Tracee Ellis Ross: Holding On to Joy In Hard Times
3/17/20261 hr 7 min
In this deeply moving — and one of our all-time favorite — conversations, we take a beautiful, funny, honest dive inside the “wonderful, dangerous” mind of Tracee Ellis Ross. As the world asks us to stay engaged without burning out, Tracee offers a powerful model for how to show up fully without losing yourself. This conversation is about love — not just romantic love, but the kind that changes everything: choosing yourself, holding fast to joy, building deep connection, and being in charge of your own life. Tracee reflects on approaching 50 and what it means to step into a new decade rooted in freedom, depth, and aliveness — not hustle. She shares the unforgettable story of her 50th birthday, standing in her mother’s dress, surrounded by her cauldron people, and singing, “I’m 50 and I’m free.” A true lighthouse moment for all of us learning how to stay whole while we show up. -Tracee’s go-to tools for quieting self-doubt and staying tethered to her truest self-How she made peace with not being everyone’s cup of tea-The story behind becoming “Fifty and Free” in her mother’s dress-Why she rejected the lie that women exist to be chosen-How to find your cauldron people — the ones who hold your fire About Tracee: Tracee Ellis Ross is an award-winning actress and producer best known for her roles in ABC’s award-winning comedy series BLACK-ISH and GIRLFRIENDS. For her role as “Rainbow Johnson” in BLACK-ISH, as a comedic leading actress, Ross won the Golden Globe Award in 2017 as well as nine NAACP Image Awards. She was nominated for five Emmys and two Critics Choice Awards. Ross is the CEO and Founder of Pattern, a haircare brand for the curly, coily and tight textured masses. Ross executive produced and narrates Hulu’s THE HAIR TALES, a docuseries about Black women, beauty and identity through the distinctive lens of Black hair. Ross will be producing a ten-episode podcast “I Am America,” which aims to break through the noise during this divided time in our country in an effort to create space and to heal. Follow We Can Do Hard Things on: Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/wecandohardthings TikTok — https://www.tiktok.com/@wecandohardthingsshow
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsGlennon Doyle· Host0:00
Welcome back to We Can Do Hard Things. One of the themes of the pod lately, and our work always, I think, has been how do we stay engaged and active in the world, and how do we do that while holding fast to our joy? I've been thinking about that a lot lately as I approach my 50th birthday. I've been thinking about what I want for this next decade, that I want to be engaged. I want to be part of world-changing, but I do not want to be part of hustle culture. I just want freedom and joy and depth and connection, and every time I think about those things in particular, I think about Tracee Ellis Ross. I have this one image of Tracee that's, like, branded into my brain, and it was her at her 50th birthday party, which was incredible. She threw it for herself. She was surrounded by her biological family, her chosen family, all of these people who love her and have been loved by her. And when she stood up in front of us in her mother's beautiful dress, she grabbed a microphone, and she sang I'm 50 and I'm Free, while she was just surrounded by these people that you know if you have listened to her speak on our pod, the people that she calls her cauldron people, because she has this idea that we were all mixed in a specific batch of the cauldron.