912 Days of Updates (and Why I’m Back Now)

I haven’t updated you in about 912 days.

Not because nothing was happening.

Because too much was.

New roles. More travels. A house. A business I almost launched. A YouTube channel I almost started. But a personal brand that kept building — quietly, consistently — even when I wasn’t talking about it.

That’s actually kind of the point.

Personal brands compound whether you’re actively making investments or not.

I have very big ideas. Sometimes I follow through on them publicly. Sometimes I disappear for 912 days and come back with receipts.

This is me coming back with receipts.

No gatekeeping. You’re getting the fully unvarnished reality of building a personal brand — the hits, the misses, and everything worth stealing.

So let’s catch up — speed-run style.

The Last 2.5 Years (Speed Run)

Here’s the condensed version of what I’ve been up to:

• Back to “corporate” (briefly): Returned to higher ed as International Director at JCCC. Lasted nine months.
• Growth marketing trenches: Recruited to run marketing at Podium Education — fully remote, location freedom intact. Learned more about growth, systems, and execution than any MBA could teach.
• Four months as a digital nomad: Worked US evening hours while living in Turkey, Italy, Prague, the Balkans, Greece, Albania, and London.
• Nomad finds her nest: Bought a house in Kansas City with my partner Zach. Won the bidding war by exactly $500. Immediately entered the never-ending cycle of house projects.
• Career inflection point: Hosted a podcast interview with the CEO of Via (study abroad software). Great conversation. Two and a half weeks later, he offered me VP of Marketing. I said yes.
• Now: Promoted to Executive Vice President. Fully remote. Big responsibility. Big opportunity. Big plans for 2026.

So yes — a lot happened.

But none of that is the point.

The Question I Couldn’t Avoid Anymore

Here it is:

“What do I do with all of this?”

Twenty years of building. Multiple businesses. A career that keeps taking unexpected turns. A life that looks nothing like what I planned — and everything like what I wanted.

At some point, you can’t just keep accumulating experience without doing something with it.

But instead of starting, I made lists.

• Travel podcast?
• Lifestyle vlogger?
• Furniture fixer-upper?
• Small-town Kansas house flipper?
• Behind-the-scenes of building a brand?
• Reviving Inside Study Abroad?

So many forks in the proverbial yellow brick road.

And underneath all of it, one fear I couldn’t shake:

“What if I start… and then quit in five weeks?”

When you’ve already built real things — businesses, brands, income — you don’t have the blissful ignorance of a beginner anymore.

You know how hard it gets. You know what consistency actually requires.

So I did what any reasonable person would do in 2025.

I dumped my entire life story into an AI and asked: “What about my experience is actually interesting and helpful to other people?”

The answer was obvious — once I stopped resisting it.

The Throughline I’d Been Living (But Not Naming)

Everything I’ve built over the last 20 years follows the same pattern.

Not intentionally. But consistently.

Personal brand → independent income → lifestyle design.

Here’s how it actually works:

• Personal brand creates visibility, credibility, and opportunity.
• That brand unlocks income streams — jobs, consulting, products, partnerships.
• That income gives you options — how you work, where you live, what you say yes or no to.
• That lifestyle becomes proof, which strengthens your brand even further.

It’s not linear.

It’s a portfolio of assets that compound over time.

This is your brand equity.

How I’ve Lived This (In Real Life)

This isn’t theoretical for me.

• Personal brand: I was recruited for my last two roles — including my current EVP position — because of my visibility and reputation.
• Independent income: I’ve built multiple six-figure businesses (Inside Study Abroad, Yoga Travel Tree, Study Abroad Journal) while working and/or traveling full-time.
• Lifestyle design: I’ve worked from 60+ countries, bought homes in two states, chosen a nontraditional life path, and become what I call a nomad with a nest.

None of that happened overnight.

All of it came from compounding my brand equity over 20+ years.

What to Expect Going Forward

So — I’m leaning into my core theme of Brand Equity (and the name of this newsletter).

Each week I’ll focus on one thing:

Building a personal brand that gives you control over how you work, earn, and live.

That means:

• Personal brand strategy grounded in real builds — not theory.
• The income side — how a visible brand creates options, opens doors, and yes, generates actual money.
• The tools worth using to build faster (hellooooo, Kajabi!).

No lifestyle content for the sake of lifestyle content.

No guru philosophy.

Just what I’ve actually built, what I’ve learned, and the shortcuts I wish I’d had.

If you’re ready to build a personal brand that pays dividends — let’s get started.

See you Tuesday,
Brooke

P.S. I’m also working on something else entirely for the life and travel side of things. If that’s your vibe too, keep an eye on thenewdorothy.com.