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

Adrienne, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you share a story about the kindest thing someone has done for you and why it mattered so much or was so meaningful to you?

I’ve experienced a lot of kindness in my life from family, friends, and people who truly care about me but the answer I keep coming back to is the kindness I’ve learned to show myself. And that’s still something I’m growing into.

When I met my beloved who is also a healer, he asked me a question that completely changed my life. He said, “Does anyone truly know how much pain you’re in on a day-to-day basis?”

And I remember my eyes filling with tears, because the honest answer was no.

At that point in my life, I was showing up as a version of myself that felt authentic to everyone else, but not to me. I was carrying physical, emotional, and mental pain, and I had gotten really good at hiding it. That question opened a door. It made me look at how I was living, how I was showing up in relationships, and how much I had been suppressing and avoiding.

I’ve had my share of trauma, losing my father in my early 20s, navigating difficult relationships, and years of pushing myself in ways that weren’t always healthy, especially during my time as a ballet dancer. And I hadn’t fully processed any of it.

That moment was the beginning of me choosing to meet myself with honesty and compassion. To stop performing. To allow myself to be seen, even in pain. And to accept that if that made some people uncomfortable or caused them to fall away, that was okay. They just weren’t aligned with who I truly am.

So the kindest thing anyone has ever done for me… was reflected back to me through that question but ultimately, it became something I chose for myself.

Learning to love myself, to set boundaries, to process my emotions, and to show up authentically has changed everything. My relationships have evolved, and I now attract people who meet me in that same space of honesty and care.

So while many people have shown me kindness throughout my life, the most meaningful has been learning how to truly give that kindness to myself.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

There’s a lot I could share about myself, but I like to leave a little room for mystery. What I will say is that my journey has been anything but linear, it’s been shaped by discipline, resilience, deep healing, and ultimately, coming home to myself.

I come from a background in classical ballet, which I pursued at a professional level. It’s an incredibly disciplined and demanding art form, and while it gave me structure and drive, I was also navigating emotional and physical challenges at a young age that I didn’t fully understand at the time. That intensity carried into my early adult life, including owning a dance studio with a business partner in a dynamic that, in hindsight, was quite toxic.

Around that same time, I experienced the loss of my father, just as our relationship was deepening and he was beginning to mentor me in business. That loss, along with a pattern of unhealthy relationships and unprocessed trauma, created a foundation where I was constantly pushing forward, but not truly healing.

Eventually, I moved to Denver and stepped into a career in sales within a male-dominated industry. I was successful by external standards, I performed well, made good money, and knew how to navigate high-pressure environments. But internally, I felt disconnected. I was constantly “on,” operating from stress and survival mode, and I knew deep down that I wasn’t living my purpose.

Throughout this time, I explored nearly every form of physical healing I could find, massage therapy, acupuncture, craniosacral work, physical therapy, dry needling, yet nothing was fully addressing the deeper pain I was carrying in my body and nervous system.

Everything shifted when I was introduced to NetworkSpinal care work through a trusted practitioner. That experience opened a door for me. For the first time, I wasn’t just managing symptoms, I was beginning to understand the connection between my body, my emotions, and my stored trauma. It allowed me to step out of a constant fight-or-flight state and into a space where true healing could begin.

From there, my path became clear. I trained as a Reiki Master and stepped into my work as an energy healer. What I offer now is a space for people to land softly, to feel safe enough to slow down, reconnect, and begin to heal from within.

My work focuses on helping clients regulate their nervous systems, release stored emotional and physical tension, and reconnect to their own innate ability to heal. When the body feels safe, it can begin to self-correct and that’s where real transformation happens.

What sets me apart is that I don’t just guide others through healing, I’ve lived it. I understand what it feels like to be stuck in survival mode, to push through pain, and to feel disconnected from yourself. And I also know what it takes to come back from that place with compassion, honesty, and intention.

What I’m most proud of is not just the work I do, but who I’ve become through the process. This path required me to face myself fully, to take responsibility for my healing, and to choose a different way of living.

What I want people to know is that healing is possible. Your body is not working against you it’s working for you. And when you create the right environment, one that is safe, supportive, and intentional, your system knows exactly what to do.

My role is simply to help guide you back to that place within yourself.

We’d appreciate any insights you can share with us about selling a business.

Yes, I exited a business in my 20’s that became one of my most valuable learning experiences.

At the time, I co-owned a ballet studio with a business partner. We were both very young, yet the business itself was successful. From the outside, it looked like everything was working, but internally, the partnership dynamic became increasingly misaligned and, ultimately, unhealthy.

Looking back, I can see that I didn’t yet have the clarity, boundaries, or business structure in place to fully protect myself, emotionally, energetically, or financially. There were gaps in our agreements, and while we had basic contracts, they weren’t thorough enough to support the reality of what can arise in a long-term partnership.

Over time, I found myself in a position where I felt drained, conflicted, and out of alignment. And one of the most important decisions I made was choosing to step away.

That experience taught me several lessons that I believe are incredibly important for any entrepreneur considering a partnership:

First, know yourself before you enter into business with someone else. Be clear on your values, your standards, and your boundaries. Business partnerships will test all of those.

Second, put strong legal and financial structures in place from the beginning. Clear agreements, defined roles, exit strategies, and contingency plans are not optional they’re essential. Even in partnerships that begin with trust and friendship, things can evolve.

Third, pay attention to alignment. When a business relationship is working, there is a sense of flow, clarity, and mutual respect. When it’s not, you’ll often feel ongoing tension, conflict, or confusion. Those are signals that something needs to be addressed.

And finally, don’t be afraid to walk away. There can be a lot of pressure to stay committed, especially when time, money, and identity are tied into a business. But protecting your well-being, mentally, emotionally, and financially is critical. Sometimes the most responsible and self-respecting decision is to exit.

I didn’t just walk away from a business, I walked away with a deeper understanding of how to lead myself, how to protect my energy, and how to make more aligned decisions moving forward.

That experience has shaped how I approach everything I do today.

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

One of the most important lessons I’ve had to unlearn is the pattern of victim mentality.

And I think it’s important to say this isn’t about dismissing pain or trauma. As human beings, we all experience hurt, loss, and challenges. That’s part of life. But what I’ve learned on my healing journey is that there’s a difference between acknowledging our pain and identifying with it.

For a long time, I was carrying unprocessed emotions from different chapters of my life childhood experiences, loss, unhealthy relationships. And while I wasn’t outwardly saying, “I’m a victim,” it was showing up in more subtle ways. I was guarded. I struggled to fully trust. I wasn’t always showing up as my authentic self because, at some level, I was still protecting myself from being hurt again.

That’s what victim mentality can look like, it’s not always obvious. Sometimes it’s fear, self-protection, or staying small because of what you’ve been through.

Unlearning that pattern has been a big part of my healing. It required me to take responsibility for my life in a new way, not for what happened to me, but for how I chose to move forward from it.

I began to ask myself different questions:
What did this experience teach me?
How has it shaped me?
What strength or awareness did I gain from it?

And slowly, my perspective shifted.

I started to see that even the most difficult experiences in my life carried lessons and, in some cases, unexpected gifts deeper empathy, stronger boundaries, and a greater capacity to help others.

I also learned the importance of gratitude. And I know that can sound simple, but it’s been transformative. When you shift from “why did this happen to me?” to “what can I learn from this?” or “what can I appreciate right now?” everything begins to change.

For me, moving out of a victim mindset and into a place of self-responsibility, self-love, and gratitude has allowed more ease, more alignment, and more meaningful connection into my life.

And that doesn’t mean the work is ever done it’s something I continue to practice.

But what I know now is this:
We don’t have to stay defined by what we’ve been through. We can choose to grow from it and even use it to create something meaningful, both for ourselves and for others.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.denvervitalitycenter.com/
• Instagram: @aabawakened

Image Credits

Yelena Light Photography
@yelenalightphotography