WORK

Traveling, Titans and Stolen Gatorade

Aside from a few trips when I worked for UPS in the first few years out of college, I didn't travel overnight for work until about fifteen years ago or so. I was new into a job I absolutely loved, and spent a ton of time traveling when my son was with his dad. I remember the first time I went to California for work (and first time in California, period) - probably the first time I ever stayed in a hotel room alone! I was in my late 30's, got there, and was like, this is THE BEST. That feeling didn't last too long as the grind of work travel set in. I still loved it, but I settled into it being part of my job.

At The Granite Group I stayed overnight as well, though mostly I drove unless I was attending or speaking at a conference. My first time speaking at a conference where I had to fly to get there was in 2017 at HR Tech. I was SO nervous, but it went extremely well. And that was the first of many, many presentations that led to my first keynote in 2020, and led me to today - I'm in Nashville for a keynote at the inaugural Women in Pressure Sensitive Tape event. I can't wait to meet everyone, and talk about personal branding. But a bit of a different spin - we're weaving in a bit of Predictive Index.

Anyway, the main story.... Dave joined me (more on why in the next section) and we flew in REALLY late last night. Between the time zone change and the time change, my body has no idea what time it is! I think we got to the hotel after 11PM, and got up to our floor. We walked off the elevator and saw a refrigerator on the floor. Weird, but ok. We thought probably some kind of hotel perk (it's a pretty nice hotel. And spoiler alert - it wasn't a hotel perk.) So we helped ourselves to a bunch of water and Dave grabbed some Gatorade. Then we saw a table with a laptop and clipboard and a guy dressed in a really spectacular multicolored track suit. He asked us if we were grabbing some drinks for the room, we said yes, and he asked if we were staying on the floor and we said yes. He then said he was security for the Titans and he doesn't usually dress like that, and we shouldn't be staying on the floor. We had no idea what to believe and asked if we should go back to the front desk. He said no, you're fine. So we went to our room.

Turns out, he was telling the truth. And we were the only non-Titans on this floor and the one below us.

Fun fact - they remove all the contents of the minibar for the players the night before the game (we found out when we returned to the room today and someone was filling our minibar that we didn't know we had.) The players we met were very nice, if a bit confused why we were staying on their floor. They lost today (again) unfortunately.

And that's how we ended up inadvertently stealing water and Gatorade meant for football players preparing for their big game.

Work and speaking travel is sometimes glamorous, but more often it's just work travel. But it's always fun - especially when I get to bring my husband. More on that....

Connect with me on LinkedIn!

COMMUNITY

When I started my own company nearly two years ago, I knew I wanted to be a solopreneur. To learn all aspects of the business, from my bookkeeping to running it to building systems to doing the work. And I have loved it. And I've been fortunate that my business is doing well.

So it was time to decide - what next? For me, I needed someone to help with the business side. To build me a CRM. To manage my books. To hold me accountable.

And I happen to be married to the best fractional COO and CFO, who happens to specialize in small businesses!

So, you're the first to hear that Dave Sponenberg is joining me as my (part-time, fractional, contract) COO and CFO!

He officially started November 1, so he joined me on this trip, and will join me on my next. In between, we'll be planning for 2026 and beyond. When he fits me in between other clients and his new LLC, One More Dig (he's also an expert metal detectorist with one of the top metal detecting podcasts in the world.)

No one knows me better - personally and professionally. (We worked together for years many years ago.)

I'm thrilled for this next chapter!

Connect with Dave here!

COFFEE

Three coffees in Nashville today, all three were great.

This one was from Elixer, and it was delicious.

Shot of espresso over ice, splash of cream, as usual.

And fun to return to a spot I visited with my friend Melissa when I was last in Nashville, for ASA Women in Industry last year!

Have a great week ahead!

ETC....

Here are a few random things....

The job market is incredibly tough right now for so many. If you can support those looking in any way, especially by making connections, please do. And if you are looking and there is any way I can support you, please let me know.

Are you a Distribution or Manufacturing CEO? I'd love a few minutes of your time to test a few ideas I've been working on. Grab some time on my calendar here:

My Calendly Link

Live in NH? Stay tuned for the return of DisruptHR NH after SEVEN YEARS in May 2026!

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Until next time....... thanks for reading!

Tracie

My Partner Spotlight WorkStory makes the review process easy - and while maybe not fun, much more human - through using AI. And if you are Florida based, you'll soon have a chance to meet with me and the founder Matt Meadows IRL! Also, part 2 of my three-part History of Performance Management dropped last week. Stay tuned for part 3 soon!