Profile: Randee Brookins, Co-Founder of Inner Warrior Project & Managing Partner of Age Management Institute (Copy)
Profile: Randee Brookins, Co-Founder of Inner Warrior Project & Managing Partner of Age Management Institute
SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA
Then Story: Working three jobs, in need of health and wellness
Now Story: Co-Founder of Inner Warrior Project, Managing Partner of Age Management Institute
Curb Moment (s): Trusting her intuition and desire to create a fulfilling career despite not having a concrete plan or a traditional educational background
Overworked and in out and out of hospitals, Randee completely uprooted her life in search of health and wellness. With a black black belt in martial arts, and certifications in nutrition, kickboxing, and fitness, she works to empower others to build confidence and align mind, body and soul.
What do you do? Tell us about it.
“I run the business development side of my husband and I’s integrative health and wellness clinic, Age Management Institute in Santa Barbara. I’m in charge of everything from operations, to supporting the team, to making sure the client experience is really professional and high-quality.”
Along with her management role at the clinic, Randee is Co-Founder of Inner Warrior Project: an empowerment, self-defense, and assertiveness organization for women of all ages. On any given day, you may find Randee in her studio or a park, throwing down the finer points of self defense and boundary setting for a group of women or young girls. Hapkido kicks, strategic punches, striking techniques and creating harmony between mind and body might be on the day’s agenda as she teaches techniques that help others build inner strength and physical confidence.
“Inner Warrior Project started as more of a passion project after I’d been working with the clinic. Age Management Institute is very specific to physical health, but Inner Warrior is more about inner work. There are many girl boss organizations, but I focus on teaching overall wellness and creating a space for transformation to happen. When women can work their bodies and reflect on what’s going on internally, they feel a breakthrough. Sometimes with the physical work, a lot of fear and self doubt come up; I have them write their fear or limiting belief and then re-write a positive affirmation to themselves. When they show up and do the work, they show themselves they can do it. The more women can come together, listen, share, and stand in their strengths, the more they can live in purpose and in alignment with their desired potential.”
Before moving from her hometown in rural Canada and settling down in Santa Barbara, Randee was working three jobs, doing sales and marketing and bartending. After a series of fainting spells, she discovered her body was shutting down from intense stress. Randee then decided to reevaluate her life and take some time off to travel.
“I was feeling really lost. I had dinner with a friend who told me she was going to Thailand and suggested I come with her. Along my journey to Thailand, I made a pit stop in Santa Barbara to stay with family that I’d wanted to visit for a long time. After being here for just a short time, I realized it was the most alive I’d ever felt and decided to move here (and stay) with my aunt and uncle who owned Martial Arts Family Fitness studio.
I got really curious about health and personal development because I’d been completely blindsided before. I went to lots of seminars, found personal development/ health and wellness leaders and asked them millions of questions. I listened, observed, and modeled my life like people I wanted to live like. I then became a manager of the dojo and got certified in nutrition, kickboxing, Hapkido, and fitness coaching.”
Why did you make the shift to something different and what would you say was your “curb moment (s)?”
“As business manager of the dojo, I kept hitting a ceiling because after all, it was still my family’s business and they’d been running it well before I came along. I had all these new ideas and wanted to learn more about business, however they already had their vision and systems in place. I left my aunt and uncle’s martial arts studio and trusted that I would figure out the next step in my career.
When my husband’s clinic started to grow, he asked me to come on board with him. I loved business development, but I also felt unfulfilled and that I had more to share and give. Even though I was helping our business and our life, I really wanted to focus on my passion for creating transformation for women. Once I started asking around, I realized there was a huge need for female empowerment and women’s overall wellbeing. My work with the clinic feeds my passion for business, and Inner Warrior feeds my passion for helping women!”
What challenges have you had in making the shift?
“When I look back at the pieces that were really successful in my career, I didn’t have a plan. The hardest thing was completely uprooting my life, the person I was then, and being away from my main family and support system in Canada. Everyone knew me up there; I had a really big network and my idea of who I was, was really clear. By moving here with no one knowing me, I had to regain all that confidence again. It was hard, but also a blessing. I got to try on who Randee was in a different way.
Back home we weren’t pressed to go to college; I barely graduated high school. That was also a huge challenge when coming here. In the corporate world, I didn’t dare hand out my resume.”
What has helped you overcome these challenges?
“Sometimes it was through long conversations with my dad or my uncle. They helped me reformat the language in my head... the self doubt, negativity, and pressure I was putting myself through. Also by being really clear about what my non-negotiables were and surrounding myself with positive people. Anyone can be a life lesson or an aha moment; I was open in asking questions and letting people into where I was. Self defense and personal development skills are really valuable, but without a tribe or support system that keeps rooting you on, it gets lonely and scary.
My martial arts training taught me that I also need to be my own best friend and support system, and that it has to come from within me. When taking your black belt test, it’s just you. During my test, I wrote on my water bottle, ‘trust yourself; you can do this!’”
What advice do you have for others “at the curb” who want to make a career change or start something new?
“My story was ‘no education and no experience’, but I told myself “what I do know, I do well and what I don’t know, I will problem-solve.” Have the determination to find solutions for problems that come up. Make time to free yourself of distractions and to have those ‘big dream conversations’ with people who believe in you, no matter what! Trust your intuition. I think we all have the answers inside, but it takes a filter in your mind for determining the negative from positive talk.”
Keep up with Randee’s work at @innerwarriorproject on Instagram and learn more about Randee’ self-defense, empowerment, and women’s wellbeing retreats at @womenwhowarrior !
By Off the Curb Features Writer Catalina Fernandez