Q and A with Brooke from Dayton, Ohio

“Do it scared…Every success that I’ve ever had came from starting while terrified.”

Q: Tell us about yourself.

A: I’ve always gotten weird looks when I tell someone that I’m a writer, so sometimes it’s easier to say, “I write the junk emails that people actually open.”

I’ve been a copywriter for 13 years, after getting my original start in blogging. I write mostly for clients in my original niches: self-care and self-improvement. I’m now a licensed professional nail artist, but in 2010, I was a nail blogger, meticulously writing out instructions for art and reviews for beauty products.

My experiences while working in the beauty industry only reinforced what I had already seen online often; women feel guilty for taking care of themselves. Exterminating the belief that we are doing something wrong and selfish when we aren’t being productive for someone else is my life’s goal.

Q: What were your younger years like?

A: I had a childhood immersed in the arts: music, theater, art, and creative writing. I loved it all! I’ve wanted to be a writer my entire life. I even had the writer’s crest engraved on my high school class ring because I swore that was the path I’d take.

I unexpectedly became a mom at 19. It really lit a fire under me to pull myself out of poverty for my son’s sake. Writing copy for businesses and bloggers let me work from home with my two boys when they were very little. Freelance work and working from home weren’t as common at the time, so I will be forever grateful to the clients who gave me that chance. A good income without a commute sounded like a dream, and I went all in for it.

Once my two kids were a little older, I went to cosmetology school to earn my Advanced Manicurist license. I own a brick-and-mortar business now with the salon, travel across the country teaching business skills to beauty professionals, and still continue to work as a copywriter, taking on projects where I can help spread self-love and self-care across the web with some newfound authority.

Q: What is something valuable you’d like others to know?

A: Do it scared. If it makes you scared to fail, it’s a chance for growth. Every success that I’ve ever had came from starting while terrified. Making big moves in your career requires doing scary things that you’re unsure if you can even do. Do them anyway.

Q: What does feminism mean to you?
A: To me, feminism means breaking stigmas about what society considers a “woman’s place” to be. In the US, women weren’t allowed to vote until 1920 (Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution). We weren’t allowed to have a bank account without a husband’s signature until 1974 (Equal Credit Opportunity Act). We weren’t given equal rights to our property shared with a husband until 1981 (Kirchberg v. Feenstra). We’ve achieved so much, but it’s a continuous fight to keep those hard-earned rights.

Every one of those victories, and so many more, was the result of women demanding to be treated as equals to men. We owe it to the women of the past who got us this far to keep fighting for equality in all spaces of life.

MORE ABOUT BROOKE: I’ve recently decided to blog for myself again. Find self-care tips and tricks (without the guilt) at Brookanica.com or on Instagram at instagram.com/betterlifebrookanica.