Beauties: Tracy Sheridan

I first met Tracy Sheridan, CEO of podcasting company Waxxi, at the inaugural Techdirt Greenhouse event in Silicon Valley earlier this year. On my two subsequent trips back to the Valley, Tracy has been instrumental in me making connections with some amazing people. She is a fiercely intelligent, giving, imaginative person. Seth Godin, the best-selling business author, recognises her for her generosity, humility, and effectiveness in his book 99 Cows: Companies That Go for the Edges. Companies such as Levi Strauss, IBM, Coca-Cola, and Microsoft have all turned to Tracy for her expertise in business strategy. Tracy has also been active with the non-profit Water Culture Network, helping to bring clean, safe water to people who need it.

Plus, she's a total babe. Years ago, Oprah did a show about looking your cutest, and how few of us really make the effort every single day to look as good as we possibly can. I only know a few women who live up to that: my high school (and beyond) best friend Karri Skaggs, my friend Amy Alkon, and Tracy Sheridan. She sets a higher standard for me to live up to, in appearances and in substance. I'm grateful for her friendship, her wisdom, and her beauty. Thank you, Tracy.

Comments

[Amy Alkon]

Thanks! That's so sweet.

The way I see it, I could be dead tomorrow, I don't want to look like crap today. Also, I see dressing up both as a form of entertainment and an exercise in self-respect.

It really takes very little to look great, even if you're on the run. You need to have a few uniforms you always look great in that you can just throw on. It's faster for me to throw on a dress and wear a little pair of kitten heels (and let me recommend Cole Haan G-series, with Nike technology -- I could run two miles in my little black pumps)...faster than pulling together some slob-wear. And you feel great.

I wear big beads and earrings, and I always buy very nice bags and shoes...never cheap ones. I've learned from the French not to buy lots and lots of clothes. Instead, I buy one or two expensive things when I'm in France -- usually by a young designer with great cuts and reasonable prices -- and the rest of the time, I buy my clothes on e-Bay (vintage jackets and beads and slightly used Michael Stars tshirts).

I buy winter clothes when they're on sale in January and summer clothes when they're on sale in August. This takes having personal style. I'm pretty much anti-trend. I retire my cowboy boots when cowboy boots are in, and the like.

I know what shapes look good on me and I've learned about "cri de coeur" -- cry of the heart, in French -- only buying stuff you absolutely love, and stuff that fits, as well. It's not a bargain if it's not your color, in other words. And when there are jackets that don't quite grab right in the waist, I get them tailored. There. Now you know all my secrets. Well, a lot of them, anyway. See what flattery will get you?

[Tracy Sheridan]

There! You've done it now. Stopped me in my tracks...not an easy feat. ;-)

I'm speechless -- thank you for your ever-kind and truly humbling words. Might I just say that you are one beauty of a beauty yourself, in every way.

What I feel is this, as much a cliche as it might sound: beauty simply comes from within. Be happy, know when to quiet your mind, move your body and feed your soul.

I think I've mentioned to you before, the youngest person I ever knew was my Swedish grandmother. She told me two things that kept with me forever: don't ever think of age as anything than just numbers, and whatever you want from this life - GO AND GET IT!

Thank *you*, Jackie. I'm grateful to have you as a friend, and to know that so much lies ahead of us. There are no coincidences in life, I believe.