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

Brooke, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. The more we talk about good leadership the more we think good leadership practices will spread and so we’d love for you to tell us a story about the best boss you’ve had and what they were like or what they did that was so great?

I worked for a start-up shortly after graduating college. I had done some travel to Europe and worked odd jobs here and there, a hustle, which ran its course. A friend referred me to my first corporate job in America with a boss who had immigrated from Europe. I had studied music, not business, but craved the stability from a full-time job, so I started off as an intern to test the waters, and after 6 months, signed on as a an FTE and stayed for two years. About a month after I became an intern though, which was hourly pay, with no PTO, I needed to go in for an emergency surgery. With no questions asked, my boss told me to take my time recovering, and he made sure I got paid, regardless of my employee status. After a year of being at the company when I was due for a raise, I asked for 10% (while most raises are 5% but I knew I was hired on at a low salary), my boss got me 16%.

Brooke, 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?

I’m a 20+ year vocalist and trauma survivor who was able to uncover a 15-year suppressed traumatic memory with just the power of my voice, through effective voice journaling and self-coaching. I got into this really because of three experiences I had when I was 9 years old. A traumatic event in the summer, I started band in the fall, and in the winter I had my first spoken-line in a Christmas play in front of 400+ congregants. I was the angel Gabriel, which was typically a boys’ roll, but I was adamant that it was my turn! I look back on that year of life, and see it as a “breath of joy” — an exercise used for survivors of sexual assault. That year of life, and overcoming and “going back” for 2 other versions of myself that experienced trauma, is my why for my niche. I’m on a mission to drive connection, building the bridge between trauma survivors stuck in a life of chaotic reactivity, and the rest of the world, “regular” and un-phased human beings who are the majority that don’t understand anything about trauma. To me, it’s making music, which is part of the reason why I keep “music” in my business name: “Brooke Richey Music”. I’m also still an active musician.
I help clients get unstuck, out of psychological quicksand, overcome anxiety, boost confidence and find direction in their life. My program can help people uncover blindspots in the mind, unlocking their voices and get them moving forward.
Right now, my business wouldn’t be categorized as having much “success” in worldly terms, but I’m proud that I’ve kept working at it and fine-tuning it, and usually, once you learn this, success is right around the corner — you’re not forcing success. I’m most proud of the examples I’ll lead through my business which are: destruction is not an option, more specifically: suicide and attacking others; you must “go back” for the version of yourself that was harmed/abused/left with unresolved trauma — I’ve done this for myself 3 times now, completing a “breath of joy”, and I would say it’s the foundation of my why for my business and my work.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I can share my “breath of joy” and “going back” for myself.

At the ages of 9, 15 and 30, I experienced 3 different traumatizing/abusive events. At 9, I experienced what I consider a form of familial trafficking by my primary caregiver, when I was forced to watch horrific graphics in a film of a man getting murdered. This event started the development of C-PTSD in my life, as it never was addressed or processed. At 15, this same caregiver forced me out of our van and I had to walk 3 miles home alone. The event then became a suppressed memory of trauma, which ultimately kept me stuck in blind reactivity and chaos for 15 years. 3 months after recovering this memory, I was trafficked by a female vacation rental host, and drugged and assaulted in my sleep by a third party attacker.
As of 4/2/2025, I have “gone back” for each younger version of myself. I did this by going back to the physical locations, walking the walks, and or “reliving” the days around the experience (specific to the conference I attended in Austin, Texas this past weekend and in September ’23 when I had been trafficked). I did this to reconnect with, show up for, nurture, and love the 9 year old, 15, and 30 year old versions of me. By doing this, you stir up the emotions that have been untouched, and although triggering, you have an opportunity to give yourself the love you needed when the events happened. It brings you back full-circle to yourself. You don’t have to do this physically, but I believe exercising metaphysics is more effective at getting your spirit in tact and also has an impact energetically on that spot on the map. For example, when it comes to going back for myself in Austin, Texas, I stayed at a hotel across the river from where the attack happened. On the first night there, the moon shined down bright in a perfect crescent smile — a reward from the heavens that I would not have gotten if I didn’t go. The thing about doing this, is to do it and be safe and smart about it. The point in the matter is that, when you go back, you find life, and empower yourself to create it.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source of clients has been content creation, storytelling and sharing my experience. Content creation builds expectancy, anticipation and desire to learn more and it also builds trust in myself and my business. People want to know who they are working with and know they can trust themselves and their own investment. My content creation shows who I am without my doing excessive work in 1:1 calls, so it’s just as helpful for me as I’m historically an over giver — it keeps things in alignment.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.brookerichey.music
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brookerichey.music/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brookerichey.music
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brookerichey/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@brookerichey.music9?si=er6L0iaz1Sk7pLqF
• Other: https://tiktok.com/@brookerichey.music
  
  https://open.spotify.com/artist/6tLa5inOlWw2n6EoBlMOE6?si=LUujJ0qcQ2-v-C8PgcC4Ow

Image Credits

Hailey Aitkins, Nota Lux Photography