S1E2 Carmen Best | You're Allowed* to Lead on Your Own Terms
S1E2 — Carmen Best | You're Allowed to Lead on Your Own Terms
Carmen Best — Former Chief of the Seattle Police Department, Speaker, Author, Changemaker
Guest: Carmen Best, former Chief of the Seattle Police Department, author of Black in Blue, and one of the most recognizable voices on leadership to come out of 2020.
Episode Description
People told Carmen Best she'd never be Chief. She mostly found out afterward — the doubt was happening in rooms she wasn't even in, about a career she hadn't started yet. She became Chief of the Seattle Police Department anyway.
In this episode of You're Allowed, Carmen traces the whole arc: a loving, lower-middle-class childhood in Tacoma where she was given permission to dream as big as she wanted, a "why not" decision in 1992 that turned into nearly 30 years in law enforcement, and the year the entire world was watching her city. She's honest about being the only woman — and often the only woman of color — in the room, the mentors who reminded her she wasn't alone, and the slow boil of experience that became her book.
Then she gives away the hard-won wisdom: how she knew when to walk away, why "if you need the job, maybe you shouldn't take the job," what she'd whisper to herself the day she got appointed, and what she's still allowed to want. It's an episode about permission and access — the story and the pathway — and it ends on the line that defines the whole show.
In This Episode
The craziest thing people said would never happen — and why "people aren't always right"
Growing up in Tacoma with strict rules but unlimited permission to dream
The 1992 "why not" that became a 30-year career
Being the only one in the room, and turning that pressure into purpose
The mentors who taught her "you're not alone in this"
Writing Black and Blue after the slow boil of 2020
Leading Seattle through a mass shooting, a pandemic, George Floyd, CHOP, and the defund movement
The council cuts, and protecting a department she'd just diversified to a record 39.9%
Knowing when to hand over the reins — and why that's freedom, not failure
A real leadership playbook: the 80% decision, thick skin, your North Star, and humility
The lightning round: best advice, worst advice, and the one sentence she'd tell her younger self
Being honored as the final Shoulders of Giants honoree and raising record support for Rise Up Academy
Key Takeaways
People aren't always right. Almost everything Carmen accomplished, someone said wouldn't happen first — being Chief included.
Dreaming is the starting line. Strict rules at home, but never a ceiling on what she could become.
You're standing on shoulders, and someone's standing on yours. Being one of few made her want to do more, because the next generation would be judged by how she showed up.
Mentorship matters — even when it's informal. "You're not alone in this."
Leadership is rarely 100% certain. The best call might only be the 80% one. Make it anyway.
Know your North Star and grow thick skin. People will write things about you that aren't true. Lead anyway.
Real leadership is humility. Build a team stronger than you and set the environment for them to win.
If you need the job, maybe you shouldn't take the job. Sometimes the freeing thing is being willing to let it go for everyone else's sake.
Preparation is the best advice; "give up" is the worst. Opportunity without preparation isn't opportunity.
Trust your instincts. They're there for a reason.
Memorable Quotes
"People aren't always right." — Carmen Best "If you need the job, maybe you shouldn't take the job."
"It's very freeing to say, this is the right thing to do, and I'm going to do the right thing."
"You just have to know your own currency and value it."
"The best might only be 80%, but that's what we're going to go with, because that's what we've got."
"You have to have thick skin and really know what your North Star is and what you're trying to achieve and why."
"Real leadership is assembling great teams... and setting the environment for them to have success."
"Trust your instincts. They're there for a reason."
"Giving up should be the last thing that comes."
"You're allowed to... achieve anything your mind can think of."
Timestamps
00:00 — The premise: what's the craziest thing someone told you you're not allowed to do?
00:34 — "People aren't always right." The things Carmen was told would never happen — including becoming Chief.
01:13 — Growing up in Tacoma: a loving, lower-middle-class home with strict rules and room to dream
02:20 — Starting life with permission to dream big
02:37 — 1992: deciding to become a cop on a "why not" pivot
03:17 — The reaction: "Not a lot of yes, you should do this."
04:25 — Almost 30 years in; being the only woman — and woman of color — in the room
06:08 — Mentorship: the informal mentors who said "you're not alone," including Rosalyn Melendez
07:35 — Writing Black and Blue: the slow boil that built up
08:03 — 2020: mass shooting, pandemic, George Floyd, CHOP, and the defund movement
09:32 — The heart-wrenching decision to leave the profession
09:52 — The final weeks: a loyal team and the plan to take back the precinct
11:32 — The council cuts and protecting hard-won diversity ($1.6M, 39.9% hiring)
13:26 — The access: innate or learned? "If you need the job, maybe you shouldn't take the job."
14:59 — "Know your own currency and value it."
15:10 — What nobody teaches you: the 80% decision and thick skin
16:02 — Lonely at the top, and the "sanity check"
16:33 — Leading people who don't want to be led; humility
17:05 — Real leadership: assembling great teams and servant leadership
18:07 — "If I'm doing my job right, I'm the least important person in the room."
18:46 — Lightning round: best advice (preparation is critical)
19:52 — Worst advice (anyone who tells you to give up)
20:26 — Music to reset
21:15 — One sentence to newly-appointed Chief Carmen: trust your instincts
22:03 — What she's allowed to want now: to keep making a difference
22:54 — Being honored as the final Shoulders of Giants honoree at the Columbia Tower Club
24:15 — Rise Up Academy, Emancipation Day, and giving back
24:56 — What Rise Up Academy does and why early education changes trajectories
27:06 — What she hopes people leave with: a call to action
29:07 — "You're allowed to... achieve anything your mind can think of."
About Carmen Best
Carmen Best is the former Chief of the Seattle Police Department — and Seattle's first African American police chief — with nearly three decades in law enforcement after time in the military and a stint at an insurance company in downtown Seattle. She is the author of Black and Blue, has worked with Microsoft, and serves on numerous boards while continuing her lifelong mission of helping people and communities.
Carmen is also a sought-after keynote speaker on leadership, resilience, and leading through crisis. She takes audiences inside some of the most-watched moments in recent American history and leaves them with a clear playbook for leading with conviction when the stakes are highest. Booking committees consistently describe her as the rare leader who can hold a room — and move it to action.
That ability isn't theoretical. As the final Shoulders of Giants honoree at the Columbia Tower Club, Carmen helped raise the most funds in the event's history in support of Rise Up Academy — a program that has spent 27 years getting young children, many from historically marginalized communities, ready for school and rewriting the trajectory of their lives. Held, fittingly, on Emancipation Day, it was a living example of what Carmen has always believed: real leadership turns a story into a call to action.
Book Carmen to Speak
Carmen Best is available for keynotes, panels, and leadership workshops. If you're building an event around leadership, public service, women in leadership, resilience, or leading through crisis, she's a standout choice.
→ To book Carmen for your stage or event, contact: rachael@thesavvydigitalco.com
Support Rise Up Academy
Inspired by Carmen's record-setting Shoulders of Giants impact? You can keep that momentum going.
→ Connect with Carmen or learn how to support Rise Up Academy: rachael@thesavvydigitalco.com
Whether it's a donation, volunteering, or mentoring, this is exactly the kind of "what's the action after the room" that the work is about.
Connect with Carmen Best
📘 Read her book, Black in Blue
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You're Allowed is hosted by Rachael Barclay. Part 1 is the story — the permission. Part 2 is the access — the pathway.
Real people, real equity, real talk about the things nobody's supposed to say out loud.
