Tracy Walder has been curious her whole life. That’s how she wound up working in the CIA, hiding in car trunks, working under aliases and ultimately protecting her country.
On this week’s episode of the Start With a Win podcast, Walder joins RE/MAX Holdings CEO Adam Contos to share anecdotes from her high-intensity occupation and tell the story of how she ended up in that profession.
Walder was a college student and sorority member at the University of Southern California when she attended a career fair. Little did she know that a conversation at the CIA booth would lead to an impactful career, book deal and, now, life as a professor of criminal justice.
Coming from an adventurous family of military veterans, Walder gravitated to a career path that stepped outside the norm. The tenacious “introverted extrovert,” as she describes herself, took interest in international conflict from a young age, which fueled her passion for working undercover for the government.
“People want this sort of formula … It’s actually really about your soft skills,” she explains.
These soft skills, like empathy and being a good listener, are critical not just for intelligence gathering but all occupations. According to Walder, these types of applicable skills made her more adept for a career with the CIA than any other knowledge.
Understanding her own journey of identifying her calling in life, Walder now works as a professor of criminal justice at Texas Christian University and teaches national security curriculum at a local high school.
Tune in to this week’s podcast episode to hear more about understanding opposition and working through judgment from Walder.
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Written by RE/MAX News
