Tracy’s career path looks less like a ladder and more like a resume of a person in witness protection program. She kicked off her career as a morning show radio host in Syracuse and Cincinnati, waking up entire cities while surviving on caffeine, sarcasm, and questionable sleep decisions. From there, she pivoted to Audit Project Director - building a division that handled physical inventory audits for major medical companies like Johnson & Johnson and Stryker - because that is an obvious path after a career in the radio (no it's not).
After becoming a mom, she began teaching Spanish, a role she’s held for over two decades because apparently she enjoys conjugating verbs and explaining that yes, your answers do need to be in Spanish.
Since 2017, she’s been a professor at Montclair State University. She started in person, but now educates students by Zoom (it's a bit of a drive to teach in person) and proves that academia pairs beautifully with humor, grit, and an impressive tolerance for chaos. Somewhere in between grading papers and explaining preterite, Tracy also became a New York Times Bestseller award-winning humor writer, with essays published in seven books, countless websites, and a regular column in The Bluffton Sun, where she babbles about her ridiculous life with equal parts wit and side-eye.
Low Country Shrimp & Knits exists for two very sound, deeply researched reasons: Tracy didn’t want to drive far for gorgeous yarn, and she needed to get out of the house for reasons best described as "self-preservation". That’s it. Super solid business plan. Naturally, she chose to open a small retail business during COVID, a time when inventory was scarce, shipping costs required selling at least one nonessential organ on the black market, and most people were hiding in their homes like startled woodland creatures. An absolutely flawless decision. Ten out of ten. Highly recommended on Yelp.
At home, Tracy wrangles two daughters, three dogs, three birds, spiders she actually chooses to have at the house, and approximately zero sleep. This is probably why yarn entered the picture. Shrimp & Knits was born from her love of creativity, community, and the belief that making things with your hands is cheaper than therapy and far more colorful. Plus, it brings her back to her stand-up comedy roots but with risk of cashmere being thrown at her instead of insults.
Some people would call her a hero. Most people just call her "Hey, I need some help with (fill in the blank)".
TL;DR: she talks fast, writes funny, teaches Spanish, loves yarn, and has not slept for a recommended amount of time since college graduation - which was clearly a few years ago. She is also bad at math.