We recently connected with Just Bree and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Just Bree thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

My defining moment, is my first book, the accident: How to Shake the Sh!t Out of Your Life. In June of 2021 my husband and I were in a motorcycle accident that literally shook the sh!t out of our lives. Everything was different after the accident. I found myself unable to do the things that I had been doing in my life before flying off a motorcycle. I realized, we should have died. We could have been seriously injured. But, we walked away banged up- but lucky. So lucky. After the accident – I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had been living my life all wrong. Not for myself. Not the way I imagined or felt good about. I started paying attention and I realized that I was just kind of drifting through life, and I knew- I just couldn’t do this anymore. I know all too well just how short life can be. I didn’t want to waste a second of mine anymore. I went back to school and became a wellness coach with a specialty in habit change. I was restructuring my entire life. It got me wondering a lot of things. My husband is the love of my life. He sees me in a way that nobody ever has before. So, I decided to ask him: “When you picture me – what do you see me doing when I am really happy?”
He immediately responded, like he had been waiting FOREVER for me to ask him this question. “The books, Bree! It’s always been the books. You have to sit down and write the way you do- for you. Not anyone else. Just write for you. When you do that- everything changes for us.”
His excitement- the way he just knew that to be true, he had so much faith in me- and he was getting me really hyped up.
I was pumped. I was ready!

“But…. what do I write about?”

He looked at me seriously- and said, “Your story. You have to.”

I knew he was right.
I felt it in my soul. All the way through my body. It felt like coming home.
I have always known that I was meant to be an author- my entire life. Every time I sat down to write in the past, I was flooded with nerves. I never thought that I could handle the critics. I doubted myself. How could I, just a normal- Midwest girl, who loves dashes instead of commas- write anything of substance? I love to read and I just didn’t know how to write like the authors that I admired. And, I didn’t have a knowledgeable team behind me that could guide me through it. When I looked into the process of writing a book- everyone said that it would run the next year of my life, at least.
The time it takes- the process, I won’t lie. That held me back for a long time. That’s never been how I operate. Working on one thing for an entire year? I move faster than that. I feel things in my soul and I know when they are right and wrong. I work quickly and in my own way.
It seemed like, maybe this wasn’t for me.
Then I sat down and I wrote The Accident.
It didn’t even feel like it was coming from me. My fingers were flying over the keys. Tears were streaming down my face. Frustrations, fear, sadness, laughter. All the highs and lows – slamming into me. I was right back in these moments of my life.

But, this time…

This time I saw everything differently. I could see it from all the sides. I could see my patterns. I could see so much hurt all around. Everything looked clearer. I saw how to help the world with my stories. I saw how to make it for everyone. Something that everyone could benefit from. Something that was easy to read and kept you interested. Something that showed everyone that they can tell their story however that looks. It doesn’t have to be like we’ve known. Some of the best stories I have ever heard come from people that don’t have these tools- the team- the resources or the knowledge. This story is to show everyone that you can do anything you want- your way. Your way is needed. Your way is important and your people will find you. When you can quiet the voices of the critics, it frees you to find yourself. Your people will always find you. The more authenticity you discover and learn to share- the more you find in life that fills you up. Experiences, people- more of the life you crave.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I went back to school after the motorcycle accident to be a health and life coach with a specialty in habit change. I dreamed of being a coach for years. I had even *almost* enrolled 3 separate times over the last decade. But, doubt kept creeping in and the financial cost didn’t help me want to go all in. It felt so overwhelming. I knew I wanted it- I just didn’t know how to get it. One day, I was cutting down a tree in the backyard (fun- disaster story for another time) when my friend sent me a podcast to listen to. “It’s F*cking Spiritual”, Rachel Gibler.
I listened to 4 episodes in a row and was enrolled in school by the end of it. Talk about a sign to go for it!
I spent the next year deep diving into my own trauma as well as my husbands and some close friends. They let me test the coaching world waters with them, and I was so grateful for it. It all went better than I ever could have dreamed and I started seeing changes everywhere, in all of the people around me.
People were paying attention and they were hearing my words in a way that they were using them- applying them in their own lives.
I started writing the books so that we could take a look at trauma in a new way. It took off. I thought 5 people would buy the book and tell me nice try. That wasn’t what happened. My DM’s blew up. People were buying the book- and they were all loving it. I started getting messages telling me just how much, where it took them in their own lives- what patterns that they had that they could apply the lessons too at the end of the book. They were telling me how my book was changing the way they lived their lives- the way that they thought- they were feeling better, lighter- more connected.
My whole heart filled with happiness. I have never felt anything comparable to the joy I get in truly helping someone find their way back and connecting, to pieces of themselves.
The more people told me the impact I was having- the more I wanted to do this. My husband and I started brain storming and the facebook ground, Brain Gains and the Podcast, Breealizations, came to life. He learned all about editing and design- like he did for the books and we both got to work. Every day we get better and we find new ways to build this beautiful- safe space for people looking to heal through things together.
It has been everything I have ever dreamed of and so much more. I have truly found my passion.

JustBreeHLC.com has everything. You can find your way to the books, the podcast and all social media. You can message me to share your story- or tell me things that spark you! I love that! You can also contact me about coaching sessions, speaking engagements, or collaborating.

How’d you meet your business partner?

Marco and I met over beer pong at a house party, that I did not want to be at. I wanted to be out and about but my friends talked me into going to this house party first. The minute I saw him I was drawn to him. He must have been too because he came right over and introduced himself. Timing was not on our side though, and we both had a lot of life to live before we would have our shot at dating. I am thankful for that. We needed those lessons we learned as friends. We popped into each others lives here and there over the years. When we really started talking as friends- I was in a really rough space. My boyfriend had passed away unexpectedly and he would check on me from time to time. He was going through a rough split and it was really nice to talk to him. It felt normal in a way that I hadn’t felt in a long time.
A few months passed and a friend of mine convinced me to try the dating app, bumble. It was not for me. Dating is not at all what I was expecting and I barely wanted to be on a date- I definitely wasn’t up for anything else. It turns out- the guys I ended up on dates with, weren’t really interested in getting to know me before getting into bed, and that wasn’t for me. So, I decided to quit dating.
My friend had made me promise to leave my bumble up for one month, and I was 3 days shy- so I left it- but refused to look at it.
Marco saw it and messaged me immediately saying “Well, well- well. Looks who’s dating again! What time am I picking you up?”
He worked for it. Even got my friends on his side! They said that I had to give him a chance. “Just let him come meet us tonight”, they said. “Nothing has to change”, they said. Ha! The second I saw him walk in and our eyes met- I was done. I felt like the wind was knocked out of me. I felt like a part of me was back. I wanted to flirt. I wanted to dance. I wanted to hug him. He put his hand on my back and it felt so good I thought I was going to throw up. My friend told me to breathe. I was just feeling things again. I was okay. It had been so long since I had felt anything. I was feeling the excitement and the loss and the fear in overwhelming amounts. I didn’t know if I had it in me to date again. To risk a loss again. I had to get it together though- this was fantastic. Be in the moment! I can fall apart about this later.
I couldn’t say no to Marco. I already was in love with Marco. I had been forever. I was drawn to him the minute I met him. But- all of my stories, ended. And I was to the point that I was convinced I just wasn’t meant for dating. What I wanted- didn’t exist and that was okay because I was phenomenal on my own.
But the minute he walked in, the minute he tricked me into me kissing him first – the minute my lips touched his… I knew we were on and we weren’t stopping.

I didn’t know this story.
This was new.

He was going to take me take me places I didn’t even know existed.
I could feel it in every nerve of my body. The energy between us… I was terrified. And I had every right to be. We were going to lead each other through some really tough places- we were just, also going to learn that – the other side, doesn’t have to be bad. It can be absolutely beautiful even through the messy things. If you need a new perspective on a relationship issue- DM me! I love talking relationships!

I have a partner that builds with me – jumps all in on with me and makes my dreams better by dreaming them up bigger and better together. Making them ours. He truly became my partner in this- in life- and showed my true love in ways that I never knew. And I know- we’ve barely even scratched the surface. <3
It has been such a wild ride and I wouldn’t change a single second of it. Every day is truly my favorite day with him by my side.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

So many.

Learning to ask for help.

I was terrible using my words. Terrible! I would act like if I asked someone to reach a cup out of the cupboard for me- that I would explode or life would fall apart. I would push all of my feelings down and then explode or fall into depressive states. I spent a lot of life feeling like the world wasn’t for me. I was too soft- too nice- too something for this world. It was chewing me up and spitting me back out over and over.
I just wanted people to be nice and the world to be good.
When I started communicating better and raising my awareness around just how much I wasn’t communicating- it was mind blowing. I thought that I was doing pretty good- and I had barely even scratched the surface!
It was hard- and I was STUBBORN- but, little by little- I started breaking up with my old habits and coping mechanisms. I changed my irritation and depression into feeling grateful. Grateful that these thing kept me safe for so long. Grateful that I didn’t get into anything I couldn’t handle. Grateful that I could still reroute and change things!
I started thanking my body instead of hating on it.
I started communicating and writing more through it when I couldn’t or wasn’t sure what I was trying to say.
I started doing the work.
Baby steps.
And little by little- I got here. <3

Contact Info:

• Website: justbreehlc.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justbreehlc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justbreehlc Brain Gains group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1042747569616393
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTGjNmaZ4V9PZ9oX6UzjUQA
• Other: TikTok: Justbree_hlc