Pacific Palisades Fire: The Aftermath
In season 2 episode 9 of Katy Hansell: The Impact Whisperer™ podcast, Tracy Droz Tragos shares her moment of impact when she saw smoke & real fire billowing from a nearby ridge near her home in Pacific Palisades, CA, near Los Angeles, and wondered if the fire could be as close as it seemed. Maybe she should grab a few things and head out, and surely she could return home later that same afternoon.
What do you do in the aftermath of the Pacific Palisades Fire?
In this heartfelt podcast conversation, documentary filmmaker Tracy Droz Tragos shares her profound journey through sudden loss from the devastating Pacific Palisades wildfire, and her path to resilience and recovery.
Discover her insights on:
✅ Impact of California wildfires on personal life, work, family, and community;
✅ the role of storytelling in healing and resilience;
✅ Lessons learned from loss, rebuilding, and personal transformation;
✅ The importance of community and nature in recovery
Tracy Droz Tragos is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, a writer whose Substack “On Fire” is phenomenal, a Director, and a Producer at Dinky Pictures LLC. To quote Tracy, “she is drawn to issues involving women, inequality, and rural America.” Her body of work includes multiple award-winning films such as: HBO documentary "Abortion: Stories Women Tell"; "Smartest Kids in the World" about the crisis in the US education system; "Be Good, Smile Pretty", an Emmy-award winning documentary about the grief and healing of survivors of the Vietnam War; "Rich Hill", which won the Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Documentary at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival; and "Plan C" about a network trying to expand access to abortion pills after the fall of Roe which premiered at 2023 Sundance Film Festival and SXSW.
Creator/ Host Katy Hansell, aka The Impact Whisperer™, is an expert impact coach, strategic advisor to founders, and Board Director, known for guiding 500+ client organizations across 3 continents to make the impact they care about for the people, causes, and communities that have captured their hearts.
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Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Tracy
01:23 Overview of Tracy's Documentary Films
06:08 Tracy's Moment of Impact
11:31 Losing Everything: Her Home, Her Office, Her History
17:49 The Catastrophic Failures of the Fire
21:48 Navigating the Frantic Immediate Aftermath of the fire
29:59 Coping With Grief and Devastation
40:02 Losing Your Family's History
43:40 The Fire Burned 12 Years of Film Footage
51:52 Who She's Becoming on the Other Side
58:21 Giving time, space, and grace for recovery
1:02:00 What Gives Tracy Hope
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