The Wicked Good Cupcake Story:
Meet Tracey Noonan
Submitted by: Lucie K. Lewis, Ed.D
When we look back on our lives, while we can certainly recognize those moments that had a dramatic impact, we can easily see the significant events that actually turned our journey onto a different path. For Tracey Noonan, there are two that truly shaped where her life has gone.
While in high school, Tracey had set her sights on teaching dance, although this was not the plan her parents had for her life. Nonetheless, determined to fulfill this dream, Tracey found a way to apply and audition to performing arts colleges. She was not only accepted to the Boston Conservatory of Music as a dance major but received a scholarship as well. As Tracey puts it:
“Life at the Conservatory was perfect – until I made a very bad decision. I got pregnant.”
Her plans derailed and not allowed to return home she married her boyfriend. Ironically, the gift of that life-altering moment was also the reason for the second—starting a business venture at 49 years old.
Tracey set out to find a way to share time with her daughter Dani. They began attending a once a week at a cake decorating class. The shared pastime grew well beyond that outgrowing her South Shore home kitchen into a nationally-recognized, multi-million-dollar brand, but not overnight. Tracey describes the business growth as happening “on its own organically” in the beginning. However, with confidence, perseverance and the support of her husband Scott, family, friends and her mentors like Kevin O’Leary of Shark Tank and Marcus Lemonis of CNBC’s The Profit, Tracey and Dani learned to become entrepreneurs and to grow the business to success..
Tracey is saddened when she speaks with someone whose dreams have been stymied by the roadblocks others put in front of them. In her book, Tracey shares the details of the challenges that she overcame on her journey and her advice is simple. As she states in Wicked Good Cupcakes:
Don’t put an expiration date on your success! Opportunities happen for us when we are ready and not a second before. We are the sum of all of our decisions – good and bad – and that is the good news.
Book Review of the Wicked Good Cupcake
Author Tracey Noonan had a clear plan for her life. She graduated from high school and forged a way to attend college without the support of her parents. She was on her way to building the life she dreamed of. But, life can change on a dime, and hers certainly did.
In her book Wicked Good Cupcakes, Tracey shares her journey including an honest discussion of her struggles and failures. She openly discusses her often painful, usually exhausting, road to success. With a deep commitment to her reasons for beginning the journey, she perseveres, learns the lesson she needed to learn and found the mentors and support so critical to her success.
We witnessed the critical juncture of her success–her appearance on Shark Tank, but in Wicked Good Cupcakes, Tracey pulls back the curtain and shares the full story. If you are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur, Wicked Good Cupcakes is an invaluable read.
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