pursued to work for the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC). “I told them I didn’t know anything about telecommunications, but they were convinced I was the person, so I went to work
for them and stayed for 10 years,” she says. “Every time I tried to
leave, I was promoted.” During her 10 years with the FCC, she rose
to be chief of the complaints branch, broadcast bureau.
While from the outside it may have seemed like McCloud was sitting on top of the world professionally, she knew she would never
be a success until she pursued her real passion—speaking. To the
dismay of her friends, family and colleagues McCloud left the FCC
in 1983 and became a professional orator, launching her own business, Russell-McCloud Associates. “When I got ready to start this
business, no one, not my parents, not anyone understood what I
was about to do. I did not know any veterans or examples at that
time in this industry; and you just don’t walk away from a job like
I had when you’re at that level,” she says. “But the burning in my
psyche was to just speak, and I knew I couldn’t go wrong if I was
pursuing my passion.”
Making Passion Your Profession
Starting from scratch was a bold move to say the least, but
McCloud knew if she were following her passion, success would
come. “I knew once I put myself out there, invitations to speak
would arise,” she says. And they did. So much in fact that McCloud
now counts companies like Coca Cola, Proctor & Gamble and
General Motors Company as clients.
When you ask McCloud how she did it, however, her answer is
simply “passion.” “It was clear when I was a lawyer that at the end
of the day I wasn’t saying, ‘this was the best day of my life,’ ” she
says. “But when I was at the podium, I was soaring.”
And that was McCloud’s first inkling she was on the trail to what
could be a great profession. Even though McCloud took her leap
of faith later in her career, she has no regrets about her earlier decision to become a lawyer. “I never regretted my work prior to this
career—my studies and work were invaluable pieces that augmented my present understanding of issues,” she says.
They also give her validation—a realistic aspect of pursuing your
passion. When asked to speak to a school district in Texas, the
superintendent of schools was leery of what McCloud could bring
to the table. “He asked me in a sarcastic tone, ‘So what do you do
besides speak,” McCloud says. “I said ‘I’m a lawyer,’ ” and that
brought it home—I’m not debatable, I’m trained.” That’s why
McCloud knew she couldn’t fail at pursuing her passion. “I was
asked time and time again ‘what if you can’t make it?’” she says.
“I’m trained and I know I can do this and I’ll never look back and
wish I was still in law.”
Life is too short to pursue anything without passion,
according to Patricia Russell-McCloud, JD. “You need
to align yourself with passion so you can measure what
you’re doing, versus what you’re doing with passion,”
she says.
After years of putting her passion on the sidelines, and
then finally taking it and shaping it into a successful
business, McCloud has a few pointers for others when
it comes to pursuing passion.
Be Honest. It’s not enough to say you want to do
something. “You need introspection and a real honest
session with yourself to find out what you really want to
do,” she says. “If you can’t stand in front of 500 people,
but say you want to be a public speaker, are you being
honest with yourself as to what your true passion is?”
Prepare Yourself. From perfecting your skills to learning from others around you, pursuing passion takes
preparation. “You can’t just say ‘I completed Toastmasters, now I’m ready to be a speaker.’ ” For McCloud that
meant spending years as lawyer for the FCC before she
felt truly prepared to grab hold of her passion and step
up to the podium professionally.
Be Dedicated. “You need to remain dedicated to
your calling,” McCloud says. Even when that entails
doing grunt work. “You need to be willing to explore
places and material. Sometimes it can take me up to
one full week to find just the right humor to add to one
section of a speech.”
Broaden Your Horizons. “As a person pursuing
passion, you have to step beyond your comfort
zone—this is not about continuity,” she says. For
McCloud, that meant abandoning a successful law
career for un-chartered waters. “Whether it’s traveling
outside of the United States, attending association
meetings or sharing with other speakers, you have to
be willing to stretch.”
Be Yourself. McCloud’s speaking style is described as
big, broad and animated, but that doesn’t mean you
need to adopt a bold personality to become a professional orator or pursue your passion. “When I speak my
whole body is involved,” McCloud says. “But I’ve seen
speakers who are not animated, never raise their voice,
but they have you on the edge of your chair.”
