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By KATE GRIP DENON
It was winter, and Patricia Russell-McCloud’s plane had
been delayed for hours. Finally arriving at her speaking
engagement with just 10 minutes to spare instead of
her usual five hours, McCloud wasn’t flustered. People
buzzed around her, offering anything to help her get
ready—tea, water, juice? “I don’t need anything,” she said. “Just give me the
mic, let me speak and I’ll be fine.” Now that’s passion.
Patricia Russell-McCloud discovers It’s this passion that shines through loud and clear at every one of McCloud’s
passionately pursuing your pupose speaking engagements. With a style de-
is the true measure of success scribed as big, broad and animated, McCloud, a professional orator based in
—and satisfaction Atlanta, speaks to more than 200,000
people annually at Fortune 500 companies and universities on topics ranging from diversity in the workplace to social
issues that effect betterment. While McCloud was one of the lucky ones who
recognized her true passion at a young age, it would take decades before
her passion and her purpose would become one and the same.
“When I was eight years old, I gave a welcome address in front of 3,000
people for the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church,” she says. “People
told me I was gifted, and I knew what I wanted to do with my life.”
McCloud continued to speak at church and other functions, and then
attended Kentucky State University where she focused on history and political science with a special interest in English and speech and drama. When
it came time to choose a career, however, McCloud decided to pursue a
law degree at Howard University. “I knew I had a proficiency for speaking
and debating and truly thought I wanted to be the next Perry Mason,” she
says. Her plans changed once again after graduation when she was hotly
