Barbara Brooks Is Channeling Her Experience To Build SecondActWomen
PHOTOGRAPHED BY ESTHER LEE LEACH
WRITTEN BY ANNIE BLOJ // CULTURE & STYLE EDITOR
Barbara Brooks glows like a lit sparkler in any room that she enters. She is fiercely candid with her thoughts and experience, is warm to everyone she encounters, and gives you the energy you didn’t know you needed. Through her social impact company, SecondActWomen, she is tackling issues and initiating conversations in Colorado and nationally around pivotal issues in the lives of “middlescent” women. She pulls from her own experiences to help women reshape goals and perceptions that until recently held them back from achieving their fullest potential. Spending time with her is always inspirational, so I am thrilled to get to know her story better.
Annie Bloj: Barbara, when you walk into a room you exude enthusiasm, confidence, tenacity, curiosity, and compassion. Have you always been blessed with these attributes?
Barbara Brooks: Well, first off, thank you for the generous words. I have to say, anyone who knows Bobbie Brooks, my mother, would say the same. It seems to be in my DNA. I remember watching my mother lead welcome sessions for new military members stationed at Fort Carson. I looked on in awe at her presence (in 5” heels at 5’9”), her confidence, and her humor as the only Black woman in the ‘70s leading a department at the post hospital.
AB: You were born in France, grew up in Colorado Springs, have lived all over the country, and have made your home back here in Denver. What excites you about this city?
BB: Yes. My father was in the Army and stationed in France and my mom worked in civil service. We lived all over Europe when I was just a baby. I’m a former corporate woman and served as director of marketing for large shopping center developers. In the ‘90s, my roles took me all over the country, from San Antonio and Dallas/Fort Worth to Salt Lake City, Albany, and the Las Vegas strip. But I have to say, I knew I would call Denver home one day and I have for the last 20 years. I worked in radio here as well and love Colorado and while Denver has undergone major development, I embrace the change. I think the restaurant, hospitality, and shopping sectors are all in a state of renaissance. Moreover, what excites me about Denver is how vibrant the entrepreneurial and small business ecosystems being built here are becoming.
AB: You have made a career carving out your own niche in mall marketing and through your marketing and PR firm, earning awards and having tremendous success. In the past three years, you have shifted your focus to champion “female over 40 awesomeness.” Can you tell us about SecondActWomen?
BB: SecondActWomen was born out of the fact I couldn't get hired at 51 in 2018. Gendered ageism was alive and living large, and that’s when I had my “Aha!” moment. There needed to be a business where the sole focus was on helping to advance middlescent women at a time when funding, support, and attention was lacking.
Together with my former business partner, Guadalupe Hirt, we set out to create a company built on the foundation of providing a real-world professional and personal development membership community tailored specifically for dynamic women over 40 and 50+. Let’s face it, starting a company, transitioning careers, and designing a second act in middlescence can be overwhelming, tedious, and challenging enough, never mind also trying to keep all the plates spinning when it comes to the other demands in your life. Our private membership—encompassing work, life, and money—gives women an all-access exclusive community chock-full of high-level development, activation tools, and peer support curated to help.
AB: More attention (but not enough) has been given to the fact that so many women had to leave the workplace due to the many responsibilities taken on during the pandemic. Do you see this past year and a half as a mirror to the fundamental issues that women face, or as an anomaly?
BB: Abso-freakin-lutely it’s a fundamental issue for women over 40. The pandemic unleashed a global “she-cession” on women—both in corporate and small business— and there’s no end in sight. There’s nothing new about women being aged out. It’s simply gotten more prevalent and brazen. In essence, the pandemic gave companies leeway to push them out of the workforce in droves. The funny thing is, women don’t feel aged-out but rather invigorated by their chapter in life! Our friends at advertising powerhouse firm Fancy NYC found that over 80% of women over 40 feel younger, sexier, or cooler than they predicted they would feel when they were younger and I’m guessing as women are reading this now, more than a few heads are nodding in agreement: “Yes; I know I do.”
AB: I have personally experienced second and even third acts in my professional career, though none of these experiences were what I thought was my path. What changes do you see for the professional lives of young women that are entering the workforce?
BB: I don’t have a Magic 8 Ball to make predictions, but I can tell you what I hope will happen. I hope that young women who are just entering the workforce now will never be told they’re too old or too young for any particular job. I hope they’ll stand against ageism, call it out when they see it, and participate in the work of crafting and aligning corporate and social policies to eradicate it. I hope they’ll look for opportunities to mentor and be mentored by women of all ages. Above all, I hope they’ll see themselves as the heroines and authors of their own epic adventure stories where they’re in charge of where the story goes.
AB: As we enter into the holiday season, how are you celebrating and what are you looking forward to?
BB: I love the holidays! Coming from the mall industry, you’d think I wouldn’t: setting up decor, interviewing Santa, and working long hours during retail’s most frenzied time. It's my absolute favorite time of the year and has been since I was a child. Oh, the memories of my brother waking me up at 4:00 a.m. to open presents, eat all day, and play games with the family. This year, I’ll be celebrating at my house with my mother—who's in chapter 84 of her life story— and hanging with my Sister Circle (that’s a thing) and close friends over brunches and game nights. Oh, and hopefully (after saying I would for more than 10 years) building a homemade gingerbread house. Not sure why it’s been on my list but I’m looking forward to eating it when it’s done, I can tell you!
AB: Barbara, your focus and attention to the world of working women is a gift to our community! I know so many women that have or will benefit from the world that SecondActWomen has built to support them. Thank you for all you do and for being such a strong presence for women to look to as they shift careers and perspectives!