don't want to leave a job and I don't have a job, but then for your success, you would laid off, and that's happening a a lot of places now. It's happening a lot, and when that happened, your mom wasn't around. So it's like, so what do I do? Yeah, right. And then you had a friend that helped you, right, to get through this. Was that the friend that invited you to church?

Tracey: 27:07

Um, she well, she recommended grief counseling. Um she didn't go to church at the time. Um she recommended grief counseling, and I found a grief chair, which happened to be out of church.

Cassandra: 27:18

Oh, okay. Okay, got you. Okay, okay. I have one more question. And I saw on here about discovering your purpose. Tell my listeners how can they discover their purpose?

Tracey: 27:31

Well, I you know, that's that's a matter of, I feel like going within and doing for me, it's a matter of doing spiritual practices. So I meditate, I do breath work, I try and quiet my mind. You know, we all uh most of us have a little chatter box in our mind, right? And when we can quiet our mind, then we're able to receive guidance or sparks of inspiration. Um in that place of rest, in that place of peace, when you can start receiving uh information as to what is a good next step for you. And that's what helps me uh discover my purpose is being able to connect with the divine, with God, with the universe, and receiving this information with silence, and I know without a doubt that my purpose is to use my voice in capacities and to empower others, empowering women specifically. Right, okay, you know exactly how that's gonna play out. I don't know. I don't know the how, I don't know what, like I know this is what I'm here to do, and I'm following my intuition and the guidance that I receive and trusting the process along the way, right?

Cassandra: 28:58

Okay, because you your mission is to empower one to embrace their personal growth and self-impose limitations and live their best life. So that's that's that's your mission.

Tracey: 29:09

It is, yeah, and if we all want to live our best life, then we all are gonna face be faced with challenges, and it's a matter of how we respond to the challenges, sure. And uh really being consistent with pursuing what it is that we want. We are the creator of our life, like we create our life. If you're not happy, I was miserable for so long, I didn't really do anything about it. I was living very passively, like oh cheese, please just change her for me.

Cassandra: 29:43

Sure.

Tracey: 29:43

And that was part of my my learning. And that's part of the thing I'm here to learn.

Cassandra: 29:55

That's great. Um, Tracy, how can my listeners get in touch with you?

Tracey: 30:03

Yeah, the best way is probably through my website. I have all of my social links on there, and okay, more about me there and connect with you there if you guys.

Cassandra: 30:13

Okay, I can't wait till they looked at your TikTok stuff. Yeah, they're gonna really like that. That's interesting. You remember um that guy, somebody said to you that you don't act the way you look. Yeah, that was that transformative too to you. Um, when they said that, did you say, well, you know, it's it's funny because when you're talking to people over the phone and you meet them, you're like, I would have never thought you looked like that. How did you feel when he said that?

Tracey: 30:57

Yeah, honestly, okay, so a little backstory with for those that didn't see that video. I was at an airport probably 20 years ago, maybe 25 years ago, and I was just uh, you know, I was it was for work and I was dressed in business attire, and um, but I you know, I was kind of feminine. I love dressing up and looking cute. And I was at the airport and it I struck up a conversation with a man, and we were talking, and right before he had to leave, he said, you know, you don't act the way you look. And I knew what he meant because I knew, like I agreed with him. I knew exactly what he meant. He meant that you know, externally, I was cute, I was pretty, but my personality was very um, I want to say aggressive and kind of negative in a way. It was because I was not aligned, I was unhappy with my job. And so I think it really just came out. And I I wasn't just you know, light, fink flowing, tracey that you see today. I was very like type A, which is nothing wrong with that if it's not me. But um, I was very like conversion, business focus, and it wasn't me, it wasn't aligned, and so I knew the connect.

Cassandra: 32:20

Like, oh okay, okay. My goodness, you have evolved. I have, I have that's a beautiful thing, that's a beautiful thing, and my listeners, they're like, shoot, I can evolve too, you know. I can I don't I don't want to wait till I get laid off to do what I want to do, or maybe I did get laid off, and now it's time for me to do what I really want to do.

Tracey: 32:45

Yeah, you know, we live this life once, and in trying to say, if I were to do it over again, I would have quit my job years ago. I would have quit. I was so miserable. Can't say you have to be responsible. We all have bills to pay and roof over ahead. But I would say if you're in a position like I was, miserable with your job, then just feel what it's cost to you. If it costs your relationships, your friendships, your happiness. If it is, then just figure out little steps that you can take to start making changes. You know, if you're already joining with doing something, go to practices or immerse yourself in that world to see, uh, make sure it's aligned and to put yourself around those people. Just think maybe it's together because it'll give you something to look forward to, and eventually, hopefully, soon as a leader, you'll get to where you want to be and your continuous and you'll be happier.

Cassandra: 33:46

Yeah. Wow. What a closure for my listeners. Yeah. And Tracy, thank you so much. And my listeners, I know Tracy shares some things that have resonated with you. And if you have friends and and kind of think about, you know, their perspective and how Tracy thought that her her pellet was a limitation, but listen to her now. She, you know, you have to stop her from talking, you know, she keeps going and going and going because she has a lot to say. So I want to thank you again. And as I tell my listeners, I say God bless you, and bye for now. Thanks so much, Tracy, for your wisdom.

Tracey: 34:39

Thank you so much for me, messy.