What's going on everyone, Welcome to another edition of Confessions of a Native Son, I'm your host "IRON" Mike Steadman. I'm a Marine Corps Veteran, Entrepreneur, and Aspiring author, who enjoys thought-provoking and engaging dialogue about race, culture, and business. In the following episode, I sat down Tracey Fetherson, a former Marine logistics Officer and current MBA Student at Northwestern's Universities Kellogg School of Business. I knew of Tracy through a mutual friend and decided to reach out to her on LinkedIn to gauge her interest in being a guest on my show.  As an African-American female Marine officer, Tracey brings a perspective we've yet hear on this platform.  As challenging as it is for a black man to be a Marine officer, I can only imagine how challenging it must be for a female. I give Tracey the space to express her truth, sharing what led her to join the Marine Corps in the first place, the wall that she held up her entire time in service, and how she's using the lessons learned from her leadership experience to uplift men and women of color in her own way.  I also ask Tracey how she handled the deaths of Michael Brown and  Freddy Gray, as an active duty Marine officer, and how feels about the recent police killings of George Floyd. Tracey and I talk a lot about how important it for us to have spaces where we can feel comfortable and be vulnerable.  Over the course of our discussion, Tracey expressed thoughts, feelings, and emotion's she's never made public until now,  and for that I am truly thankful. It was pleasure to have her as a guest and I hope that you enjoy our discussion as much as I did. As always, I truly appreciate you sharing your time with me and I hope you enjoy today's show.