We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Garrett Brill a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Garrett, thanks for joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.
“There’s more to life than this,” a message whispered to me from within as I sat behind my desk in my enclosed glass office. I was sitting in the office of the healthcare company I had helped build from scratch over the previous four years. A once faint whisper that now felt more like a shout. Up until that point in my life, I felt like I did everything society had asked of me to ensure I would be happy and successful. On the outside, I had it all together. I had checked all the boxes society had given me: get a degree, work for a great company, make great money, buy a home, get engaged, etc. But that little whisper was acknowledging that I was playing by someone else’s scorecard, and I needed to create my own.
I was the first employee of a pediatric home healthcare agency that was doing great work in the world. We were awarded as one of the fastest-growing companies in Arizona and recognized three straight years as a top 10 best place to work in the state. I mention these accomplishments because I had created a life that hit all the checkmarks, which made the risk of change actually or seemingly more difficult to take.
One day, I decided to answer the call. I had spent the last year letting go of many things that were no longer providing true value in my life: drinking, cable TV, social media, fantasy football, etc. I started filling that time with meditation, yoga, hiking, journaling, and reading. After letting these things go and filling my time in a way that felt honoring to myself, that little whisper got louder and clearer—it was time to let everything go! The life I had created was no longer serving me, and I was rewriting a scorecard true to my heart. So, I left it all without a safety net. Without a job lined up, without a fall-back plan, and without knowing exactly what was next. I just trusted that if I continued to follow that little whisper, I would be living a life with more joy and fulfillment.
I left the career I poured my heart and soul into. My fiancée and I packed up our home, packed two travel backpacks, and we bought one-way tickets internationally to travel the world. With the intention to deepen our understanding of ourselves and learn how to follow our hearts.
Almost eight years later, I find myself running my own Coaching and Consulting business, G-Link, LLC. I’m a professionally certified coach, public speaker, author, and spoken word artist. Everything I do is with the intention to cultivate human connection, ignite curiosity and compassion, and remind people of the greatness within themselves. I do one-on-one coaching, communication workshops, and recently came out with my first children’s book “Stardust: A Journey to Remember.” None of this would be true if I didn’t take that leap of faith.
It wasn’t easy to make the changes I did in my life or to decide to flip my life upside down. I could have and did lose friends, I left a lot of financial stability on the table, and felt the pressure of “what would other people think”. It was definitely the riskiest decision I had ever made, but it was also the best and most important one. I absolutely do not have it all figured out. It would be wrong to say that I do, but I feel a level of fulfillment and freedom that no one can take away from me. For that, I am forever grateful for the risk I took and I continue to follow that whisper as deeply and confidently as I can.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
At the core of everything I do is the desire to cultivate human connection. Whether I am doing one-on-one coaching, conducting connection workshops, facilitating organizational communication, public speaking, or writing, my goal is to help others feel less alone and bring them into presence with themselves and the people in their lives.
My entire life has led me to this work. I was born with a cleft lip and palate, which built my resilience and compassion from a young age. I had surgery on my face and mouth within days of being born and had over seven surgeries before I was 14. My front teeth came in completely backwards, I have my own hip bone in the roof of my mouth, I had speech therapy until I was in fifth grade, and I was made fun of for the scar on my lip my whole life. A big part of why I was so dedicated to presenting that I “had it all together” was that from a very young age, I didn’t want my identity to be “the boy with the scar on his face.” So, I found different ways to protect myself by becoming a different identity: “The Best Athlete,” “The Class Clown,” “The Most Fun to Party With,” “The Hardest Worker.” These were all roles I played to mask how I truly felt about myself and led me to follow society’s scorecard as deeply as I could.
Building the Pediatric Home Healthcare company taught me many things. First, I learned deep compassion and deep listening for other people as I facilitated care for medically fragile children and their families every day. A reminder that we never truly know what others are going through. Second, I discovered a huge passion for personal and team development, which is why being awarded a top 10 best place to work in Arizona for three straight years was so exciting for me.
My reputation and passion continued to bring me referrals as I started my own business, G-Link, LLC after my intentional travels. I learned to say yes to alignment and the whisper within and no to things that didn’t feel congruent, even if they paid well or looked great on paper.
I have spent my whole life, and specifically the past 10 years, learning how to connect with myself and support others in their journeys. Now, I get to do that in many different ways. Here are the services I find joy in providing every day:
One-on-One Coaching: As a professionally certified coach, I support individuals in creating a life with more fulfillment, intention, and joy by partnering with them to find their own answers from within. I do this on a personal level and within organizations.
Workshops: I facilitate connection workshops in person, online, and within organizations to support individuals in connecting with themselves and others.
Trainings: I facilitate communication training within organizations, where I share my passion for compassion, curiosity, courage, and communication within teams.
Keynote Speaking and Spoken Word Poetry: I’m honored when I am given the opportunity to weave my poetry and personal journey to inspire audiences to follow their hearts and recognize their own greatness. I speak on the topics of courage, compassion, and living with intention. I have shared stages with NYT best-selling authors, Grammy Award winners, mayors, and presidential candidates. My audiences range from speaking at authors’ conferences to sharing my personal experiences with bullying with middle schoolers, and reading my children’s book to kindergarteners.
“Stardust: A Journey to Remember”: My recently published children’s book follows an adventurer named Naledi, who travels the universe to remember the miracle it is to be alive. The intention of this book is to ignite curiosity and foster resilience in young minds.
I hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Communication from Arizona State University and a Professional Coaching Certification from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
All of these offerings fulfill me in different ways. The message and energy is the same no matter how it wants to express itself. I continue to follow my whisper and help others do the same.
“Don’t Die with your Music Still In You” -Dr. Wayne Dyer
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
In the beginning of my career, I was paid for my ability to notice, communicate, and solve problems. Whether I was doing IT recruiting, building an internal healthcare team, facilitating high quality patient care, supporting clients as an internal employee, or consulting with external clients, I was always paid for my ability to solve others problems. As I started my consulting business, I first did contracted recruitment services, solving staffing issues. That lead me into Organizational Development, where I would support companies with employee engagement, retention, and development, as well as process improvement and organizational efficiency, solving organizational issues. As the role and my business evolved, I would spend extended time with executive leaders and did a mixture of consulting and coaching (or what I thought was coaching). I would notice and communicate problems within the leader’s organization and educate them on the changes I thought they needed to make. The thing that I noticed was that even if that advice and consulting was great, if it wasn’t what the leader wanted to do, then it was very difficult to get them or the company to make the most effective changes. So eventually, I had to learn how to stop trying to coach the problem, and start learning how to coach the person. I had to unlearn being “The Problem Solver”.
My first real recollection of this noticing was when I ran the pediatric home healthcare company. I would be trying to hard to solve the families problems that I was always in my head and I was never truly listening to them. By the end of my time there, I would not only listen for what was being said, but what wasn’t being said.
From that noticing came one of the most important awarenesses in my life. A friend of 30+ years wanted to talk to me. I listened and gave advice for 3 hours. Something that we did so many times before. After 3 hours, as he was saying goodbye he said this to me, “Garrett, I appreciate these talks so much. You always give me great advice…but sometimes, I honestly just want you to listen.” WOW! How long have I been showing up in this way, and how many people have I done this to. He didn’t want to be a problem to solve. He wanted me to just listen. Huge lesson.
As a coach, I started my journey in 2017, thinking my job was to help people solve their problems. Over time, and through awarenesses like the ones I shared above I have realized that is absolutely not my job. I had to completely unlearn the idea that I am a problem solver, and realize my only job is to be fully present to the person that is in front of me, to listen deeply, and to notice and ask questions about the things that no one else does in their life. Allow them to excavate their own answers and make changes that feel true and congruent for them. That is how real and lasting change happens. When it comes from within.
I had to ask myself: What is it inside of me that feels the need to fix the other person so that I can feel better about myself? This was it’s own journey in itself. Through all of my life experiences, hours and hours of coaching, professional coach training, and diving deeply into myself, I have unlearned to be “The Problem Solver” and learned how to be a safe, curious, and compassionate reflection to support others in changing their own life on their terms.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I mentioned earlier about growing up with a cleft lip and palate. This experience was the catalyst that built my resilience in many avenues of life: physical resilience, emotional resilience, and spiritual resilience. There are many things I had to go through that others probably never will.
As a brand new baby, I had to undergo surgery to repair my lip and connect the roof of my mouth, and basically have surgery every other year until I was fourteen. I had to work on my speech to “sound normal” until middle school. I had to turn down hanging out with my high school friends after school to ultrasound my lip 3x a week because my eighth surgery went completely wrong. These are just some of the little moments I remember that stand out to me, and despite these challenges, I am grateful for every part of my journey. Each experience was a building block of my resilience and confidence, shaping me into the person I am today.
I acknowledge that I have it relatively easy in life compared to others. There are children, adults, and families who face much more difficult experiences for various reasons. Building and running a pediatric home healthcare agency taught me this lesson deeply, bringing understanding and compassion into my life. We have all experienced some kind of physical and emotional pain.
I strive to consistently show up with the knowledge that I have no clue what someone else is going through or has gone through. I believe that compassion and curiosity are the medicine our world needs. If we approach each situation with presence, curiosity, and compassion, and see each person as the loving and resilient child within them, I think we will see the world change before our eyes. Everything I do is to enable more compassion and connection in the world, and to make the little Garrett inside me proud. I like to remind him that “Your resilience creates your brilliance!”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.garrettbrill.com
- Instagram: @g__link
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrettbrill/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@garrettbrill
- Other: Children’s Book – “Stardust: A Journey to Remember”: www.stardustbook.com
Image Credits
https://www.cricketsphoto.com/ – (the “Think Better Live Better” photo)