Colette Tracy

I attribute my success to the support I've gotten from people. I have a beautiful relationship, good kids, I love my family, I'm close with my siblings, and I have friends. Professionally, I have always been blessed to find people that have believed in me. I work hard and I've got a good work ethic and I do a good job, but sometimes people don't have that support. To be able to have people in your life, in your personal and professional life, that see your value and support you is huge. That's a privilege. I've had really good people cheering me on and wanting me to move forward and wanting me to do well, and that's a blessing. That is the reason for my success.

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was from my very young husband when I was complaining about why I couldn't have this or that. He said to me, 'Colette, this is what you got. Play the hand you're dealt.' That doesn't mean don't change it, but make the best out of that. Make something out of that. That's how I took it - create something out of it. This is what you've got right now. So unless it's absolutely impossible and you don't see another way, try to be creative about it and create something, make it successful, whatever you are doing. As long as you don't hate every second of it, because I can't do that.

You have to believe in yourself, first of all. In any profession you're going into, anything you do, you have to believe in yourself. That's number one. You have to believe in yourself enough to go after the things that you want. You have to be pretty self-directed. I think coaching is wonderful, mentoring is wonderful - find a mentor, find someone that you admire that you can learn from. Watch the people that are successful around you to pick up the skills. But the most important thing is to go out there and not be afraid of failing. When I go into things, I don't think about failing - not because I've never failed or can't fail, I just go into it with my blinders on and I am very focused. I go in and do what I want to do, what I need to do, and if it doesn't work, then I reflect on what can I do better. Is this something I really want to do? Is my heart really in it? Or is there something else? Don't be afraid to change. The world today is a lot different than it was back in the day. You don't have to stay forever. Young people today have had to be entrepreneurs and wear a lot of different hats, and that's kind of fun after you get used to it. Don't be afraid to change.

The biggest challenge is that college degrees are not what they used to be and they don't mean the same thing in the marketplace. You've got AI now, so there's great uncertainty. The biggest challenge for my students and the university is that we're not just giving them a piece of paper - we want them to find work and have fruitful lives. How do we make sure we're staying on top of that? How do we teach them so that we know enough of what's going on in the industry and what employers are looking for to teach them what they need to know? It's one thing for a university to bring in students and grow, but most solid universities want those kids to pass, to persist, and to graduate. That's the biggest challenge - any university can take in a bunch of students, but getting them through the program and making sure they come out on the other side is the most important. A lot of universities are closing down. But there's also a huge opportunity. You have the opportunity to make changes. AI, once the dust starts to settle and we all know which way we're going, is such a great opportunity to change the way we even teach and to use AI to give you options and teach your students how to work within a whole new realm. A lot of the worry is about critical thinking and AI doing everything for students, but if we learn to use it responsibly, you've got an opportunity to really make some changes and be pioneers in education right now. We're seeing this for the second time in our lifetimes, like we did with the internet.

I value resolving conflict and open communication. I'm not saying I can't deal with conflict, because you're always going to have that, but I like to resolve things. I am the kind of person that will talk about the elephant in the room in a polite way. It's not to create conflict, it's to actually work out the conflict, resolve it, and make sure everybody's okay. I think that's probably one of my biggest strengths. I never mean it to start a fight - I mean it to have an open discussion. I don't like conflict, so if there's something nagging, it bothers me. I also value collaboration and teamwork. I'm very democratic and collaborative in my leadership style. I believe in a team really working together. I like to encourage collaborativeness and make sure that everybody has a chance to win. If people with the most talent who are doing the best can find a way to help their teammate, that creates a more cohesive team.