The Exit Isn’t the End: Mike Tracy on Purpose, Identity & Life After Selling a Business

What happens after the deal closes - when the business is no longer yours?

In this episode of Leadership Levers, Mike Tracy, founder of Omni HRM, reflects on what comes next after leading and selling a business built over 30+ years.

Unlike many founders who treat the exit as a finish line, Mike approached it differently - intentionally designing a multi-year transition to prepare for what came next.

But even with planning, the reality of stepping away brought unexpected challenges.

Mike shares:

• Why planning an “off-ramp” before the exit is critical
•  The emotional challenge of watching new owners run your business differently
•  Why relationships and networks don’t turn off after a sale
•  What he missed most and still misses about leading a team
•  How he re-engaged his time through mentoring, boards, and giving back
•  Why purpose, health, and structure matter more than ever post-exit. 

For owners thinking or approaching a transition, this conversation is a reminder: the exit is not the end of leadership...it’s the beginning of a new chapter that requires just as much intention as building the business itself.

Seeking to align your culture, boost performance & impact your bottom line? Let’s chat—no sales, just real talk about your challenges. Not ready? Join our PL3 Community for free insights & connections. 

Transcript

Welcome And Guest Setup

William Gladhart 0:00

Welcome to the Leadership Levers Podcast. I'm your host, Will Gladhart, CMO at The Culture Think Tank. At The Culture Think Tank, we empower leaders with metrics that strengthen culture, drive performance, and return. We're here today to learn about the actions leaders have taken to address organizational change. We're speaking with founders who've recently exited to understand what leadership looks like after the transaction and how identity, purpose, and leadership evolve in the first 12 to 24 months beyond ownership. Our guest today is Mike Tracy, founder, advisor, and senior consultant at Omni HRM. Thanks for taking the time to join us. Let's begin by having you share a little bit with our audience, a bit about yourself, your background, your organization, and what you're devoting your time to now.

Building Omni HRM For Small Business

Mike Tracy 0:56

Well, I'll try and make it short.

William Gladhart 0:59

So I found my busy guy, I know.

Mike Tracy 1:02

Early in my career into the HR space with some big companies, and found that it probably suited my personality the best. And having moved to Kansas City with one of those big companies, decided to scratch an entrepreneurial itch at age, I think I was 42. I had a 16-year-old, a 13-year-old, and a 10-year-old. And but if I was ever going to do something, it was then. And I, you know, my experience was small business, nonprofit churches, they don't have access to all the stuff big corporate HR departments provide their companies. Yet people are people, and everybody's got some need for something. So I set out to build a corporate HR department in 1998 and sold that in 2022. Been very blessed to build a great team, a very good corporate HR department that serves hundreds of small medium firms throughout the region. Since that time, I've kind of transitioned into other things, other interests, which we can talk about. But um, at the end of the day, my calendar is still busy. I still got a lot going on, and life's good.

William Gladhart 2:07

Yeah, I love uh thanks for sharing. I love to hear that. Uh we'll be discussing uh four questions today as a warm-up to start our conversation. What did you believe life would look like after you exited your business? And technically you're still doing some things in your business.

Designing An Off Ramp Before Exit

Mike Tracy 2:22

I I am, you know, and I tell people if I bill five hours a month with an old friend slash client, it's a busy month. Right. And and the other thing is I probably stay equally busy providing help and don't get paid for it to a lot of the organizations that I've been involved with. My uh I believe I planned what what my life was going to look like after my exit, probably about two years before I exited, and began altering, let's just say, the pie chart allocation of your time and interest in a manner that minimized my continued involvement in my company and started to reorient my time toward what I wanted to do going forward. Without getting into it, I mean I've counseled a lot of executives and a lot of people who have spent their careers 80 to 90 percent work and 20 to 10 percent other.

unknown 3:16

Right.

Mike Tracy 3:17

And if that's the distribution that you've had in your career and then it ends, you don't know how to fill that time. Right. And I uh was very intentional about having an off-ramp that lasted a few years and made preparations for it. I kind of live what I preach, uh managing it just the way I hoped.

The Shock Of Letting New Owners Lead

William Gladhart 3:35

Yeah, no, I think that's that's some really sage advice to be thinking about before, and then you know, making some intentional shifts in your timing and planning. And that kind of leads me to our next question. Uh, could you identify maybe the top three things that caught you off guard in the first 12 to 24 months following your official exit?

Mike Tracy 3:56

Sure. I think one of the things was after the sale, my arrangement did not involve an earnout because I I didn't want one. And so after the sale, I handed over the keys and let somebody else you know live in the house. Right. Now I built that house, kind of proud of that house. But when the new people come in and they want to paint it purple or they want to do things I wouldn't have done. Right. It is very it is very difficult to be supportive because I'm there to help them still, right? And not be in their business. And if they want to hire certain people and do certain things, it's their business. They bought it. And keeping my mouth shut and looking the other way was a little harder than I thought. To the extent that it's now coming on four years this year. I mean, I I think I did that well because we're all friends and and they're doing a nice job, and it's their decisions to make, not mine. And um but it's been interesting. I left them a good team, the team's still there, and they're doing a great job, the team that I had. New owners are good people. So anyway, that that probably was one of the big things that caught me off guard. The second thing is I probably spend more time just doing stuff for other people than I thought I would. Especially when you're in the HR business and people, you know, they're looking for jobs or whatever, and they want to have coffee in the network. And you don't turn off the networking because they're still friends and you're still so I think that probably took a little more of my and I don't say no. I'm not gonna say no. Right. So I think that took a little more time. You can sell a company, but you don't turn off your relationships or your connections. And I think that took a little more time. It still does, but you know what? I love it. It's great.

What He Misses And New Outlets

William Gladhart 5:38

No, I think I I think that's a that's a really good uh well, so self-awareness and acknowledgement of being able to keep yourself separate, but still being involved uh with the organization. Uh yeah, I think it would be really challenging if that was your 40-year-plus legacy, and it did turn purple overnight. So what did you miss the most that you didn't expect?

Mike Tracy 6:04

Well, I think just you know, being actively engaged in decision making, working with a team, which I still do for drinks and coffees and but mentoring, I miss uh client relationships. Right. I guess it's it's those are the things you miss. I guess it's not that I didn't expect it, but I even after this amount of time, I I still long for it a little bit.

William Gladhart 6:27

Absolutely. Well, I think that's the heart and core of the business that uh especially if you're in the people business and dealing with people challenges, it's it's really hard not to continue that. You know, you mentioned that you had started planning several years out before you really stepped away from the you know main CEO role. How did you begin to re-engage your curiosity talents or leadership in new and different ways?

Mike Tracy 6:52

I took on some additional volunteer and board roles in organizations that were of interest and important to me. And I think that helped consume some of my mental energy and time. And I've done that, I've still contained uh retained relationships with chambers and other organizations. I'm on a uh a board of directors for a small manufacturing firm. I I still have my more than my fingers involved in helping orient businesses, you know. And so that's good. And it still keeps me engaged at a level that fits my needs. Yeah. So I don't get paid for it. Like I said, the same kind of work, I don't get paid for it, but that's not right. Right. And but but I think that's a that's right.

William Gladhart 7:38

I think that's a good acknowledgement, but also a mental shift that you have to absolutely personally make of am I spending that time in that volunteer role without the expectation of compensation?

Mike Tracy 7:50

So and it's fun, and you're making a difference.

William Gladhart 7:53

Absolutely. Well, and it's no different than helping entities and businesses with uh ECJC's GMS program, which you know has kind of the same sort of flavor of that mentor mentee to be able to give back. So when you think about owners and founders who see the exit as a finish line, what would you want to share with them about the journey?

Purpose Health And The Next Chapter

Mike Tracy 8:12

I think preparing for post-finish line is a way that you enjoy what's looking forward and you're not spending time in the rear view mirror lamenting over what was. I think that is, you know, a lesson in life. But I think in terms of this retirement thing or selling your business thing, having a purpose going forward keeps you waking up, keeps you validating while you're there. And I think that's key. The the other thing I'll say, spend a little more time on your health at my age. I try to pay a lot more attention to that. I go to bed earlier, I wake up a little later, I go to the gym more often. I I try to make sure that because I'm just gonna say, you know, when you get to be in your late 60s, things happen, and and the better health you're in is the better, the faster you're gonna bounce from wherever God throws at you. And I think that's I have personally had those experiences in the last three years, and I think uh I would recommend that to anybody. Keep yourself in shape.

Retirement Plan And Closing Invite

William Gladhart 9:10

Yeah, and you know, that's that's really wise advice considering many of us entrepreneurs do, or business owners that build businesses, like do all the terrible things to themselves from stress to you know bad habits, etc., lack of sleep. As a parting thought, do you have anything else you'd like to share or add for other leaders?

Mike Tracy 9:28

I'd say uh enjoy the next chapter, plan for it, just like you planned to build a to build your business when you started.

William Gladhart 9:36

Yeah.

Mike Tracy 9:36

Is put a business plan together for your retirement. Work the plan, make sure it includes time for travel and spouse and important things, family, grandkids that you're never gonna get back. Right. That you might have discounted throughout your uh your journey building a business. Yeah, build a plan, follow the plan, and enjoy the plan.

William Gladhart 9:57

Yeah. Well, Mike, I've enjoyed having you on our Leadership Lovers podcast. Thanks so much for your insights.

Mike Tracy 10:02

You're welcome.

William Gladhart 10:03

You're welcome.

Mike Tracy 10:04

All right, my friend.

William Gladhart 10:07

Thank you for joining us on the Leadership Levers Podcast. Find all our Leadership Levers episodes on the Culture Think Tank website at www.theculture think tank.com or listen on your favorite streaming platform. We'd love to hear from you about the challenges you have faced as a leader. Tune in weekly as we invite leaders to share their experiences in strengthening culture and performance one action at a time.