Today we’d like to introduce you to Tricia Warren.
Hi Tricia, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, which makes me an official GA peach! I am an only child, raised in a single parent home with my mom and never knew my dad. I was dropped off to college in Nashville, TN Aug 1992 and during freshman week before school officially started, my mom passed just two days after I arrived. She collapsed from a massive heart attack in the parking lot of the dialysis center she was attended. I came home for the funeral of which I had to plan at 17. I was officially on my own and decided to go back to school right away as I had received a 4 yr scholarship and wanted to honor my mom by completing school and being the first in my family to graduate from college. Within the next year, my grandmother passed along with several other aunts and uncles-needless to say I had most of my main family unit pass away while I was in college.
I came home in 1996 after graduating with a BS in Computer Science and two years later completed my Executive MBA here in GA. Over the next 28 years, I was married for 21 years, had two sons and worked in corporate for 28 years. While in corporate I worked across seven industries in technology organizations at companies such as Ernst & Young, McKesson, IHG, and other global entities. I held roles from software engineer to global transformation executive and decided to walk away in October 2024. My decision to leave corporate was based on a defining experience that became a turning point. It challenged my assumptions about success and forced me to decide whether I was willing to continue operating in environments that didn’t fully align with my worth, value, the way I believe people should be treated, nor how work should function at its best. My faith in God is what carried me through the next few months and ultimately to my freedom.
From November to December 2024, I had a period of reflection that became the foundation for my first book. I launched both my book and my own consulting practice Feb 1, 2025. My book, “Excellence in Motion!: A Business Leader’s Guide to Operational Success and the Endless Pursuit of Better”, explores the patterns of operational friction I have seen repeatedly across industries and my company, TLW Integrated Solutions, felt less like a leap and more like a natural extension of the work I had been doing for years. Rooted in resilience and faith, TLW Integrated Solutions is a reflection of my life mission: to turn challenges into momentum and help others lead with intention, excellence, and grace.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The road for me has not been smooth. Surviving the burial of my mom at 17 and so many family deaths shortly after, I found myself left with feelings of abandonment and a sense of loss that was overwhelming. After my mom passed, I didn’t have a strong support system, and I was largely on my own. That early independence shaped how I approach challenges which taught me self-reliance, resilience, and how to keep moving forward even when there’s no safety net.
As a woman and an African American leader in corporate environments, I encountered challenges that were both subtle and systemic. I created work that was credited to others, trained individuals who were positioned above me despite having less experience, and repeatedly found myself having to prove value that was already evident in my results. Over time, these experiences revealed patterns around visibility, equity, and how organizations recognize, and often overlook, talent. While difficult, they ultimately sharpened my understanding of how systems operate beneath the surface, and reinforced my commitment to building environments where contribution, capability, and impact are clearly seen and valued.
Stepping into entrepreneurship introduced an entirely new set of challenges. While I brought multiple decades of experience leading teams and driving transformation, I had to learn in real time how to articulate and sell my expertise without the backing of a corporate brand, build relationships from scratch, and navigate unfamiliar networking environments. In many ways, it meant starting over in unexpected ways. The learning curve was real, but it has ultimately strengthened my voice, deepened my confidence, and reinforced the importance of self-trust and adaptability.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I am also known as The Friction Fixer™ and founder of TLW Integrated Solutions. I serve my clients as a Fractional COO and Operations Consultant, who fixes operational friction to eliminate future frustration. My purpose is to bring clarity where there is confusion and flow where there is friction. I believe what I have started is a movement that empowers organizations to transform the way they work. I help organizations run better by clarifying roles and responsibilities, improving processes, supporting leaders through change, and using data to measure what’s working and what’s not.
My business model provides the strategic guidance and accountability of a full-time executive without the overhead, making it ideal for growing organizations in transition or scaling mode. TLW Integrated Solutions integrates strategy, process design, and data to help businesses simplify complexity. I call it “fixing the friction” aka transforming operational overwhelm into clarity, confidence, and measurable growth.
My brand distinguishes itself by leading with intention, ensuring that every transformation honors the human side of business, because when people feel aligned and supported, performance naturally follows. Every engagement taken on carries a promise: we don’t just advise, we partner, guide, and empower.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
For the women who learned strength through loss, who carried others without anyone carrying them, and who kept going when there was no safety net, know this: your resilience is not accidental! It is earned wisdom. In every hard season, my faith in God has been my quiet strength and the constant presence that carried me when I could not carry myself. You are allowed to trust your experience, honor your values, and build a life that reflects who you are and who you’ve become. You don’t need permission to claim your worth, you’ve already proven it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thefrictionfixer.com/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/triciawarrenmba/
- Other: The Friction Fixer™ Focus Newsletter Subscribe on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7356024764202643456
Image Credits
some from myself and some from Ariel Clarke
