For Tracy Walder, the easy path has never been an option. Raised in a family with generations
of military service, she understood from a young age the importance of giving back. In college,
she studied history and took opportunities to gain experience as they came, but couldn’t quite
find the right fit for her skills. One day, she saw a recruiter for the CIA on her college campus.
She handed in her resume and by the time she graduated, she had a job offer on the table. That
daring decision, made while she was still a student, ultimately shaped much of her professional
career.
She spent the next several years working with the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center before moving
on to the FBI, where she was a special agent focusing on Chinese Counterintelligence
operations The hours were long and the work challenging. At some points along the way, she
experienced adversity and harassment, but Walder persevered. On this week’s episode of The
Simple Talk, host Wayne McCullough speaks with Walder about the ups and downs and the
nuggets of wisdom she’s learned along the way. The path might not be easy, but with
confidence and humility, you can put your knowledge and skills to work in service of a better
future.
This Week’s Takeaways:
-Be proactive about finding opportunities
-Have confidence in yourself
-Don’t leave situations without a reason
-Push the boundaries of your comfort zone
-Use your knowledge to give back to others
Quotes:
“I believe fully that how men and women are treated really starts at the top.” -Tracy Walder
“I was bullied.The amount of bullying that I faced was astronomical. … I spent a lot of my life
hating myself and not being very confident. So, I think at 16, I would have told myself to have
more confidence.” -Tracy Walder
“Working out has always been my therapy. I think, from being at the FBI, I would just go on
crazy long runs by myself with no one else.” -Tracy Walder
“The thing I always tell (my daughter) -- because this is what I always told myself -- is be brave.
Be brave, be brave, be brave. That’s always my message to her.” -Tracy Walder
Contact:
You can find out more about Tracy Walder online at https://www.tracywalder.com/. You can also
follow her on Twitter @tracy_walder and Instagram @TheUnexpectedSpy. Be sure to check out
her new book, The Unexpected Spy: From the CIA to the FBI, My Secret Life Taking Down
Some of the World’s Most Notorious Terrorists, available online, in stores, and as an audiobook.
Mentioned This Week:
-Girl Security, a nonprofit dedicated to closing the gender gap in national security through
training and mentoring support for girls: https://www.girlsecurity.org/
