We were lucky to catch up with Brandi Koskie recently and have shared our conversation below.

Brandi, appreciate you joining us today. Do you take vacations? How do you keep things going – any advice for entrepreneurs who feel like they can’t step away from their business for a short vacation?

You better believe I take vacations! I take about six to eight weeks off every year. And most of those are fully out of office, no availability. My rule is “the mac don’t pack!” Meaning, I take a healthy break from work to be present in the vacation or weekend away that I’ve invested in. I do that for my own physical and mental health, morale, and trying to manage burnout. I do that because I value the time with my family or the friends we’re with. I’ve lost too much time feeling like I was failing, disloyal, or slacking if I wasn’t wholly available to my clients.

Breaks are healthy, and we all need to do a better job of normalizing time away and protecting that line between real life and work life.

I take the last 10-14 days off at the end of every year. I take a two week vacation every summer. And there’s usually spring break, long weekends, and other getaways that pop up for any number of reasons. This summer, I’ve finally re-instated no work Fridays, too.

Planning and communication really are key to being able to *slam the laptop shut* and walk away for a few days, or a few weeks.

For client communication, I keep a line in my email signature that says Upcoming Planned OOO: [dates]. That way it’s visible in every email we exchange. With some clients, I actually share a calendar invite that says: Brandi OOO. I do this as soon as I have dates set; which could be as little as a week or sometimes more than a month. Of course, I mention it to them in conversation, too. I also set an auto-response in my calendar that rejects meeting invitations during my planned time off, which includes a link to my calendar so they can reschedule.

I’m a planner by nature, so getting my schedule and deliverables organized in advance helps me prepare for a heavy work sprint before I take off. I often work longer days in the 1-2 weeks before I leave ensuring that I can walk away and they have everything they need. I will send an email to the client/team letting them know their “last chance” date for new requests so that I can accommodate any last minute items that come up. The to do list is always fully checked off, desk tidy, and clients taken care of before I close up (sometimes at 1am before I head to the airport…but it’s done!).

I’m very protective of my personal time and my business availability time. My advice if you feel like you can’t? Like most things, start with something small and manageable to get used to the idea. A few things I do:

– No work or email after 5:00pm
– No work or email on weekends
– No work or email on holidays
– I removed Slack from my phone
– I have notifications turned off on my phone

Book a long weekend and block out your calendar for that Friday and Monday. Focus on being present. I promise, the clients will still be there when you get back. And they’ll even be glad to hear how the trip went. Then book another one. And then give yourself the week or two sojourn from desks and meetings and QA reviews that you so desperately need and deserve!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

ABOUT ME
I’m a Kansas-Oklahoma transplant getting ready to celebrate 10 very happy years in Denver. I’ve been married to my husband for 22 years. Shelton runs Eighty Grit as an independent web dev. We spent the pandemic working with our desks about eight inches apart and lived to tell the tale! We have a 14-year-old daughter who’s headed to high school in the fall. I love my people and new people and smart people and kind people and want to get as many drinks, concerts, hikes, paddle board sessions, shenanigans as I can with any of them.

WHAT I DO
I stutter through job titles because it can vary based on the conversation I’m having or the problem a client is trying to solve. I’m so excited about Banter Strategy because it’s the culmination of everything I’ve learned and love to do in my 20 (!) years in marketing. I’m a content strategist, brand strategist, marketing ops, copywriter, chief of staff…I like to say “tell me what you need and get the hell out of my way!”.

HOW I GOT INTO
My career is a series of left turns that I never entirely planned, but I’m so pleased with how this often unexpected journey has developed. Some happy accidents, some right places/right times, and (learning to say)…a lot of my experience positioning myself for those happy accidents and prime opportunities. I just love being in the place where there’s enough challenge for me to learn and grow, and space where I can make a meaningful impact.

I studied advertising in college (with a journalism degree) and went straight into a traditional ad agency role. Getting in as an account coordinator was easier than the copywriter job I really wanted. But once inside, I took on a lot of the copy work for my clients and carved that direction for myself. That turned into a corporate cable marketing role that I really, desperately hated. And then the doors for digital starting opening and I joined a tiny and mighty startup to grow a wellness content site from inception to 3 million visitors per month! I started a branding agency when I moved to Denver and had the best time doing that (winning ADDYs) with stellar, talented friends. And then in 2017, the time felt right to make a move to start Banter Strategy and develop my own clients and build relationships and create work in a thoughtful, intentional, creative way that I’d always wanted to.

PROUD OF
I’m the most proud of the work I don’t get paid for. The volunteer and community work is truly what I’d do with all of my time if I didn’t need to earn a living. I’ve been the president of the Green Mountain High School Foundation for three years, and will close my time with that organization this summer. We’ve been able to invest about $100,000 to directly support teacher requests that have included a baby grand piano, a new e-Sports team, art installations, ethernet for the Mac lab, physics lab equipment, new Spanish textbooks, and establish an annual scholarship for students committing their energy to philanthropy. Prior to that I co-founded and ran a PTA at a Title I elementary where we were able to raise $100,000 in five years, truly impacting the culture and experience for the students, teachers, and families. I’m always happy to show up for those who are giving so much of themselves. I was the first person in my family to go to college and I’m acutely aware of how that education changed the trajectory of my life. I’m happy to show up for our kids education and childhood experience however I can.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I was effectively ghosted out of a full-time contract role this past fall. It was idyllic until it wasn’t. It became a convoluted situation that devolved abruptly due to a combination of egos and leadership deficits that ended a lot of people’s jobs. Naively, I wasn’t aware mine was one of them.

I’d worked so hard for so long and with so much intensity and then it all just…stopped! I felt the way you do after a car wreck, the way you’re suddenly awash in all of that momentum that instantly has no place else to go.

For the first time since I was 16 I wasn’t working. I was forced to recognize the very real burnout I was experiencing and all the ways that had creeped into so many areas of my life. I also had to accept that the November-January season is a brutal time to find new clients. So…I rested in a way I’ve never allowed myself to do before. I forgot about work-work. Instead, I worked through the rage and self-doubt and disappointment and lack of closure with my therapist, and spent a weekend in NYC at a leadership retreat to gain fresh perspective of my goals and next steps.

I’ve spent much of 2024 resetting. I’m getting back to the work-balance boundaries I’d very intentionally set years ago (and slowly allowed this client to steal from me). It’s honestly little things like allowing time to exercise every day and eating lunch away from my desk! I paid an attorney to rework all of my contracts; I feel more protected than I did before. I’m more selective than ever about the new clients I’m taking on, opting for those who make me feel like a valued part of their teams, where mutual respect is a given.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn how to be a female professional. I had to unlearn all of the meekness and compliance that is so ingrained in how our society raises and teaches girls.

I often joke that a book about my career should be titled “Me and Three Dudes” because I worked three consecutive startups with just me and three male colleagues. I credit those experiences with giving me the confidence to work on my own, negotiate with clients, hold firm on my value and my rates, and to walk away and say no. I spent most of my career with a seat at the table and a voice in the room amongst men I admire, respect, and have learned so much from.

It’s just in my nature to be kind, considerate, proactive, a listener…all of the positive things I think women more skillfully bring to the table. But what I learned from working as a true partner with these men was that I can be those things and not be taken advantage of, ignored, or undervalued.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://BanterStrategy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/banterstrategy
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandikoskie/

Image Credits

The primary image and the sofa image: Becky Durigan / Denver Photo Collective

The others are all personal photos.