The idea formed during a long car ride from NJ to Buffalo. Trae and her husband Chris were on their way to visit family and got to talking about her Mom, Sarah Bodge, who had succumbed to metastatic breast cancer at the age of 87 in 2023. Sarah, was still working three weeks before her death which surprised no one who knew her. Sarah had been a force to be reckoned with; an incredibly driven, intensely giving woman who could charm the pants off almost anyone.
At her core, Sarah was an entrepreneur. Whether running her own shop, Body Sense, on Threadneedle Alley in Newburyport, MA, which she founded in the mid-70s and ran for three decades, or running programs within institutions, she had endless ideas and often built programs from scratch or put her stamp on existing programs, making them bigger and better.
So, as Chris and Trae reminisced about Sarah, they thought about the little nest egg she had cobbled together through the years so she would have something to leave for her only daughter.
During those conversations, they realized that the entrepreneurial spirit was everywhere in Trae’s family. It began with Sarah, but Trae also grew up admiring her Aunt Cindy, Sarah’s sister-in-law, who was not only an early investor in Sarah’s store but has had many businesses throughout her life. Amy, the long-time partner of Trae’s Dad, has her own decades-long business. Sarah’s sister, Liz, is an author and has been a business owner for many decades. And the list goes on.
Trae felt this drive to create a legacy for her mom involving these formidable family members. And the idea for Threadneedle Alley was born. Cindy and Amy are founders and investors, and Cindy, Amy, and Liz are on the board.
The name Threadneedle Alley was a no-brainer because, for Trae, it was on Threadneedle Alley that her own entrepreneurial spark was lit. She worked at Sarah's shop from a young age and has helped to found several businesses.
The goal of Threadneedle Alley is to give a hand to aspiring entrepreneurs in their second act because, despite years of life experience, this is an often-ignored and undervalued population.
Threadneedle Alley’s help will be both financial and support-based. Our winners will receive a one-time financial grant of $5,000. In addition, they will be partnered with a chief mentor who will check in and offer advice and support each month. Threadneedle Alley’s robust brain trust of mentors will also be available to the grant winners. From graphic designers to financial planners to branding and content experts, our selected grantees will have access to them all.
Threadneedle Alley will also have a podcast hosted by Trae, who will be interviewing our esteemed board members, our bench of mentors, and other titans of entrepreneurship. There will be a bounty of wisdom in every episode. There will be blog posts and other resources available on ThreadneedleAlley.org.