Foreign.

Welcome to Inclusion Bites, your sanctuary for bold conversations that spark change. I'm Joanne Lockwood, your guide on this journey of exploration into the heart of inclusion, belonging and societal transformation. Ever wondered what it truly takes to create a world? Remember, everyone not only belongs, but thrives. You're not alone. Join me as we uncover the unseen, challenge the status quo and share stories that resonate deep within. Ready to dive in? Whether you're sipping your morning coffee or winding down after a long day, let's connect, reflect and inspire action together. Don't forget, you can be part of the conversation too. Reach out to jo.lockwood@seechangehappen.co.uk to share your insights or to join me on the show.

So adjust your earbuds and settle in. It's time to ignite the spark of inclusion with Inclusion Bites.

And today is episode 172 with the title Telling Untold Stories. And I have the absolute honour and privilege to welcome Tracy Stewart. Tracy is a book coach, editor and founder of Freshly Press, who is dedicated to amplifying untold stories and advocating for diverse voices in publishing. When I asked Tracy to describe her superpower, she said it is championing unheard voices and guiding storytellers to share their truth. Hello, Tracy. Welcome to the show.

Thanks for having me. Delighted to have the opportunity to chat with you in a bit more detail than we normally have the opportunity to do on LinkedIn.

Yes. Yeah, I think we bumped into each other probably four or five months ago, didn't we? And we've been talking about a book. I've got a budding book. I've got podcast poetry, so.

Looking forward to seeing that come to life.

Yeah, well, you will be featured probably in volume two, so. Yeah, I'm looking forward to that as well. So whereabouts in the country are you right now?

Well, I'm actually in France because although I'm British, I live in France. Yeah. Live in Normandy.

Wow. Still got the same daylight out the window, so I would have never known, so.

No, I know.

I think you're probably the first guest in the 172 episodes that has actually been based in France. Wow.

There you go. Always upload somewhere.

Yeah. So, Tracy, one of the reasons we started talking originally was, you know, we talk about this, guiding storytellers to tell their truth. And I think for the first moment we had a conversation, you talked about the publishing industry as a whole, the lack of diversity that's there, and the usual suspects. Get in if you like.

Yeah.

So how. What. What started this? What ignited your passion to help untold authors, if you like untold people, tell their stories.

I guess about 10 years ago I, which is when I moved over to France, I'd stopped working, doing my old job in the city. That was a very traditional career. And I had the opportunity to go and work with a small publishing house, independent publishing house, remotely supporting authors. From that I ended up building a business which I started with two other women. And we were really wanting to focus on giving authors who never usually had the opportunity to get their books in front of large audiences to be able to get publishing opportunities or to promote their books better, differently, all of those things. And it really stemmed from the fact that the books we were looking at and publishing originally were, were all largely you know, traditional, middle class, white, you know, not, not terribly reflective of society and certainly not telling stories that we were experiencing in everyday life and needed to be told, needed to be amplified. So that was really the cause was, was looking at, you know, I've been a book buyer all my life, but looking at it from the other perspective made me realise just how many stories effectively don't make the cut with publishers because they're often not brave enough to take on stories that are different.

I presume there's also the imposter syndrome of many people would have me an author. No, really, no one's going to be interested in what I have to say. So you must find that the barrier there is one, getting someone to actually have their story and want to do something with it and secondly, getting someone who's prepared. Prepared to publish that.