Tracy Heatley is top of the pods

A podcaster who shares her marketing knowledge and top tips on a weekly basis was delighted to win the Brilliant Broadcaster Award.

Chartered marketer Tracy Heatley has more than 30 years’ business experience and in 2019 she began creating podcasts, firstly on ‘How to be a Networking Ninja’ and then her ‘Be Better with Tracy Heatley’ advice series.

She was delighted to find out she had been anonymously nominated for the Freshies Charity Business Awards for the Nifty Networker and Brilliant Broadcaster categories.

Last year she was master of ceremonies for Rossendale Business Awards and has previously judged categories at other business award ceremonies.

Tracy, from Rawtenstall, said: “I went along to the awards at Tipies in Preston and was pleased to be a finalist but I was not expecting to win because in my category there was one of the top podcasters – 2 P’s in a Podcast – who is doing really well.

“I am absolutely buzzing to have picked up the trophy and it came as a massive shock.

“I was sitting with Kath Lord-Green from Voice IT PR, who was also the founder of Ribble FM. I must thank her for getting me started in broadcasting.

“She invited me to be on one of her shows and she saw my potential.  She said I needed to be in radio and taught me how to use the mixing desk. I owe a lot to Kath”.

Tracy was a presenter with Real Life Radio in Rossendale and she presented her Mind Your Own Business show, where she interviewed hundreds of local business owners over a five year period.

Her ‘Be Better’ business has just celebrated its 10th anniversary and so the award has come at just the right time.

She said: “My podcasts offer tips and advice, frequently asked questions and explain the common marketing gaps that a lot of businesses have.

“It has been a difficult couple of years for all businesses, so I decided to use the podcasts to give people as much advice and guidance as I could for free.

“Although they are only 10 minutes long, they take a lot longer to prepare, script and edit.

“It is nice to get recognised and nice that someone nominated me in the first place.”

The Freshies Charity Business Awards were set up during lockdown by Laura and Emily Leyland from Fresh Perspective Resourcing Ltd. The North West awards have quirky titles and are less formal than the norm.

Tracy became the first licensee of Business over Breakfast Clubs in 2007 and has now made the North West area her own offering opportunities for Area Co-ordinators to run their own networking clubs.

For more information visit www.tracyheatley.com or www.bobclubs.com/nw or email [email protected]