Duane Trammell

Duane Trammell is the co-author of five books. Two business titles have sold over 200,000 copies, translated into five languages. His newest book, Wisdom from the Woods: Navigating Life’s Unexpected Challenges, is a collaboration with friend Virginia (Ginny) Gilmore. The new book emerged during a tragic time in Duane’s life when he was grief-stricken after losing his business partner of thirty-eight years. He was helped by a work authored by Ginny called “The Healing Journey,” written twenty years earlier but never published. Duane’s vision was to collaborate with Ginny to publish the original work, along with other people’s stories of overcoming unexpected challenges. They added content and ideas to help readers create their own personal process for dealing with change or loss. Duane Trammell’s other books have covered topics on time management (an unconventional approach), life/work balance, and more recently, servant leadership. He has taught workshops in leadership development for thirty-five years and has been recognized for his knowledge in this field. Kent Keith, author and expert, asked Duane, along with seven other national servant leadership practitioners, to add commentary on Robert Greenleaf’s seminal essay, Servant as Leader, to create the new, revised Contemporary Servant as Leader So what has influenced Duane’s writings? He is a third generation Dallasite, where he not only attended the Dallas public schools, but also became an award-winning teacher in the Dallas school system. Teachers made a big impact in his life, and he knew from an early age that was what he wanted to be. He was recognized early in his teaching career as the youngest “Dallas Teacher of the Year.” He also received “The Ross Perot Award for Excellence in Education” as well as “One of the Three Best Teachers in Texas” award. Duane transitioned to business when he met Dr. Ann McGee-Cooper, who became his long-term friend and business partner. Together they formed a consulting firm and enjoyed co-authoring books and other leadership development materials. Duane received industry recognition in 2016 with CoreNet’s Industry Excellence Award—Leadership Development for the project team who built the New Parkland Hospital, a 1.3 billion-dollar project in Dallas, Texas. Duane loves Vietnamese food, has a passion for downtown Dallas history, binges on too many Netflix series, and is wholeheartedly in love with his husband of thirty-three years, Steven. One of his best memories is being married in New York City, followed by the honeymoon of his dreams on Cunard’s Queen Mary II. When he isn’t writing, you will find Duane in an art gallery or museum. He started oil painting at age nine, received a B.A. in Art Education from Dallas Baptist University and an M.Ed. from Texas Women’s University in Supervision. Duane derives creative inspiration from collecting the works of local and regional artists.