167: Creating a Sense of Belonging with Your Audience with Traci Baxley, Ed.D.

Whether you’re presenting online or in person, to any size audience, creating a sense of belonging with your audience builds trust and contributes to their learning experience.

My guest Traci Baxley, Ed.D. calls herself a “belonging advocate” and she walks her talk.

In this episode, Traci and I talk about:

• Specific belonging practices you can use for in-person and online
• Why your own vulnerability is the key - and how to do this
• How Traci thinks about her role as a speaker
• How Traci gets speaking engagements
• Both Traci and I share stories of belonging from when we were young

About My Guest: Dr. Traci Baxley is a consultant, coach, and speaker, helping moms live intentional lives, grounded in compassion, open dialogue and social engagement for the betterment of themselves, their children, and humanity.

Traci has been an educator for almost 30 years with degrees in child development, literacy and curriculum & instruction. Her work is in the areas of belonging, diversity and inclusion, anti-bias curriculum and racial identity.

As a belonging advocate and mother of 5 biracial children (one child with ADHD, one diagnosed with anxiety and another who battles depression) Traci has navigated the space of parenting and applies her professional knowledge and personal experiences in her heart-centered coaching approach to support moms on their parenting journey.

She is the creator of Social Justice Parenting™, a parenting philosophy that moves families from fear-based parenting to parenting from a place of radical love, for themselves, their children, and humanity. She also uses her BELONG framework to work with transracial families, specifically white mothers raising black and biracial children, to create bicultural homes and nurture positive racial identity.

Traci has been featured on numerous podcasts, facilitated workshops and given keynote talks, including a TEDx talk on Social Justice Parenting™ where she offers her grounding ROCKS framework for all parenting: Reflection, Open-dialogue, Compassion, Kindness & Social Engagement.

About Us: The Speaking Your Brand podcast is hosted by Carol Cox. At Speaking Your Brand, we help women entrepreneurs and professionals create their signature talks and gain more visibility to achieve their goals. Our mission is to get more women in positions of influence and power: on stages, in businesses, on boards, in the media, in politics, and in our communities. Check out our coaching programs at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com.

Links:

Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/167

Traci’s website: https://tracibaxley.com/

Sign up for our free #ChoosingWomensVoices challenge: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/challenge

Get our LinkedIn for Speakers online masterclass at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/linkedin.

Connect on LinkedIn:

• Carol Cox = https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolcox
• Traci Baxley (guest) = https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracibaxley/

Related Podcast Episodes:

• Episode 54: Building a Culture of Trust with Your Team and Audience with Dr. Laura Gallaher
• Episode 82: How to Create an Emotional Connection with Your Audience with Leanne Kabat [Coaching]
• Episode 162: Why We’re #ChoosingWomensVoices – and You Should Too with Carol Cox and Diane Diaz

Become Bookable Live Online Workshop - April 15, 2026
If you want to speak more but you’re not sure where to start or your efforts haven’t produced the results you want, I’m hosting a live online workshop called “Become Bookable: How to Get Speaking Invitations” on Wednesday, April 15th.

A lot of brilliant women assume they just need to pitch themselves more. But the real reason speakers get invited isn’t because they pitch harder — it’s because they’re positioned as bookable.

In this 3-hour interactive workshop live on Zoom, I’ll show you how speakers actually get invited — and help you clarify the positioning that makes event organizers say yes.

As a podcast listener, use the coupon code “Podcast100” to save $100 on your registration.

Learn more and register at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/bookable