James Tracy founded The Toughest Mile after a medical scare involving spinal lesions forced him to confront mortality. He works in military procurement while building his brand, believing gratitude is the key to happiness and that taking care of people matters more than any mission.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with the support you need to finish your book. Best part is, after you finish your book, they take care of the entire publishing and marketing process 100% for you. So if you want to become a successful author, make sure to check out authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
All right, everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. Today, James Tracy with us. He's the founder of The Toughest Mile, where he is focused on changing the mindsets and lives of those dealing with challenges and obstacles in their life. So welcome to the show, man.
Hey man, appreciate it. Thanks for having me on.
Of course, man. Happy to have you here. Let's dive into the first one, James. The first one I got for you is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So, all right, well, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna call it the best story, but it's definitely an interesting story to me. So, so just about a year ago, I had a crazy medical scare and ended up in the Mayo Clinic here in Jacksonville. Surrounded by a bunch of neurologists and neurosurgeons trying to figure out why an MRI had shown two lesions in my spine and what exactly they could be. It was pretty scary stuff. And they can't rule out cancer, tumors, or something like MS. And they say they can't operate to find out because I could end up just being a quadriplegic. So anyway, after a bunch of tests and months of waiting to see if they had changed at all, The docs decided they were probably just dead spots caused by an infection from another surgery I had a few months prior. The whole situation sort of just sort of shook me up pretty good, shook up the family. And I still deal with physical issues with it every day, but it just made my wife and I really step back and realize that life's too short, you know, that tomorrow's never guaranteed and that we really, we really need to be grateful for what we have because, you know, the alternative could have been so much worse for me. You know, it was also a really big driver in my decision to start the Toughest Mile because I know people are dealing with their own struggles and haven't gone through what I've gone through. I just want to— like, it's sort of driven me to reach them and help motivate them to fight and overcome their own challenges and just to really never give up, to realize that even if, you know, today is tough, it's still another day we're alive and we need to make the most of it and just sort of really just, you know, fight and get through our own toughest mile.
Absolutely, man. Thank you for sharing that. And well, I'm glad that it seems like it's not necessarily okay, but it's not as bad as it could have been. So I'm glad to hear that. So the next one I have for you, man, is what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Okay. Yeah, absolutely. So, well, sort of two parts of it. So like, well, within my 9 to 5, I like to say that, you know, I'm an awesome procurement management professional. With a ton of experience in military and government contracting, contracts management. That's what I've been doing for years and years, and I enjoy it. But that's, you know, again, that's my 9 to 5. You know, my passion has more become The Toughest Mile. And so like when it comes to The Toughest Mile, I like to think that I'm highly motivated and driven to make an impact on people's lives and to help them overcome their challenges. And because I'm going through what I'm going through, like what I just talked about, I really relate well to the people I've already had the pleasure of talking to and just sort of like really reaching out and and, you know, having a good, um, good connection with them. Um, I'm really, you know, I'm there running my own toughest mile every day, and I'm conquering my own challenges. So I think that helps, you know, connect me with people.
And then what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry-specific.
Yes, no industry at all. Doesn't really matter where you're at. It really comes down to, you know, take care of your people, uh, whether you have, you know, 5 employees or 5,000 employees, you gotta take care of your people. Treat them right and give them room to grow. Don't box them in or something. Let them use their brains, use their minds, and utilize them, utilize their powers. An organization just can't run without its people. In my time in both the military and the federal government, I've heard the phrase, "It's all about the mission," far too many times, way too many times. And it's just not true. It's not all about the mission. If your people aren't being taken care of the right way, the mission, whatever it might be, is probably going to end up failing.
And then if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Be focused, you know, focus, man. Stop dreaming, stop procrastinating, go out and find your purpose, you know, sooner rather than later. Don't make me have to do all the work now, you know. Don't— I got a wife and 3 kids at home. Don't make me have to figure that out now. Figure it out before all the You know, crazy life happens. That's just part of growing up too. You know, I wasted a ton of time. You know, I was a young teenager, young 20s, wasted a bunch of time, and I'm trying to make that up now. I got too busy with other things that really didn't serve me as well. You know, I did my military time, I did other things like that, and I could have just— I could have utilized it better. But that's such as life, you live and learn, right?
And then kind of going a little bit down a different path, in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
Gratitude. I'd have to say gratitude. I see a mostly unhappy world around me, all this drama and everything going on. And I think at some level it's because people are always wanting more. They're always a little bit greedy and everything, which you should want more. It's awesome to want more, but you got to be grateful for what you have. Basically, struggles or not, I believe we're all blessed to be alive. And like I said earlier, tomorrow's never guaranteed. So it's just important to be Be happy, happy, happy and thankful for what you have. And really, I see that those who have that level of gratitude, they're a lot happier in their life.
And then what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
Okay, so I mean, so right now I'm actually, I'm starting a new book. It's Goliath Must Fall by Louie Giglio. And without going too deep into it, it's really all about winning the battles against your giants and the giants can be fear, comfort, addiction, and so on. And it really resonates with me because that's what, you know, to me, that's what The Toughest Miles is about. It's about finding your grit and overcoming your struggles and obstacles in your life. So yeah, bro, I'm just, like I said, I'm getting into it now. So I'm very excited to get through it and see how I can apply it to my life and to my brand.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
That would probably be, "if you always do what you've always done, you always get what you always got." And I associate that quote to Henry Ford. And it's just a constant reminder to never settle and to always strive for a life of greater purpose. You know, keep that gratitude like I mentioned earlier, but always strive to be better.
Absolutely, man. Dude, thank you so much for coming on. The last one I have for you before we let you go is where is the best place for people to find you online?
Currently, that'd be LinkedIn. I mean, that's where That's my main focus and that's where I'm giving a lot of my attention, just sort of trying to grow the brand and connect with people that way. But I am working on my website and I'll be standing that up soon and adding content here in the very near future.
Perfect, man. Thanks again for jumping on.
Absolutely. Thanks for having me, man.
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