SHE KEEPS WALKING

She stands on a small platform alongside fellow bouncers, her eyes suspiciously surveying the revellers in the dimly lit dance floor in Lloyds, a popular bar in Cardiff. Loud music is blaring from huge speakers in the pub as the patrons, mostly young people in various degrees of soberness dance away the night.
Some commotion on the far end of the dance floor catches her attention and even before her male colleagues move, she dashes out, heading for the disturbance. With pinpoint precision, she manoeuvres her way across the floor, edging her body through the ever moving wall of dancers.
The commotion is beginning to turn into a fight as two drunken young men begin pushing each other in aggression. But before it gets out of hand, the female bouncer courageously steps in and pushes the men apart. They stop their fight obviously shocked.
Her name is Tracy Trevelyan, and she is a bouncer. At only 5.4”, weighing less than 60 kilograms and lacking in big body attributes associated with the art of bouncing, the 29 year old Welsh woman is special. If being female in a profession dominated by men is odd enough, then being diminutive is certainly the icing on the cake.
For Tracy though, size doesn’t matter, “Its about your attitude,” she says proudly, a fact illustrated further by her passion for the job she has been doing for the past four years now. After being in retail in various capacities for almost five years, she made a career change into security, first serving as an event steward with Unisec securities before being promoted into full time bouncing.
The only woman on Unisec securities’ list of bouncers serving some of Cardiff’s nightspots, Tracy comes highly recommended. Her boss, Unisec’s manager Greg Evans, insists Tracy is going places. “She is very aggressive, yet, respectful and lovely, which is a good mix for a bouncer.”
“She is amazing to work with,” says her fellow bouncer, Tim Moody who has worked with Tracy for almost two years now. “Absolutely hates being treated like a woman, especially when on duty.”
Holding a late night job certainly has its disadvantages and Tracy is not spared from them. She spends five nights every week serving in different night spots in the city, making it very demanding especially on her social life.
The demanding schedule made her lose her ex-boyfriend. After serving a few weeks as a bouncer, he asked her to choose between him and the job. Despite the worry that that was going to be the trend from then on, she insists she made the right decision.
After a few months of singlehood, she met someone new and luckily for her, she says, her current boyfriend of eleven months is quite supportive which makes it bearable for her. She also praises her colleagues for helping out.
“At first it was very challenging,” she admits, “but with moral support from home and good colleagues, every night is like a joyride.”