Explore Tricia Brouk's journey in the Coaching Industry

I feel that rootles is the ultimate detachment and presence. When you are rootless, that means you cannot be attached, stuck and have to be completely present in the moment. For me, rootless means that we’re always moving forward. I always say “Keep the story moving”. By being rootless means we have forward momentum at all times in our lives. – Tricia Brouk

My roots started in Arnold, Missouri, a small town south of St Louis. I grew up in a farm. We had cows, chickens and a water pump. There was an outhouse at my grandparents’ backyard where we lived next door. I grew up in a small town. Luckily, there was a dance studio in town so I was able to go there when I was seven years old. That’s when I was introduced to the idea of New York City. So, my roots start in Missouri and I quickly imagined my roots in New York City. My entire decision-making process from 7 years old to age twenty was all about how to get into New York City and make my roots there. – Tricia Brouk

Upon moving to New York three decades ago, I pursued a career in dance and had a very successful career dancing all around the world. I’ve danced at the Paris Opera House, Vienna opera house, Lincoln center, in Portugal, etc. I realized that when I was on stage, the impact I had was limited to the length of the dance and the number of people in the theater. I loved performing, dancing and I knew I was going to transition from being on stage to being on the other side of the table. Ultimately, storytelling is an amplifying voice of what I’m going to do in the world. When I made the transition to choreographer, I realized I could help tell other people’s stories through choreography. Organically, I moved into directing, producing and writing. So, my career trajectory went from dance to choreography to directing, to writing, to producing. I’ve always been an entrepreneur. I started a fitness company as soon as I moved to NY because I didn’t want to be a starving artist. I hired contractors to train my students while I was touring the world. When I decided to move from performing to directing, writing, producing, I thought that was it for me. Then, a friend who was also a fan asked me to direct a Tedx. I loved Ted Talks, the platform is amazing. I thought it would be just like a one woman show. I worked on choreography, blocking and the script as a director and we did this amazing process together. She suggested that I should do this for a living. I thought that was interesting, I had never thought about that before. I decided that I was going to support speakers because it’s just like supporting actors. I love my actors but it’s all about them. When I work with speakers, it’s all about the very important message and who they’re going to serve. That was a new experience for me and I realized in that moment, by putting people who have important messages onto the big stage, I can have a ripple effect that goes beyond me or any of my speakers. That’s why I decided to start my company, the Big Talk Academy because I want to be able to elevate and amplify as many voices as possible. – Tricia Brouk

That’s a great question. When I first started my business, I refused to call myself a speaker coach, because I was a director. I was applying the same techniques and expertise to my speakers as I did with my actors whether we were doing a musical, play or one woman show. I realized that no one knew what that meant. In terms of marketing and branding, if you’re a director and are working with speakers, no one gets it. If you say you are a speaker coach, all of a sudden, people understand what you do. However, the way I do it is very different. I’m not coming from a world of coaching, I come from a world of theater, film and TV. That’s what makes me stand out from a speaker coach, that doesn’t make me better or worse than others. There’s no comparison there, it’s just different. My approach is uniquely mine because of three decades in theatre film and television. – Tricia Brouk

When I first started the Big Talk, I had zero online presence. I wasn’t on Facebook, nor Instagram, nor twitter. I had a mediocre LinkedIn profile. Which meant I had no credibility. So, the first thing that I did in order to gain some credibility was to start a podcast. I did twenty episodes where I talked about my process so people could go and listen to how I actually worked with people or actors, analyzing scripts and performances. From there, I had to start a Facebook page which was slightly painful for me. I was nervous because I didn’t want people from high school to find me. The truth is that in order for people to have the best coaching, directing that they can, I need to be visible, I need to put myself out there. I went from zero online presence to starting a podcast, to working with a bunch of speakers who wanted to do a Tedx and I wasn’t a Tedx producer. I thought the universe was bringing me speakers once I had put myself out there but I had nowhere to put them. As a theater producer, I produce shows. What’s the best show for speaker? Tedx. That’s when I applied to become the executive producer of Tedx Lincoln Square. I got my license and that was the credibility and visibility catalyst for my company. I was able to bridge the gap of speaking, producing and coaching in a way that instantaneously gave me credibility, beyond other speaker coaches. That’s how I started the Big Talk in the first year. The academy came in almost two and a half years later. I had all these one-on-one clients. I was working with top level thought leaders, entrepreneurs, authors and I thought I couldn’t maintain all that. I had too many clients and the output was excessive. I couldn’t be in more than one place at one time so if my company was going to scale, I needed to think differently. I had an event for speakers in New York City (which happens twice a year) limited it to fifteen people but that was also not going to scale my business. The reason I limited it was because I wanted to ample everybody’s stage time because it happened in a theater, on a stage. I was thinking on how to serve more people who are not ready to work one-on-one because that is a very high investment of time and money. There are people who can’t commute to NYC for six weeks. How can I serve more people and scale my business at the same time? I had to create a virtual experience. That’s when I put together the Big Talk Academy and realized I could reach people all over the world. What I have learned is that I have community members from the UK, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Sweden, and Australia and in the US. Being able to serve my community globally is why I get up in the morning. I wasn’t able to do that until I started the Big Talk Academy. So, that was the story of when and why I started the Academy. – Tricia Brouk

If you are rushing to get clients and don’t know what you’re teaching, it’s going to end up in a disaster. It’s important for you to be clear on how you’re supporting your client base, why you are supporting them and that kind of “rehearsal” is important because you have to earn the trust of your community. That’s why I have been so successful in a short period of time. I’ve been consistent, patient, I’ve chosen my clients wisely and have shown up in the same way, solidly the entire time I’ve had any social media presence. The second I went live on Facebook, I was consistent the entire time. That’s how you earn the trust of your community and that’s how you elevate your brand and business. – Tricia Brouk

I wish I knew there were so many business coaches out there who do now know what they’re talking about. It’s a booming business right now and I think anybody can call themselves a coach. If you’re good at marketing, you can talk someone into working with you. That’s something I wish I had known. If someone comes to me and tells me they can help me turn my business into something big, I’m going to believe them. I wish I knew how to vet the business coaches that I hired. I did not have a vetting process in place. For anyone starting a new business, you need more than just referrals. You have to vet them, know who they have helped, how they’ve helped, what the ROI is with the people they’ve helped. You need to ask a lot of questions. It’s a mistake I make all the time and it’s one of my biggest flaws, I hire people I like, not people who can actually do the job. I have hired actors who couldn’t sing and put them on stage just because I liked them. So, it’s important to ask all the questions, make sure they’re really going to take you to the next level. – Tricia Brouk

Something that I have learned in the last years as my business has really grown is the importance of a team, systems and processes. That has been game-changing. When you start out, it’s just you and your referral based company and you’re working with clients one-on-one that can only last so long. You’re going to get exhausted, burn out, you’ll go through your client list. It’s really important to think bigger and to think foundationally. Specific for my company, when Covid-19 happened and everything paused, shifted, become uncertain, chaotic, for me, it was an opportunity to lay solid foundations for this company. I had to fire my current team because they weren’t doing what I needed them to do and I became very conscious of what I was tolerating during the pandemic. So, I stopped tolerating things and got a new team who could take this business to the next level. We put systems into place, dissected everything that we could, we created SOPs for everything. During this time, I’ve had the opportunity to create a solid foundation for this company so it can run without me if it needs to, grow exponentially when it’s going to. When you’re starting out, you need referrals and one-on-ones because what you need in the beginning is credibility and visibility. Then you have to take the risk to hire a team, hire a business coach, a mentor to teach you how to take it to the next level. That is very important for coaches who are starting out. – Tricia Brouk

It’s very important. Why would you hire a business coach that has a terrible business, who doesn’t make money? Think really strongly about who you’re working with and why. If someone says they’re a speaker coach but they haven’t been on stage, have never written a speech don’t hire them. I have been on stage for three decades, I know everything that can possible go wrong, I know what will always go right. Being able to share that kind gravitas with my clients and community is important because they trust me. When I confess to them that when I have a speech to do and I am wandering around my apartment to rehearse, they feel I’m just like them because we’re all human beings. Then they understand the guidance I am giving them is going to make a difference, that I am not just pulling out from the universe or making it up. Instead, they realize I’ve been in their shoes and can tell them what they need to do to have success as a speaker. If you’re vetting a coach or mentor who tell you they can get you in a Ted stage or they can get you to the next level as a speaker and they have had 0 contact with any of those mediums, working with them is not a good idea. – Tricia Brouk

I think my personal brand has been consistent my entire life. My values always included inclusion, respect, curiosity, dignity, communication, excellence. All of my values have always been intact. That is why my brand didn’t shift. Who I was as a dancer is who I was as a choreographer, director, writer, producer and now the founder of the Big Talk academy. That was intact and I think that in terms of branding, I definitely went through a few phases of branding with the Big Talk Company. I hired the wrong coaches when I first started because I didn’t know any better. Having pictures of me standing on a blank wall pointing so they could put graphics above my finger is not something I would do now. I have definitely evolved in terms of my branding and have taken control over what it is I want to be known and seen for. I always encourage anyone who is thinking of starting a speaker coaching training or any kind of business to trust themselves, listen to people who are smarter than them but trust themselves because it Is ultimately their brand and who they want to speak to. You have to know who you want to speak to and then you’ll resonate. – Tricia Brouk

I think this is a great question. I know a lot of entrepreneurs who have a company and are now separating their personal brand from that company. Right now, I know that my attachment to the Big Talk is why it’s so successful. People want to work with me, want to have my fingerprints all over their talks. Eventually, the “Big Talk” will be self-sufficient and will be running on its own because I will have lived there long enough. I think my personal brand along with the “Big Talk” is important because Tricia’s 30 years in film, television and theater is what makes the “Big Talk” unique. – Tricia Brouk

I didn’t know how to do that or what I was doing. If I were to support someone now who decides they want to be a coach, I would say that the most important thing you need to do is be in integrity with what it is your coaching. You have to be in full integrity with how you’re mentoring someone, what services are you actually providing with them and for them and be very conscious that you’re not making promises you can’t keep. I put speakers one-on-one all the time to get them on a Ted stage. Do I guarantee it? Never. Do I say that I will do everything I can in my power to make it happen? Absolutely. Do I have a high track record? Yes. I would never promise something to someone because I can’t see into the future. If you’re deciding to go into this business because of service and because you really want to help people, go for it. Make sure you know what you’re teaching, know how to mentor someone. I’ve had years of being in a room with actors, I know how to create a safe space. Make sure to understand the dynamic of being the coach. You are someone mentoring, you are someone who is being looked at for guidance. You must take that role responsibly and seriously. If you’re moving into this role to increase your bank account, you’re doing it for the wrong reason and you’ll attract the wrong clients, you’ll have heartache and danger and it will be horrible. – Tricia Brouk

The Big Talk Academy so far has certified speakers from all over the world. We currently have legally been able to certify speakers in this process and why that’s important to me. I want speaker agencies, conferences, Tedx organizers to know that if my speakers say they are certified by the Academy, they have my seal of approval, they have gone through my process, have been vetted by me. In order to receive a certification you have to finish the program, submit a script and a video and sign an oath. Within my community there is no hate speech. That doesn’t mean we can’t have different opinions. What it means is there must be always dignified communication, inclusion, respect, curiosity, all of my values. That’s part of how you get certified by the Big Talk Academy. Ultimately, it’s about making the world a better place through authentic heart-centered communication. Part of the success of the Academy is that people all over the world, with different backgrounds see themselves in my community. That’s unique to the “Big Talk Academy” and something I’m very proud of. – Tricia Brouk

The first thing you really need to do is to start putting yourself out there authentically without any attachment. You must just start serving Facebook lives, blog posts and LinkedIn posts. Begin to provide value as frequently and as authentically as possible. When people start to comment, connect with them, show real interest in who they are. It also means connecting with people on LinkedIn who might need your support, potentially working with someone complementary so they’ll write a review or testimonial for you. It means rolling up your sleeves and doing the work to start building your client base. It doesn’t happen overnight. If you think it does, take a pause, take a deep breath, you’re going to need to do more than one thing at a time to make sure your business is expanding. It is one step at a time foundationally. One other thing I’d like to say about this is that when you believe in your service and how you can help people and are not just trying to increase your bank account, you’ll attract the people who’ll want to work with you. When my speaker ask how do they make money doing this in a business, if they’re entrepreneurs talking about their business models in terms of credibility and how they speak about it, it doesn’t funnel into your bank account, it funnels into your mission. When you’re clear on that, you’ll attract all the people who can invest on you. – Tricia Brouk

Credibility is directly related to quality and visibility. When I produce shows, it is the highest quality. When my speaker are in my shows and they are experiencing what it means to be in one of my shows, it is of the highest quality. So, that kind of quality is going to give me instant credibility because everyone who is in the theater, in the audience, who works with me in the show is going to tell everyone the level of quality, which gives me credibility. It does take time so if you are in a hurry, you’re going to ultimately get into your own way. It takes time to earn it but what’s really important is that if you’re putting quality products all the time, you’ll eventually gain credibility. But quality and visibility is important. – Tricia Brouk

I am always curious, I am extremely fearless, I am consistent, I believe that I can and I will and I am not attached to any kind of failure. Failure is not big deal, it means “not yet”. “No” means “not yet”. If you spend too much time on failure, it is preventing you from serving, it’s preventing you from doing what you’re meant to do. On my first launch for one of my online courses, I spent almost $25,000 to $30,000 on it and I sold zero. It was a complete failure, I moved on and learned from it and it was just part of the deal. That’s something I share with anyone who wants to move into the speaker coaching world. You have to let go of your failures, criticism. If someone says “Oh you’re a speaker coach, who do you think you are?” it doesn’t matter what they think. If you’re leading from integrity, then stay the course, you will find the right clients. – Tricia Brouk

Let me reframe that. What if that person is texting their friend “This person is the most amazing speaker I’ve ever heard, I can’t wait to share all of this with you when I get home”. – Tricia Brouk

 I’d go back to vetting your mentors, vetting the people you hire at the very beginning of building your business. There are a lot of coaches out there who make promises they can’t keep. The biggest mistake was believing promises instead of believing processes. – Tricia Brouk

My directing style does not change. My goal is to always support speakers in speaking their truth, being authentic when they’re sharing their important story. There are different ways of performing now, of course. There’s a lot more online showcases. The way that I’m staying ahead of the curve is thinking about how I can support people in terms of sharing their message. I know that the world of speaking is really valuable still, even now when events aren’t happening. I just held a free webinar with a standout speaker and over 1,700 people signed up for it. So, I know that people want to share their stories. What’s amazing about this question is that the art of speaking goes back to sitting around campfire. We like to share stories and that kind of history and the importance of sharing a story has the same through-line. We want to share our stories to inspire and to motivate and to make someone feel a certain way. So, that’s old-school, that’s not going to change. The way I help somebody do that is from my years of studying directing and being on theater, understanding how to create that safe space. I think what changes is how I can reach my audience. That’s by starting a YouTube channel, writing a book. During this time of creating more solid foundations of processes and systems in my company I also wanted to expand by reaching as many people as possible for free. that’s why I started a YouTube channel and why I wrote a book. If you think of yourself as a speaker, that is not limited to a stage. If you’re in a conference room, meeting, doing a keynote, Tedx, a blog post, a Facebook live, a summit, having a conversation across the table at dinner; all of that requires you to be conscious of how you’re speaking and that’s the kind of responsibility I teach my speakers along with the actual art of public speaking. – Tricia Brouk

Well let me start by saying that when you’re working with people who have important powerful messages, who want to change the world and have global impact by speaking, it is incredibly intimate. You are getting into their souls and that kind of mentorship is really an intense commitment of time and energy. So, it’s not surface work. This is deep soulful work. It is an exchange of absolute trust. With that said, I get up at 4 a.m. and I spend the first six hours of my day doing self-care. That means meditation, working out, watering my plants, feeding my cats, showering and preparing for my clients. I need to be 150% at all times when I’m on calls with my clients because the work they’re doing with me is important and urgent. So if I don’t show up at that level, I’m not serving them and I’m not serving humanity. That’s the kind of intensity I’m talking about. I’ll work from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. or 5 p.m. I don’t have more than two one-on-one client calls a day. That’s because within those coaching calls I’m giving them feedback on their key notes, I’m applying to Tedx event for them, I’m working on the Big Talk Academy, on shows that I’m producing. I love this work but its’ not different for me from working on theaters, movies or TV shows. It’s the same kind of work ethics and hours. The difference is that I need to be completely taken care of so that I have all of my energy on my clients. – Tricia Brouk

I’m going to reach for something with this question. I received a nice gift in the mail yesterday from a lovely girl from Ghana who graduated from the BigTalk Academy. It was a Kente stole. I did my research and it is handmade. She sent this in order to thank me. This is one of the most amazing achievements I have ever experienced or received. – Tricia Brouk

I think one of the pieces of advice that I’ve heard others speak about is that you have to constantly be chasing clients. I completely disagree with that. I’ve reframed that it, I say that you have to constantly be serving. When you’re always serving and providing value, that will organically lead to business but I do not believe that you’re constantly selling and that you have to be chasing clients all the time. When you’ve shown you have integrity and have earned the trust of your community, the work will come. – Tricia Brouk

Absolutely. I’m glad we’re talking about this. I’ve been happily married for eleven years and I’ve always been an entrepreneur so my husband has always been used to me having my own life, business and working from home. The biggest shift in the last year was me being able to service many people as I do and having my husband see the kind of impact that this company has in the world. Just like the Kente stole from Ghana, the fact that I’m reaching people and am having an effect on people this way has increased our collaboration as a team and partners. I always say that I am very strict with my time. At 5 o’clock, I leave the office and that’s when I go and spend time with my husband. That’s something I inspire everyone to think about. Make a deal with your partner, make a deal in your home with your family that you leave the business at a certain time of the day and stick to that so you can have that family unit. Also, having that open dialogue with your family. You can say “Ok everybody, we’re in launch mode the next few weeks, I’m going to be on my phone a lot”. Just have the conversation. – Tricia Brouk