Looking Back and Looking Forward - Tracy

Writing this on the eve of my 11th Fairtrade Fortnight with JTS, it is interesting to reflect on the variety of roles I have held in that time. Initially asked if I could do 3 days per week from January to March 2009, I started with a mixture of project management (related to getting us up and running) and marketing. Whilst the project management was well within my comfort zone, my marketing expertise was limited to having line-managed the marketing manager in my previous organisation! Faced with the imminent arrival of 18 tonnes of rice we clearly needed a plan! Very accustomed to eating up short-dated stock from my church fair trade stall, my long suffering husband commented “you had better come up with a plan, we can’t eat 18 tonnes of rice!” Thankfully Liz came up with the idea of the 90kg Rice Challenge, my role became an implementation one.

Fast forward a few years, past a few months off for maternity leave and then a spell working on grant applications (rather unsuccessfully), and you’ll find me balancing numbers and board papers in my new roles of financial controller and board secretary. These roles involved liaison with our lenders and accountants as well as juggling our day to day finances and compiling reports for the board meetings. Together the roles meant I got much more involved in JTS’s day to day operations and taught me a massive amount about the challenges of running a small business; I have learned how unbelievably hard it is to make a fair trade business sustainable, I have learned about the almost unsurmountable challenges the farmers face and about the real complexities involved in importing food products from (often land-locked) developing countries in Africa and Asia, not to mention the hard work involved in finding a sustainable market for the products.

My role changed again last autumn, and I am now the part-time business manager for JTS. I still do lots of finance work and liaison with the board but I also have more general operational management responsibility. It remains a really challenging role, where the lack of working capital impacts on our decisions on an almost daily basis. But it is also an immensely inspiring and fulfilling role. I am truly inspired by the team I work with here in UK – the whole staff team, the board and our volunteers and customers, by the energy they all put in to trying to create a sustainable market for the food products we import. And having had the privilege to meet just a few of the farmers whose lives are impacted by our purchases I am convinced this is worthwhile and significant work.

Ten years in, it is amazing to think back on the journey JTS has been on since I accepted that contract for 3 months work! With your support, I am hopeful we can make the business truly sustainable and I encourage you to join us on the journey!