012: Desirée Rogers on The White House, Cancer and Pursuing Passion

<p class="p1">Desirée Rogers is an American businesswoman, former White House Social Secretary for President Barack Obama's office, and former chief executive officer of Johnson Publishing Company. In this episode, Tracy dives into Desiree’s background and the path that eventually led her to the White House. During her journey, Desirée was diagnosed with breast cancer; she talks all about the importance of listening to your body, taking care of yourself, and practicing self-care. Later, Desirée speaks about making the dive into entrepreneurship, and chats with Tracy about the importance of following your own path.</p> <p class="p1"><strong>In This Episode:</strong></p> <ul class="ul1"> <li class="li1">[05:25] Desirée opens up about her background and what led her to where she is today. </li> <li class="li1">[17:20] Desirée reveals the biggest pivot she made coming out of graduate school. </li> <li class="li1">[29:00] How Desirée was able to balance being a mom, running an agency, and building a multi-billion dollar business. </li> <li class="li1">[38:45] We dig into Desirée’s work at the White House. </li> <li class="li1">[48:00] In 2000, Desirée found out that she had breast cancer. Desirée reveals the lessons that she learned during this time. </li> <li class="li1">[51:35] Why Desirée took the deep dive into entrepreneurship. </li> <li class="li1">[63:10] Everything is hard; find out what you’re good at! </li> <li class="li1">[70:20] Final advice from Desirée: do what you need to do. </li> </ul> <p class="p1"><strong>Key Takeaways:</strong></p> <ul class="ul1"> <li class="li1">Listen to your body. Every symptom that you have is trying to tell you something. </li> <li class="li1">You only have one body in this life, so make sure that you take care of it. </li> <li class="li1">Work will still be there for you tomorrow; it’s not going anywhere. Don’t be in a rush to prove anything. </li> <li class="li1">The pandemic has shown that everyone needs a good immune system – don’t screw around with it! </li> </ul> <p cla