Today we’d like to introduce you to Traci S. Campbell.
Traci is a social entrepreneur, author, speaker, and IT consultant. This dynamic woman is the founder of three amazing organizations including the BIBO Awards (Beauty In / Beauty Out), The C.H.A.M.P. Community Project, and The BIBO Foundation, a 501c3 organization which helps disadvantaged women in transitioning from homelessness, domestic violence and/or transitioning to a new career or business path as well as launching a STEM-based initiative for young women.
The BIBO Awards started as a special project under the C.H.A.M.P. Community Project organization that she founded in 2010. C.H.A.MP stands for “Character, Happiness, Attitude, Mentality and Purpose”. The C.H.A.M.P. Community Project is a 501c3 organization based on her book “The C.H.A.M.P. Within”, which highlights the challenges she and her mom faced in a struggling single parent household. This poignant book offers a clear explanation of the driving force behind Traci’s passion, mission, and the work of BIBO and CH.A.M.P. It became a successful book and workbook program that has helped youth and single parents in Illinois, Georgia, and Nairobi, Kenya.
Traci grew up in an impoverished and crime-ridden area on the west side of Baltimore and was the product of a single parent home. Traci and her mother, Marie McKnight, struggled financially but, to survive, they worked as a team; not just as a mother and daughter. At a young age, Traci credits her mother for instilling in her what she likes to call the three “R’s”: responsibility, resourcefulness, and resiliency. As a result, Traci excelled in the schools in her local area. She had the support of teachers, her principal, and her mother who doggedly fought school zoning laws at the time and fiercely protected Traci from neighborhood predators. Traci was eventually able to enroll in a “gifted and talented” program at a school outside of the challenged area where she and her mom resided; where Traci had the ability to interact with kids and families very different from those who occupied the challenged area she called home.
Ultimately, that led to college prep and then on to many experiences that most other kids from her area did not have the chance to experience.
As a teen, Traci worked to help pay bills and shoulder some of the financial “load” that her mother carried. Working from age 14, she held positions as a hostess in a formal dining room, modeling print work for local catalogs and worked retail in high-end women’s clothing ads, all before she interned for her major (Computer Science) in college. While this may this sound pretty glamorous for a 16-year-old, Traci was, in fact, very insecure. She felt the constant pressure from her mom, peers, and most of all, herself, to be “perfect”. This misconception came from, in part, looking at images on television and in magazines that did not look like her! This lead to a fear and feeling of not being able to achieve the things she often dreamed about. Traci remembers feeling that way even after she graduated college and embarked on her professional career in Information Technology.
Traci’s work in Information Technology (IT) has provided her with a way out of her humble beginnings and exposed her to many people, projects, and opportunities. She has worked for prominent consulting firms, right out of college, to embarking on various independent contracts with corporations and universities such as McDonald’s, Sears, JP Morgan Chase, Northwestern University, and University of Chicago Booth School of Business. For Traci, it is exciting to work in an industry that is forever changing and acting as a “permanent sponge” when it comes to learning new technologies. She is an accomplished woman successfully working in a field dominated by men and simultaneously supporting those causes she feels strongly about; this is a feat that not many people can claim.
Upon entering the professional workforce, she met women who she saw were able to juggle family responsibilities along with their careers. They were traveling, managing time and work expectations, and staying connected to their loved ones. Traci obtained true insight into the various mental and physical roles of women. Through their mentorship, they showed her other facets that make a woman truly interesting and beautiful. Traci began to understand the value of one’s character and contributions are beyond what is in the mirror. These lessons and revelations, combined with her own background, lead to Traci’s ultimate direction and passion: To advocate that elegance, kindness, charity, character and intellect are synonymous with real beauty.
Starting in 2010, The C.H.A.M.P. Community Project was formed and Traci began conducting The C.H.A.M.P. Within seminars to local community colleges. The program, which has educated over 400 young people and single parents in Illinois, was also introduced in Nairobi, Kenya where over 550 youth have been positively educated. It became quite evident to Traci, that in the C.H.A.M.P. Community, the common denominator was that a lot of single parents, (about 95% single moms), were impacted. After these seminars or workshops at local colleges, attendees would approach her to ask what her motivation was for writing the book as well as creating the overall program. Over time, the conversation evolved more personally; they shared their personal challenges and struggles with their relationships, single parenting, issues with their children, frustrations with their career, their environment and, for many of them, their lack of resources. This became a repetitive common theme.
The C.H.A.M.P. Community Project was in its second year when, one evening, Traci began an impromptu conversation about the ongoing work of the C.H.A.M.P Community Project with a close friend. She shared some of the conversations from women who confided in her. “Wouldn’t it be great if there was something out there that honored and drew attention to women who were doing great things as role models and allowed women to feel glamorous at the same time?” Traci felt that women were making a real difference in their communities on a DAILY basis, but you never heard about them because they were not celebrities or had direct connections with the media.
These women included educators, politicians, spiritual sages, financial consultant and community activists that were trailblazing roads for others to be successful. What a motivator it would be for the everyday women like the majority of C.H.A.M.P. parents she met. This type of event would give them something they could connect to; women that were more easily accessible than the women often seen on television or in a magazine. It would be a powerful and truly glamorous event that celebrates the heroism of EVERY type of woman. Thus, the Beauty In / Beauty out (BIBO) Awards tour was born.
The BIBO Awards, in addition to celebrating the greatness of female role models, has also become an advocate in promoting diversity, inclusion, and equality. Celebrating the accomplishments of others has provided Traci with an opportunity to inform, influence, and educate a broader audience. Her experience as a career woman and as a caregiver to an elderly parent, equipped her to promote the importance of actively participating in helping others to become more self-reliant. This fosters the development of a better quality of life for you and for those you actively seek to help.
Traci is very proud of everything behind The BIBO Awards and the BIBO mission. In addition to the awards, is the BIBO Foundation which is a 501c3 non-profit organization, and BIBO Worldwide LLC., a for-profit entity. BIBO has an incredible team of advisory board members in Dr. Kas Henry, who is Six Sigma Certified; Sheila Marionneaux, formerly with HARPO and Blue Cross/Blue Shield; and, William Natale, an Emmy winner with over 30 years in the entertainment industry.
The Executive Board of The BIBO Foundation includes 9 dynamic women and men who wholeheartedly believe in the BIBO mission. Three of these board members are former BIBO Award honorees. It is an honor to keep them connected to the BIBO family; it is very important that they continue the mission long after the fanfare of their own award and celebration is over and they are now able to give back.
As hard as it was, Traci was determined to build a new brand from scratch. It was important to her to create something that would form a legacy that would impact women of all ages and backgrounds. As women are suffering from a lack of role models. The lack of images of women that have achieved true success not only in the entertainment arena, but also in careers such education, medicine, science, engineering, technology, and government. Today the BIBO Awards, a ‘purple carpet’ event that honors women for their true beauty, has successfully celebrated over 140 women since 2013.
Past BIBO Honorees include actress Barbara Nivens working with women with eating disorders, actress Sheryl Lee Ralph bringing Aids Awareness and Education, Senators Iris Y. Martinez, first Latina elected to the Illinois Senate, BIBO Starlet actress and model Alli Simpson of Disney Radio, and decorated Colonel Jill Morgenthaler, the first woman involved with Homeland Security in the State of Illinois, and one of the first women to go through an ROTC Program, who brought the house down, in 2013, with her energetic and encouraging speech especially riveting to the youngest women in the room, ages 8 to 12.
Women who have overcome incarceration, such as Geraldine Mabrey-Smith and Susan Barton, as well as domestic violence survivors such as Yolanda Carter have also been celebrated for their courage and strength. These are just some of the 140 women BIBO has honored. Throughout the year, the work of The BIBO Foundation reaches out to support needy women in communities nationwide. Through campaigns and projects, the foundation “connects” with women in local communities. These outreach initiatives currently take place in Chicago, Las Vegas, and Dallas.
In 2007, after a 13 year long battle with heart disease, Traci lost her mother. Traci became a caregiver at age 24 while still building her career. In March 2017, Traci also lost her eldest sister, Gloria Smith, to heart disease. BIBO created the “Beauty is ALL Heart” campaign to celebrate heart health “heroes”; men and women who are fighting this disease by providing treatment to heart disease patients and supporting caregivers who are sacrificing their lives to provide comfort and care to loved ones battling this disease.
The “It’s Purse-sonal” campaign is one of the BIBO Foundation’s biggest campaigns. It started as a Chicago-based initiative of 400 collected purses in 2016 to over 800 purses collected in 2017 in Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. These collected purses are filled with needed items, and personal notes of encouragement to support women dealing with the issue of homelessness and domestic violence. It is very exciting to see the continued growth of this project. BIBO has also partnered with Dress For Success in the Dallas area and Power Forward Woman, which is a local organization in Dallas, headed up by 2016 BIBO Awards Los Angeles honoree, Star Williams. Traci is happy that BIBO’s past honorees, such as Star Williams and others, come back and support the growth of the BIBO mission.
Creating the BIBO brand and creating C.H.A.M.P. has been a challenge and a pleasure, yet Traci can’t wait to see what is next on the horizon. According to Traci, “This is more than just about being women. This is about family. This is about community. It’s about making a difference at the local level in each city. To accomplish that goal, BIBO needs help to expand and grow so that we can extend the mission to cities we haven’t even ventured into in order to affect a broader impact of the positive effect of true role models for the next generation.”
Currently hosts a weekly talk show “BIBO Live! w/ Traci S. Campbell” to highlight past BIBO honorees, BIBO supporters and sponsors. The show also provides practical and “actionable” information as well as stories of inspiring people across the US.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely has not been an easy road! The challenge of escaping a bad neighborhood growing up, going to college and establishing a career while caring for an ill parent, and then building multiple businesses and initiatives from scratch made for a lot of struggles but also some significant victories along the way. These experiences shaped me as a person who is now equipped to be a true source of information and hopefully inspiration to others.
Please tell us about The BIBO Foundation / The BIBO Awards.
I am the founder of three amazing organizations including the BIBO Awards (Beauty In/Beauty Out), The C.H.A.M.P. Community Project, and The BIBO Foundation, a 501c3 organization which assists women in transitioning from homelessness, domestic violence and/or transitioning to a new career or business path. We focus on educating, empowering, and celebrating amazing women from all backgrounds and all walks of life.
We do this via educational programs and on-site panel workshops (The BIBIO Foundation) and we bring awareness to amazing women in local communities throughout the US that are doing great work but may not get the recognition they deserve (The BIBO Awards). And we will pilot of STEM-based program to provide STEM education for everyday life in early 2019.
In late 2018/2019… we are launching online e-commerce ventures that will further assist us in our mission to help disadvantaged women and their families.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My mother loved to visit thrift stores and consignment stores. We didn’t have a lot of money so these trips were part fun and part necessity.
However, I loved to see her face light up as she found an item that was rare or unique as well as loving just finding a great bargain on things we use every day. I loved how she and I could share that time together plundering through items and sharing our excitement when we uncovered a great “find”. It was a lot of fun and we bonded a lot during those trips.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.biboawards.com or www.thebibofoundation.org
- Phone: 800-365-3203
- Email: info@biboawards.com or info@traciscampbell.com
- Instagram: biboawards or traci.s.campbell
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/beautyinbeautyouttour or www.facebook.com/tscmediaupdates
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/traciscampbell or www.twitter.com/biboawards
- Other: www.youtube.com/traciscampbell
Image Credit:
Gregory Brown, Omara Fonseca
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