Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tracy Teuscher. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Tracy , appreciate you joining us today. Innovation comes in all shapes, sizes and across all industries, so we’d love to hear about something you’ve done that you feel was particularly innovative.

One innovative way that I serve the community and the environment is through a nonprofit pollinator habitat initiative I launched in 2020 called Save Ohio Bees™. This initiative is a bioregional approach to address the three main reasons that 1 in 4 North American native bees face extinction: Habitat loss, pesticide use, and climate warming.

The Save Ohio Bees website provides Ohioans with free educational and citizen science resources, from free native bee, plant, and gardening guides to educational videos, news, and special events.

As part of the initiative, I collaborate with conservancies, schools, parks, wilderness centers, and others to provide inclusive native bee education and events that provide human-nature experiences. Through these events, we help others learn about wild bees, how they are special, how they differ from honey bees and wasps, and powerful ways each of us can help them and regional ecosystems flourish.

There are about 500 species of native bees in the state of Ohio, and native bees pollinate more than 90% of all flowering species, making them vital to ecosystems health including the food web and forests. For example, bumble bees are the most efficient pollinators in wild landscapes.

I’ve co-designed a special bumble bee coloring page for children, and written an original “Wild Bees” song to engage audiences through art and music. And, we have much more planned.

We also raise funds for conservation nonprofits. For example, every $100 we raise for Pollinator Partnership restores 1,600 sq. ft. of pollinator habitat. Through this collaboration, we have helped restore more than 60,000 sq. ft. of habitat.
That’s pretty exciting considering it only takes 5 flowers to feed a baby bee!

This year, we’ve expanded matching gift sponsor opportunities, and I am confident we will continue to grow our relationships and our impact.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

The Buzz Maker® is an award-winning communication and consulting firm that has served hundreds of organizations with excellence and has been recognized among Ohio’s top public relations firms.

We help brands amplify awareness, strengthen market position, enhance profitability, and sustain growth through strategic communications that build connection and trust. Our goal is to help brands, communities, and the environment flourish.

Beyond a gifted group of public relations pros, writers, artists, designers, photographers, and videographers, I provide specialized consulting services.

My educational background and experiential skillset help organizations address complex communication challenges, navigate persistent economic volatility, and develop environmental leadership plans.

In addition to more than 20 years of experience in communications, I am an accredited PRSA Counselors Academy member and maintain certification in negotiation and conflict resolution. My experience as a practicing ecotherapist and certified naturalist also equips me to help organizations create proactive and responsive plans to address a spectrum of environmental stewardship and climate-change needs.

At The Buzz Maker®, we bring strategy, connective communications, creative vision, and social and environmental leadership together to benefit the community. We seek to be allies within the social and environmental justice movements.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

First, we are ethical. Honesty, authenticity, excellence, and reliability build relationships and trust. We do our best, and when we make mistakes, we hold ourselves accountable.

Second, flexibility. Without mastering the ability to remain calm and curious during periods of change, we could not have helped countless organizations address complex communication challenges, including during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Third, our commitment to being good allies within the diversity, equity, inclusion, and intersectionality movement.

We also strive to stay humble and laugh a lot.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

As a leader, I always try to show up fully, give 100%, stay humble, acknowledge the value of each individual and the unique gifts they share, extend grace, express gratitude, stay positive, and laugh a lot.

People need to feel appreciated and they want to be included in co-creation processes, especially within small businesses. Each person possesses a unique set of skills, abilities, experiences, and gifts. I do my best to encourage people around me to share ideas and creative solutions. I want people to know that they have a voice and that their voice matters.

People also need workplace flexibility to meet personal and family needs. People need to be valued as individuals, they need to know that I care about them, and they need to feel comfortable taking personal time away when needs arise.

Open communication is very important. I want people to feel comfortable talking about individual and company challenges so we can joint problem-solve together.

I also strive to create a consistently positive atmosphere, and that includes humor. We laugh a lot, and we learn to laugh at ourselves when we make silly mistakes.

For example, once I distributed a news release and there was a typo in the name of the product in the subject line. When I issued the correction to the media, I sent a personal note that said something like, “Please note the correction to the product name in the subject line. It was correct in the news release I sent you a short time ago, but in the subject line, not so much. Please accept my apology for any inconvenience. Clearly, I need a vacation.”

I received several really nice emails from media pros extending grace, telling me it’s okay, everyone makes mistakes sometimes, and everyone needs a vacation. This is something I’ll always remember. We need to stay humble and extend grace to each other.       

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thebuzzmaker.com/, https://saveohiobees.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saveohiobees/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saveohiobees
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracyteuscher

Image Credits
(I own these images.)