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

Brea, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

I had preeclampsia and rapid weight gain during my first pregnancy. My daughter was born premature at 32 weeks, 2lbs 13oz. I didn’t know it then, but my first pregnancy was one of many stories that have a shared experience among women of color: Pre-eclampsia, preterm birth, low birth weight..etc. It prompted me to do some digging after hearing from friends and friends of friends who have faced these issues with multiple pregnancies.

Here are just a few statistics of my findings:
– Birth mortality rates in my home state, Washington, are 8X Higher in indigenous women and 2.5x higher in black women compared to white women. DOH.GOV
– 48% of pregnant individuals in the United States gain more weight than the recommended pregnancy. Pubmed
– 1 in 10 babies were born preterm in 2022 in the United States. The highest being in black infants (14.6%), followed by indigenous women (12.2%), Hispanics (10%), Whites (9.4%). March of Dimes

Disheartening to say the least. One Sunday after church, my husband was speaking with our mentor about nutrition and its benefits with children’s moods and play. This sparked continued dialogue between the three of us. Brainstorming and think tank sessions with our small yet passionate team became the fuel for generating ideas and understanding multiple perspectives that led us to a strong belief that healthy choices start with healthy habits developed at birth.

Discovering the problem and identifying an approach for the solution made me extremely excited about how much positive impact we could have on other people’s lives. Once we knew the problem and approach we wanted to take, it all became about building out our plan or as my husband likes to call it “The Playbook”.

This phase was like playing an exhausting game of chess because the battle is inside the mind of your team, about how to get the best results for the people and communities we desire to serve. There was a lot of market research, partnership meetings, and a structured roadmap that went into developing a step-by-step plan that others could follow that got them results for a healthier and better life.

Seeing the plan on paper allowed us to understand the necessity of a system to achieve results. The next step became to take our plan/playbook and make ourselves a Nonprofit organization. Thus, Nourish2Thrive (N2THRIVE) was created. This organization is focused on enhancing the health and nutrition of perinatal women and infants in BIPOC communities. We started with a pilot group as our minimal viable product (MVP) to prove our concept.

This entire process really made me start thinking about my job and my passion in life. After personally experiencing what it took to turn an idea into a business reality, more women started asking me, “how do you do it”, “how do you find time”, “what systems are you using to manage things”. By this time, I have 2 little girls and have somehow managed to still execute. I began to think about what if I created a business of my own using the same principles I developed with my team.

I followed the same path; market research, target market interviews and surveys, 30-60-90 day plan. I created “The Playbook” for my next venture. I created Thrive with Brea, where I speak, coach and train entrepreneurs (with a strong focus on moms) and teams to create actionable strategies and scalable systems by developing a Playbook of their own.

While it may take 3 months for some or a year for others, having a mission, vision and solid understanding of your values will be the best place to start. This is the moment where you must act on the idea by putting in the necessary work each day, identifying the problem, building a plan on how you will solve it and execute.

Brea, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My residence is a small city outside of Seattle, Wa where I spend most of my leisure time creating memories with my husband and our 2 toddler queens. I’ve spent time in my early years of interests competing at fitness competitions and health coaching, so I’ve always had an interest in the health and wellness space. I’m thankful that I am able to bring that experience in my non-profit work. I’ve spent over 10 years in the tech industry in business development and strategic initiatives roles creating partnerships and new routes to market for various product suites.

I know the struggles of creating a business while having 9-5 and 2 kids. So, I took the skills and expertise and created programs to help women entrepreneurs develop a strategic playbook to operate efficiently and effectively in their business and their homes. I like to call myself a strategic thinking partner. Women business owners are faced with daily roadblocks when it comes to starting businesses or scaling existing ones. Some struggle with mom guilt, negative self-talk, achieving a healthy work-life balance, and doing it all solo. I like to take a holistic approach, where personal and business needs can be routinely prioritized without experiencing burnout.

We start with the end in mind and work to identify tools and techniques that can be deployed. I find the clients that embrace a growth mindset and willingness to make an investment in themselves day in and day out, is where they experience success. This journey has proven to be one where I can bring value to people who want to do more than just a side hustle, they want to make an impact.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

The book, 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth by John C. Maxwell, has shifted my mindset and perspective on how I do business. I won’t be a spoiler alert, so I will share 3 of the 15 that stick with me to this day.

The Law of Intentionality: Growth Doesn’t Just Happen
There were times in my ideation stage of my business where I didn’t think the timing was right to start. I had to make the decision that now is better than never. The reality is, there will never be a perfect time to start your business. However, if you have an intentional growth mindset, you can accomplish so much more, like being consistent when you’re not motivated, taking time for reflection when mistakes happen, or following through on timelines – these are elements of being intentional. Once you embrace this law, you’ll gain confidence everyday in your decision to keep moving forward.

The Law of Design: To Maximize Growth, Develop Strategies
“If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s” – Jim Rohn. There’s a feeling that I’m sure 9 times out of 10, all entrepreneurs have thought; “I want to create my own”. This feeling either came because we’ve experienced something in our past or in our present where we’ve recognized a problem and identified the solution. I got to the point where I wanted to choose my destination. In my business and my life, I developed strategies and depended on systems for scalability. I have a system for my kids’ learning, a system for how I go about prioritizing my client’s needs, and even a system for how I sort my thoughts. All of which have allowed me to maximize my growth.

The Law of Expansion: Growth Always Increases Your Capacity
None of us have reached our full potential! There are so many opportunities in our thinking, growing, and obstacles that come at us daily. I always ask my clients, “If you had no limits, what would you do?” The answer varies from travel to saving the world from all diseases. We have to be willing to increase our capacity by staying curious, always learn, thinking outside of the box – without limits. We do this because we choose to. This in turn allows us to bring more value from our business and more impact to the people that we serve.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

“Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You” – Dr. Seuss. I can have the same exact social media strategy as the next coach, but guess what? I am the only me. Yes, there are ways to trend on social media but my strategy is simple, I provide value and present it in a way that resonates with my target market. I not only showcase personal experiences, business successes and failures, I share HOW I reached those results (good and bad) and take aways that they can be implemented immediately. At in person events, I stay curious, ask questions, and follow up with them thereafter providing solutions. At the end of most conversations I ask, “who do you know that I should know”- this provides an instant referral with a more than likely result in yes, another conversation. I strive to have a consistent brand voice throughout all platforms, and I lead with integrity. I model after the type of clients that I want to attract. For example, I don’t like gimmicks, so I don’t do gimmicky sales tactics. These are just a few tactics that anyone can start today in how they are showing up everyday.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: THRIVEWITHBREA
• Facebook: THRIVEWITHBREA
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/breadavis/

Image Credits
Steve Arcenio