After two decades in the nonprofit trenches, Tracie Hulbert is building something different to make a positive impact in the St. Louis community. She uprooted her own modern financial services firm that puts family protection, financial literacy and real results at the center of everything it does.
Tracie, founder of The Dollhouse Project, hit the ground running with her passion to help women. With experience running organizations that served women and children facing domestic abuse, homelessness and food insecurity across hundreds of miles throughout Missouri, Tracie says she saw exactly what the system gets wrong. Now, she’s channeling everything she learned into something built to last.
“Every single case I ever touched could've been made better by money,” she says, indicating that realization is what gave birth to The Dollhouse Project. Her modern financial services firm is built on three pillars: family protection, financial literacy and scalable leadership development. Hot pink and red branding. A name that makes people ask questions. And behind it, a clear philosophy: impact over noise, results over hype.
The Dollhouse Project operates with the structure of a financial firm. At its core, it's insurance and retirement planning, but with a commitment wrapped around the business to power a volunteer-based ecosystem. This addresses every dimension of financial wellness, or "doors" that those in need can open for help. Her network spans therapists who discuss the mental impact of money stress, a dietician who teaches families how to stretch $25 into five meals, a tax strategist explaining how a W-4 may be filled out wrong, lenders, attorneys, victim’s advocates and even a veteran network.
“You could come to The Dollhouse Project and maybe the only door you want to use is the A-plus program for your kids’ school,” Tracie says. “That door is there. But so is every other one.”
These pieces are all woven together because, as Tracie puts it, “the things people need already exist, they just don’t know about them.”
The leadership development pillar of The Dollhouse Project is what Tracie believes will make this firm last. She isn’t just building a business, she's building a team of people who understand the mission.
“I want everyone at the table; I don’t care how long it has to get," she says.
Tracie says the goal is a firm where anyone can find someone who speaks their language and leave with a plan. She assures that she wants to help people, and take as many good people with her as she can.
“What if somebody copies the Dollhouse Project?” she asks. “I hope to God they do.”