Brooke Bridges grew up in Los Angeles California as an actress, appearing on TV shows like The Young and the Restless, 90210, Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide, and more. Now, she works as a mental health speaker, having spoken to over 10,000 people ranging in age from 5-65 years old, she works as an entrepreneur making herbal remedies for skin, hair, and self-care through her small business Brooke’s Botanicals, she serves her community as a CSA Assistant Manager at an internationally recognized nonprofit Soul Fire Farm, and she Mothers two young children.
Brooke speaks about what it was like growing up as a child actress and all of the anxiety and worries about perfectionism that came with it. She discusses her own experiences with mental health challenges throughout her childhood and into her young adulthood, and how those manifested in negative coping behaviors such as alcohol abuse and self-harming behaviors, hoping they’d help her escape from the pain she felt.
She discusses how after a cross-country move and a soul crushing breakup, she had planned to take her own life, but miraculously chose to seek help instead. She talks about how feeling completely hopeless actually opens doors for you to do things you never thought possible, and once you begin to realize that real change is available for you, you can be vulnerable and figure out how to turn your challenges into your greatest tools.
Brooke speaks from a place of understanding, love, and a reverence for nature, plant medicine, and an unwavering faith in our own ability to connect with our true selves and with one another to bring about personal and collective healing. Loves to speak about anxiety, vulnerability and healing through storytelling, the impacts of social media on our mental health, how you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, especially yourself, and anything about herbalism and nature immersion and how those things can contribute to our overall wellbeing.
Selected Speaking Topics
Before You Judge, Open the Book and Read: Getting Out From Behind the Mask
The only way to be known, is to be authentic. The only way to be authentic, is to accept that sometimes things are not the way we’d like them to be. In this talk, Brooke discusses what it was like growing up as a child actress, and how to others that meant that she must be happy, rich, popular; only positive things. She talks about the pressures of needing to act “just right” and how the stress of saying and doing things the way other people wanted her to impacted not only her childhood, but the rest of her life.
She hopes to share her own story to inspire others to do the same. She hopes that her vulnerability will allow others to truly see her, and for them to stop and get to know the people in their lives, and even themselves, before they make judgments because more often than not, things are not as they seem. At the end of the day, all we really want is to be loved for who we are, so how do we develop self-care and self-compassion so that others can show us the same?
Do I Hate My Body? Or Am I just on Social Media?
Social Media has an unwavering grip on our teens. Studies show that the average US teen spends 4.8 hours a day on social media, and nearly 70% of those teens are on it, despite it causing them to feel anxious, stressed, and depressed. 3 out of 4 children as young as 12 say that they dislike their bodies, because of triggering content they see on social media.
Growing up as an actress, model, and entertainer, Brooke endured severe disordered eating, unhealthy self-image, and body dysmorphia as a teenager. Although social media was not yet as popular as it is today, the concept of being a child actress brought about all of those body image and self-esteem issues to the forefront.
In this talk, Brooke talks about the parallels between being an actress and being a young, impressionable social media user who is presenting a curated version of themselves in order to be accepted, how these pressures inevitably lead to feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt, how to overcome body image issues through being mindful and present in your amazing body, because it’s the only one you’ve got.
Sharing My Story: Behind the Smile
In this talk, Brooke shares about her life and how she went from being a young, excitable child to an anxious actress with substance abuse problems, and then to an adult who truly loves herself and her life. In this story, Brooke hopes to share the experiences she had when she was younger and struggling with mental health challenges. When she was going through her mental health challenges she thought they would last forever. She wants to share her story because she realized that the pain can end, and things can get better. She hopes to motivate and inspire our youth to keep going despite the challenges, and to seek out resources and to love themselves because life is worth it. When she speaks, the takeaway is that it’s Ok to be vulnerable. She speaks about her life and her challenges casually, but the stuff she’s talking about is serious. She helps remind kids that it’s okay to be human, it’s okay to have feelings, good or bad, and those feelings are valid no matter what. She has gotten consistent feedback after these presentations, from youth, that her story feels so validating. And that is why she shares this story: to help others feel valid amidst such painful emotions, and to remind them that change is possible.
To book Brooke Bridges, contact Rob Firing at rob@transatlanticagency.com