A powerful reflection on navigating profound grief and loss through faith. This intimate essay explores how loss transforms us, revealing that healing isn't about forgetting, but learning to carry love forward while discovering newfound purpose and resilience.
Her Story
About Tracey
Tracey Saunders is a multifaceted entrepreneur, creative visionary, and hospitality sales leader whose career spans sales, project management, event design, interior design, fashion, senior care, banking, and television broadcasting. As the Founder and Creative Director of Ash & Fe’nix Design Group, Tracey has built a portfolio of businesses that showcase her passion for creativity, transformation, and helping others bring their visions to life.
A native of Roanoke, Virginia, and now based in the Richmond area, Tracey currently serves as an Area Director of Sales, leading revenue generation, strategic partnerships, and business development for multiple hotel properties. Her professional experience includes leadership roles in hospitality, senior care, banking, and media, where she has consistently demonstrated a commitment to excellence, relationship building, and community engagement.
On April 26, 2026, Tracey achieved a lifelong dream by debuting her first fashion collection, "Evolve by Fe’nix," at Roanoke Fashion Week. The collection reflects her personal journey of perseverance, resilience, faith, and transformation. Through bold colors, distinctive designs, and meaningful storytelling, Evolve by Fe’nix encourages others to embrace their God-given talents, overcome adversity, and pursue their dreams with confidence.
Beyond fashion, Tracey's creative expertise extends into interior design, event design, custom apparel, custom jewelry creation, and project management. Her ability to blend creativity with strategic execution has made her a sought-after professional for clients seeking unique, elevated, and meaningful experiences.
Tracey is also a proud mother of two accomplished sons who continue to be among her greatest inspirations. Their growth, independence, and achievements have reinforced her commitment to perseverance, leadership, and creating a legacy of faith, resilience, and excellence for future generations.
A woman of strong faith, Tracey has been a dedicated member of Village of Faith Ministries since 2016. Throughout her years of service, she has actively supported numerous ministries, community outreach efforts, and special events. She currently serves in leadership within the women's ministry and remains committed to encouraging, empowering, and uplifting others through service and faith.
Tracey's journey has been marked by both remarkable achievements and profound personal loss. After experiencing the passing of both parents, multiple loved ones, professional setbacks, and unexpected life challenges, she chose to transform pain into purpose. Rather than allowing adversity to define her, she used it as fuel to grow stronger, deepen her faith, and pursue the dreams God placed in her heart.
Today, Tracey continues to inspire others through her work, her testimony, and her unwavering belief that every setback can become a setup for something greater. Whether leading sales initiatives, designing interiors, producing memorable events, creating fashion collections, or mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs, she remains committed to helping others recognize their potential and walk boldly in their purpose.
Through every endeavor, Tracey's mission remains the same: to inspire transformation, cultivate excellence, and empower others to embrace who God created them to be.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Tracey
01What do you attribute your success to?
"I attribute my success to my faith in God, perseverance through adversity, and a commitment to continuous growth. Every challenge I've faced has strengthened my resilience and prepared me for the next opportunity. I believe success comes from serving others, embracing change, and having the courage to pursue the talents and purpose God has placed within me."
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
"Don't let where you've been determine where you're going."
"Stop thinking of yourself as a hotel sales professional who has creative businesses; start thinking of yourself as a business leader and entrepreneur whose experience happens to include hospitality."
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Given my journey as an entrepreneur, designer, and business leader, I would tell young women entering fashion, interior design, events, or creative entrepreneurship:
Your talent may open the door, but your professionalism will keep you in the room.
Many young women focus on creativity and forget that successful designers are also businesswomen. Learn contracts, pricing, budgeting, marketing, customer service, and networking just as seriously as you learn design.
Other advice I would share:
- Don't wait until everything is perfect.
- Start where you are. Your first collection, design project, event, or business venture will teach you more than years of planning.
- Build relationships, not just a portfolio.
- Some of your greatest opportunities will come from people who trust your work ethic and character, not just your talent.
- Know your value and charge accordingly.
- Many women underprice their work because they fear losing clients. Your time, expertise, and creativity have value.
- Develop thick skin without losing your heart.
- Not everyone will understand your vision. Criticism will come. Learn from constructive feedback and leave the rest behind.
- Stay teachable.
- Trends change. Technology changes. Industries evolve. The most successful people are lifelong learners.
- Protect your reputation.
- In creative industries, your name is your brand. Be reliable, communicate well, meet deadlines, and do what you say you will do.
- Don't compare your beginning to someone else's middle.
- Social media often shows success but rarely shows the years of hard work behind it.
- Create opportunities when they don't exist.
- Sometimes you have to build your own runway, launch your own event, start your own brand, or create your own seat at the table.
- Take care of yourself.
- Burnout is real. Your business cannot thrive if you are exhausted mentally, physically, or spiritually.
- Walk confidently in your purpose.
- There will be moments when you question yourself. Remember that your gifts were given to you for a reason. Use them boldly.
"Your journey will not always be easy. There will be setbacks, disappointments, and moments when you wonder if it's worth continuing. Keep going. Your resilience, faith, and determination will become just as important as your talent. Success isn't about never falling—it's about continuing to rise every time you do." ❤️
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges in my field is standing out in a competitive market while adapting to changing customer expectations. At the same time, the greatest opportunity is building authentic relationships and using creativity to provide personalized experiences. Whether in hospitality, fashion, or event design, people are looking for solutions tailored to their needs, and businesses that can deliver that personal touch are positioned for long-term success."
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
"The values that guide me most are faith, integrity, perseverance, service, creativity, and family. I believe in working hard, treating people with respect, and using my talents to make a positive impact. Whether I'm leading a team, serving clients, designing an event, or supporting my community, I strive to bring excellence, compassion, and authenticity to everything I do."
Her Content Hub
Articles by Tracey
Faith, Grief, and the Journey Back to Living
Finding Strength and Purpose Beyond Loss Through Faith and Healing
People Often Ask Me How I Made It Through
People often ask me how I made it through.
The truth is, there isn't one answer.
Grief is not something you conquer. It is something you learn to carry. Some days, it feels light enough to walk with, and other days, it feels impossible to lift. There is no timeline, no perfect formula, and no moment when someone announces that you've officially healed.
Within a few short years, I experienced more loss than I ever imagined possible. I lost my father, then my grandfather, then my mother. I buried two dear friends. I lost my job. My home suffered significant water damage. Later, I lost another family member. Every time I thought I had found solid ground, another wave seemed to come.
There were mornings when I questioned how I would get through another day.
But one thing never left me:
My faith.
Faith didn't erase my pain. It gave me the strength to face it.
I learned that healing isn't pretending you're okay. Healing begins when you allow yourself to cry without guilt, remember without fear, and believe that joy can eventually exist alongside sorrow.
There were days I sat in silence.
Days when I prayed without words.
Days when all I could do was whisper, "Lord, help me."
And He did.
Not always by changing my circumstances, but by strengthening me.
One lesson grief taught me is that people often mistake survival for strength. They see you smiling, working, serving, and assume you're healed. They don't see the nights you cry, the holidays that hurt, or the moments when one familiar song brings tears to your eyes.
Healing is rarely visible.
It happens quietly.
It happens one prayer, one conversation, one sunrise, and one decision at a time.
I also learned that grief changes you. You never become the person you were before the loss, but that doesn't mean your future is over. It means God is teaching you how to become someone new.
That new version of me discovered gifts I may never have uncovered otherwise. I stepped into fashion design. I expanded my businesses. I continued serving others. I discovered that purpose can still exist after pain.
My parents would never want my life to end because theirs did.
- They would want me to keep living.
- To keep dreaming.
- To keep creating.
- To keep believing.
If you're reading this while carrying your own grief, I want you to know something:
- You don't have to be strong every day.
- You don't have to have all the answers.
- You don't have to stop missing the people you love.
- Give yourself permission to grieve.
- Talk about them.
- Celebrate their memories.
- Accept help when it's offered.
- Protect your peace.
- Take one day at a time.
- Most importantly, hold on to hope.
Healing is not forgetting.
Healing is learning to live while carrying love that no longer has a physical place to go.
I still miss my parents.
I still think about those I've lost.
There are days when the pain quietly returns.
But today, my grief no longer defines me.
It reminds me how deeply I loved.
My story is no longer only about loss.
- It is about faith.
- It is about resilience.
- It is about reinvention.
And it is proof that even after the darkest seasons, God can still write beautiful chapters.
Your greatest testimony may not be that you never broke.
It may be that God lovingly put you back together-piece by piece-and showed you that your purpose was never buried with your pain.
Tracey Saunders' inspiring journey of faith, resilience, and reinvention reveals how loss can become the catalyst for extraordinary transformation and renewed purpose.
Faith, Resilience and Reinvention
From Grief to Grace: How Faith, Resilience, and Reinvention Transformed One Woman's Journey
Some people are defined by their circumstances. Others are defined by how they rise above them. For Tracey Saunders, faith, resilience, and reinvention have become the foundation of a remarkable journey marked by both profound loss and extraordinary growth.
A native of Roanoke, Virginia, and now residing in the Richmond area, Tracey wears many hats—entrepreneur, fashion designer, interior designer, event designer, sales leader, mentor, and community servant. Yet behind every title is a woman whose story is rooted in perseverance and an unwavering trust in God.
Rising Through Loss
Over the last several years, Tracey has faced challenges that would have caused many to give up. She experienced the loss of her father in 2022, her grandfather in 2023, and her mother later that same year. She also endured the loss of close friends, career setbacks, and unexpected personal hardships. Through each season of grief, she found herself leaning more heavily on her faith.
“I never understood how strong I was until I had no other choice but to keep moving forward,” Tracey often reflects.
As a devoted member of her church family since 2016, Tracey credits much of her strength to the spiritual guidance, encouragement, and biblical teachings that carried her through some of life’s darkest moments. The messages she received from the pulpit became anchors during seasons of uncertainty, reminding her that God’s plans are often revealed through our greatest trials.
Choosing Reinvention
Rather than allowing loss to define her, Tracey chose reinvention.
She returned to her passions and embraced the gifts she believes God placed inside her long ago. Through Ash & Fe'nix Design Group and its creative divisions, she began building businesses centered around fashion, interior design, custom apparel, jewelry creation, event design, and entrepreneurship. What started as a dream evolved into a mission: helping others see beauty, possibility, and purpose in every season of life.
Evolve by Fe'nix
In April 2026, Tracey reached a milestone she once only imagined. She debuted her first fashion collection, Evolve by Fe'nix, during Roanoke Fashion Week. The collection was more than clothing—it was a testimony.
Each design represented perseverance, transformation, and the courage to embrace one’s God-given talents. The collection told a story of overcoming obstacles, stepping into purpose, and refusing to allow life’s challenges to extinguish one’s dreams.
“Evolve by Fe'nix is about resilience,” Tracey says. “It’s about rising after life’s setbacks and becoming who God created you to be.”
A Career Built on Service
Professionally, Tracey has built a successful career spanning hospitality sales, senior care, banking, and business development. As an Area Director of Sales, she has consistently demonstrated leadership, relationship-building, and strategic growth. Yet her proudest accomplishments are not measured in revenue reports or business achievements. They are measured in the lives she has touched through service, encouragement, and mentorship.
As the mother of two successful sons, Tracey considers family one of her greatest blessings. Watching her children grow into accomplished adults has reinforced her belief that perseverance, faith, and hard work create legacies that extend far beyond personal success.
A Story Still Being Written
Today, Tracey’s story continues to unfold. She is pursuing new opportunities, expanding her creative ventures, and inspiring others through her testimony. Her journey serves as a reminder that life may bring seasons of heartbreak, but it also offers opportunities for renewal.
Faith gave her the strength to endure.
Resilience gave her the courage to continue.
Reinvention gave her the opportunity to thrive.
And through it all, Tracey Saunders remains living proof that even after life’s greatest storms, God can create something beautiful from the pieces we thought were broken.
Her story is not simply one of survival—it is a story of transformation.
A story of purpose.
A story of faith in action.
A story that is still being written.
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