Tracey Brown 2018 Transcript

To see this interview in full, click here.

Freed: This is Steve Freed with Diabetes in Control and we’re here at the 78th Science Sessions at the American Diabetes Association. And we’ve been doing interviews with a number of medical people and non-medical people. And today, we have a real special guest with us Tracey Brown, who’s actually the new CEO for the American Diabetes Association. And I have to thank you for taking from your busy schedule to meet with us and we’ll try to make this quick and easy. So, my first question to you is tell us a little bit about yourself.

Brown: So, certainly, but let me start, Steve, by just thanking you for taking the opportunity to spend time to get to know me and a little bit about what I’m planning for the future. But I have been a type 2 diabetic for about 14 years and I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and probably with that diagnosis, didn’t take it as seriously as I probably should have. And I remember every day my daughter would be with me watching me take my insulin, watching me prick my finger. She was about five years old. One day, she looked up at me and said, “Mommy, are you going to die of diabetes?” And that was actually the turning point for me, Steve. I decided at that moment and at that time I was going to make two commitments. The first commitment was to get my act together and actually really start managing this disease. And I said that I wanted to actually be the poster child of how to thrive with this disease until we found a cure. And then, the second commitment that I made was that I was going to do everything that I possibly could do help find a cure in my lifetime. And I am 50 years old now and I hope this is just the halfway point of my lifetime, but I’m not giving up on that.

And so, this journey for me has actually come full circle. I believe that I have this disease as a part of my purpose. And I believe that when you can get purpose, passion, and position aligned, great things can happen. I’ve been extremely passionate about fighting this disease, about helping people thrive with this disease, and doing everything that we can do to find a cure. And now, when I take my purpose and my passion and align it with this particular position of CEO, it’s fantastic. And so, all of the experience and skill sets that I have amassed over the last 30 years in the for-profit space will now be able to be applied to what we’re doing here to drive, not only this organization forward, but there are millions of people, like me and like you, who are counting on us finding a cure and counting on us providing the education and the support necessary for us to live better until we find a cure.

Freed: What is your background? Because I know you’re not in the medical field.

Brown: No. So, I am a chemical engineer. I started my career on the lab benches at Procter and Gamble actually developing soap. In fact, if you’ve used Clear Ivory dish washing liquid that was kind of the thing that I worked on. But I had a great mentor there who basically said, “You not only understand how to develop these products, you also have a great business mind. And it would be great to have someone on the business side of our organization who actually knows how to make these products.” And so, that was the entry point for me. I said, “Well, what do I have to do?” He’s like, “I think you should be a brand manager,” I was like, “All right. What do I need to do that?” and he said, “You need your MBA.” So, I went back. I took a leave of absence. I went back to get my MBA and I went to Columbia Business School with the thought that I would actually go back to Procter and Gamble. I graduated with my MBA in the late 90s. Jobs were aplenty. Jobs were particularly aplenty for those with a technical degree with their business degree. And so, I didn’t end up going back. I had developed a passion for international business while I was in school. And so, I went to work for Exxon Company International.

And from there, Steve, I worked in a variety of places. I did supply and transportation, strategic finance, aviation, marketing, corporate strategy, just a whole host of things while I was there. And from Exxon, ended up going to work for several other corporate companies, (such as) American Express. I developed a strong, with my quantitative background, interest in data and how to use data to drive in businesses and how to use data to connect with people. That led me to working in a large host of organizations trying to help them amass their data and actually use it as a competitive advantage. So, I did that for Dell, I did that for Advanced Micro Devices. And then, I took a hard right turn and went to go work for an advertising agency. So, the CEO of an advertising agency but at that time basically there were a lot of clients across all industries trying to figure out how do you use big data, how do you take the data and make smarter business decisions, how do you actually take data to connect and relate with people. And so, I’ve kind of been on this journey.

My last role before taking this job was with Walmart Sam’s Club, where again I was their Chief Member and Marketing Officer really helping them how to develop loyalty with members. And then. I had the opportunity to move over and become our Chief Experience Officer there, where I was working across our 650 clubs across the country, really trying to figure out how do you create a better experience, a better connection, better engagement with folks who are actually shopping in the club. So, it’s kind of an interesting windy way to this current job. But again, I think everything happens for a reason and I’m really, really excited to take what I’ve applied in my previous jobs right here at the ADA.

Freed: All I can say is wow.

Brown: Yeah.

Freed: But I’m still a little confused. I still don’t see how you got to here. You were in corporations and retail, and so many other things. Somehow you got to the American Diabetes Association and they chose you to become CEO.

Brown: Yes.

Freed: There’s got to be some kind of relationship there.

Brown: Well, so the relationships goes back to the fact that I am a diabetic. And so, I don’t know if you’re familiar with, Steve, in the Northwest Arkansas area, one of the ADA’s biggest events is this gala, that is called the Kiss a Pig Gala. I was the 2017 candidate for the Kiss a Pig Gala. And basically the idea is I represented Sam’s Club, Walmart, against 10 other competitors where we are competing against who can fund raise the most money. And the honor, which I had this backwards, the honor is to actually kiss the pig. I was thinking the person who raised the most money wouldn’t have to kiss the pig, so I had it backwards. Nonetheless, I won that competition and I raised more money than any prior competitor in the history of the event. I raised about $300,000 for the American Diabetes Association. My tenure, ever since I made that commitment of thriving with diabetes, I’ve always taken the opportunity to tell my story unapologetically. I’ve always taken the opportunity to educate as many people as I possibly could. And so, my footprint of all of those jobs that I have had always has a component of diabetes in educating and/or fund raising. I became a member of the National Board of the ADA in 2017, the end of 2017. And so, that is where the closer connection to the national organization came. And again, from my seat on the board, lots of thoughts and ideas about how to continue to accelerate this organization. One conversation led to another and here I am.

Freed: Well, it sounds like you’re very knowledgeable, certainly to help the ADA gain funds and hopefully find a cure. But maybe — I’m sure you have plans. I know you’re the type of person that had this all figured out before you took the job even. So, what are your plans for the ADA? What’s going to make your position there different from the last 100 years?

Brown: Yes. Well, my hashtag right now, Steve, is #23days. I’ve only been on the chair for 23 days. And so, I definitely have a plan but the first part of this plan was to really come in and listen, listen and learn. This is a nearly 80-year organization with a rich heritage. There are lots of smart talented people in the organization. And one of the things I’ve learned over my 30-year career is, start by trying to understand, seek to understand first. And so, I fundamentally believe God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason. And so, I’m on a bit of a listening tour and I’m going to continue to be on this listening tour for about 30 days.

Also, one of the things that I’m passionate about, and I know just from my own experience, Steve, is this disease is still very misunderstood. People just don’t know enough about it. They don’t understand the complications that come with it. There is a lot of stigma still associated with this disease. And so, education and reaching out into the community. And what I say is those of us who actually know what this disease is about we have to wake up the rest of the world. I still feel like the world is still sleeping a bit on exactly what this disease is and its impact. So, what I can tell you, while I am still listening, and I’m going to be very thoughtful before putting together a strategy, here are a couple of things that I do know: education, awareness, and a strong link to the community is a must. The second thing is we have to find a cure. Research has to still be a part of what we do and who we are. It’s a part of our DNA; we were started by  scientists and doctors. The third thing that I know without a shadow of a doubt, Steve, is that this disease, the size and the scale of this epidemic is bigger than any one entity. If it were easy to solve, I believe that a particular entity probably would have solved it by now. So, collaborating and partnering, I think is the only way forward. It is going to take multiple stakeholders in this ecosystem for us to find a cure and for us to actually unleash the kind of education and knowledge that is needed to actually help the millions of us who are living with this disease thrive. So, those are three things that I know, education and awareness, research, and collaboration with other partners. Now, of course you mentioned this: fundraising, it’s a must. We actually have to have funds in order to fulfill this mission. So, of course that will be a basis of what we are continuing to do going forward as well.

Freed: And I wanted to share with you because you’re so new into this field, and I’ve been doing it for 20 years, and that is, and you’ll find this out, people that are involved with diabetes, medical professionals that work with patients, they have a passion for what they do. Being a certified diabetes educator, you’ll see that every single one of them really has a true passion to help other people. And that’s great, working with people like that because it’s not just about generating income and becoming rich. It’s all about helping other people.

Brown: Well, actually on this listening tour one of the things that I have just continued to be blown away by is just the level of commitment and conviction of the associates at the ADA. I mean, being able to work with a group of talented people who are so committed to the cause and so committed to helping has been phenomenal. And then a part of my own leadership DNA is to try and live my life as a servant leader. So, again, this is just — not that I needed a shot in the arm but this is definitely a shot in the arm.

Freed: So, being in the position you’re at, how do you feel about maintaining your control, your diabetes control?

Brown: So, again, having your five-year-old daughter look you in the eyes and ask you if you’re going to die, there’s nothing like that. And so, I have been maintaining my diabetes. In fact, I have — again, as a type 2, I have the ability to do this: I’ve worked my way off of insulin. I’ve cut my medication, the pills that I were on, in half. And my A1Cs right now are six. And so, I’m doing everything that I need to do to try and maintain because I want to be here, Steve, to find that cure. I’m not giving up on that statement that I made that I’d like to in my lifetime have a cure for this disease. So, I’m going to do everything in my power to maintain.

Freed: Having you sitting here where I can give you all of my ideas that I’ve generated over the years and you don’t have the time for it. I’d love the opportunity to sit down with you and talk. I have a firm belief that it’s not about the 30 million with diabetes or the 10% of pre-diabetes. It’s really about pre-diabetes because there’s almost a 100 million people. Right now we have 30 million. If we get to 130 million, that’ll destroy our country as far as medical expenses.

Brown: That’s exactly right.

Freed: It’s important that the ADA really looks into this. My thought is that in order to file your taxes, you have to have an A1C, and then we can find the 90% of the people that don’t know they even have it.

Brown: That’s exactly right. I mean, that’s — like it’s hard to even compute. This is what I mean by waking up the rest of the world. People really need to understand what we’re dealing with here. And to your point, $327 billion this disease costs us, $327 billion, and it’s going to continue to rise unless and until we can reach that 90% who have no idea and get them focused on management right now.