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Tracey
Thompson
I’ve learned a lot about embracing the unexpected in my career, and the power of taking chances.
Raised by a strong single mother and a community of self-starter business owners in Queens, Tracey shares details of some of her early influences and a proud accomplishment.
WHO RUNS THE WORLD?
My grandma built a school in Jamaica to teach young girls computer skills. She and the women like her who left their home countries and built their small businesses in America are my true icons. They’re the entrepreneurs who ran my world, and who I always knew could run the world.
THE BEST POWER TRIP
Before “Girls Trip” came out, there was a stigma in Hollywood that films with Black casts didn’t do well internationally. Being able to help prove that wrong, by marketing the first film with a Black cast and crew to make over $100M, taught me so much about the power of community in outperforming expectations.
Many of the businesses that have inspired me throughout my lifetime have one thing in common: a founder who saw the strength in her community and used that as her arbitrage.
Let’s start way back. Is there a formative experience from childhood that made you who you are today?
Before I knew global brands like Nike and Apple, I knew the small businesses and entrepreneurs that raised me as a young girl growing up in New York. I started my days at a Jamaican-owned elementary school in Queens, and ended them at a Trinidadian-owned dance school. These businesses were built by a community of women who would watch me after school, and take me to the best roti shops after dance class.
Sounds like a true embodiment of the “it takes a village” concept.
Yes. I also spent my summers going to my grandma’s school in Jamaica, which she built to teach young girls computer skills.
No shortage of strong female role models then.
No. In business terms, these were highly capital efficient. The founders didn't need to overspend on marketing when the parents who loved them for giving their kids so much were their marketing funnel. They didn’t need to overhire when their community became their employees — from the mothers who ran the front desk to the parents who helped after school. They were the entrepreneurs who ran my world, and who I always knew could run the world. To this day, they are my true icons.
Incredible. Was there one person who had the strongest influence on you?
My mom would be HIGHLY offended if she was not the answer to this question. Throughout my childhood, she made raising two daughters as a single mother look easy. She taught me so much, even though at the time I received a lot of her instruction with eye rolls!
Not the dreaded eye roll!
Yeah, if you were to ask my 15-year-old self what I thought about her high standards, I wouldn’t necessarily have the same…affection.
Sounds right for a teenager.
When I came home with a grade of 90, she’d ask, “What happened to the other 10 points?” which taught me that my potential could be limitless. She also taught me a lot about self-advocacy in my education and career. Our trips back to Jamaica taught me never to forget the roots of the culture that formed me, and the people who fought for me to have my opportunities. I grew up always knowing that the other 10 points, the self-advocacy, and the trips back home were never just for me.
Something tells me she’ll be very proud to read this.
Yes. And glad I didn’t bring up the time she tried teaching me to cook oxtail. 🤪
