Hi Reader,

Tami Smith fell in love with psychology in high school, discovering the field of industrial organizational psychology. She defined a career path with a clear plan to get her PhD in her chosen field.

It didn't work out as she had planned. And, she had no Plan B.

In episode 307, Tami and I discuss her journey and the realization that, despite not achieving a PhD as she had planned, she reached the same destination as a practitioner of the discipline she’d hoped to study.

Tami also shares how she raised four children while pursuing executive roles, why she tells women to "do it anyway," what she means when she says she brings her own weather into a room, and how she eventually returned to school for a master’s degree in leadership at Georgetown University. As she puts it, she got there. It was just the long route.

In this week's episode 307 the main point is this.

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Every PhD Program Said No. She Got There Anyway

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Tami Smith finished her psychology degree in three years so she could get to a PhD program in industrial organizational psychology faster. In episode 307 she explains how she applied to every doctoral program in the country, only nine or ten at the time, and every one of them said no. She had no Plan B. What happened next didn’t follow her original plan, but it took her exactly where she wanted to go: a 25-year federal HR career across seven agencies, all the way to the executive level, practicing the very discipline she’d hoped to study. Today she’s bringing that practitioner’s instinct to The Wilderness Society, a 91-year-old conservation nonprofit. This is a story about what happens when Plan A falls through, and why the long route can still lead to a fulfilling career.

Who This Is For

• Anyone who’s heard a hard "no" on a goal they planned everything around and is wondering what comes next
• Early-career professionals who feel their path has drifted away from the plan they started with
• HR and people leaders moving between organizations of very different sizes, sectors, or missions
• Working parents, especially women, weighing a big career move while their kids are still young
• Leaders who want to understand how their presence shapes the mood of every room they walk into

Five Key Takeaways

1. A closed door can change your route without changing your destination. Tami earned her Masters in Leadership, but never earned the PhD she coveted. Once she led enterprise HR she was practicing industrial organizational psychology every day through organizational culture, employee engagement, performance management, and HR strategy.
2. Opportunity often travels through people, even toward a door you swore you’d never open. Tami told a colleague "absolutely not" to federal work. That colleague passed her resume to her father at the U.S. Department of Commerce, and it launched a 25-year career.
3. If no one hands you a development path, build one. Within six months of starting as a special assistant, Tami designed her own rotational program and spent six years working through the core technical areas of HR.
4. Make the job bend to your boundaries. Tami earned her first HR directorship when her youngest of four children was two. Her advice to women holding back because their kids are young: do it anyway. Leadership starts with leading yourself, knowing your values, and advocating for what you need.
5. You bring your own weather. A leader’s demeanor sets the tone for everyone in the room. Tami ties executive presence to emotional intelligence: understanding your impact on others and using it as a gift to them.

Is Your Team Ready for AI?

Stay fulfilled,
Bernie Borges
Founder: The Fulfilled@Work Academy™
Host, Life Fulfilled Podcast

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