(interview lightly edited)

On Defining Her Mojo

My essence is fun. Happy and the warrior.

I read Glennon Doyle’s book Carry On, Warrior: The Power of Embracing Your Messy, Beautiful Life and it really fit, the word “warrior” just really resonated with me. I am a warrior for my Type 1 Diabetic son, so much so that I dyed my hair blue for #ProjectBlueNovember and if you haven’t noticed, I have really blonde hair.

My hair stylist was not very happy with me.

“Love you, Brooke!”

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I’m not adversarial. I’m not confrontational. I’m not looking for an argument. But if you wrong me or one of my friends, or one of my friends’ kids, better look out because I’m comin’!

It’s funny because my girlfriends and I, when I lived in Fargo, went to the movie about Tina Turner, “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” We walked out of that movie bawling, of course. But we all just held each other’s hands and made a commitment at that point in time: if anybody ever began to treat one of us the way Ike treated Tina, that we would be there for each other, and I feel like that was kind of the start of my warrior-ness.

“What’s up Ben Franklin, Jr. High?!”

On Where Her “Warrior-ness” Comes From

I feel like I’ve gone through a full awakening over the last year with the civil unrest and opening my eyes to atrocities that still happen. And I feel like the warrior-ness came out of [the idea] I want to be the person that I wish I’d had when I was younger. Nobody was there to stand up for me.

Well, I shouldn’t say nobody, because I’m pretty sure my mom did.

Growing up in a small town in Minnesota, if you move there after you were born, you are a constant foreigner. You’re never really truly accepted. That’s what happened to me when we moved when I was 10, end of fourth grade. I was bullied. I was purposely excluded. One of my other classmates actually left the school district because of the level of bullying that she received. And I think that truly, I’m the person that I wish I had by my side.

On How the Last Year Has Changed Her and Her World View

I have not turned a blind eye. But I have not listened when people of color were talking. I’m quite certain you can probably go back on my timeline to five years ago, where some other Black life was taken too soon. And I said all lives matter, not just Black lives, because I didn’t get it. I didn’t understand. Nor did I take the time to understand.

I, like every other white person, just dismissed it because we didn’t see it. We’d never been a part of it. Then George Floyd happened and there was 100% no doubt whatsoever that that was a thing.

Then you start listening to people talk and you start listening to these other stories like I should have been listening in. So now I feel it is our responsibility, as white people, our responsibility to listen, but also take action. What can you do? Well, I can reach out to a Black teacher at my son’s high school who was getting roasted on Facebook for participating in a protest about Black Lives Matter. People were calling for her dismissal from school, calling her awful names. Her email address is, just like every other teachers email addresses, posted on the school website.

And so I took action. I emailed her and I said you are important and you are heard. If you are brought to the school board, I will not only be there but I will hold your hand and I will stand in front of you if necessary. And I mean it. And I’m not the only one that will and I hope she understood my passion, my warrior-ness in what I was saying because I’m not lying. I will.

I’m not going to be the most eloquent because I don’t debate. But, I’ll stand there, I’ll stand in front of her, I’ll stand beside her, hold her hand, hold her up–whatever needs to be done.

And that’s not enough. That is not enough. It’s voting the right people in offices, down to school boards, to mayors to city council members, to the state level to the federal level. It’s getting those right people in the seats that can make those changes. It’s being involved in these listening sessions. And my friends, Dawn [Johnson] and Chaz [Sandifer], are not the only ones that are doing it. They’re doing it here. They happen to be in my circle of people that I know. But it’s happening all over the world. And we all have to pay attention to it. And we have to listen. And we have to understand. And we have to start doing things. You can’t say, oh, I’ll take action when I can. You have to make a plan. You have to make a plan to take those actions.

On How the Last Year Has Informed Her Business Practices

I am seeking out connections to women of color. I’m starting to really be purposeful about that. But also, I’m protecting my own peace. And Facebook has been my jam. I’m on it all day, every day. And it’s not that I’m obsessed with it.

Or, you know, sometimes I am, let’s be clear.

People have commented on some of the things that I’ve been saying. And they are so horrible.

I thought, how could I ever have associated with you? No, I don’t. It’s no longer a point of, “Oh, we just have different views of things.” That’s diminishing it down to, “I like red, and you like blue. I like chocolate and you like vanilla.” And that’s not the difference. The difference is you’re an asshole and I’m not.

I’m done with people pleasing.

I don’t think I’ve done a good job on my business side about being anti-racist. And about supporting someone to take that into I’m going to take that to heart and do better…

Over the last couple of years, I get a feeling. And whether you call it God, or prompting, or the Universe, I don’t want to work with you. There’s just something off. And it was really easy during the election to hear. I did make conscious choices on those feelings. I’m not just going to take anybody’s money. I want to work with the right people. And if I got to take a hit financially, then I’ll take a hit financially.

On Doing the Work and What’s Next

I think it’s completely, completely changed me. I’ve always talked about making a statement with your dollars. I need to be more intentional about that, about what & where I’m spending my money.

I’m active in my city [Brooklyn Park] creating a business center for entrepreneurs. My city is multi-racial and multicultural, probably pretty close to Minneapolis in the multicultural realm. But this business center is focused on people who aren’t going to go to college, they don’t have the money. They are immigrants or low-income families. So it’s about focusing on them and having local business people like me, rent from this area, and our rent dollars go towards scholarships for this person to get a business plan written, or for this person to get a startup loan of $1,000 or things like that, and so I’m excited to be a part of that.

On the One Message to Her Younger Self

Stop trying to get your love and affection from people who don’t want to give it to you.

On Finding Her Mojo

I don’t know how to explain it. Like, I’m chugging along at work, or I’m taking a walk at the cabin with the dogs. Or I am sitting outside with the sun on my face. Like those are happiness. Those are awesome.

Especially if there’s a glass of wine involved.