A Single Mom Needs Help

My name is Tracey Rogers Brandt and I am a single mother of two daughters who is fundraising to become divorced and free to heal myself and my daughters and move forward.

My estranged husband and business partner hostility took control of our business and fired me without cause in May 2023, when he violated the Operating Agreement for our business, locking me out of systems used to operate our business, including the one used for my income. In my expert opinion as his wife and business partner of 20 years and counting, I believe he suffers clinical sociopathy. He maliciously destroyed my livelihood and repeatedly attempts to slander my reputation. Both have reduced my ability to leverage my network from 20 years of being a pioneering woman winemaker and visionary entrepreneur focused on ecological farming, winemaking and business operations as the General Managers and Lead Winemaker at the small business I founded in 2004, called Donkey & Goat Winery.

Like the home I live in with my daughters, Donkey & Goat is community property in our unsettled divorce. We married in California, which is a no-fault state. This means unless agreements are reached, divorcing parties sell assets, divide proceeds and move on. For years I was led by the hope he dangled, that we would reach agreement on a global settlement that would support my having income and staying in the family home until our youngest daughter graduated from high school.

For 19 years I worked more than 60 hours/week leading the winery while running our household and raising two daughters. While I worked exclusively for the business we co-own, he grew his career in the FinTech industry, while also being co-owner of our winery business. His contributions varied dramatically over the years and were never full time.

I trusted our societal norms, business laws and Family Court Laws, to ensure that after building a small business in Berkeley California, co-founding the Gilman Business District and Gilman Wine Block, that I would have means to support my family, retire someday and so on. But that did not happen. I suffered decades of psychological spousal abuse not yet recognized by our laws. His repeated attempts to hostilely remove me from my livelihood and career from 2021 - 2023 also sabotaged Donkey & Goat Winery. And these same years challenged the business further with catastrophic wildfire vintages, the COVID-19 global pandemic and supply chain inhibitors to profitability.

I am a straight shooter who desperately wants to be divorced and find a new job supporting the Natural World. I also need to better protect my two daughters, who continue suffering from the repeated psychological abuses inflicted upon them, and their life, by their father. For example, I find it impossible to imagine how a reasonable person could believe their father thought the Toyota Rav 4, I have exclusively driven since December 2020, was stolen when he reported such to the Berkeley Police Department in October 2023. His 12 year old daughter was subjected to the terrifying phone call that her mother was in trouble with the police. Likewise, the damage from my business partner’s hostile and vindictive action of stealing my digital life of 19 years when he locked me out of my tracey-at-donkeyandgoat email account, that managed my personal life and that of my children, including 19 years of pictures of their life, is incalculable.

I have yet to find the balance for holding both my need to stabilize my life and my need to reconstruct my life. When I focus too heavily on attempts to garner compassion for stabilization I fear I present myself as too messy or weak. If I focus too heavily on my talents, experience, passion and ideas, I fear I fail to illustrate my need to also stabilize.

I am years off any traditional script. The weight my family carries each day is too heavy. I have dramatically narrowed the scope of my crowdfunding campaign in hopes of finally getting out from under the weight of my unsettled divorce to an alleged sociopath whose actions and lack of actions repeatedly harm me, my children and inhibit our ability to thrive in our life.

My fundraising goal to $200,000 to cover the following expenses:

Below are more details presented as an FAQ for help finding what you might be interested in knowing more about.

Thank you for reading and considering helping us.

Peace & Love,

Tracey Rogers Brandt

~*~ FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ~*~

Are you divorced?

No, I am separated 4 years and counting. My spouse & business partner moved out of our family home in April 2020. His fourth hostile takeover attempt at the LLC we co-own and I exclusively worked for 19 years, succeeded in May 2023.

I left my operational role at Donkey & Goat Winery in favor of supporting my daughters, thinking we would settle our divorce before September 1, 2023, when the second court date was scheduled for a routine motion. More than 2.5 years passed before my first and only offensive legal maneuver, which was to file for Guideline Temporary Support. His games cost me tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees by forcing my attorney to court twice for no apparent reason beyond him playing games.

Why are you not divorced?

That is a long story that is complex and interwoven with both personal and business details that spans decades and includes myself, my two daughters and my business. And there is much I am not able to say publicly but you can read more detail here.

Suffice to say I’ve been a pawn on an alleged sociopaths chessboard, while trying to salvage my career, my home and support my oldest daughter who has to manage her mental illness and suffer his continued psychological abuse. When I peacefully left my Operational Role as General Managers and Lead Winemaker I held for 19 years, I mistakenly thought our divorce would finally settle. I was critically incorrect.

Why are your stories on the website confusing and opaque?

Because I am both defending my position on the Board of Managers with my company and my position in our divorce. Neither is resolved and everything I say and type can be used against me.

What outcomes do you seek?

I want to become divorced without becoming unhoused and without losing the vehicle I have exclusively driven since 2020, given I am not able to purchase a new one at this time.

As of a few weeks ago, I am officially without any legal representation due to the past due balance and required retainers to proceed, which are hefty due to my attorney’s having intimate knowledge of how my estranged spouse and business partner operates to maliciously drive up my legal fees.

I solely support my older daughter who now also depends on the vehicle he reported stolen for the purpose of terrorizing me. She withdrew from her college in November due to his actions and is living at home and hopes to return to college in the Fall, but our life continues to feature more chaos and misery than we can handle and also thrive in our life.

Why did you reduce your fundraising goal?

I have new information that helps narrow the focus with both my business and family law case. And I was not able to determine the past due balances owed to farmers and small businesses by Donkey & Goat Winery, whom I had hoped to also help with this campaign.

I had hoped to raise funds to deal with urgent and costly home repairs. The HELOC associated with the property is not available. The company borrowed from our home years ago and has yet to pay back the loan. With the rainy season near past I have more time on the issues exacerbated by rain.

I have removed both from this campaign which reduced my fundraising goal to $200,000.

How will you use the funds raised?

Binding arbitration is specified for settling issues with the Board Of Managers in our Operating Agreement. We are deadlocked on the Board Of Managers. Events over the last month have presented an opportunity. I wish to follow the advice of the business attorney and seek binding arbitration to resolve the open question of whether any of his documented actions (with witness testimony available) from 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 violated his fiduciary duties as a Member of the Board of Managers holding the office of Treasurer.

If I prevail, he could be removed from the Board Of Managers which allows me to resolve open issues and work with staff and our lender to chart a course forward. To be clear, it would not involve me returning operationally, but I am more than happy to provide guidance and support.

I will also have to defend myself against his claim, that I violated my fiduciary duty, when I sent a farewell email to the customers of my business.

SPENDING DETAILS:

Why do you share such personal information? Aren’t you concerned about hurting your children?

My children live through far more and worse than I’ve shared on my website. My children regularly witness their father’s brutal attempts to destroy their mother. I broke my silence to shine a spotlight on psychological spousal and child abuse not yet recognized by our laws. My website only highlights a few of the serious allegations, where I have overwhelming evidence and my sharing does not result in dire consequences.

I argue that when mothers living in war zones or in cars, tents, or unsheltered in the wealthiest country on Earth, share the shocking reality of their lived experience, they are not hurting their children. Those standing by idle and silent are enabling far more harm than mother’s asking for help.

Can you summarize why you need help?

I no longer have my career leading Donkey & Goat Winery and do not expect to stay in the wine industry. I am also severely upside down financially even though I co-own two community property assets, the home I live in with my daughters and the business I worked at exclusively for 19 years until June 2023. Nothing is settled.

The father of my children regularly and repeatedly hurts his children emotionally and spiritually. Our oldest daughter suffered the brunt of the last 4 years and his actions and lack of actions, continue to harm her.

I juggle my time as best I can, regulating emotion for our home life so my children do not live in constant terror from what is going to happen to their mother and to their home. I am also eagerly seeking a new career which I am passionate and excited to launch! Each day I juggle mothering, my job search and defending myself against repeated actions associated with my family law case for the divorce and now, I must seek binding arbitration for the business.

I have incurred $118,617.20 in legal fees since early 2020, for my Family Law Attorney who was extremely generous with free credit and continues to not charge me interest on the $61,291.98 past due balance. Because I am not able to pay my past due balance and replenish my retainer, I signed papers to notify the court I am representing myself (at least until I find funds).

Late last year the same occurred with my business attorney except I was able to pay her small balance due, but was not able to replenish a healthy retainer for continued representation. I hired her in the Fall of 2023 and her hours accumulated rapidly as there were many outrageous violations of the Operating Agreement by my business partner during the months of August - November 2023.

Due to the impact on my children, her focus was to recover my digital life of 19 years which he stole when he locked me out of email account tracey-at-donkeyandgoat. As a small business owner/operator I exclusively used that email for 19 years which means every digital service for my life and my daughters was no longer available. He has never returned this to me which includes photos of my children over 19 years.

There is now disagreement between the attorney for Donkey & Goat and my business partner, who claims he can unilaterally declare my removal from the Board Of Managers (BOM), at the company we co-own.

We are the only two Members on the BOM. I have three years of well documented (many on my website) violations of his fiduciary responsibility to the LLC. Years ago the business attorney for our company advised me that I had little recourse, via calling a Board of Managers meeting to remove him, due to these clear violations, given we are deadlocked.

In February 2024 there was another violation of his fiduciary duty when he threatened to not sign a document clearly in the best interest of the company. This document provided a pause on the lender’s lawsuit that could result in my losing the home I live in, that sits behind the loan that is out of compliance, for the company, due to the over advance I obtained to pay farmers and staff in 2022. Before the home would be the loss of the company, which means farmers, small businesses and staff are all negatively impacted.

After a week he signed the document, which was in the best interest of the company. And it reduced options leveraging the lender’s lawsuit to threaten me. When he refused to sign their document he said:

…I did it out of a good faith effort to try and save the home for Tracey but, wrongly, I assumed...

I’m pretty confident he would struggle to find anyone to testify under oath that he has any good faith associated with me or any interest in saving the home for me.

Following his loss of leverage, in March 2024 he declared I violated my fiduciary duties and that he unilaterally removed me back in January 2024, but was holding off on informing me due to security reasons. After a few rounds in email where the attorney for our company is clearly expressing the same opinion he has expressed for years, that we are deadlocked, my business partner attempts to censor our the attorney for the company when he says:

…With Tracey removed from the Board of Managers, I don't think you can answer her questions while representing Donkey and Goat"..

Thankfully our attorney felt confident in his consistently expressed opinion and reiterated for all of us to read:

...I indicated in my letter that the Bylaws and Operating Agreement were so poorly prepared that I cannot give an opinion as to whether the removal was properly performed, or whether it was not. I believe the parties should use the arbitration process to answer that question...

Our Operating Agreement is so poorly written because in 2004 I downloaded a template from NoLo and barely customized it. It simply says we must seek arbitration in San Francisco, where we were based during the first two years.

To recap, I allege the Treasurer and 50% BOM Member repeatedly sabotaged his company to gain an advantage in our divorce negotiations. His well documented, with witness testimony, actions clearly violated his fiduciary duties to the company and other investors from early 2021 - 2023 June.

He claims I violated my duty in September 2023 when I sent a long overdue farewell email 10 months following my peaceful plan to leave, 6 months following his hostilely removing me from my livelihood and 3 months following his sending a defamatory email to 16,000 of my customers whom I needed for networking purposes.

My farewell email was clearly from me and expressed my passion for the natural world and community building, both of which were pillars to my communications to our mailing list for 19 years as the voice for the Donkey & Goat brand.

He continues to refute the advice of counsel, violate numerous sections of the Operating Agreement for our business and unilaterally declare he is the sole member of the BOM due him removing me.

It is long past time that we stand up to gas lighters and alleged sociopaths who exhaust those working for all life. It is long past time to put action behind the words “Matriarchy Rising” and “International Women’s Month” and the “Lift Economy.”

I need a lift. My daughters need a lift. We have many talents to offer the world if given a chance.

Peace & Love,

Tracey Rogers Brandt