HEALTHY AMBITION
A proven framework designed to help elite companies and their leaders sustainably close the performance gap between where they are today and where they want to be without sacrificing what matters most.
SPEAKER
AUTHOR
COACH
PODCAST HOST
Today’s elite organizations aren’t just asking “What’s next?” They’re asking, “How can we get to what’s next without sacrificing what matters most?” They know that scaling excellence requires more than just effort; it demands a new kind of ambition.
Healthy Ambition is the essential framework that teaches leaders how to close the gap between high-functioning and next-level performance, without sacrificing culture, creativity, or well-being.
“…Traci brought the human element back into the room. Fireside chats, panels, and keynotes are all great, but Traci took the focus off the stage and helped us look inside ourselves."
- Cameron Magee, Owner, Avad3 Event Production
The best aren’t content with good - They’re always reaching for Great.
But getting to the next level shouldn't come at the expense of clarity, culture, or capacity.
In a world that rewards constant hustle, Healthy Ambition offers a smarter path—one that fuels exceptional performance, energizes teams, and unlocks untapped potential without sacrificing what matters most.
It’s not about doing more. It’s about doing the right things, in the right way, with the right mindset.
When you align who you are with how you lead and the impact you’re here to create, everything changes:
Your performance sharpens.
Your teams thrive.
Your results accelerate.
This is the mindset shift that elite organizations are making.
This is Healthy Ambition.
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As someone who’s attended and organized hundreds of events, I know what I’m looking for in a great presenter. It’s a mix of personality, experience, insight and storytelling that leads to heads nodding, waves of laughter and the deep sighs of realization. It’s rare to find a speaker you don’t worry about accomplishing this. But Traci Barrett is one of those unique individuals who is both engaging and brutally honest in all the best ways. Get her on your stage; your audience will thank you.”
-Carl Smith, Owner, Bureau of Digital
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“Traci is a powerhouse of a human being and her approach, content, and delivery style are unmatched. If you are looking for someone to help transform the thinking of your audience, she is the speaker for you! Be prepared for a whole new way of thinking about work and life and how they are connected at the most basic level. To create a life you love is to also do work you love. Highly recommend Traci!“
- AJ Vaden, CEO & Co-Founder Brand Builders Group
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“Through various local, regional, and global roles in the Entrepreneurs’ Organization, I have worked with many speakers and Traci exemplifies professionalism in every aspect. She was prepared, on time, present in the moment. She was an exceptional speaker on stage, communicating clearly with right amount of energy and relatability. Traci has great stories taken from her days at HGTV, her work with key clients and businesses, and her own life journey. She not only encourages professional growth but personal growth as well. Traci far exceeded our expectations.”
-Tom McManus, Learning Chair, EO: Entrepreneurship Organization
“Our Women in Business mission is to inform, inspire and support the women in our community in their professional and personal growth. I cannot think of another message as relevant and applicable as the one Traci presented for our first women’s luncheon of the year as we strive to thrive in ’25! She challenged us in so many ways encouraging each of us to become driven by the right things! I have already begun to flip the script of my mindset to find myself in a greater purpose where I can put my fingerprints on great things.”
Leigh Williams, 2025 Chair of Williamson, Inc.’s Women in Business Program and Executive Director of Williamson Health Foundation
Watch Traci In Action
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Traci is a respected thought leader and dynamic international speaker. She is known for her engaging messages, positive energy, and relatable humor. She is an entrepreneur at heart, having been a founder of two successful companies, including HGTV: Home & Garden Television. Each talk is tailored for your audience and delivered through experience and expertise learned from her years as a business leader and executive coach, as well as her extensive training in psychology, emotional intelligence, and team dynamics.
Traci's business consulting firm, Navigate the Journey, also offers strategic planning sessions, team-building workshops, team retreats, and life-mapping workshops.
Healthy ambition
How leaders achieve their full potential without sacrificing what matters most
Next-Level Leadership
Redefining Ambition for the Modern Leader
RUN YOUR BUSINESS, OWN YOUR LIFE
For Business Owners, Entrepreneurs, Leaders of Start-ups
Freedom to scale
Healthy Ambition for Entrepreneurs Who Want More, On Their Terms
TRusted by
What if there’s more? Finding Significance Beyond Success
By Traci Schubert Barrett
The book for leaders and achievers who sense there’s another level waiting.
What happens when success isn’t the final destination, but just the starting point for something deeper?
As a founding executive behind the launch of HGTV, Traci Schubert Barrett helped turn a bold idea into a billion-dollar brand. On paper, it was everything she had worked for: status, recognition, impact. But years into the climb, she faced a new question: What if there’s more?
In this bestselling book, Traci invites high-achieving leaders, entrepreneurs, and professionals to reexamine what success really means and to discover a more fulfilling path forward. Drawing from her own journey and decades of executive coaching, she shares a powerful framework for finding clarity, purpose, and renewed momentum without burning out or starting over.
What If There’s More? isn’t about leaving success behind; it’s about expanding it.
It’s for anyone ready to lead with deeper intention, unlock their next level, and design a life and career where performance and purpose go hand in hand.
If you’ve ever achieved what you thought you wanted and still felt something was missing, this book is your next step.
Available Now!
Praise FOR WHAT IF THERE’S MORE?
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“Traci puts a voice to what so many successful leaders have secretly wondered...what if I stepped off the treadmill? Will I be happier? What is next? Or to borrow from the Reba hit Is There Life Out There? Her thoughtful insights provide a framework to think proactively about transition.”
-Sarah Trahern, CEO, Country Music Association
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“If you're thinking about what comes next in your career and your life, you'll benefit from Traci's insights and recommendations in this practical guide for navigating your future and finding more meaning. Traci knows what it's like to have a successful career but to feel that something is missing, because she's been there. For nearly 30 years as a friend and as a colleague at HGTV, I've benefited from Traci's advice and guidance, and now others can too.“
-Burton Jablin, Co-Founder HGTV & Former COO Scripps Networks
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“This book is like a mentor in your pocket. But not just any mentor - Traci presents a practical framework for moving forward when you're feeling stuck. It's not full of platitudes and empty advice. Instead, it's packed with helpful tools and ways of thinking that guide you toward setting an actionable vision for a future you actually want. It's about ensuring you're intentional about where you're going. Instead of just letting it happen to you. Every leader needs this book.”
-Nancy Lyons, Author of Work Like a Boss & CEO, Clockwork
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“I loved this book; Traci has tapped into a deep yearning among a lot of “successful people” to add a sense of significance to their life. The writing offers a humane and practical guide for thinking through what your next life can be and the meaningful things that you can still accomplish. I’m very glad to have this book as a starting point for my own journey.”
-John Dailey, Senior Vice President, Warner Brothers Discovery
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“Traci’s incredibly hopeful book comes at the perfect time, given how COVID has unraveled our relationships to work. She urges us to ask soul questions: What is this treadmill I’m on? Is there more to my life than work? What does purpose look like for me? Then she gives us processes to find answers. This is a wisdom book for the ages.”
-Susan Packard, author of Fully Human and New Rules of the Game
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“After years of knowing what’s next, it can be scary when something doesn’t feel right anymore, or when we are uncertain what our next move should be. Traci has traveled that path and wrestled with all those questions. With this book, she is now your guide to clarity on who you really are and what you have been uniquely designed to do. This book is a guide to redefining success on your own terms and discovering the life you were meant to live.”
-Christine Olson, Senior Vice President, A&E Networks
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“So many of us think, what would I do if I left my job, got laid off, or wanted to chase my true passion? The reality is most people are too scared to do what Traci had the courage to do. Thankfully in this book she shares her formula to tackle our fears and create the strategy for personal fulfillment and success. Traci’s guidance and tutelage enables us to realize our real dreams!”
-Lynne Levey, Senior Vice President, Paramount
DISCOVER HEALTHY AMBITION & A LIFE OF IMPACT
strategic life map™
A framework that guarantees to bring you the CLARITY, DIRECTION, and ACTION PLAN you need.
We know we want work and a life that we love but are uncertain how to get there. Strategic Life Map will help you not only unlock the answers but design a life you want - one that matters not only to you but to those around you as well.
Discover a framework for identifying your purpose, unearthing what matters to you most, and living a healthy, intentional life. It's time to find confidence in who you are and commit to a purpose-driven life.
Signs you need a Strategic Life Map
✔ You feel you are on autopilot, letting life live you
✔ You are at a crossroads and want to get unstuck
✔ You lack clarity on long-term vocational direction
✔ You have sold your business and want a plan for the next chapter
✔ You long to make a bigger impact with your work
✔ You’ve been going through the motions and need a life reset
✔ You want to fall back in love with what you do
“Traci is a calming, trusted partner who creates a thoughtful, safe environment to unpack the dizzying challenges of running a company: from identifying and working to repair friction points in culture and management to winnowing away the plethora distractions to a winning, pointed strategy. Sharpen your mind, your company, and your future with Traci and the Navigate the Journey team.”
-Dusty Gulleson
CEO, eResources
“Traci Barrett has the experience and wisdom to guide you through the labyrinth that is professional development alongside running a business. Her coaching has given me the tools I need to show up as both the leader I'm expected to be and the person I want to be. I'm always grateful for her perspective and guidance.”
-Jason Clark
CEO Via Studio
“Working with Traci was an investment in myself that I will always cherish and often reference as I continue down my path of personal development. Traci is a very powerful coach; with her special recipe of patience, intuition, and genuine interest in my quest to live my best life, she led me to finally take the steps I had been wanting to make. Traci is one of kind and a pro!”
-Matty May
Vice President, ViacomCBS
PRESIDENT & CO-founder
After spending over 20 years in the television and advertising industry, Traci decided to merge her decades of experience leading, strategizing, managing and mentoring by starting the business consulting firm Navigate the Journey.
Navigate the Journey is a group of passionate experts who help you scale your business, grow the health and alignment of your team, and create great leaders. We bring decades of combined executive leadership experience, outside objectivity, and powerful, trusted processes to help owners and their teams focus and grow their businesses.
NTJ’s goal is to help entrepreneurial leaders and companies make a positive impact while getting what they want from their businesses and lives.
What does it mean to be human in the workplace?
Traci Barrett of Navigate the Journey and Rob Harr of Sparkbox have candid conversations, give practical advice, and share relatable examples around this important question. They discuss a wide range of topics, wrestling through finding the balance between growing a profitable business and sustaining a healthy culture.
It’s not just about business—it’s personal, too!
