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Elon Musk said, “When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.” That’s the way Tracy Davenport felt when she opened Tracy’s Smoothie Place in Chestertown a little over two years ago. With a recently earned doctorate in human growth and development in hand, she set out to provide a healthy to-go option to people in a rural community.
While Tracy’s shop started out as a place for all natural smoothies (you can find 15 of them there), it has now grown into a go-to for Hawaiian shave ice, all natural soup and farm fresh grilled cheese. You can also pick up Red Acres lettuce year-round, gourmet baked goods, all natural goat’s milk, soup and local produce in season. Tracy’s will also be a CSA pick up for Oksana’s Produce Farm and a place you can get Crow Farm beef this spring.
None of this would have happened quite so well without the support of SCORE. Tracy met with SCORE members even before the shop was opened to float the idea and get help with setting up. Like all meaningful relationships, it took time to work out the details.
“At first, it was a little difficult working with SCORE because I had my own vision, which was somewhat difficult to communicate because it was mostly a dream with fuzzy edges. So when SCORE members began asking hard questions about my plans, I felt really uncomfortable. Over time though, the SCORE members pushed me to work on the aspects of the business that were not my strengths. With their guidance, I have improved in those areas. It also took time for everyone on the team to recognize each other’s individual strengths. Though it took patience and persistence the payoff has been huge.”
You can find Tracy on FB at Tracy’s Smoothie Place and Instagram and Twitter @Drink Smoothies. She is also on WCTR radio on Tuesday mornings at 8 am talking about food and healthy behaviors.
