In this episode of Clover, I sit down with fellow Austinite, community builder, and multi-pivot queen Heather Trumpfheller for a conversation that hits on career, identity, sobriety, boundaries, and what it really means to build community with intention.We talk about:Her winding career path & permission to pivotGrowing up a storytelling-obsessed kid in Dallas, studying broadcast journalism at Mizzou, and working at an NBC stationThe scary identity shift of leaving journalism, trying PR, and then being “discovered” in the...
In this episode of Clover, I sit down with fellow Austinite, community builder, and multi-pivot queen Heather Trumpfheller for a conversation that hits on career, identity, sobriety, boundaries, and what it really means to build community with intention.
We talk about:
- Her winding career path & permission to pivot
- Growing up a storytelling-obsessed kid in Dallas, studying broadcast journalism at Mizzou, and working at an NBC station
- The scary identity shift of leaving journalism, trying PR, and then being “discovered” in the Central Market checkout line and pushed into sales
- Working 11 years for the same leader, getting moved to Boston, and realizing she had outgrown a company she deeply loved
- That “make it obvious” moment & walking away from misalignment
- The gut-check prayer the morning she asked for a sign to quit
- The wild 1:1 where her boss suggested a new role and she realized the real answer was: “I quit.”
- How she took six months to get clear on her values, not her job title
- Networking, mentorship & operationalizing relationships (without feeling icky)
- Why you should never wait until you need a job to start networking
- Building “relationship capital” with systems: calendar-blocked Friday follow-ups, notes on people, and being intentional about second-degree connections
- Her take on mentorship as seasonal, specific, and often most powerful outside your current company
- How to make a compelling outreach ask that actually gets answered
- Sobriety, boundaries & redefining worth beyond achievement
- Hitting her two-year sober anniversary and realizing how much she’d been numbing with alcohol
- Recognizing when your self-worth is tied to numbers, titles, and likability
- Using how you feel after events and interactions as data to set better boundaries
- Why she now sees boundaries as a gift—to herself and to the people around her
- Leading Austin Women in Tech & building true community
- Moving to Austin not knowing anyone and finding Austin Women in Tech through a random Meetup
- Starting as membership director, then becoming president, and helping grow the org to hundreds of members
- What it’s like to motivate and lead in a volunteer-only environment
- Why volunteering is a low-risk way to practice leadership, test new skills, and expand your network
- Her current work: community, referrals & women-owned businesses
- Her role as Chief Growth Officer at Switchboard, a platform connecting skilled virtual volunteers with global mission and ministry organizations
Switchboard+1 - Her work with What She Said and the RFRL app, a referral platform that routes everyday recommendations (CPAs, lawyers, favorite coffee shops) to women-owned businesses and rewards the people making referrals
What She Said, Inc.+1 - Why she believes abundance follows alignment—and how these roles line up perfectly with the life she actually wants
- Influence without the title
- How to lead before you have the formal authority
- Why influence isn’t always the loudest person or the biggest title—it’s consistency, clarity, and alignment
Links & resources mentioned:
- Connect with Heather on LinkedIn
- Austin Women in Tech (AWT) – the nonprofit community Heather led as president
- Switchboard – virtual volunteering platform connecting skilled volunteers with
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