This week’s feature on Connecting with Purpose is Creative and Ideator: Brooke Edwards
Brooke is a creative born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. After graduating from Emory University in Atlanta Georgia, Brooke went on to gain professional experience by working with major brands like Coca Cola, AfroPunk, and Cam Kirk Studios.
Brooke is currently the curator to a digital platform titled, Backbone, a platform made to inspire creatives.
She is currently working as an employee under Facebook’s “Global Business Group”
In this interview, you will learn more background on Brooke and her journey and how she plans on making an impact in the future.
Be sure to check out Backbone (@backbone.est)
1. Who are you? What do you do? Where are you from?
My name is Brooke Edwards. I was born and raised in Los Angeles and I currently live in Chicago where I do marketing at Facebook. I’m a creative explorer and ideator. I love the intersection of tech, culture, and media. Whether I’m modeling, empowering minority-owned businesses, or learning the Adobe Suite.
I love content creation and empowering creatives because this is where culture, awareness, love, and connection live. One exciting project I started this year is a digital platform called Backbone (@backbone.est) which empowers creatives to showcase their work, build community, and stay inspired. I couldn’t do anything I do today without my friends and family. Every day they challenge me to keep growing into the most beautiful and authentic version of myself.
2. What was the turning point in your career? Where were you before that?
It’s an exciting time for me right now because I’m honestly just at the start of my career. I graduated from Emory University last year where I had amazing experiences working on marketing campaigns for Coca Cola and Afropunk, modeling for dope brands like Wisdom ATL and Cam Kirk Studios and exploring Atlanta.
I’ve been in my role at Facebook for one year now and I’ve already learned so much about what fuels me, what drains me, how to navigate corporate, and how to make an impact wherever I am. What’s exciting is that there’s no specific path to success. What success looks like to me can look completely different to someone else. Knowing this, I’m leaning more and more on my value system and passions to guide my next career move and align me with the experiences I want in my next chapter.
3. How has your life experience shaped you?
My parent’s values definitely have a huge impact on who I am and how I navigate life. Growing up in LA, my mom always valued the power of education, being self-sufficient, and working hard. My dad’s modest upbringing in Jamaica helped him focus less on things and more on people and relationships.
Because of this, he’s instilled in me the importance of empathy, humility, family, and good food. Without these values, I definitely wouldn’t be who I am today. This has shaped how I view the world, my work ethic, and how I approach new opportunities.
4. How do you practice awareness? How do you maintain your best self and manage your day to day experiences?
Practicing self-care and awareness is everything to me. I try to make space for my physical, mental, or spiritual needs every day. This helps me show up for myself and those closest to me. A few things I love to do are lighting candles and burning oils because I find that when my space smells good I feel more at ease.
I’ve been getting back into running and as much as I can, I try to play pick-up soccer. These give me physical highs and empty my mind to whatever chaos may be happening in my life. Lastly, I love to journal, set daily intentions, and pray to keep me grounded.
5. What are some important issues you’d like to shed light on? How would you do it?
One issue that is important to me is the experience of Black women in America. Growing up in West LA and attending a predominantly white private high school, I’ve felt firsthand how it feels to be overlooked within my school community, mainstream media, and American culture.
I’m passionate about inspiring, empowering, and uplifting minority communities but especially Black women. I’ve done this through supporting Black women through Backbone, finding mentorship opportunities, working with my community to demystify harmful stigmas plaguing Black women, shopping black-owned, and using my role at Facebook to empower black-owned businesses.
