Rewriting the Story: From NBC Journalist to Chief Growth Officer with Heather Trumpfheller

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
  • Website: awtaustin.org 
• Switchboard – virtual volunteering platform connecting skilled volunteers with