Grace Pucci, 2017 graduate of the Academy of Mary Immaculate, lawyer, entrepreneur and community leader.
Proud Academy alumna Grace Pucci has built a life defined not by expectation, but by authenticity. There’s something quietly remarkable about Grace. She left the Academy in 2017 with the value of Justice in her heart and a determination to carve her own path. Her journey has taken her to law, entrepreneurship, community leadership, built not on following a script, but on the courage to keep asking hard questions of herself.
This year, Grace returned to the Academy as the guest speaker at the International Women’s Day Breakfast, to share what she has learned.
A path built on character
Grace’s career since leaving the Academy spans multiple worlds. As a lawyer, entrepreneur and community leader, she has accumulated the kind of experience that usually takes decades, but what sets Grace apart isn’t the titles. It’s the intentionality behind every step.
Her journey has been shaped by a refusal to measure success by someone else’s standards. From her earliest days as an Academy student, Grace understood that real achievement isn’t about status, it’s about substance.
“When you choose substance over status, you develop a type of power that no one can take away from you,” says Grace.
On purpose
Ask Grace about purpose and she’ll tell you it can’t be found in a five-year plan or a LinkedIn profile. Purpose, in her view, is something you discover in the doing in the moments where your actions intersect with genuine impact. “Purpose doesn’t live on paper, she says. “Purpose lives in impact.”
It’s a philosophy that has clearly guided her own life. Whether working within the law, building something of her own, or showing up for her community, Grace has consistently pursued work that means something.
On authenticity
One of Grace’s most compelling qualities is her willingness to speak honestly about uncertainty. In a world that rewards projected confidence, she makes a case for the power of not having all the answers.
“Owning your path isn’t about having everything mapped out,” says Grace. “Sometimes it’s about paying attention when something doesn’t align with you … Authenticity sounds like ‘I don’t know yet,’ ‘This doesn’t feel right,’ ‘I want more’, and that’s okay.”
For Grace, authenticity isn’t a polished personal brand. It’s a daily practice of listening to yourself, especially when the world is pushing you in a different direction.
On courage
Grace has never been interested in going along to get along. She speaks openly about the social pressure to conform and why resisting it is a mark of strength rather than stubbornness. “Going against the grain isn’t something ‘bad’, it’s the courage and character to say I don’t need to be a follower to be included,” says Grace.
That independence of spirit, she argues, is where genuine power originates. Not power over others, but the quieter, more durable kind, the power that comes from knowing who you are and refusing to trade it away.
On self-discovery
At the core of Grace’s message is a deceptively simple question — one she clearly continues to ask herself. “Owning your path is asking: Who am I without everybody’s expectations? When you start living for yourself, there’s a massive respect for being your authentic self and that sense of self is where your true character is,” she says.
It’s the kind of question that doesn’t have a final answer. But for Grace, the asking of it is the point.
A woman of Mercy — every day
For all her success in the wider world, Grace remains deeply connected to the values instilled in her at the Academy. The Mercy ethos isn’t something she left behind at graduation, it’s something she carries forward, actively and intentionally. “Being a woman of Mercy isn’t an event — it’s a lifestyle,” says Grace.
Grace Pucci graduated from the Academy in 2017 and is now a lawyer, entrepreneur and community leader.
Independent Catholic girls Years 7 to 12 Established in 1857, The Academy is uniquely placed in both history and location. […]