Tracy Chamberlain Higginbotham – Age 58
30 Year Entrepreneur, Founder of Tracy’s Sports Adventure
About me
Tracy Chamberlain Higginbotham is the Founder and President of Women TIES, LLC (Women Together Inspiring Entrepreneurial Success) a company specializing in promoting, publicizing and uniting women entrepreneurs and their companies online and in person to cultivate strong economic relationships to advance their companies and eradicate pay inequality. In 1995,
Tracy created her first company – Five Star Events – an events management company she ran for 15 years.
In 2005, Tracy embraced her passion for supporting other women entrepreneurs and established her second company, Women TIES, LLC, to create a stronger geographic buying network for women business owners across New York.
In 2013, Tracy created a division of Women TIES called the “Women’s Athletic Network” which promotes athletic events for women entrepreneurs to participate in, train for or support as spectators.
In 2017, Higginbotham also created a “Women’s Rights Equality Division” to Women TIES to unite women interested in being more involved with equality issues for women.
In 2022, Tracy created a new lifetime goal of trying every sport once in her lifetime and is bringing women along for the ride. She created www.tracyhigginbotham.com to document her progress, post photos, and blog about each adventure to entice more women to try more sports.
She was the columnist of the Syracuse Post Standard’s “Ask the Entrepreneur” column for 11 years from 2001-2012. She produced an inspirational e-newsletter for women entrepreneurs from 2005 to 2023. Higginbotham is also a published writer of “Under the Rose-Colored Hat” and inspirational short stories and articles in several national publications and books, including the 2009 “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Power Moms” the 2019 “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Running for Good,” and the 2023 “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Try Every Sport Once in a Lifetime.”
What do you do and why do you do it?
For 30 years, I have promoted “all things women” in my area and across New York State. I believe strongly in the buying and selling power of women and inspire women to buy from women first and foremost as well as support women in sports, equality and life issues. My mantra is, “The world won’t change for women, unless women change the world for women.” I am fueled by every situation I see or hear about where women are not equally represented like looking at a speaker’s conference lineup and not seeing 50% female speakers, or a woman’s conference that has male speakers, or only one female panelist on a sports panel. I look through life with “pink lens” and talk about the inequalities I see hoping other women will see them too and help make a change.
What changed for you after age 50?
I ran in the 2017 Boston Marathon at the age of 52 after meeting Kathrine Switzer. I was a 2 mile a day runner, and post-marathon, I was emboldened to do more challenging sports. My parents were PE Teachers and Coaches and I always played sports but it took a backseat in my early career and raising sons. At 52, I said, “let’s do more and more and more interesting and new sports to challenge myself and other women who follow me.” I hope more women in their 50s and beyond consider making their life more active by trying different challenging and fun sports and adventures – alone or with other women.
What would you tell the 20 or 30-year-old YOU?
You are going to rock it out so get ready for the ride.
What do you think you’ll tell yourself in retrospect at the end of your life?
You lived your life PINK and to the fullest! Absolutely! And you changed and positively impacted thousands of women’s lives along the way.
What impact do you think increased visibility can have on your business?
Inspire and embolden more women to buy from women first and foremost, to try new sports and adventures no matter their age or physical capability, and spread the news of living life PINK by supporting women in all aspects of life, business, equality and community.
Who or what inspires you and why?
Trying new sports like WWE Wrestling and Field Hockey to prove I have the skills, gumption, and love of life to try. Every challenge conquered empowers me to do more and try harder to accomplish harder things.
Something else I’d like to share
I have alopecia and have been fully bald for 4 years and I’ve learned so many lessons about beauty and confidence during that time.
“The most important message I have to share is that women need to change the world for women. And that starts very specifically with putting your money in the hands of women first and foremost.”
Tracy Chamberlain Higginbotham
The Brief
This interview with Tracy Chamberlain Higginbotham, the founder and president of Women Ties, LLC is a masterclass in inspiration. Tracy shares her advocacy for women’s empowerment and financial independence and how she’s spent the past 30 years building businesses that support women. And she’s far from done!
Tracy’s mission is to encourage women (and everyone else) to support women-owned businesses. Her mantra is… “The world won’t change for women, unless women change the world for women.” Tracy continued, “the idea of putting your money in the hands of another woman is what’s so important, especially since we do not have a pay equality law.” She emphasized the importance of women actively seeking to support women-owned businesses, even if it means going out of their way to do so.
Tracy was inspired to become an entrepreneur by the role models in her own family, and this led to the creation of her first event-planning business and then to the creation of Women Ties, an organization focused on promoting women-owned businesses and equal pay.
The conversation highlighted the importance of self-confidence and facing fears, using Tracy’s personal experience with a diagnosis of the auto-immune disease, Alopecia. Resulting in the loss of all of her hair. As a frequent public speaker, she had to learn to embrace being a bald woman. Today, she proudly displays her bald head in all its glory.
“When I lost all of my hair at the end of 2018, I wouldn’t cross my street without a hat on… But every time I did, I got a little braver showing my bald head. It empowered me in a different way.”
At 52, inspired by meeting Kathrine Switzer, Tracy ran in the Boston Marathon. She shared that running in a marathon changes you, and afterward, she was emboldened to do more challenging sports. Her parents were PE Teachers and Coaches, and participating in sports was always part of her life. Although it took a backseat during the years when she was building businesses and raising her sons.
Now, both ‘normal’ and ‘adventure’ sports are a regular part of her life, and she invites women to join her on her escapades, especially if they are over 50!
In her quest to try every single sport once in her lifetime, Tracy started another branch of her business and is joined by women for both ‘normal’ and ‘adventure’ sports. Check out her website, where she shares 125 regular sports and about 40 adventure sports, what she has completed, so far, and how you can join her for the ride. These adventures have included parasailing, stand-up paddleboarding, and she is planning to go skydiving with another Real 50 over 50 woman!
Connect with Tracy, watch her interview, visit her website, and join her for an adventure.
