We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Brandee Collins a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Brandee, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you share an important lesson you learned in a prior job that’s helped you in your career afterwards?

The most important lesson I learned in a job came at a very high cost: I learned that overfunctioning is not leadership.

At the time, I was working at a nonprofit that will remain unnamed, and from the outside, it probably looked like I was doing everything right. I had taken on a significant role, moved states for the opportunity, and was working 50 to 60 hours a week. No one had to tell me to overwork. I was doing it because I believed I had something to prove. I wanted to show that I was worthy of the opportunity, worthy of the title, worthy of the room I was in. So I kept saying yes, staying later, answering emails at night, and carrying more than any one person should.

I remember one Tuesday morning especially clearly. I was in my third back-to-back meeting before noon when someone asked me a simple question about a new initiative. I knew the answer, but in that moment my mind went completely blank. It wasn’t because I was unprepared. It was because I was carrying so much that I could no longer access anything clearly. That was the moment I realized I was drowning.

The truth is, somewhere in all that doing, I had stopped leading. I was reacting, managing, fixing, proving, and performing, but I was no longer operating from clarity. My nervous system had hit capacity, and instead of listening, I pushed harder. I thought working more would make me feel more secure, more respected, more valuable. Instead, the pressure just kept building.

Eventually, my body made the decision for me. I was taken to the hospital by ambulance, and not long after that, I had a stroke. That experience changed me forever. It forced me to confront a hard truth: I had confused being indispensable with being effective. I was wearing a cape I thought I needed, and it was slowly suffocating me.

What I carry with me now, in every part of my professional life, is this: your worth is not proven by how much you can hold, how exhausted you are, or how available you make yourself to everyone else. Sustainable leadership requires boundaries, clarity, delegation, and the courage to believe that who you already are is enough. You do not have to sacrifice your health to prove your value.

That lesson reshaped the way I lead, the way I work, and the way I build. Today, I am far more intentional about capacity, alignment, and how I define success. I no longer believe the best leader is the one who carries everything. I believe the best leader is the one who knows how to lead well, live well, and make room for both.

Brandee, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My work sits at the intersection of leadership, storytelling, strategy, and community impact. My background is rooted in nonprofit leadership and prevention work, but over time I’ve found myself increasingly drawn to the bigger picture of how people, organizations, and ideas grow. I love branding, marketing, and storytelling because they shape how people connect, how trust is built, and how meaningful work gets seen and understood. Lately, I’ve also become even more invested in organizational development, which feels like a natural evolution of the work I’ve already been doing for years.

I got into this work because I’ve always been fascinated by people and purpose how individuals grow, how organizations function, and how strong leadership can transform both. Early in my career, I worked in community-centered spaces that showed me just how much culture, systems, and support matter. That led me deeper into nonprofit leadership, prevention, and strategy, and it also expanded my interest in the way organizations are built from the inside out.

Today, I lead prevention work professionally, and I also run Breathe Media Group, where I support entrepreneurs and organizations through strategy, storytelling, and business growth. I love helping people get clear on who they are, what they offer, and how they communicate that in a way that feels honest and impactful. Whether that looks like refining a brand, strengthening audience engagement, or helping someone think through the next phase of their business or leadership, I enjoy helping people bring structure to their vision.

What sets me apart is that I bring both strategy and substance to the table. I understand leadership, systems, and organizational growth, but I also understand the human side of the work—story, identity, voice, and the deeper “why” behind what people build. I’m also a doctoral candidate at Creighton University, and that journey has sharpened my focus even more, especially around organizational development, leadership, and how we create systems that are both effective and human-centered.

What I’m most proud of is building a career that reflects both impact and authenticity. I’ve been able to serve communities, lead meaningful work, support entrepreneurs, and continue growing into the next version of myself at the same time. I want people to know that my work is grounded in clarity, transformation, and intention. Whether I’m leading, consulting, or creating, I care about helping people and organizations build something real, sustainable, and aligned with who they truly are.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I built my audience on social media by showing up as my authentic self before that was even the strategy. As a millennial, I grew up spending a lot of time on the internet, and I’ve always loved creating spaces where people could be themselves, have fun, and feel connected. Long before I understood words like “branding” or “audience-building,” I understood energy, creativity, and community.

I can even trace that back to high school. I started my own little newspaper publication called The Funky Fresh Press. I wanted it to be taken seriously, but I didn’t have official support or someone sponsoring it the way I imagined. So instead, I just put it out into the world through my friends and the people around me. Looking back, that was one of my earliest lessons in building an audience: start with what you have, be creative, and don’t wait for permission to share what you’ve made.

That same spirit followed me into social media. I didn’t build my audience by trying to become someone else online. I built it by being who I already am — goofy, funny, creative, thoughtful, and community-centered. I love a good experience. I love creating connection. I love making people feel seen. So my online presence really grew from that. People respond when they can feel that you’re real, and I think that authenticity has always been my strongest asset.

For anyone just starting to build their social media presence, my advice is simple: don’t spend so much time trying to sound like a brand that you forget to sound like yourself. People connect with people. Yes, strategy matters. Yes, consistency matters. But authenticity matters too. Show up as you. Share what you care about. Let people get a feel for your voice, your values, and your perspective. You do not have to be polished all the time to be impactful.

I also think it’s important to remember that building an audience takes time. Start with the people already in front of you. Create from a real place. Have fun with it. Experiment. Let it evolve as you evolve. The strongest communities are usually built when people feel like they’re connecting with a real person, not just consuming content. That has always been my approach, and honestly, I don’t see myself changing that.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

One of the biggest lessons I’ve had to unlearn is the belief that I had to work twice as hard to earn half the recognition or respect I deserved.

That message is so familiar for so many Black women. We grow up hearing, directly and indirectly, that if we want to be taken seriously, we have to outperform, overdeliver, and overextend. For a long time, I believed that. I thought being strong meant pushing through. I thought proving myself meant doing more, carrying more, and asking less of other people. I thought rest was something you earned after you had completely exhausted yourself.

A lot of that mindset started long before my career. I watched my parents work incredibly hard. My dad held down two and sometimes three jobs at a time. My mom worked multiple jobs too. Hard work was not just something we talked about — it was something I witnessed constantly. It became part of how I understood responsibility, survival, and success. So when I got older, that mentality lived in me. I knew how to show up. I knew how to push. I knew how to keep going, even when I was running on empty.

But that way of living came with a cost. It contributed to me becoming incredibly sick and eventually experiencing a stroke in my late 20s and early 30s. That changed everything for me. It forced me to confront the reality that overworking myself was not a badge of honor. It was harming me. I had built so much of my identity around being capable, dependable, and hardworking that I had not fully stopped to ask whether the pace I was keeping was sustainable or healthy.

What I had to unlearn was the idea that my value was tied to how much I could endure. I had to learn that I can show up fully as myself without running myself into the ground. I do believe in working hard. I do believe in excellence. But I no longer believe in sacrificing my health, peace, or humanity just to prove I belong in the room.

Now, I live from a very different mindset. I don’t say things like, “I’ll rest when I’m dead.” I rest now so I can give the best version of myself while I’m alive. That shift has been one of the most important parts of my growth — not just professionally, but personally too. I’ve learned that taking care of yourself is not weakness, and it is not laziness. It is wisdom. It is stewardship. And for me, it has become part of what success really looks like.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mzzbrandee06/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mzzbrandee06
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blalexander/