(as told by her husband)
From humble beginnings in the rural suburbs of Wheeling, West Virginia, Tracie was destined for comedy.
Unknowingly, she made people laugh at an early age. Perhaps it was the coke-bottle-bottom glasses. Or the time she spilled salad dressing on her customers. "We're not laughing at you, we're laughing with you" would be the inspiring phrase Tracie would hear time and again.
As a recent college graduate in 1986 with a determination to fight terrorism - long before it became chic - Tracie accepted a position as a budget analyst for the FBI at their headquarters in Washington, DC. She was one step away from full credentials -- aka an FBI badge (which would have been a free pass for any speeding violation for the rest of her life) -- when she decided to leave for the excitment of accounting in a law firm.
But Tracie knew her fortunes were best realized in sales. Unfortunately, no one else could see her potential. So, she started selling subscriptions to the Washington Post on the telephone. She was single-handedly responsible for doubling their circulation, most notably in Japan. Her picture hangs on a wall next to those two guys who exposed Watergate.
Tracie would eventually graduate to Yellow Page sales, where she was the queen of QC (translation: very small ads). Her talent for landing new accounts won her trips to Atlantic City and St. Martin. As she would say, "I can get anyone to try something for the first time ... it's getting them to do it again that's the tough part."
Tracie's mary-tyler-moore-ish life would take a dramatic turn on the fateful night of March 5, 1993. It was at a bar called Samantha's, where she planned her escape -- while drinking pina coladas -- with the man of her dreams.
Unfortunately, he was taken. So she settled for the next best thing.
And so, two beautiful daughters later in 2004, Tracie and her family moved to greener pastures... literally. Vermont -- despite its cold winters -- would be a warm welcome to her liberal values. The planets were aligning ... except for that one called stand-up-comedy.
Encouraged by the forgiving crowd at the Higher Ground open mic night in September, 2006, Tracie took the plunge. And the rest is history ... hopefully!
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| Tracie and her family banging pots and pans late at night for no apparent reason. |
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