#476: The FASTEST Way To Build Your EMPIRE with Tracy Holland, Founder, Investor, Board Member, & Entrepreneur

Summary

Podcast Summary: Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan

Episode #476: The FASTEST Way To Build Your EMPIRE with Tracy Holland, Founder, Investor, Board Member, & Entrepreneur

Release Date: November 5, 2024

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Introduction

In episode #476 of Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan, Heather sits down with Tracy Holland, a formidable force in the beauty and wellness industry. Tracy, the Founder and Executive Chairman of Goodwill Brands and former CEO of Hatch Beauty Brands, shares her journey from a young entrepreneur to a celebrated business leader. This episode delves into Tracy’s strategies for building an empire, the challenges she faced, and her insights on empowering female entrepreneurs.

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Early Life and Entrepreneurial Spirit

Tracy Holland opens up about her upbringing and how it shaped her entrepreneurial mindset.

• Family Background: Tracy’s father is a nuclear physicist, and her mother is a psychologist, both holding PhDs. Despite their academic backgrounds, Tracy's innate entrepreneurial spirit was evident from a young age.

  "I was an entrepreneur from day one, much to their chagrin." — Tracy Holland [03:05]

• Childhood Ventures: As the oldest daughter, Tracy engaged in various business endeavors as a child, including lemonade stands, collecting cans, and selling pies to neighbors. Her motivation stemmed from a desire to control her own financial destiny and dissatisfaction with observing her parents' long, unfulfilling workdays.

  "I saw them get up at 6:30 in the morning, get in the car, drive to work, be gone for 10 to 12 hours... I thought, why would anyone want to sign up to go to work?" — Tracy Holland [03:05]

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Transitioning to Professional Life

Tracy discusses her early jobs and the lessons they imparted about business and leadership.

• Service Industry Insights: Working as a hostess and later as a waiter, Tracy learned the importance of upselling and enhancing customer experience to increase revenue and tips.

  "Why don't you add on some delicious mushrooms or some béarnaise sauce?" — Tracy Holland [06:05]

• Educational Pivot: Despite initially resisting college, Tracy recognized the need for a broader perspective and business education after experiencing financial hardships when her parents cut off support.

  "Whatever I do transactionally in business, I have to have a much bigger ticket than someone's filet mignon." — Tracy Holland [06:05]

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Building Hatch Beauty Brands

Tracy recounts her journey in founding and scaling Hatch Beauty Brands into a global leader.

• Innovative Beginnings: A pivotal moment occurred after Tracy took a spontaneous trip to Madrid, where she met an inventor of scented nail polish. Recognizing the commercial potential of the product, Tracy co-founded Hatch Beauty Brands, leveraging her sales acumen to bring innovative products to market.

  "I'm really good at figuring out where there's something unique and then commercializing and monetizing it. That's really, I would say that's my gift." — Tracy Holland [10:32]

• Overcoming Financial Challenges: Tracy emphasizes the importance of alternative financing and strong supplier relationships. She advocates for maintaining a day job to ensure business sustainability without jeopardizing personal finances.

  "Keep your day job. Earn enough income doing your day job to be able to pay your bills so that you can afford to run your business." — Tracy Holland [17:33]

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Defining Moments and Authentic Leadership

One of the most memorable anecdotes Tracy shares is her first major business presentation to Costco, where she combined professionalism with authenticity.

• The Costco Presentation: Four weeks postpartum, Tracy attended a high-stakes meeting with Costco. During her presentation, her baby began to cry, creating a tense situation. Instead of abandoning the meeting, Tracy managed the moment gracefully, demonstrating her ability to remain composed under pressure.

  "If you have a business that cashflows while you sleep, while you go on vacation, while you do fun things with your family." — Tracy Holland [17:33]

  "I've never had anyone nurse in a presentation... I really look forward to working with you." — Tracy Holland recounting the Costco VP’s reaction [29:08]

• Impact of Authenticity: This incident not only secured a lucrative partnership with Costco but also set the tone for Hatch Beauty Brands’ reputation—emphasizing authenticity and resilience.

  "I have the integrity and the confidence to be present and be fully engaged and ready to go." — Tracy Holland [29:08]

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Empowering Female Entrepreneurs through Inner Fifth

Tracy introduces her initiative, Inner Fifth, designed to support high-performing female entrepreneurs.

• Purpose of Inner Fifth: Inner Fifth serves as a bridge between the four pillars of health, wealth, relationships, and purpose, providing a community where women can access guidance, support, and tools to reclaim their time and enhance business efficiency.

  "There is nothing more important to me than figuring out how to continue to bring other women entrepreneurs into this fold." — Tracy Holland [37:25]

• Strategies for Success: Tracy emphasizes the importance of networking over searching for the "how." By focusing on building relationships and delegating effectively, entrepreneurs can accelerate their business growth.

  "Stop spending so much time trying to figure out the how... Find the who." — Heather Monahan [43:36]

• Community and Support: Inner Fifth offers various touchpoints, including quarterly in-person events, monthly virtual meetups, and access to a network of male allies who support women in business.

  "We have a group of male powerhouse allies who work really hard to be accepted as an ally." — Tracy Holland [52:01]

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Key Insights and Advice for Entrepreneurs

Throughout the conversation, Tracy shares invaluable advice for aspiring and established entrepreneurs:

1. Maintain Financial Stability: Keep a day job to ensure personal financial security while building your business.

   "Don’t take your entire life savings into the company... Otherwise, everything stops." — Tracy Holland [17:33]

2. Leverage Relationships: Building strong supplier relationships can provide the necessary support and financing to scale your business without excessive debt.

   "Partner with your supplier who has likely deep pockets... I saw these smaller suppliers... taking a risk on me because I'm a great salesperson." — Tracy Holland [17:33]

3. Authenticity Matters: Being genuine and maintaining integrity can lead to lasting business relationships and opportunities.

   "Being authentic, truly." — Tracy Holland [21:00]

4. Delegate and Focus: Utilize tools and delegate tasks that don’t directly contribute to your ROI, allowing you to focus on strategic growth.

   "What's the viable path for me to get that or am I wasting my time on crap that I could delegate?" — Tracy Holland [41:37]

5. Community Support: Surround yourself with like-minded individuals who can offer support, advice, and opportunities to grow.

   "Get into a group like Inner Fifth where you can actually see your own future self and be around people who really want to support you and see you win." — Tracy Holland [41:37]

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Conclusion

Tracy Holland’s journey from a spirited child entrepreneur to a renowned business leader exemplifies the power of authenticity, strategic relationships, and community support. Through initiatives like Inner Fifth, she is dedicated to empowering female entrepreneurs to build their empires with confidence and resilience. Her insights offer a roadmap for aspiring entrepreneurs to navigate challenges, scale their businesses, and achieve sustainable success.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• "I was an entrepreneur from day one, much to their chagrin." — Tracy Holland [03:05]
• "Why don't you add on some delicious mushrooms or some béarnaise sauce?" — Tracy Holland [06:05]
• "Whatever I do transactionally in business, I have to have a much bigger ticket than someone's filet mignon." — Tracy Holland [06:05]
• "I'm really good at figuring out where there's something unique and then commercializing and monetizing it. That's really, I would say that's my gift." — Tracy Holland [10:32]
• "Keep your day job. Earn enough income doing your day job to be able to pay your bills so that you can afford to run your business." — Tracy Holland [17:33]
• "If you have a business that cashflows while you sleep, while you go on vacation, while you do fun things with your family." — Tracy Holland [17:33]
• "I've never had anyone nurse in a presentation... I really look forward to working with you." — Tracy Holland [29:08]
• "Stop spending so much time trying to figure out the how... Find the who." — Heather Monahan [43:36]
• "Get into a group like Inner Fifth where you can actually see your own future self and be around people who really want to support you and see you win." — Tracy Holland [41:37]

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This episode is a treasure trove of inspiration and actionable advice for entrepreneurs, especially women striving to build their own empires. Tracy Holland’s candid storytelling and strategic insights provide listeners with the tools and motivation to pursue their dreams with confidence.

Transcript

[Heather Monahan]

When I started podcasting, an online store was the furthest thing from my mind. Now I'm selling my group coaching on the regular and it is just so easy. All because I use Shopify.

[Tracy Holland]

There's nothing more important to me than figuring out how to continue to bring other women entrepreneurs into this fold so that they can receive the same guidance, support and frankly tools for how to win your time back and be more disciplined with yourself about when you're at work, what do you work on that brings an ROI versus what you delegate and how do you find your who network to hire who's instead of trying to how all the way to the end or to the finish line?

[Unknown Host]

Come on this journey with me each week when you join me. We are going to chase down our.

[Heather Monahan]

Goals, overcome adversity and set you up for a better tomorrow.

[Tracy Holland]

Fasten your seatbelts. I'm ready for my close up.

[Unknown Host]

Hi and welcome back. I'm so glad you're back with me this week.

[Heather Monahan]

Okay.

[Unknown Host]

You are going to be so hyped for our show today, so buckle up and get ready. Today we've got Tracy Holland. She's a founder, an investor, a board member, an entrepreneur who is an authority on beauty and wellness with a global global track record of incubating and launching brands. Tracy has dedicated her career to creating new brands and success stories by spotlighting innovation, amplifying authentic and celebrity voices in beauty and personal care, and nurturing promising talent, especially other female entrepreneurs. My girl's a girl that loves women. I love this. Most recently, Tracy's passion around women entrepreneurs and Powerhouse women leaders inspired two initiatives potential to Powerhouse Podcast focused on the success secrets of women leaders and inner fifth and invite only membership for elite female entrepreneurs. Tracy Holland is also a founder and Executive Chairman of Goodwill Brands, a multi brand, multi category investor and operating model making both minority and majority investments into consumer focused founder led brands. Formerly, Tracy was co founder and CEO of Hatch Beauty Brands which she led for over a decade before selling the company she built Hatch Beauty Brands from a startup to a recognized global leader in beauty and wellness brands, generating more than 750 million in cumulative revenue before selling her position. Her awards and honors include but not limited to 2019 fashion and beauty Award for Beauty Service Provider of the Year, Ernst Young Entrepreneur of the year 2017 holy cow. An election to the Committee of 200, an organization of the most successful women business leaders globally. Holy resume. Tracy. Thank you so much for being here.

[Tracy Holland]

Yo yo. Thank you.

[Heather Monahan]

Woo.

[Tracy Holland]

Yo yo.

[Unknown Host]

My people. I'm so hyped to Hear. So, Tracy, take us back, because I happen to know your story and I can't wait for everyone else to hear it. Let's go back to the beginning a little, because I do feel like your childhood and how you grew up has an impact on who you are today. And it's such an incredible story. If you could take us back a little bit.

[Tracy Holland]

Yes. So my dad is a nuclear physicist and my mom's a psychologist, both with PhDs. You know how God works? He delivers packages in small sizes. You never know what you're going to get. So they get me, oldest daughter first born. And I was an entrepreneur from day one, much to their chagrin. So I think I started every business known to man from, of course, the lemonade stand, collecting cans I made and sold pies to my neighbors. I did everything I could possibly think of to generate cash. Because as a kid, I thought this life that they've created is not the life for me. I saw them get up at 6:30 in the morning, get in the car, drive to work, be gone for 10 to 12 hours, come home, be aggravated, irritated, unhappy at each other's throat. And I thought to myself, why would anyone want to sign up to go to work?

[Unknown Host]

I want to pause you for a second. I very rarely do this because I'm super curious. Do you think then that just genetically you're born an entrepreneur and is that the way it has to be for everyone? Like, because I didn't think like that.

[Tracy Holland]

I think so. I think for me, understanding that money bought at that time dolls and toys and things that I wanted, why would you wait till Christmas when you could go buy it for yourself? Okay, like second grade, third grade, when my parents would say, oh, put that on your Christmas list. I'm like, christmas, it's March. What are you talking about? I'm not gonna even want it at Christmas. Like, how do we accelerate the plan? And so literally remembering how money bought products, money bought things you wanted, remembering how frustrated I was by being told, santa will bring it. Like, who's this dude, Santa? Why do we have to wait? Why? And then what can I do to earn money more quickly? And as a kid, I used to love this idea of any way I could earn money, whether it's watching my sister or putting some show on for the neighborhood where I could charge tickets. So I do. I think there is something to be said for being born with this idea of not being confined by what you want to be somehow tied to time.

[Unknown Host]

What a gift. I'm just going to say, what A gift. It took me. You know, a lot of people, I think, are more accepting of the like that they have in front of them and thinking that's just what life is. I think that's kind of, you know, how I, when I grew up, I'm like, this is just it.

[Heather Monahan]

Right?

[Unknown Host]

Until I started getting a little bit older. And then I'm like, well, I'm going to get a pay per view, I'm going to bus tables, I'm going to find ways to make extra cash. But the level at which you're thinking and questioning came into play, I think is so incredibly powerful. Take us through what that looked like as you started getting into jobs and business.

[Tracy Holland]

Yeah, I mean, I like you. I waited tables. I started off as a hostess and I realized that hosting never earned as much as waiting table. So I was like, how do I get into the waiting table game? I knew there had to be like a certain age when you could serve alcohol. I mean, there was so much complications to all that. And so being focused on, I think the service industry is one of the best ways to train yourself for excellence. Because I realized quickly, you know, if I could do add ons, what you called add ons. So someone order filet mignon and you're like, why don't you add on some delicious mushrooms or some bearnaise sauce or let's get you a Caesar. How about a second glass of wine? Like that ticket gets higher and your tip gets bigger and they love you more. Right? So all of that started to make sense to me. And I realized when I went to college, which I was not planning to do, but my parents are very smart because at 18, when I finished boarding school, which was actually reform school, so they did send me to, you know, basically like a child lockdown for 15, 16, so that they could force me to get 4.0 or above, because all I wanted to do at the time was work. And I remember saying to my parents, you know, I don't think I'm going to rush into college. Why do that? Let's, I'm going to go to work and spend a year working. And they were really, really smart. They cut me off financially. And they said, okay, if you're going to go to work, go to work, but you're not going to get a penny from us. And I remember what it felt like to sweat getting enough cash that week in order to make rent, in order to pay for a car and payments and all those things. And I realized whatever I do transactionally in business, I have to have a much bigger ticket than someone's filet mignon, I gotta think, like, way bigger. What can that way bigger thing look like? And that's really why I went to college, was because I needed to give myself the space and the bandwidth to think about what was the bigger thing. And my parents said, we will pay for your college and we'll pay for your lifestyle if you decide to go to college. So there is something to be said about that carrot and the stick. As you think about life, how do you sacrifice today for something greater that you want tomorrow? I really do think about that, especially as it relates to where I spend my time and what I focus on, because that is the greatest gift that we all have, is time. And if you're not happy in your current circumstances and the thing that you want is not right in front of you with a path, I always really think about how do I spend my time and how could I utilize it differently to get the biggest and best return on investment.

[Unknown Host]

So you have just been such a big thinker from such a young age, even very much to the lack of happiness or discouragement from your parents who were trying to push you in a very different direction. You just always felt compelled to. And I like how you say it like you just knew you would always be a bad employee.

[Tracy Holland]

Totally. Holy smokes, are you kidding? I remember begging to keep my job one summer because they said, you know what, Tracy? You are not following the rules. You're taking way too many tables, you're trying to do too much. You know, this is your section. And I just remember being like, on that docket to be terminated because I was in a high stakes role. I was working for a really popular big restaurant in Sausalito. And I remember thinking to myself, wow, this is how easily it can happen. You know, you have to be able to create a business for yourself that can cashflow while you sleep. So what is the business that allows me to make money while I sleep, while I go on vacation, while I do fun things with my family? And how do I set myself up to be able to do that without having to be operating daily in my business, but rather on my business? And that was always a biggie. And again, if you had parents that worked the grind 60, 70 hours a week and still found themselves treading water every year, or sweating about tax time, sweating about making a home mortgage payment or tax payment on the house, you realize, like, there's nothing worth that amount of stress if you can start to set yourself up to have residual Income so that while you sleep, you're earning money. That was always a motivator for me.

[Unknown Host]

So how did you do that initially?

[Tracy Holland]

You know, I was kind of lucky in that when I was in college and went to go to graduate school, I decided to take a year off after college to go study in Sevilla. And I wanted to learn flamenco. I wanted to learn Spanish. I'd never been to Spain, and I had originally gotten a fellowship to go study at the University of Beijing in China. And then I realized about a week before my visa was approved that it was what they called a single entry visa, which means you get into China, but you don't get to come out. And it was a one year stint. And everyone and their mother was like, oh, my gosh, you love Mexican food, you love guacamole, you love chips, you love salsa. Like, what are you going to do for a year? And I thought, I don't think I can do this. Like, I love my workouts, I love my guac and chips. I love my fresh, delicious Napa wine. Like, what am I going to do? So about a week before I was supposed to leave, Hillary Clinton pissed off the Prime Minister of China somehow. If you remember, she was over there, like, stirring up women's rights or something. And so my visa was delayed two weeks. So my father had this fabulous travel agent who was considered a family friend. And I called her on a whim and I was like, hey, what does it cost to take me to Madrid? Like a one way ticket? And she was like, where are you going in Madrid? Why are you doing that? And I said, I think I'm going to move there. I just wondered, like, what's possible. She goes, well, I could get you a ticket on Friday if you want, but I can't make it one way. You have to have round trips. So we could round trip you, like 364 days from today. And that's one year less than one year by one day. And I said, book it. So that literally was a huge catalyst for me. My parents were so upset and of course, questioned. This just kicked off another series of like, Tracy's not thinking clearly. Tracy's out of control. Tracy has, you know, not making sound choices, whatever that may be. But I do think those kinds of pivot moments in our life where we just follow our gut instinct. And it was really down to guac and chips. Thank God, because I got to Spain and you guys, I had the best time. It was like my best life ever. I got a couple dog walking gigs I was teaching some people English, I went to the university, I learned flamenco. And it was on that one year hiatus in which my parents really didn't speak to me between ages 24, 25 that I decided to come back. And I met a woman who was a Department of justice forensic chemist and she had invented scented nail polish. So she had invented this brilliant concept in her brain which as she painted my nails, they would smell like rose or lavender or chocolate or whatever. I met with her and she was kind of like playing with it as if it was a play concept. And I said, you know, there's a real business here. Like this is really unique. If we took this to retail, can you imagine what people would say? And that was really the first ever business that I built. And I built that with her and our co packer manufacturer who underwrote and financed all of our inventory and financed our business growth. But that was really the catalyst to starting in business. And the reason I ended up in the beauty business was only because I got so many connections and got to know so much about the industry by coming out with the first scent of nail polish ever known to man. And that was like a game changer in terms of getting me in front of some really interesting folks. And it was not my invention. It definitely was. She's brilliant inventor behind it, but I'm really good at figuring out where there's something unique and then commercializing and monetizing it. That's really, I would say that's my gift.

[Heather Monahan]

Meet a different guest each week. Are you not entertained? Confidence clear. What does the future hold for business? Ask nine experts and you'll get 10 different answers. A bull market. A bear market. Rates will rise. Rates will fall. Could someone just give me a crystal ball, please? Until then, over 40,000 businesses have future proof their business with NetSuite by Oracle. The number one Cloud ERP. Bringing accounting, financial management, inventory, HR into one fluid platform with one unified business management suite. There's one source of truth giving you the visibility and control you need to make quick decisions. With real time insights and forecasting, you're peering into the future with actual data. When you're closing the books in days, not weeks, you're spending less time looking backwards and more time on what's next. If I had needed this product, it's exactly what I would use.

[Unknown Host]

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[Heather Monahan]

Even hundreds of millions, Net Swiss can help you respond to immediate challenges and seize your biggest opportunities. Speaking of opportunity, download the CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning at netsuite.com monahan the guide is free to you at netsuite.com monaho netsuite.com monahan let's talk about goals for a minute. How are you tracking with the ones you set for your business earlier this year?

[Unknown Host]

Are you close?

[Heather Monahan]

If not, do you know why you haven't hit them yet? I mean, let's be honest. It's so important to track our goals, to set goals. Goal setting is where it all happens, taking us from where we currently are to where we know we can be. This podcast included. We got major goals and every day we are getting closer. You've got year end goals. Constant Contact has what it takes to help you meet them faster. No matter how experienced you are with digital marketing. Constant Contact has the tools to make your marketing run smoother. Tap email marketing that helps you create and send the perfect email to every customer. Get on your goals and realize them with Constant Contact. It's time to put the go in your 2024 business goals with email, social, SMS and customized marketing campaigns built for you in just a few clicks. Ready, set. Go to constantcontact.com and start your free trial now. Go to constantcontact.com for your free trial.

[Tracy Holland]

Today.

[Heather Monahan]

I ask you to try to find your passion.

[Unknown Host]

Couple other quick observations is don't just take the path that is frequently taken because you would be a totally different person today if you had done that. You listened to your own intuition. You had tremendous confidence and courage to move forward even when those closest to you told you not to. You still chose to go within listen to yourself and then you chose to look at what talents and skills you had that could be additive to what somebody else was offering so that you could come together to actually have a tremendous company. Talk us through a little bit. I love what you've shared with me around how you didn't have lines of credit, you didn't have money to get merchandise, and how you pulled all of these things off to get the company as big as you ultimately got your beauty companies to be.

[Tracy Holland]

Yeah, I think we figure out alternative financing and I have done it all. Like from the loan shark who literally gives you money at a usury interest rate and who collateralizes your entire life even though you don't really have collateral, including like your car and everything. I've done loan shark loan, I've done mezzanine, I've done lines of credit. I did really the best and most viable opportunity for anyone to start a business is to partner with your supplier who has likely deep pockets because they've been building and supplying those programs for a long, long time. And you know, they took a risk on me because I'm a great salesperson. And I think they saw that I was a visionary and I had very, very strong relationships and I was the type of person to under promise and over deliver. And I think that's a very important personal skill. I'm the opposite of walking in and saying, hey, we're going to build this to be 50 million. Like I want to know exactly how we're going to get there and the exact steps that it takes in order to break down the financials, to be able to understand the model and to understand the profitability and where there are hiccups. And that is literally how I built the confidence with my main supply partners, is that I saw these smaller suppliers who were either father and son owned or family owned or original founder owned, who had been in the business for let's say 15, 20, 25 years. And I would go meet with them and I would show them my business plan and I would say, here's how I see this working and how I see us working together. And if you will provide me established credit so that I don't have to pay your bill in 30 days, I can pay it in 90 days. Then you have built yourself enough Runway to be able to turn the cash at a place that actually makes the business viable. Because the fact is, is when a business runs out of cash, everything stops. Like that chair game. I used to hate that game. You know when the music stops and everyone's like their butts are trying to find the seat. That's what happens. That's what happened in 2008 when all the musical chairs. Yeah, remember when the banks. In 2008, you drive down the street and you see lines of people around the corner and you're like, what the f is happening? That is the feeling of when your company runs out of cash. So I think one thing that I would suggest to all founders is keep your day job. Earn enough income doing your day job to be able to pay your bills so that you can afford to run your business and not need an income in order to sustain yourself. Because that is the tipping point that I see a lot of women founders lose their business because they took their entire life savings, dumped it into the company, then they're working there full time and they're doing everything they can to keep the business going, and then they don't have enough income to support their lifestyle. And all of a Sudden musical chairs. MUSIC stops.

[Unknown Host]

Oh, gosh, like I could feel it. Just explaining that with the musical chairs does not sound fun. Okay, so not all parts of your business have been this incredible journey as you're explaining, right? Like in finding being creative and building relationship and credibility and over delivering and under promising. All these things take hard work. People hate hearing that, but that is true, right? Like it takes hustle, it takes hard work. How did you end up to winning the entrepreneur of the year?

[Tracy Holland]

So I want people to hear this. Not every woman is cut out to be an entrepreneur. And I really, really think there's something beautiful about having a full time steady job, working for someone and doing things that you enjoy on the side, whether that's earning you an income or not. I think that women in particular have a very challenging period between 30 and 40 of trying to figure out how to find the love of their life, fall in love, get married, and then have a child or multiple children and build a business. I just don't know if now I would be giving myself the same advice to say, this is easy. All you have to do is focus on the good stuff. Like there are real moments, Heather, just like you said, where I would think to myself, gosh, I wish I had taken more time to date so I could have found a really wealthy guy and like called it a day. Not that I would not have done something fabulous with my, you know, whether it's a boutique or some kind of an online business. But Dr. John Gray, men are from Mars Women for Venus. He's brilliant. And you know what he says? He says when women go into type A mode, when they go into like hard drive, their testosterone goes way up, their estrogen goes down. And when they're dating, when they're dating and their testosterone's up and they're in that type A mode and they're going and going, men's testosterone drops and their estrogen goes up. And so when you think about the reality of meeting a partner, finding love, getting married, having children, having a great relationship, being sexy, still wanting to see him naked and building a company, like that's a thing, I don't know many people who do that in all areas really well. But I would say that the grace that I was afforded in being able to go from zero to a hundred million in revenue on a self funded business without a venture investment, without private equity, without a big debt or loan on the company was. Drumroll. Being authentic, truly. And the reason I say that is because I was four weeks after giving birth to my daughter when Costco was gracious enough to give me my first opportunity to present. And of course I said, of course I'll be there. Because like, yes. So I drive up with my 4 week old daughter and this new nanny who just started with us to go present to the vice president and the buying team at Costco. And of course I'm in the lobby in the corner where they make the coffee with the little coffee pods and I have her breastfeeding hidden under a blanket. And I'm thinking I'll just feed her as much as I can and then hand her to the nanny and then go in and present to Costco. And then I will come out and everything will be fine. I will have won this business and I will be going like, yes, okay. So I hand her the baby. I go into the presentation room. This is my first like a official VP with buying team meeting. I start my presentation, I open the deck, I talk to them about the innovation and opportunity and how we're going to come in and be this creative partner and co create brands with them, what that could look like. And down the hall I hear what sounds like a pterodactyl squawk. And like my bones chill. And I said, that sounds like the baby. And I thought, I'm going to keep going. Everything's fine. I'm going to keep going. I'm going to keep going. Five more minutes. I hear the squawk get closer and I'm thinking, okay, this is. The wheels are flying off the bus, but they don't know what the squawk is, right? So I have their attention. They're buying it. They're buying what I'm selling. So we're in this thing and all of a sudden I couldn't. Like my milk was coming in and I could tell I had to make a choice. I was in that pivot moment, choice moment, inflection point that some of us get in where we just don't have a choice. And I stop. And I said, hey, friends, I just had a baby four weeks ago. I probably didn't mention that. Just so happens she's out in the hall. I think I just heard her. I'm just going to stick my head out, just check. Is that okay? I'll be right back. Everyone's mouth drops. What are you talking about? You just had a baby. Well, I just had a baby four weeks ago. She just nursed. She should be fine. But I'm thinking I might need to check. Hold on. I scoot out, open the door, I see the nanny holding the baby, looking at me with, like, these eyes and the baby's little face, like, red, upset, crying. And, you know, they get to that four or five week point and they start that growth spurt and they just can't stop eating. I just was like, oh, my gosh, this is crazy. This is happening in this very moment. I grabbed the baby, I flip my shirt up, I flip my little clipper bra down. I put her on, I put a blanket over my shoulder. I flip around, go back into the room. She's under the blanket, she's happy, she's eating. I have their eyes looking in my eyes. And I said, okay, well, if it's okay with you, we'll just keep going. Because I knew I had a truncated period of time in which I had them in the. And you could hear a pin drop in that room. And honestly, Heather, I look back on it now and I think, how did I do that? But the reality is I didn't have a choice. You know, I could have said to them, I'm going to step out, feed her. They would have dispersed. The meeting would have been over. It would have been this. You know what sales are like. It's. That's weird. So I keep going. And at the end of the meeting, maybe another 10 minutes go by, and the nicest man, who's the VP at the time, and I can't remember his name, his name is Rick. Anyway, he said, I've been working here for 32 years, and in my entire career, I have never had a vendor bring a newborn baby to the office, nor have I ever had anyone nurse in a presentation. And I was like, oh, I know. Not ideal, but memorable. And he said to me, I don't know how we're going to do business together, but I really look forward to working with you. And in truly, Heather, that meant so much to be in that moment. Because you have to imagine, this is before women even had nursing rooms, right? My daughter's 15 and a half right now. So if you think about this, this is 15 years ago today. That was what, 2013? No, it's2909.09. She was born in 09. What am I talking about? So 2009, you guys, if you start to think about what that meant for me as a woman, as a business owner, as a small business owner, as someone who really wanted to build an incredible business, I had such a opportunity to take that and cancel the meeting. I could have walked out in the middle of that situation and not finish the meeting. I chose to stay in. I don't know what the outcome would have been in any of those scenarios, but in hindsight I think they realize that I'm the kind of person who will show up, will do what I say, I will follow through. I have the integrity and the confidence to be in present and be fully engaged and ready to go. And that meant over the eight or nine years we did business with them, we might have done 250 million in revenue, maybe 300 million in revenue with Costco. But what I will tell you, it wasn't just the revenue with Costco. It meant the seal of approval of having a business relationship with Costco. Right. Which then brings Target and it brings Walmart and Sam's Club and all of the CVS and Walgreens and all of those other accounts. So I would say that that is truly how we catapulted ourselves from a smaller, steadily growing company to supersizing our business.

[Unknown Host]

And who doesn't want that moment? However, it does sound a little touch and go through that actual presentation. I'm super proud of you that you didn't pull that. Remember that guy on CNN when he was like kicking his kid out of the room? What you did. So kudos to you for being yourself, for keeping it real and like you said, being authentic. Like hey, this is who I am and if it gives you any type of insight into me, hopefully that you'll want to do business with me. And they did. So congratulations.

[Heather Monahan]

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[Unknown Host]

All right, so how do you go from there to what I actually know was happening when you were winning the Entrepreneur of the Year award?

[Tracy Holland]

Yeah, I think that that was a low moment. You know, that's the interesting thing. I think entrepreneurs don't win awards often. It's a pretty thankless role or career path. I would say. It's a lot more grief and heartache than there are shining star moments of award. I remember accepting that award and being so grateful for being acknowledged but also receiving that award. I was receiving it in such a depleted place. You know, I didn't have time for myself. I was waking up in the cold sweat. The business had grown so large. We had 125 employees. We had a manufacturing facility, we had an agency where we're doing creative and strategy. We had our products business that were co creating and building product with celebrity talent and retail and having three kids. I remember getting that award and thinking I'm doing everything like half ass. I'm doing the parenting thing really poorly. I'm doing the life and personal balance thing poorly and I'm doing the business thing poorly. I do remember feeling in 2017 afraid to tell anyone and really being able to share how deeply dark of a time that was for me, not seeing how I can get out of that situation, minus like a car accident that would put me in the hospital for two weeks with like a couple broken ribs. Like that's a decent excuse for how you can shift out of work. Or, you know, I would imagine selling the company or figuring out how to pivot my life into something that was a little more manageable. And it was from that dark time that I realized there needs to be a place that we create for women by women or high performing female entrepreneurs that gives women a place to come and have conversation and to learn tools to take back their time, win their freedom, learn how to sit back and be an operating owner rather than an operating employee of your business. Because as an owner, you should be sitting in the owner's box and there's really only four things you should be thinking about sitting in the owner's box. But as an operator, you're wearing so many hats and you're running so fast. I don't know if it's possible to really, like I said in the beginning of our conversation, to manage the very real aspects of what it means to be a new mom and have a household in a life and eventually it all catches up.

[Unknown Host]

It does. Unless you pull the trigger and take action to intervene on your own behalf. Which to me is kind of seems like why you invented Inner Fifth or created Inner Fifth.

[Tracy Holland]

Yes. And you know, I'll tell you, I joined every women's group, men's group, EO Vistage, ypo. I've joined all these groups in hopes of being able to really come transparently to share. And what I've realized is when those groups, and I love each of them for what they have brought me, I've been so grateful. But it's different when you have a group of women who are entrepreneurs, who literally eat what they kill, who have a mentality of understanding that there is no freedom check, there's no easy ride, like it's all on their shoulders. And bringing that community of high performing female entrepreneurs together to resource one another's network in order to bring more grace and ease to the process is mind blowing. As a resource for what I wish I had had back in 2010 or 2011 or 2012 or 13 or 14. Right.

[Unknown Host]

Because the whole thing goes back to when you're alone. Problems seem insurmountable when you're in community with like minded people who've actually gone through and experienced some of the things that you're going through, not only can they advise you and tell you what's worked and what hasn't, worked. But it's also someone who understands the challenge you're facing. Even if it's just to listen. It allows you not to feel alone.

[Tracy Holland]

Totally. And don't you sometimes need someone to say to you, dude, this is a moment in time. Do not get so down. Stop saying these things to yourself. Like, go get yourself by a pool and get your favorite book and go chillax for an afternoon. Everything will be there in the morning. Because sometimes we need to hear. It feels do or die, right? We're supporting our kids, we're supporting ourselves. We have all of our employees, we have payroll, we have all the expectations and life can happen. And think about what it means to take time for yourself and figure out ways in which you can recalibrate. There's nothing more important to me than figuring out how to continue to bring other women entrepreneurs into this fold so that they can receive the same guidance, support, and frankly, tools for how to win your time back and be more disciplined with yourself about when you're at work, what do you work on that brings an ROI versus what do you delegate? And how do you find your who network to hire who's instead of trying to how all the way to the end or to the finish line?

[Unknown Host]

I love how you share that. And it's something that I whenever I'm talking to anybody and having a business conversation, I credit you with that whole idea of it's not the how. Stop spending so much time trying to figure out the how, which can take years to figure out. Spend your time networking and finding the whole and that solves a problem. Things move so much faster when you do that. To your point, in my experience, just in the last few months, being a part of Inner fifth and getting exposed to women who have sold their companies for hundreds of millions of dollars, suddenly it raises the level of what is possible not only for others, but for yourself, for your own company, for how big you want to go, and for what you even see as possible. And then you're able to have the conversation, how are you able to do that and still have a family? How are you able to do that and take care of your health? And it's been incredibly eye opening to see the diverse audience where I remember at one of our intensives recently, one of our members kind of lectured everybody on no, you need to get a driver, you get a full time nanny, you to do this because the happier you are, the healthier you are, the more you're sleeping and enjoying your spouse, the better mother you're going to be. The Better business person you're going to be. And she's like, and I am living it and I am giving everyone here permission to do it. And everyone went crazy. And it was such a cool experience just to see in any one of these moments, one person can go from being the mentor to being the mentee. And everyone has something to share and learn from.

[Tracy Holland]

It's key. We have so much to learn from each other. And I having you part of this, like your fire and your vision and how you touch people through how you communicate, it is such a gift because each of us like, exactly to your point, if you're an entrepreneur, you have a growth mindset, your glasses already half full, you didn't get to be an entrepreneur because you thought like, the world's falling apart and nothing's ever going to work for you. So by virtue of that, you're already kind of in that qualifying place of what's possible. And as you know, our frequency or our energy matches the people we're in the room with, right? So if you're in the room with a bunch of people who are like, I don't know, family litigators, family law litigators, we're marriages, never work and everything always falls apart in relationship. Like you can feel yourself go, oh, this is not the place for me to meet my future guy. Okay? We need to put ourselves around the five people who can make the biggest impact on our life. Because their human brains only learn in three ways. They learn through reading, they learn through the people that we spend time with in the places that we go. And we learn through tragedy and bad shit happening. So that is how you literally can change the human brain. Otherwise we're a culmination of all the thoughts we thought yesterday and the day before and the day before that. So in order to get new inputs into this noggin, you have three options. I'm definitely not choosing the tragedy option. Thank you. I pass.

[Unknown Host]

Okay.

[Tracy Holland]

Hard pass. I love to read, but I mean, I don't always have time to read. I try to audible and read, but you know what, there's something about your eyes going left to right on a page. You have to read to really get your brain to think differently and to rewire. Okay, so you have an option 3. Third option. The persons or people you spend the most amount of time with, the things that you listen to and the inputs on the frequency that you're around. Think about that. So if you are not around high performing female entrepreneurs, as a business owner, you are missing the boat. You are not excelling. You are not pushing past barriers. You are not rewiring your brain. You are not seeing the potential future self that you could be. You are stuck in the past. So I think it is the best time spent, the best investment and the best way for you to see your future self is by getting into a group like in her fifth where you can actually see your own future self and do that mind movie work to get your future self in there faster and be around people who really want to support you and see you win.

[Heather Monahan]

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[Unknown Host]

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[Heather Monahan]

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[Unknown Host]

One of the things that I've seen that's so important about women investing in themselves. And I know that when I was back in corporate I didn't know if there were communities like this for people in corporate. I didn't know that they existed. Right? Like I didn't. Nobody was talking about it. It wasn't People weren't Having these conversations. If they were doing it, they were doing it in private, which makes it even. You know, it's more challenging to understand how people are leveling up if no one was sharing the information. It goes back to the lack of sharing, the lack of honesty and lack of transparency. Because I know now people were hiring coaches and were parts of different programs, but they weren't sharing it. In a community like Inner Fifth. It's all about emptying your glass and sharing all of the things that you know. It's all about sharing. This is where I'm leveling up or this is where I'm holding back. And it's been so cool to be a part to hear some of the tactics and strategies. One of being for a big breakthrough moment for me was that writing that check to yourself moment, which no one's teaching you this stuff in college. Right. Like so much of what I've learned just in the last few months. Why isn't this stuff being taught in school? However, none of it is. And we're doing all these intensive, we're in all of these meetings and again, people can opt in for the ones.

[Heather Monahan]

That fit their schedule.

[Unknown Host]

They can get playback for the ones that they miss. You're going to garner all the information in a timely way that works for you. The important thing is to know this. You don't need to go get an MBA or a PhD. You're going to get that through a year long membership at Interfaith and then some. Because you're also getting the network of the people who are connecting you to the VC that's actually going to invest in your company, that's going to connect you to the woman that actually could be your co founder. It's incredible the legs that come out of something like this community.

[Tracy Holland]

Totally. And that is one of the things we encourage in every meeting, which is how are you holding yourself? And when you're walking into the room, are you setting intention? That is one of our quarterly activities is the science of setting intention. Our eyes can't see and our ears can't hear what our brains are not looking for. So if you are writing yourself a check, Jim Carrey or 15 million for a movie you've never done before or whatever it may be, you are all of a sudden writing yourself a number that says that is such a crazy number. And you know what? I'll tell you something, Heather, just a week ago, because that last intensive I wrote myself the biggest check I've ever written myself. And I will say to you this last week Every time I'm in the shower at the gym, I'm like, is what I'm working on today moving me closer to that number on that check? Is this the viable path for me to get that or am I wasting my time on crap that is not important that I could delegate? And literally I didn't even know how powerful that number would be from three weeks ago or whatever it was that we wrote that to today. I seriously go through it and I'm thinking, oh my gosh, I have these six things on my calendar. Probably five of these could go and I should be just doing this one and going all in because that's going to be what delivers the number.

[Unknown Host]

What's interesting is that was such a small exercise that was part of a multi day, huge. You know, we learned so much over that intensive. We were there. But to your point, I gave a talk at Northeastern last week and I mentioned that exercise. What is so wild is the event was sponsored by JP Morgan. So there was a tremendous amount of financial analyst specialists, you know, that were there from JP Morgan. Someone stood up during Q and A. This was her specialty, right? This is what she does for a living. And she started talking us through the science of the exercise that we had all gone through as interfaith and she was talking about how next level it is for her clients and she was giving all these examples and it was just so eye opening for me because I would have never had that experience if I hadn't been a part of Inner Fit. You shouldn't have to, as someone wanting to succeed in life, as someone who.

[Heather Monahan]

Wants to level up, who wants to.

[Unknown Host]

Scale revenue, who wants to grow a bigger business. You shouldn't have to be running back and forth from this vendor to that vendor, interviewing people to see who should join your team when all you need to do is make one investment in yourself, become a part of a community and be instantly connected to a group that has done all of these things and can instantly elevate you. It's been so incredible to watch and be a part of and go through the experience with you.

[Tracy Holland]

Amen, sister. And by the way, you know what I'm going to hear a bunch of people say right now? I don't have time to hire or I can't find a who because I don't have time. I'm too busy and it takes so long. I have to interview and then I have to train them. Guess what? There are assessment tools. We talk about this in Interfit. Out of all the assessment tools in the world that I've used in terms of hiring. There's an assessment tool married with another one that I've used and I used it at Hatch Beauty. It took us from 30 million to 100 million and I only use that tool in hiring. And what I mean by that is I stopped doing the interviews, I stopped doing all the resume searching, I stopped relying on the recruiters. I would say to the recruiters, here are my two tools. Have every applicant take these two this test and then take this test and bring me back the three that match this profile. And I will tell you another fast tracked way that inner fifth teaches entrepreneurs how to be hyper productive is to stop howling it. So again, when you who it, it doesn't always have to be a person. It can be a tool, it can be a resource. How do you fast track winning your time back and spending time on the things that deliver the best roi? And I will say you do not have time and you do not have enough money or time if you're still working not to join. If you're a female entrepreneur, how do.

[Unknown Host]

You know if they qualify? Do they need to go somewhere to check it out or can we share with them some information so they know if it even makes sense for them to reach out?

[Tracy Holland]

Yeah, they can go to interfit.com I n n E R F I F T H and Interfit is the five people we spend the most time with. Right. So that is where inner fifth comes from. It also comes from the four pillars of health, wealth, relationship and purpose. Inner fifth sits in the middle as the fifth bridge between the four pillars. And what I would say is we are looking for growth, mindset, winning mindset, seven figure and above. You can have a high six figure run rate to seven figures. But we don't take startups because we want those new founders who have never been in business before to go get resourced and find a place to go get the legal docs and the HR docs and everything they need to be successful for their first couple of years. If you've already had an exit and you are a multi serial entrepreneur and a new startup, you're welcome to join because we believe those who have exited and are many times trying to figure out their plan C act B D E Interfaith is the perfect place for you to come and figure out what the next phase of your life looks like. But we do want seasoned entrepreneurs because it's really critical and crucial to the community environment that you're contributing as much as you're getting out of the group. So yeah, there's a qualifier. You have to eat what you kill means you get a K1 and you have to have a growth or winning mindset. And we can tell that through the interview process. That's really the key.

[Unknown Host]

Tell us a little bit. For people who've never heard of inner fifth before, who are the allies and what importance do they have in being a part of inner fifth?

[Tracy Holland]

Yeah, that's the funny thing. I hear from women a lot, oh, I don't know if I want to be part of an all women's group of entrepreneurs because men have so much to offer and we agree a thousand percent. In fact, I will guarantee you cannot create wealth in business as an entrepreneur without having men in your corner. And we have this incredible group of male powerhouse allies who work really hard to be accepted as an ally. And they go through an intense vetting process, an intense interview process, and they have to have been exactly who they say they are in the world of supporting women in business. So we look at their background and their history and everything they've done in the world, but we're very selective and we have a group of one phone call away from anyone you want to talk to, allies who are part of this network and they surround these women members as the strong, thoughtful, strategic resource dudes that they are. It's very cool.

[Unknown Host]

It's incredible to see. And again, the contacts that you make just walking into one of these events, it's instantaneous. What would have taken you years on your own to even try to get to some of these people? I have been blown away by the stories, exposure and contacts that I've made. So I just want to say, Tracy, thank you for being a person who had a struggle, identified it and said, you know what, I don't want anyone else to go through this. So I'm going to create the community and opportunity so people don't have to go through that. Where can people find you and where can they find Interface?

[Tracy Holland]

I am IG Tracy Holland Mindset and I would love anyone to reach out, say HI and then interfit.com and they can come to one of our quarterly IRL events. We do one a quarter, it starts at 10, goes till 5. It is packed for the day with the tools and resources that entrepreneurs need in order to be hyper successful and super performance driven and very efficient with their time.

[Unknown Host]

And there's also events where people can come in person to like the one we just had in LA last week. Are these happening monthly or every other month?

[Tracy Holland]

Ace Divine or fifth. We allow people from non member people to come and have a vibe check, have a taste of inner fifth and we host a four hour cocktail meet speaker conversation about something intensely helpful and sometimes private for our founders who do share quite a bit about the road or the war wounds of what it took to build and scale in an effort to help those that are also on that path. So we usually have them in New York, we have them in la, we'll start to host some in Miami. We have a couple for next year planned. But we have members in Interfit from all over the world. And on our quarterly IRL meetings people fly in every quarter to participate in person because that's where the juicy business happens. But they can also live stream in if they can't make it. And then of course we have our monthly meetups, we have our power hours, our grow room and those are all virtual. So there are lots of touch points. But yeah, if someone wants to get on the waitlist to be at a taste of interfaith, we have a waitlist going.

[Unknown Host]

Get on the waitlist. You don't want to miss it. We will be there. We would love to meet you Intercom. Tracy, thank you so much for the work you're doing. I am so excited for our next intensive and for the incredible people that you're bring forward to meet all of us. I appreciate you.

[Tracy Holland]

Well, thank you for having me today. Such a fun way to spend the day.

[Unknown Host]

All right guys, go to Inner fifth dot com. You can't afford to miss this. There's no reason. Stop looking for the how and find the who. You got her. She's right here. Until next week. Keep creating your confidence. You know I will be.

[Heather Monahan]

I decided to change that dynamic. I couldn't be more excited for what you're gonna hear. Start learning and growing. Inevitably something will happen. No one succeeds alone.

[Tracy Holland]

You don't stop and look around once in a while. You could miss it.

[Unknown Host]

Come on this journey with me.