Alignment Over Hustle: Living Well

What if the diagnosis isn’t the real problem… but rather the pace of life we’ve been living?

In this episode of Beyond the Brand, Tracy Stroderd revisits her Type 1 diabetes journey—but from a very different angle. This isn’t about labs, numbers, or medical labels. It’s about what the experience taught her about slowing down, self-advocacy, and designing a life that actually supports wellbeing instead of constantly draining it.

Tracy opens up about the moment she realized she had handed her authority over to others, ignored her intuition, and learned the hard way that self-advocacy isn’t optional—it’s a life skill. From navigating the healthcare system to reshaping her business and personal life, she shares how choosing alignment over hustle changed everything.

You’ll hear how small, intentional shifts—prioritizing rest, saying no without guilt, and honoring what your body and spirit need—can lead to more clarity, creativity, and impact… often with less effort. Tracy also reflects on what happens when your life truly matches your values, and why “doing less, but better” can be the most powerful decision you make.

If you’re feeling exhausted, stretched thin, or quietly wondering if there’s another way to live and work—this conversation is for you.

So grab your coffee, get comfy, and let’s go beyond the brand… and into alignment.

Transcript

0:02

Hey friend, I'm Tracy Strader, and welcome to Beyond the Brand. I'm all about real conversations, fresh perspectives, and those little aha moments that help us grow in business or life. Over the years, I've built a multi six figure online community by doing one simple thing. Bringing people together through open, honest storytelling. I've been coaching and mentoring entrepreneurs for nearly three decades. My passion is helping others find direction, balance, and healing, and creating spaces where people feel safe enough to just be real. So grab your coffee, get comfy, and let's go beyond the brand together. Hello and welcome back if you've been listening for a while, you might remember an episode that I did in December where I talked about my type one diabetes journey. That episode was very much a medical moment type episode where I talked about the diagnosis, the fear. The wake up call, the life changes and it was heavy. Today's conversation is gonna be a bit different. Today isn't about the numbers, it's not about the labs, it's not about the labels. It's what I learned from the experience. What I've learned about the experience and how slowing down self-advocacy and designing a life that actually supports my wellbeing instead of constantly draining me. And first I wanna share that this is something that's actually possible for anybody out there if you are listening to this. If you've got a friend. This information that I'm gonna share with you today is for anybody who's trying to find some calm in their life. The biggest thing that I learned during this process is that sometimes the diagnosis isn't actually the problem. It's the way that we're living. We live in a world that rewards rushing, quick fixes, instant gratification and shortcuts. All of that over sustainability from crash diets to hustle culture to just take another pill. We've normalized, bypassing the deeper work that's necessary to be well in favor of speed. And from the moment we wake up, we're pulled in 10 directions. Emails to-do lists, notifications, familial obligations, events. The list goes on and on, and by the end of the day, we're exhausted, but somehow we're still filled with the feeling that we're not good enough or we didn't accomplish anything meaningful. That day. And then when our bodies or minds start waving red flags, the most common response is add more to your plate, take more medication, drink more coffee, add more pressure. It just, the list goes on and on, and I see it every single day when I am out and about in the community. But very rarely do we ever stop and ask, what if the pace that I am traveling through life is the problem? What if it's that simple 10 years ago? I had one of those moments and it forced me to listen. And although I'm talking about 10 years ago, literally every time I've had some kind of medical episode in my life, it was linked to over performance emotional distress. Or some other thing, and I never related it to how I was actually living my life until this most recent type one diabetes diagnosis. I'm not gonna retell the whole story. You could go back and listen to that episode in December if you want more of the details. But what mattered most wasn't the diagnosis itself. It was the realization that I had handed my authority over to someone else. I ignored my own. Intuition and gut feelings that I had about the medication that I was given that moment taught me something that changed my life. Self-advocacy isn't optional. It's actually a life skill, and I was never taught that skill. I was more of a compliant child. I listened, I followed the rules. I never challenged the system. I was curious, but I was afraid to ask because I didn't wanna upset the apple cart, which was more common than not when we leaned in and got curious about things. So I just went with the flow and. It is funny because when I had this realization, I felt guilt. I was shameful, I felt dumb, and I initially had a little bit of the victim mentality. But once I wrap my head around this. I knew that God had a bigger purpose for why I got this diagnosis, and that whole thing has propelled my life moving forward. For most of us, we're taught to comply. Listen to the expert, follow the plan. Don't ask so many questions. But what I learned in both healthcare and life is that nobody. Nobody will care about your wellbeing more than you do yourself. So I started doing things differently. I've built a team of, healthcare professionals instead of just relying on one voice, I tracked my own data. I began to ask better, more detailed questions. I sought second and sometimes third opinions. And when I walked into the appointments with 10 years of records and clarity, the conversation changed and that was such. A feeling of empowerment that I was actually gonna be heard. And that was super important, not just to me, but it was important to me in my own personal experience, but because of that experience, I wanted to be able to share with other people how they could have that kind of power too. And this mindset didn't just protect my health. It helped reshape how I show up in my business, in my relationships, and in my life. In 2021, I made a quiet but very powerful decision that I was done dabbling in personal growth and development. I was done starting and stopping. And done knowing better, but not living better. I quietly chose alignment. And that looked like designing my business to support my life, not the other way around. I made serious shifts and changes that allowed me to be able to travel. In fact, when I made the decision to go from a bimonthly print publication to a monthly digital magazine, I was rewarded with a. First class trip to Maui. Yep. Literally two weeks after I had made the decision in January of 2023 to go digital. My brother and his family were in Maui and my dad was traveling over to meet them and I had made a call to make sure that he arrived on time and, I told him I was so excited that he was gonna get to be with my brother and sister-in-law and the baby. And I said, the only thing that could be better about this dad is if I was there. And he giggled and I giggled. And that was the end of our phone call. The next morning I woke up to a text message from my brother, I'll by if you fly, let's surprise dad. I was like, what? And he said, yes, I'll buy you a first class ticket round trip, and you come over here and spend. 10 days with us or however much time you can and we'll, surprise dad. Two days later I was on a flight to Maui and it was literally magical, but that was a conscious decision that I had made that I to make room for this kind of stuff in my life. And that decision didn't have anything to do with finances or anything because that trip was a gift from my brother and I was so grateful for that opportunity to be with his family and our dad. I also started choosing quiet evenings at home. Versus constant events and outings multiple times a week. In the evening, I prioritized movement, nature, and nourishment. I started letting go of commitments, beliefs, and physical stuff, saying yes to experiences that expanded me and no to the things that depleted me. It wasn't dramatic by any means. It just it was just this genuine conscious little shift that I made and when opportunities arose in my life, I would ask myself. If I say yes to this, is it getting me closer to living my best life, or is it taking me further away from that commitment that I made to myself? It was intentional and because of it, everything changed. Here's what alignment gave me. Without forcing or hustling, I gained mental clarity. My energy became more consistent. My creativity flowed. Instead of having these long stall outs, I was able to make more of an impact with less effort. And yes. I achieved better business results. In fact, last year was 30% more profitable than the previous year. I am doing less, but it's more aligned. Nothing feels heavy. And nothing feels like a performance. It feels genuine and authentic and just right. In fact, the other day I had several deadlines and for whatever reason that day I felt off and I said, you know what? It's okay to have an off day. How can you best nurture yourself? I sat in front of the fire. I sipped coffee. I read a magazine. I did some food prep. I went for a little walk and I never sat at my desk until four o'clock that afternoon. And when I did, I opened my email and boom, there was a contract, one that I hadn't expected. I had sent a follow up email, but I didn't know if it was gonna work, and there it was. A solid yes, they accepted my proposal, so I'm constantly reminded when I honor what it is I need. I'm rewarded for that and I had to write an article and when I sat down to type that article out, nothing was coming. The creativity was blocked. I couldn't think. I had to send a message to my team. It's not happening today. I'll try again tomorrow. And when I sat down the next day. Man, it flowed perfectly. And when I got the email from my editor, she said, this was amazing. And very minimal edits, mostly commas. I was like, yay me. That was a win. This is the kind of stuff that happens when your life matches your values. The bottom line is this folks. Living your best life isn't about perfection. It's about alignment. When you trust yourself, advocate for your wellbeing and design your life with intention, everything changes. And if you are listening today thinking, man, this sounds like my life, or This sounds like something I need to take action on, that's exactly the space I love supporting people in. You don't have to do this alone, and you don't have to rush. This is a process. It's a journey, and you've got plenty of time. Thanks for being here, friends, and I will see you next time. If there is anything about this episode that resonated with you, please do me a favor and take a screenshot of this podcast and post it on your stories and tag me at Tracy Strader. I would love to connect with you. So thank you in advance and I appreciate you. I'll see you next week.