Meet Nicole Spracale | Executive Coach/Consultant & Fractional CXO

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nicole Spracale and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nicole, what role has risk played in your life or career?

One of my favorite risk-taking adages has always been, “nothing ventured, nothing gained.” And that really sums up my approach to risk-taking. While you aren’t likely to find me jumping out of a plane, I do have a very high-risk tolerance when it comes to my life choices and career moves. I’m comfortable living in ambiguity and will jump into opportunities that may not guarantee a soft landing. Looking back at my life thus far, I can say that the result personally and professionally has been the reward of a rich group of friends and colleagues across disciplines, industries, experiences, and geographies that I know I can call upon anytime for ideas and support. I have learned resilience, how to be scrappy, and how to think quickly on my feet because of the pace of start-ups and entrepreneurship demands of me.

Perhaps the biggest lesson is learning how to fail fast, rally for help, and savor the wins. While high-risk tolerance has been part of my DNA for as long as I can remember, when I first left corporate and went out on my own, I allowed the emotional side of risk to overly color my behaviors. When things went well, I got lazy, and when things went poorly, I either got depressed or worse; I overcompensated, working twice as hard to correct instead of learning to walk away.

Today, I am still incredibly tolerant of risk and open to anything and everything that comes my way! I’ve learned how to remove emotion from that (for the most part). Fear of failing has been replaced by an appreciation that failing fast is a good thing – it frees you up to learn and move on. Savoring a win is a discipline built on figuring out what you can duplicate and expand upon to make it even better the next day. Perhaps best of all, I look at risk-taking as the catalyst that has provided me a foundation for a professional and personal life that makes me excited to get up each day and never feel like it’s a “Monday.”

What should our readers know about your business?

I’m a business coach and fractional CXO for start-ups, early-stage, and fast-growth companies. I take the approach of looking at purpose and values with my clients and then aligning that to their operations when creating the processes and programs we are going to implement. That focus on purpose and values alignment is a differentiator in my space. The other thing that sets me apart is that I am also a co-founder of a start-up. I actively practice what I preach and understand first-hand what new companies are facing, which means they can’t hide things from me.

I spent the first half of my career in corporate. I was fortunate to have great mentors and leaders who exposed me to many sides of the business beyond my initial discipline of human resources. When I left, I had a plethora of knowledge and experience in operations, marketing, and sales. I parlayed my institutional knowledge and work as an internal business coach into my private practice. Along the way, I engaged with other entrepreneurs to start a few different business concepts. This helped me learn tough lessons; making me a better coach for others and providing additional insights.

I look at my career as a mid-point. I built a solid foundation, and there is a great road ahead of me that I have yet to discover. I’m excited to see what opportunities will unfold in the future, and I know my story still has many more chapters to be written. Cheers to the best days ahead – and lots of fun as we all live them.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

To See / To Do;

– Sedona
– Taliesin West
– Prescott
– Whiskey Row
– Farmers Market (Old town Scottdale or Gilbert)

To Eat:

– Breakfast: Otro Cafe or Hash Kitchen
– Dinner: Lure or Vincitorio’s
– Drinks: The Ostrich
– Must have: Los Dos Molinos

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Family is everything, and I am blessed to have an amazing one. My husband and daughter are the center of my world, and my extended family is the glue that has kept everything together through the years.

Website: ww.w.nicolespracale.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/nspracale

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/nspracale

Twitter: www.twitter.com/nspracale

Image Credits
Karianne Munstedt