We recently connected with Tricia Brouk and have shared our conversation below.

Tricia , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

I have been on stage my entire life. I moved to New York City to pursue a career in dance. After decades in the entertainment industry, I realized I had an opportunity to use my expertise to support thought-leaders and influential voices have more impact by becoming effective communicators. Then, as I built my company, The Big Talk, I realized that we can unite humanity through speech. When people understand that all voices matter and speaking with dignity, humility, curiosity, respect and love can connect us globally, we are accomplishing our mission. By being the most loving and transformative speaker platform in the world, we can have a ripple effect of lasting legacy.

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

For those of you who do not know me, I founded The Big Talk Academy® 7 years ago after a friend of mine asked me to direct her TEDx Talk. She was a fan of my work as a dancer, choreographer and director and I approached her TEDx talk like a one woman show. We worked on script analysis, choreography and blocking, intention and performance. It was super fun and I thought nothing of it. Then she planted the seed that I should do this for other speakers. This is when I founded The Big Talk. In addition to supporting speakers, I wanted to give them stages. I became the executive producer of TEDxLincolnSquare in New York City for two years, then Speakers Who Dare and have consistently put thousands of speakers onto big stages from our work inside of The Big Talk Academy®. Our program is the best speaking program in the world. And I say that because of the results we get people. Our speakers have gone on to speak at Google, Microsoft, Kraft-Heinz, World Economic Forum, FDA, The White House, in front of Congress and the list goes on. The reason our speakers are so successful is because The Big Talk Academy® gives them everything they need to become masterful speakers while creating a thriving business. It’s the creativity of crafting a script from the ideas they mine inside of our program and the how. I teach them how to write, how to perform, how to pitch and how to make money speaking. And they get live direction from me in NYC on a stage in a theater along with a fully produced speaker reel. This is what sets The Big Talk Academy® apart, we give you everything you need to become a masterful speaker, thought-leader and influential voice creating your speaker platform, ecosystem and business. And The Big Talk Academy® is an award winning program, being given the prestigious corporate excellence award for best online program in 2024. We are also accredited with an A+ rating by the Better Business Bureau of New York City, which means we have to prove all the claims we make on the sales page. I am really proud of this, because I am all about building trust capital and relationship capital. There is so much distrust and noise out there. And you’re probably getting ads for all the gazillion people calling themselves speaker coaches. I am the strategic advisor to thought-leaders who want to become effective communicators and build million dollar businesses. The Big Talk Academy® is going to get you the results you desire and it’s going to change your life because of the proven framework and methodology of The Art of The Big Talk Process©, I created. This is the process all of our Academy members learn and use as speakers.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I’m featured alongside six of my amazing speakers in a documentary streaming on Amazon Prime called Big Stages. The day before the last day of shooting, my furbaby Bella transitioned suddenly. No warning, no illness, she just passed away from a broken heart. Five weeks earlier, Lola, my 18 ½ furbaby, my heart, was shepherded to the other side in my arms at home. It was devastating but intentional. She could not walk and she was not going to get better. She went in my arms and in full love. Although painful and full of grief, this was not a shock. However when Joe, my husband, handed Bella’s limp body to me at 3am, I could not express the level of grief, shock and trauma I felt. I still feel this tenderness. I had to shoot the next day. I had to get the film done. So I did. I told my team, “Do not bring it up.” I need to get this done. So I brought all the things that represented Lola and Bella to me onto the set. In honor of them. And then the most miraculous thing happened. It started raining outside and my director of photography said, “Wouldn’t it be cool if we went outside and you danced in the rain?” I said, “Let’s do it”. I danced on the New York City sidewalk in the rain, and those were the tears that Lola, Bella and I shed and shared together. It was sublime. This made it into the film. And I dedicated the movie to my beloved fur babies.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I pivot everyday. Life is short and I do not have time to tolerate what’s not working. The biggest pivot or innovation, I like to say, was when Speakers Who Dare was being produced in New York City. We had ten amazing speakers ready to go. The show was being produced at The Triad Theater, where we film The Big Talk Academy reels. This theater is amazing and I have produced shows there for over 16 years. We had sold out the show, everyone was super excited and this was in March of 2020. Need I say more? Instead of canceling or postponing, I put on my filmmaker hat and asked all of the speakers to let me direct them remotely on location with various sets that worked for their talks. A playground, a tea time, a football field, a walk on the beach, all while delivering their talks. I edited their talks together to make a Speakers Who Dare Film that we streamed to over 150 countries live. It was amazing. And it gave everyone hope during a very uncertain and terrifying time. Remember what I said earlier? Our mission is to unite humanity through speech, and this is what it’s all about.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://triciabrouk.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tricia_brouk/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebigtalkcommunity
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/triciabrouk
• Other: https://www.thebigtalkacademy.com
  https://www.amazon.com/Big-Stages-Tricia-Brouk/dp/B0CN31V2GX

Image Credits

Lee Seidenberg