Meet Tracy Podell of Evolution in Culver City

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tracy Podell.

Tracy, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
When I was a kid, I never in my weirdest thoughts would have guessed I would end up being a leadership coach for startups. For most of my life, I didn’t even know that was a thing people could do. I thought I was gonna be on Broadway and doing comedy at UCB in NY and that was the only option. I was not gonna be anywhere near tech and had never met a coach or knew that the industry even existed. Of course, hindsight is 20/20 and looking back, I can see how all the dots connected me to where I am today.

I started off as an actor, taking the train into NYC as a kid and doing experimental theater in the village. I went to NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and moved to LA to make my dreams come true. A year into LA, I was like “screw this”. It was no longer worth it to me. I had this crisis of what the hell am I gonna do now? Who in their right mind gets a degree in theater? I was a kind all over the place trying to figure out what was next – I applied for MSW’s and social media internships and ended up getting an internship at a little startup basically clicking like on their videos. They started to see that I was capable of a lot more and were just about to extend my hours when we basically got 2 million users in one weekend (20 million in two weeks) and they were like you’re starting full time on Monday. They gave me a good title and salary said: “we’re going to teach you everything”. It was nine guys and me – talented, smart and kind people who mentored me in so many different aspects of launching and marketing a new product. We pivoted three times before the company laid off all the non-engineers (me) and got acqui-hired by Tinder. At this point, we were 16 guys and me and I was totally embarrassed that I was crying the day we got laid off. I explained it wasn’t because I was worried about getting a new job, it was just that I was really grateful for the experience, which was pretty magical and it opened up this whole new career path for me.

I did a self-development course with Landmark the week after I was laid off and it shifted everything I thought was possible for myself. I got three consulting gigs right and really claimed the expertise I had developed in the entertainment tech space through that initial worldwind startup experience. Flash forward seven years and I have a great marketing career – I got to consult with television studios and major MCN’s and joined Pluto TV the week before it launched as the marketing department and got to help grow it to over 6 million users (it recently sold to Viacom and is currently at 15 million users and counting). It was an amazing challenge, but I wasn’t super fulfilled by my role as a marketer. Most of my fulfillment had started happening outside of work with my self-development and leadership courses, which I had started coaching for my own growth.

About three years into Pluto TV, I created a Women’s Career Empowerment group so that I could have a team around me to figure out what I wanted to do next. I coached a bunch of women in their career goals – had someone double their salary, write a book, triple their rates, etc. and about six weeks into it, I was like I want to do THIS with my life. I started getting my coaching certification while working full-time and doing a year-long Team Management and Leadership program with Landmark Worldwide. Thankfully my CEO supported me in going part-time as I established my coaching business.

My first iteration of my coaching business was the Career Reinvention Lab, which was based on the 6-step process I created to help women who look successful but aren’t fulfilled in their work get clear on what they want in their careers and to create a plan of action to make it happen.

Around the same time, I got connected with Evolution through Miriam Meima (whom I called my coaching fairy godmother). Evolution is a coaching/consulting firm for high-growth companies and startups (like Slack, Dropbox, Tile, etc.). I was incredibly honored to be asked to be a partner with a select group of masters in the field of executive coaching and organizational development for startups.

I now do executive coaching, leadership development and training for the types of companies I used to work for and I absolutely love it. I also recently launched a Women’s Founder Circle for LA-based founders and startup execs with the incredible Janine Davis. I also still get to contribute to other women who are feeling stuck and unfulfilled in their work through my career coaching. I get to be in my zone of genius, have an impact on world-enriching companies and powerful women leaders and I work with a team that fully embodies their values in their work and their lives. Not to mention, my whole life as an actor and improv comedian is now completely applicable to work I do with clients on communication, executive presence, and hustle. Plus it’s ok for me to be a little weird, because, you know, I’m a coach and I’m supposed to shake things up. Looking back, now all the pieces fit together.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
No. I’ve always been surrounded by high-achieving people and so much of my identity and self-worth was tied up in my career success. There was a lot of stress and anxiety that came along with that perspective, especially when I was taking the risk to leave my comfy job to essentially become an entrepreneur with my coaching business. That first year out was incredibly scary – every aspect of it from coaching my first CEO to making my first 6-figure offer to just having starting contests with my imposter syndrome on a daily basis. I burnt out hard, which was a gift in disguise because it forced me to really prioritize my well-being and to really design my day to day life around what was sustainable. It’s the only way I can fully serve my clients and now I get to help them with that as well.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Evolution – what should we know?
I am a leadership and communication coach for startup executives and companies. As a partner in Evolution, we work with companies that are at major inflection points and want to scale without losing their soul. We do exec coaching, culture work, executive team alignment, off-sites, and training.

I’m known for helping leaders who in high-stress environments lead powerfully and use communication skills to build the kind of working relationships they need in order for their team and company to succeed. Everything is created in communication. It is not enough to be great at what you do or at a certain skill set. Leaders need to be able to enroll others in a vision, have direct, hard conversations, build trust and respect and be willing to hold others to account in a way that they can actually hear it. They also need to recognize where you stand in your own way and subconsciously sabotage your leadership. We all have “shadow” and it’s important to realize what yours are so that they aren’t running the show.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Evolution and every coach in it (especially Matt & Geoff for creating it) for being incredible partners and mentors.

My husband for not thinking I was crazy in leaving my solid job and being 100% supportive every step of the way. The pretty parts and the ugly parts.

I went to the most amazing after-school program with two Julliard graduates (Esther and Howard Kravitz) who gave me a place to express myself and instilled in me the value of excellence.

The guys at Chill for taking a chance on me and mentoring the hell out of me. My friend Margaret for getting me that first startup job and leading by example.

Landmark for introducing me to the self-development world and teaching me that I can create my life any way I want it. Jen Herda for teaching me how to actually do that.

My CEO at Pluto TV for being really generous with me and allowing me to go part-time while I was pivoting my career.

The Congruent Coach Collective who taught me how to create a coaching business AND work through all the anxiety/scariness that went with it.

Contact Info:

• Website: evolution.team
• Email: [email protected]
• Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracypodell

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