Ten Years of Tracie: A Story Worth Celebrating

Some journeys don't follow a straight path. They twist, they stall, they throw genuinely difficult things in the way, and yet somehow the person walking that path keeps moving forward. Tracie Marson's story is exactly that kind of journey, and this month we're marking something we think deserves a proper spotlight: ten years of Tracie being part of our team at Yorkshire in Business.

That's ten years of dedication, resilience, and humour. Ten years of showing up, even when showing up took real courage.

Where It All Started

Tracie has always been practical, hands-on, and determined. Back in the 1980s, when a careers adviser asked what she wanted to do, she said a bricklayer. The adviser said no. So she trained as a hairdresser instead, qualified, and promptly moved on.

What followed was years in hospitality: bars, vending, shops, and kitchens (so many kitchens). Then came a serious accident. A fall of around 30 feet left her with a broken back, leg, and wrist. It was the kind of event that changes the shape of everything that comes after.

She worked through it. She took a job as kitchen staff at her son's school, worked her way up to school cook, then spent five years at Coopland's. But the pain from that old injury eventually made manual work unsustainable, and for a period, she found herself unemployed.

That period turned out to be a turning point.

How Tracie Found Yorkshire in Business

While she was out of work, Tracie trained in Business Administration at Level 1. Through that process, she was allocated a key worker from us here at Yorkshire in Business, who introduced her to a Level 2 qualification we could offer. She enrolled, and as part of that qualification, she completed a work placement here with us.

When she reached the end of her studies, we offered her a part-time role in reception and admin support.

That was the beginning.

We were aware from the start that Tracie was managing severe arthritis and Fibromyalgia. Supporting her through that was never a question. When she needed a knee replacement during her time with us, she was just glad to get back to work afterwards, which honestly tells you everything about who she is.

Building a Role That Fitted Her

As funding landscapes shifted and staffing changed, Tracie naturally started taking on more responsibilities. She began shadowing the maintenance person (long nails and all) and found she loved it. When that person moved on, Tracie stepped into the role without hesitation.

From there, she moved into health and safety work. Risk assessments, fire marshal duties, fire testing, fire risk assessments; she took it all on and genuinely thrived in it.

Then came the diagnosis that stopped everything.

The Hardest Chapter

A few years into the role, Tracie was diagnosed with stage 4 Ovarian cancer. She needed an operation and took six months off for treatment. Understandably, she was worried about her finances, about her colleagues, about all of it.

We like to think we showed up for her the way she had always shown up for us. What we can say with absolute certainty is that Jenn and Jo visiting her in hospital, the three of them laughing so loudly they cleared the ward, is one of those moments that says more about a team than any words could.

Tracie came back to work after treatment and has been with us ever since. She is still undergoing treatment with a terminal diagnosis, and there are times she needs to take time off. But she has spoken openly about the fact that having work she loves, and a team around her that genuinely cares, helps her stay positive and keeps her going.

That matters more to us than we can really put into words.

From Admin Support to Running Explore Indie

A few years ago, our CEO decided to act on a long-held dream and open a coffee shop with pop-up shops inside. That became Explore Indie, and Tracie was right there from the start: building furniture, cleaning, finding staff, sourcing sellers to stock products.

4 years on, and it’s still thriving. Tracie spent time training all staff and when she can still oversees the food side of things, welcomes new sellers wanting to stock with us, collates seller takings, and sends them through for payment and processing.

Her current role covers health and safety, fire safety, helping manage Explore Indie and Grind coffee shop, supporting the team there, and yes, still a bit of maintenance whenever it's needed.

She's described this job as the best thing that ever happened to her. We'd argue she's one of the best things that ever happened to us.

What Tracie's Story Reflects About How We Work

We believe in supporting people, not just in the early stages of a business journey, but throughout the whole thing. Our work with entrepreneurs across the UK is built on the same values that guided how we supported Tracie: practical help, genuine flexibility, and the understanding that people's circumstances are always more complicated than a job description suggests.

Whether you're a business owner looking for qualified advisory support and practical guidance, or someone who has faced setbacks that have made the path forward feel uncertain, what you need is a team that actually listens.

That's what we try to be, every single day.

Here's to Ten Years, Tracie

Ten years of showing up. Ten years of learning new skills, taking on new challenges, and doing it all with the kind of warmth and good humour that makes our team what it is.

We're proud to work alongside you, and we're proud to tell your story.

If you'd like to find out more about what we do and how we support businesses and people across the UK, visit us at yorkshireinbusiness.org.uk/.