Finding Your Voice in a Changing World with Speaker, Author, and Director Tricia Brouk

Imagine a world where every voice is heard, where empathy leads to genuine dialogue, and where personal transformation fuels leadership growth. How can we harness the power of our voice to inspire change and empowerment in ourselves and others? 

Join us in this compelling episode as we sit down with Tricia Brouk, an award-winning director, producer, author, and speaker, who transitioned from a successful dance career to a powerful advocate for amplifying voices. Through her Big Talk Academy, Tricia has become a thought leader in communication, championing the importance of empathy and the courage needed for authentic conversations. 

Tricia's new book, Being Smart Is Stupid: Why Embracing the Wisdom of Your Buddha Nature is the Secret to Great Leadership, explores the question: What if everything you've been told about leadership is wrong?

We delve into Tricia's latest entrepreneural venture, The Wise Leopard, focusing on empowering women in midlife. In our current troubled environment, we talk frankly about how choosing love over fear and speaking out can lead to transformative change. 

Chapters with Timestamps:

• 00:03: The Power of Your Voice 
• 07:43: Being Smart Is Stupid
• 10:39: Empowering Women in Midlife
• 25:03: Choose Love, Speak Out, Have Courage 

Links:

Preorder Being Smart Is Stupid: Why Embracing the Wisdom of Your Buddha Nature is the Secret to Great Leadership

Connect with Tricia Brouk on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.

Listen to The Big Talk With Tricia Brouk

Learn more about:

• The Big Talk Academy
• The Wise Leopard
• Tricia Brouk's website

Don't forget to subscribe to the Adventures in Learning podcast and leave a review! Your voice matters, and we'd love to hear from you. Thanks for celebrating three years of storytelling with us!

Transcript

00:23 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
Your voice matters today. We are so fortunate because we get to talk to award-winning director, producer, author and speaker, Tricia Brouk. Her Big Talk Academy made a huge difference in my own life and in my own goals, and I am so thrilled to be able to talk to her today about why your voice matters and how you can amplify your story at a time when we need it most. Tricia, welcome to the show. 

00:49 - Tricia Brouk (Guest)
I am so honored to be here with you, Diane. Thank you so much for having me. 

00:53 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
I'm so glad you're here. I want to start by asking a question I like to ask everybody, which is tell us a little bit about your adventures in learning, because you weren't always where you're sitting right now. It took a while to get there. What moved you from the world of stage to now helping prepare other people to take the stage as well? 

01:13 - Tricia Brouk (Guest)
I think my biggest adventures of learning was never thinking I couldn't do something, and that is part naivete, part adventure and part high risk tolerance. I moved to New York City where we are both currently doing this podcast from Missouri when I was 20 years old to pursue a career in dance. I had a very robust, successful dance career, touring all over the world with Lucinda Childs and Big Dance Theater and David Gordon Pickup Performance Company and Ben Munisteri all these great modern dance companies and decided, when I was going to retire from being a professional an actively professional dancer I would move into choreography directing, producing and I organically transitioned into film, television and theater. And I still very much work in the world of showbiz. I'm attached to a few Broadway-bound musicals, a few screenplays. I recently became a producer in a new movie that's going to be coming out in 2026. Became a producer in a new movie that's going to be coming out in 2026. 

02:32
But in 2017, a friend of mine asked me to direct her Ted talk and talk about an adventure of learning. I had zero experience directing speakers and I didn't even know that that was a thing. So she said I'd love for you to help me and I was like this will be perfect. It'll be just like a one woman show. I will direct you Like I direct my actors. We'll work on choreography and blocking, we'll work on intention, and that's exactly what I did. 

02:53
And then she planted the seed that people need this, and I thought well, I love this idea because if I get to work with thought leaders who have incredible big ideas and support them like an actor, what I end up doing is leaving a lasting legacy, beyond the length of time we're in the theater and the number of people in the audience, and that became very meaningful to me by choice. I have not had children, and so I've always wanted to leave a lasting legacy, and that has now become people like you, dr Diane, who are speaking about such important topics, and every time you speak about something that we've worked on together, the ripple effect of who you've impacted goes way beyond me and way beyond you, and that is how I got into supporting thought leaders and professionals in amplifying and elevating their voices. 

03:50 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
And you do that so well. I mean not just in the coaching, but you offer free workshops for people on a monthly basis through LinkedIn. You've written I think we're up to three books now. You've written three books. You've got a special on Amazon. You've done all of these different ways to support people and it all comes back to what's written behind you. Your voice matters, and can you talk a little bit about what prompted that in you and how you amplify that in other people? 

04:22 - Tricia Brouk (Guest)
When I think about the brand, the big talk and the saying your voice matters. It came out of a place of truth. As a dancer, we did not use our voices. I did not speak from the stage. I was effectively communicating through my body and through physicality. And when I realized I had the opportunity to help people tell their story and reflect back that their voices matter, that kind of transformation goes way beyond why I'm here on this earth, and the idea that every voice matters is something I believe in fully. 

05:09
People who have followed me or who listened to my podcast or who are in my community, they know that I truly believe all voices matter and that doesn't mean I agree with the voices that are speaking, but I do believe that when we are taught how to communicate effectively with dignity, curiosity, humility, respect and love, we can unite. We can unite humanity through speech, and it is my vision and mission to do that. And if I can model what it means to communicate effectively with dignity and love, I've got my opinions. People know where I stand on things. I'm very vocal about it. But I also believe that other people's opinions deserve space and that's why your voice matters is so important to me. 

05:59 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
Well, and I think that's why your message resonated so strongly with me, because so much of what I talk about is that intersection of play and empathy, and with empathy, again is, you don't have to agree with the person, but you're at least able to enter into why do they think the way they do, and that creates space for a real conversation, and I feel like that's something that's missing dramatically in so much of our society right now is that ability to make space. 

06:27 - Tricia Brouk (Guest)
I do believe it's missing, I do believe people don't know how, and I believe people have lost the courage to try, and it does take courage. I reach out to people all the time and ask can you tell me why you feel this way? And ask can you tell me why you feel this way? Can you help me understand why you make a decision on how you show up in the world or in politics, so that I can understand? Because I really like you, I'm really fond of you, and that's not going to change. But what I want to understand is why this is something you believe in. 

07:10
When Roe v Wade was overturned, I reached out to my friend, who is Catholic and pro-life, and I said I would love for you, if you're available, to get on a call with me so that I can understand your point of view, because I'm hurting right now. And she got on a call with me and Diane. By the end of our conversation we hadn't changed each other's minds, but we had a conversation that was based in empathy, understanding and love. That's what it's about. 

07:43 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
I've got chills listening to that because I feel like that is so much of what we need to be helping teachers and parents and families do with young children, but so many of us need a refresher course on that as well, as adults being able to have those conversations and to look at each other as human beings again, that we're not othering each other, and I think that that is really powerful. And to do that we need strong leaders, and I know you've written a book that's coming out and I love the title being Smart is Stupid. Can you talk a little bit about that book and what kind of leaders we need today to be able to have these kinds of conversations? 

08:29 - Tricia Brouk (Guest)
For sure. 

08:30
This book has been in the works for nine months, and I'm so proud of this book because the subtitle of being Smart is Stupid is why embracing the wisdom of your Buddha nature is the secret to great leadership. 

08:48
I practice the philosophy of Buddhism, and many people I'm glad we have that in common, and many people have come to me and said how is it that you're such a good leader? 

09:00
And I want to first of all say thank you for acknowledging that I really take the role of being a leader, as well as being an influential voice, very seriously. 

09:08
It is a responsibility that I take very seriously, and I also know that I'm a successful leader because I have a culture in my team, the big talk that is incredibly powerful and positive, and many of my contractors have been with me for four plus seven plus years. That is very unusual when it comes to having a team of contractors, and so I know that I know how to lead, and what I started thinking about was how can I deconstruct my leadership style, using wisdom as the catalyst for great leadership and for successful leadership? And so I deconstructed my practice of Eastern philosophy and I think that there are a lot of smart leaders out there a lot of smart leaders, but they're making big mistakes, and if they could tap into wisdom and they would make fewer mistakes and they would create more successful leadership, better cultures, they would have more impact. They would also have less suffering themselves and they would create less suffering in their environments. That's why I created this book. 

10:28 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
Can you give us some examples of how we might tap into wisdom? 

10:34 - Tricia Brouk (Guest)
For sure. Examples of how we might tap into wisdom For sure. This book is based on nine pillars and it starts with getting still, and that's simply stop, tune in into it, listen and learn. So that's a very simple way for you to kind of you know, use the acronyms still, get still. It also means understanding that when you practice detachment, you can alleviate suffering. 

11:08
When you practice impermanence, you can set yourself up for success as a leader. Your team's not going to always be there. You're going to have people coming and going for whatever reason. You're going to have to fire and hire for whatever reason. Nothing is permanent. And when you can become comfortable with the concept of impermanence, you can create the success that you need by looking ahead without attaching to the future. 

11:33
So, getting still, practicing impermanence, practicing detachment, practicing oneness this is something that many people don't understand or the concept is out of their awareness. We are all connected and when we understand that we are all connected and we practice the concept of oneness, we will think differently before we make decisions. And that goes to becoming aware of your awareness. This is also one of the pillars. What does becoming aware of your awareness mean? Okay, if you're having a response to somebody or something. Become aware of your awareness. 

12:20
I am feeling agitated, I am feeling angry, I am feeling rage. I am feeling this. I'm becoming aware of how I feel, and then you can discern and make a better decision. I need to take a time out. I need to sleep on this decision. I need to walk out of this room because I'm going to say something I'm going to regret, or I need to think about whether or not I'm going to invest a gazillion dollars in this new venture before I do it, even though my body's tingling because of my ego. 

12:57
And so these are all of the concepts that I bring into the book. Being Smart is Stupid, because lots of smart people are making really bad decisions, and I wanna help people make decisions from a place of wisdom by tapping into what I call Buddha nature. It could be your knowing, it could be your knowing, it could be your compassion, it could be your loving kindness. There's nothing about this book that is meant to tell you you have to become a Buddhist after you read it. It is simply my interpretation of the philosophy in service of you tapping into your wisdom. 

13:29 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
I love that and I can't wait to read it. I will drop the pre-order link in the show notes so that people can grab a copy as well. You're also in addition to the Big Talk Academy. You've got a brand new venture you just started and, as a woman who might be sharing your menopausal journey, I am fascinated by this. So can you talk a little bit about the wise leopard? 

13:52 - Tricia Brouk (Guest)
I would love to, uh, I want to kind of talk about you for a second, Diane, because you're such a first of all, you're such a remarkable human being and you walk the walk of, uh, empathy and compassion and acceptance and inclusion in such a powerful way, and I just want the listeners and the viewers to know this. I know you know it because you're in Diane's community, but I just want to highlight that I got the privilege of spending time with Diane for 12 weeks inside of the Big Talk Academy Mastery Program, and then she came to New York and we got to work together in person. And so you mentioned the Big Talk Academy. Well, for me, watching you go through the process and show up on every single call with the exact same smile and wonderment that you have right now when you're talking about the adventures and learning was, is why I get up in the morning. 

14:45 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
Ah, that makes me feel great, and you give me that same feeling, and so I knew, the first time you and I talked, that we were destined to be friends and colleagues, and I'm so grateful for that, Tricia. 

14:59 - Tricia Brouk (Guest)
Me too, me too. So the byproduct of being able to work together is now we are friends and colleagues, and I get to be on your show like this, and so I wanted to just highlight that before I move into the wise leopard, because I thought it was important. 

15:11 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
Well, thank you. I appreciate that and I want to hear about this new venture because you taught. You mentioned it when we were in New York and I love seeing that it's coming to fruition, so I definitely want to hear more. 

15:23 - Tricia Brouk (Guest)
Thank you. I am 54 and for the last several years I've been in menopause and thinking how amazing is this time of life. I am joyous, I'm fulfilled, I am empowered and I want every woman in midlife to know what's possible without, without negating challenges, without negating physical changes. I also want to completely amplify and elevate the voices of women in midlife, similar to the voices that I amplify and elevate with the big talk. So I started thinking how do I want to do this? I wrote my second book I wrote two years ago. It's called the invitation vital conversations about menopause. I coauthored it with Dr Alexandra Stockwell, a good friend of mine, and by I'm by no means an expert in menopause. I coauthored it with Dr Alexandra Stockwell, a good friend of mine, and by I'm by no means an expert in menopause. However, I am a woman in menopause and in midlife who shares her experience in service of you not feeling alone, and that's again part of my legacy. So I started thinking. You know, I keep waking up in the middle of the night with hot flashes and night sweats and for those of you listening and watching, I am still very much the founder of the big talk. I'm not going anywhere and I'm also not going to stay silent about what it means to be a woman who's 54. So hot flashes, menopause, night sweats, it is all sexy, it is all fierce, it is all part of who we are and we need to talk about it. So I started thinking. 

17:08
The way women experience hot flashes is embarrassment, shame. Hot flashes is embarrassment, shame. They don't talk about it. Their face bursts into sweat and they grab a tissue and they apologize. I'm so sorry I'm having a hot flash. Or you've seen our colleague on stage, sorry, I'm having a hot flash because you're under the hot lights, right, right. So, instead of the shame and the apologies, what needs to be created to empower us? How about a community of wise leopards who can talk about it? And what's coming in January? A cooling mist. Nice For those moments of warmth, whether it's at night, whether it's on stage, whether it's at dinner. And so I decided to create a cooling mist that is all natural hydrosols, all organic, all made in the USA with spring water from New York, which is where I'm from, so that women can not sophisticated and not shame inducing spray themselves and have a cooling effect. And so my desire to create the wise leper was born out of me solving a problem for myself while also creating something very sophisticated and beautiful for other women in midlife. 

18:39 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
I love that, you know, and, as you were talking, it so resonated because I've talked to other friends who are in this same stage of life and we've all said one of the things that is a common denominator is our mothers never talked about it, and so we're trying really hard to be very open with our own daughters about what this stage feels like, so that when they hit it it's not scary or strange or hidden, but it feels a little bit like dealing with imposter syndrome as well. 

19:08
Some of those same feelings that flare up when you are dealing with do I deserve to be on this stage, do I deserve to be in this position? Are some of the same things that flare up with menopause, and what I've found has been a joyful kind of coming out of it or coming to the other side is that sense of release, that caring for what other people say or how they view you. It goes into your rear view mirror a lot more, and so you're better able to be present in the moment, and so anything that can sort of help women transition through that I'm for it. Yay, Tricia. 

19:45 - Tricia Brouk (Guest)
Oh, thank you. I'm really excited about this community and I really I am building a pride of Wise Leopards and, if you are interested in being in a community of women who are in midlife who want to talk about everything, and I'm bringing in experts, I'm bringing in the data, I am going to be curating and facilitating all of the information in service of women in midlife. 

20:12 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
I love that. I think it's something we don't talk enough about and you know, one of the things I think also ties into that and I actually was having this conversation with my daughter, miranda, yesterday is this is the time of life where we should be remembering how to play as well, because we spend so much of those early years always on the run, always moving. We're not still, as you talked about, with your book, because we're juggling everything. Book because we're juggling everything. And this is a time where we can sort of get still and approach life with a more playful attitude and you still accomplish a lot, maybe more than you were accomplishing in your twenties and thirties. It's just from a different vehicle and different lens and I think it's probably overall healthier for us too. 

20:59 - Tricia Brouk (Guest)
It goes back to being smart as stupid, the wisdom of your Buddha, nature, the wise leopard. This is a season of wisdom and we get to decide how we spend our time, who we spend our time with, how we play. We also need to acknowledge why play is going to free up our energy to become more productive. I love running three companies. I have three companies. I love contributing with books. I love being on your podcast. I have my own podcast and people always say you're so busy. I know you're so busy. 

21:35
I am organized. I am not busy. I am organized and I organize playtime as well. The end of my day, at five o'clock, I leave this office and I go and I play with Joe, and whether it's gin, rummy and martinis or talking about our day, or he plays the piano and I sing, we sing together or we decide what kind of Netflix show we're going to binge. We make conscious choices to play and to be together every single night. We're going to go to Mexico next week for five days and I'm going to bring a coloring book. I'm going to bring a trashy novel and we are going to play in the ocean, which is my soul filling behavior. 

22:24 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
And the joyful thing is, we can find play, no matter who we are or what our circumstances are. We can carve out that time. And you know it may not be that you're going to Mexico next week, but you know what can you do in your day to day, and it could be as simple as pulling out that coloring book or being present for the person you're with, or taking a walk in nature. My play this week has been there's this gorgeous field of sunflowers where I live that is just popping into bloom, and so I've taken myself down there every day this week to watch the sunflowers come out. And that's been play, and it's it's soul nurturing, it's filling your cup, and when you fill your cup you're better able to serve other people. 

23:11 - Tricia Brouk (Guest)
That's so true, but I absolutely love sunflower fields. I grew up in Missouri and we had them and I I love that visual so much. I also want to highlight that you have demonstrated what it means to play by how you show up and whether you are like right now. Your expression is so playful. You showing up at the triad theater and saying hello to all of your fellow speakers and to me, and how you contribute to their, to their experience. You are, you embody and model what it means to play so organically. So, for those of you watching and listening, how simple is it? 

23:52 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
All you have to do is have an expression of play and that taps you into exactly what you're talking about, and it builds those connections that we were talking about at the beginning, the connections that we so sorely need as a society. If you could wave your magic wand and change one thing in society today, what would that be? 

24:15 - Tricia Brouk (Guest)
Oh, one thing, One thing. I wish I had a magic wand so that I could alleviate the fear that everyone feels right now. Yeah, the division, the fear and the separation. Those are three things, but they're all under the umbrella of fear, the umbrella of fear. I imagine if the fear would go away, people would start to listen. 

24:57 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
And when we start to listen, we connect, and when we connect, we understand what oneness really is. And so if I were to play off of your fear and your magic wand, maybe our call to action today is if you're listening or watching this podcast, what's one thing you can do to try to help remove the fear in your own life or in somebody else's life, and it can be something super small, but every action ripples out and has an impact on others, and it may just be that you show up in a space it may. 

25:26 - Tricia Brouk (Guest)
That's beautiful Diane. It may be that you show up in a space, it may be that you make the conscious choice to choose love instead of fear, and even if it's an internal dialogue, I choose love, I choose love, I choose love, and then maybe you choose to speak up, and that makes all the difference. 

25:52 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
when you can, when you can bring your voice to the table and that takes a lot of courage. But when you can speak, especially if you can speak out for those who are being silenced, it's huge and it opens the doors for others. 

26:09 - Tricia Brouk (Guest)
We do have to have courage. It's really important for those of you listening staying silent perpetuates the fear and you having the courage to speak out. And I do this on my podcast, so if you want to go to the big talk and listen to how I do it, feel free. But it's very possible for you to speak out about what you care about and not polarize Absolutely, and you do this beautifully as well, and I think your call to action is spot on Speak out, choose love over fear and have courage. 

26:48 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
I love that and Tricia Brouk. I feel like that is the perfect place to end today's podcast. I'm going to drop stuff in the show notes so that people can reach out to you at the Big Talk Academy, can connect with you at the Wise Leopard and can order the new book. I am so happy you've spent this half hour with us. 

27:05 - Tricia Brouk (Guest)
Thank you so much for having me, dr Diane, and if your listeners want to learn how to command any room, I would love to invite them to the free on-demand masterclass, Tricia forward slash command, and you can watch how to use your voice to command any room you walk into. 

27:23 - Dr Diane Jackson Schnoor (Host)
And I, 10 out of 10, recommend it. So you definitely need to go follow that, Tricia. Thank you for joining us today. Thank you, diane.