Latest / Tits, Wit, & Grit / Entrepreneurship, Integrity, & Uniting Women with Dr. Braley Bourque
Transcript
- Sara Frasca: Today's guest is a woman who wears a lot of hats, owns a lot of businesses, and somehow manages to wear all of her hats exceptionally well. Dr. Braley Bourque is the founder and CEO of the Clarity Way, a concierge telemedicine platform. She's also the co-founder and CEO of Insight Neuro, where she leads a team focused on providing advanced traumatic brain injury diagnostic and evaluations that support patients, healthcare providers, and legal professionals. And as if that wasn't enough, she's also the founder of Elevate Her, a community and leadership movement dedicated to helping women grow through faith, health, and purpose-driven leadership. But what I most Love about Braille's story is that she's not just talking about leadership, she is living it. She's built multiple organizations. She advocates for women in the healthcare and entrepreneurial worlds, all while staying grounded in her mission to help people become the healthiest, strongest, and most fulfilled versions of themselves. She is a mom and a bonus mom. Please help us welcome Dr. Braley Bourque to Tits, Wit and Grit. Dr. Braley Bourque: Thank you. I'm so excited to be here. I love this. I love everything about this. Tracy Laskos Hill: Yeah. Sara Frasca: Tits Wit and Grit is a podcast created to hold honest, intelligent conversations with women who lead, build, and navigate demanding professional lives. This podcast was born from a belief that women benefit from spaces where experience is honored, perspective is shared openly, and leadership can be discussed in both depth and candor, and maybe even a little laughter. Each episode brings forth voices that will offer insight Laura: Awesome. Well, thank you, Braley. We appreciate it. And ⁓ I get the privilege of asking you the first question. It's probably the most difficult. You're gonna have to study hard to understand it, but it's all about the tits, as in tits. And really, what's your favorite part about being a woman? Dr. Braley Bourque: ⁓ my gosh. My favorite part about being a woman is we literally can do it all. And I think we can have it all and we can do it pregnant in heels. I mean, I, yeah, I've been on stage pregnant where I've ran off stage to throw up and ran back on stage and no one even knew that, you know, they couldn't even tell I was pregnant. So they're looking at me like, what is wrong with this woman? But you're back on stage in your heels and you're just, you're doing it all. I... Sara Frasca: drawn from their experience, and we will all speak honestly about leadership, resilience, ambition, and personal evolution. So let's get started. Tits, wit, and grit. Dr. Braley Bourque: I really believe that women can. So my favorite part is that we're capable and able to ⁓ manage it all. I always make a joke that women are like ⁓ spaghetti and men are like waffles. So spaghetti kind of goes everywhere, everything is multifaceted. We can be the phone while picking up the kids. Where men are really great at compartmentalizing, but they're like waffles. So their mind is like focused on one thing at a time. ⁓ But women, everything is just integrated in our world. And I think that's our strength. Laura: I agree, but I might be slightly biased. I think you're dead on. I think we can multitask like nobody else. And I love it. And I like spaghetti too. ⁓ Okay. And as it relates to the name of our podcast, when you heard it, Tits, Wit and Grit, what came to your mind, aside from maybe rolling your eyes? Dr. Braley Bourque: Yeah. just badass women who are funny, who are just killing it in whatever industry that they're doing. And they're probably looking good while doing it. So again, just, you know, women being able to do it all and to be able to look good while doing it. mean, I love health. I love women. I really do. And so to make them their most beautiful, capable version is something that I felt this whole podcast is. And so it felt very aligned with really who I am. Laura: Hm. That's great. Awesome. Sara Frasca: That is great. I mean, I think you're right. ⁓ Laura and I actually have had some men in our world where we had the argument of ⁓ multitasking. And they said, Well, multitasking is not capable you know, people aren't capable of multitasking properly because they're, you know, they can only think or do one thing at a time. And Laura and I both said, No, we multitask all day long and we probably are multitasking while we're multitasking and you don't even know that we're doing it. So Dr. Braley Bourque: Yep. Sara Frasca: We really we we love the chance to talk to other women who probably have four hundred balls in the air and are happy with the way that I mean, we wouldn't have it any other way. So Yeah. Tracy Laskos Hill: Mm-hmm. Dr. Braley Bourque: Yes, yes, absolutely. Laura: It's it's boring being a waffle. Sara Frasca: That's great. Okay. Yeah, spaghetti is great. Plus, I'm Italian, so I'm like, ⁓ spaghetti. I'm a frasca. I love it. Okay. all right, so let's talk. We talk about tits. Let's talk about wits. So what about levity and humor? How does it play a role in your work and your kind of personal life? Dr. Braley Bourque: Yeah, we don't want to be a waffle. Spaghetti tastes better. Laura: Okay. Yeah. Dr. Braley Bourque: ⁓ my gosh, my life is personal entry. So I mean, these men out here are funny and a lot of times highly inappropriate. So I actually was in ⁓ meeting with a guy one time and he saw my business card. And when he saw it, was actually very blonde in my business card. And so when he sat down, he looked at me and looked at the card and he's like, are you out here trying to catfish people? Cause I looked, you know, very attractive in my picture. And I looked at it again, I looked at him and I said, was thinking the same thing about you. And he just kind of looked at me and he goes, okay, he's like, where are you from? I'm like, I'm from Louisiana, I'm Cajun, I'm crazy. So was like, I'm not the one to pick jokes with. And he was like, whatever she's doing, I wanna be a part of what she does. And so just being able to kind of like give it back to him a little bit. ⁓ Same thing happens to me just sponsoring events. I'm 30 years old, I'm very young. And so when I go to events, I do like, I hate to say it, tits. I like to look good. So I think you should be conservative to a degree, obviously respectful, but I have a great body. I'm into fitness. So whatever I wear probably makes my body look a certain way. And so if I go to an event and I dress nice, ⁓ women kind of look at me a little bit differently and men as well. And so a man will come up to me and they'll try to almost... put me down by the way they say it, but they'll say, ⁓ who are you with ⁓ in terms of marketing? Like you're a marketing girl. Cause in my industry, most attractive women are more in the marketing space. And I get to look at them and shake their hands and kind of be like, actually I'm sponsoring the whole event. And so I kind of just kind of have this dark humor to me that is kind of like in their face. But I think it is why we scale so fast because I'm not doing anything. unethical in this space, but I am using my looks and my wit to pretty much like anyone, I hate to say it, but if you had your looks and it got you indoors, you'd probably use it. Same thing with humor. And then if you couple that with intelligence, you're pretty much an unstoppable force. I mean, you're doing everything right and you kind of get a foot in. And for anyone who says that they wouldn't utilize it, I think is lying. ⁓ I think it's just funny to me how. Sara Frasca: Hey everyone, quick pause from today's episode because we have something really special to share you. Dr. Braley Bourque: It's usually coming from women who either want what you have or men who can't get what your husband has. So you just kind of leverage it, know, within reason. Sara Frasca: great. I think it's great. I mean trifecta girl like good looking funny and witty and a doctor. Like, you know, you're like the new Meredith Gray. Laura: E-W-I-L, Women in Law, is an intentional curated experience for women in the legal profession who are looking for more than surface level networking and packed conference schedules. Huh. Dr. Braley Bourque: Well, I will say on the on the polar side of it though, know, men sometimes it's not the men that can be the roughest, obviously in certain ways, but sometimes it's the women, the women kind of are threatened by a woman who is very strong willed and attractive. And so ⁓ just being able to like kind of like bring that down. If I see her with her husband and kind of talking to her first, I Tracy Laskos Hill: We're creating space for real conversations, meaningful connection, reflection, and growth alongside incredible women who truly understand the demands of leadership in law. Sara Frasca: So join us November 4th through the of 2026 at beautiful Miraval Austin in Texas Hill Country. Dr. Braley Bourque: had jobs since I was 15. I was a bartender all through college. So always kind of treating the wife and the girlfriend with respect. I worked at walk-ons, talk about tits. I worked at Twin Peaks. Like I had, actually, love it to be very vulnerable. My parents knew this, I called them. I actually worked as a bartender in a strip club through college. And that was actually something that was really rough. It spread in my doctorate program. Laura: Yeehaw! This is going to be hosted by your Tits, Wit and Grit team. Point Northeast. Tracy Laskos Hill: And because this experience is designed for depth, seats are intentionally limited. Sara Frasca: If this sounds like your kind of room, join the interest list now at pointnortheast.com. Now, back to the episode. Dr. Braley Bourque: very quickly where a lot of people made up lot of rumors about me saying that I was stripping was not true. ⁓ But I did work at a strip club and ⁓ you know being able to kind of see how the men were in that space but also just I don't know just just knowing like ⁓ a lot of successful men actually went into that space and when I would bartend it was interesting because the girls would almost get mad at me because I wasn't naked I was wearing a t-shirt and leggings. and they would come and become my regulars because I would actually talk to them about being in college, ⁓ what they did. A lot of them were attorneys. And so I actually met my mentor in the strip club because I was bartending there and he was like, what are you doing after school? Like, is your goals or what you wanna do? And so you just, you don't know, like it all kind of. It's a part of being a woman, and it also is something that you probably do leverage if you are someone who is attractive. Like I say, in the right way, don't do something to get where you wanna go. I don't think that women need to do that. think that we're way past that, especially in this world and age. But ⁓ yeah, I think attractive women who are funny probably get a step up in life. Tracy Laskos Hill: Hmm. That's great, Braley. Dr. Braley Bourque: I'm also an open book. God knows what's going to come out of my mouth. Tracy Laskos Hill: ⁓ We're here for it. Laura: Yeah, we like it. Sara Frasca: Yeah. Tracy Laskos Hill: So we've covered tits, we've covered wit. Tell us about a time, Braley when had to dig really deep to find the grit. ⁓ Dr. Braley Bourque: Yeah, so ⁓ really early on in my career, I started a job and I went on a work ⁓ trip out of the state. And the first red flag that I noticed was ⁓ the executives of that company wanted to stay in an Airbnb with me versus like separate hotel rooms. And I didn't realize how weird that was until my now husband mentioned like, ⁓ they're all kind of staying in the same house and that's a little inappropriate, but you know, if you have your own room, I guess it's not a big deal. ⁓ And then as we were actually at that event later that night, like I said, I'm in the PI space, a lot of people drink. Unfortunately, you even see probably drugs in this space because that's kind of men who think they're successful think they have to do that. So that's something I don't want to be a part of, but I have ⁓ And there was a night where ⁓ one of the executives was drinking heavily, doing drugs ⁓ looked at me and said, I'm so happy you don't know your value because you're actually someone who is extremely smart, but because you don't know your value, I can pay you way less than what you're actually worth. And I remember getting pissed off because I didn't realize, I'm like, do I not know what the word value means? Because I'm like, what does that actually mean? So I actually left the party, go upstairs and Google, like, what does value mean? And it says, interrelation of something like your worth. but a little bit lower on Google, actually says, ⁓ it means better yet more like your core values. And that's when it opened up the idea to me of like what core values were. And it kind of brought me down this place of like, what are my core values? Like integrity, respect, like what true leadership is. And so I realized... Sara Frasca: That's it for today's episode of Tits, Wit and Grit, where bold women, big ideas, and a little bit of fearless attitude collide. Dr. Braley Bourque: I stopped worrying if I was good enough for him, but if he was good enough for me and my values in an organization. And it really jumped started my whole idea of, I want to be a leader in an organization that actually like represents leadership. What success is. Because success can be the big house and the, you know, the multiple cars and a jet, all those things. And look, I'm blessed. I have a lot of those things in my life now with my husband, but Tracy Laskos: If today's conversation sparked something for you, share it with someone who needs it and make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss what's coming next. Dr. Braley Bourque: I actually truly feel like I'm successful because I'm loyal to my husband. We have a great marriage. I'm a great mom, even probably better bonus mom. And I have those other things too. So it really taught me like what my values were, what I wanted in my, what I wanted to make PI be. Because I think a lot of people in personal injury have this really tarnished view of men in it. And I'm not gonna lie, I did too because of my first and second job in the space. and I kept coming against these same men. And so I was like, if I can't beat them, I'm gonna join them. I learned how to golf. I'm like the only woman who goes to these golf events because I can golf. I'm gonna do business deals with these men. I'm not gonna sleep with these men because I do not believe you have to sleep to get to where you have to go. And yeah, I I joined them and I did it my way and I've created. three companies based on those same standards and core values. And look, I'm the first person who will see if even if it's a woman, if it's not aligned and I see her do something that lacks integrity, which is a big core value for me, she's out of my organization because that's going to bleed into my team. That's going to bleed into my culture. And I want them out. Like they're dangerous to every part of me that bleeds into my marriage, that bleeds into the mom I am. And so I just saw all the things I didn't want to be in, in that space. And even in like, in clarity peptides, the peptide industry is doing a lot of unethical things. And so seeing, you know, lot of things in that, and I wanted to partner with people. And after like four conversations with people that I was going to partner with, I realized we were very different with integrity. And I wanted to do it my way. Laura Raether: Remember, show up with confidence, trust your wit, and never underestimate the of grit. Tracy Laskos Hill: Hm. It's powerful. Yeah. Really a powerful message. Sara Frasca: Awesome. I mean, pretty powerful stories. And I mean the three of us on the Point Northeast team have been a part of PI for a long time and it's varying levels. But I would say we've also seen people who think success is, you know, a lot of the maybe more surface level ⁓ components and you know, cars and jets and Laura Raether: See you next time. Sara Frasca: drugs and alcohol and all the, you know, women or men or whatever. And I am really proud of you that you've said like, I'm gonna do it my way and you've carved a path now and now you can bring others with you. Dr. Braley Bourque: Yeah, yeah, it's been fun and challenging. I mean, I think I would lie if I said it wasn't challenging. When I left that company, it was the most money I had made coming out of school. had $300,000 of debt. And I'm like, this is terrifying, but it's worse to stay here and have a reputation associated with these people. And so I needed to leave. you know, I have actually women now through Elevate Her, that's why I created Elevate Her. Sara Frasca: So that's pretty great. Dr. Braley Bourque: who have come to me and they'll say things like, I'm so scared, like, I don't know how I'm gonna afford to do it, I don't know where to start. And I'm like, I really want you to change your mindset and think what a shame it would be if I didn't do this and how many people I won't reach because of it. Because I've got to help so many women and men, whatever industry it is, because I bet it on myself. And it is hard. I still cry today about things. Like, I'm not gonna sit here and say I'm a tough entrepreneur because who you become as an entrepreneur is harder than building the business itself. Me and my husband talk about this all the time at night because he has companies. And he's like, man, I'm going through a transition right now. And I'm like, and he's been doing it for 10 plus years. So you're always evolving as an entrepreneur and as a person. And, you know, I think if you can go to sleep at night and know that you did your best and you were probably, you had integrity. failing just kind of comes with the territory. Laura: And and being being able to pick yourself up and like keep going. Kinda the grit that we talk about. Like not everything's gonna be amazing. But Sara Frasca: Yeah. Dr. Braley Bourque: Thank you. Yeah, it's not. You're gonna have more problems. Like in my day, I probably have more problems than things going my way. And everyone calls me they need money. I always make a joke. I'm like, everyone needs money all the time. ⁓ There was this funny ⁓ reel on TikTok the other day and it's like a girl sobbing on the phones in her chest and she's crying and it says entrepreneurship. And then someone calls in her team and she's like, hi, how are you? And then they get off the phone and she starts crying again. And I'm like, God, if that was really a meme of my life, because it is, because as women, especially, we have families, we have husbands, we have friendships. So you're adding that and entrepreneurship. Just entrepreneurship is hard. It's honestly easier probably doing it with no family. you because you can be more selfish. So when I see women doing it all, I'm just like, hey, like, I see you. Like, this is hard. Sara Frasca: Yeah, or take bigger risks because if you're a mom and a wife and a I mean, if you're the breadwinner of the family, like taking risks is a really, really dicey situation. I had goosebumps when you were talking about just kind of leaving all the toxicity behind you and betting on yourself. I mean, that's just so powerful, Braley. And I just again I'm like, my gosh. You're a good inspiration for a lot of our women listeners. I'll tell you that. Dr. Braley Bourque: Thank you. Hopefully, and even younger women too, like it's, you you can do it younger too. And look, however you have to do it. I took out capital on funding in one company because I didn't have capital to put in. My husband has never given me any money. He does very well. But when we met was really when I stepped into entrepreneurship and he'll laugh at me because he's like, now we're married. Can I help you with some things? I'm like, no, I want to know that I really, I can do this. Laura: And then Dr. Braley Bourque: And I'm sure there's things we want to do together, but the things that I started coming into the relationship, I wanted to know that like I did it myself. And so you can, but it's okay to also like go and get capital or have partners. mean, it's really hard to do your own thing the first go round by yourself. So find your partners and find people that you don't just like, but actually are better at the things you suck at and being able to not have ego on that. And no, you know. Tracy Laskos Hill: Yeah. Dr. Braley Bourque: This is where I'm probably lacking and this is what you're good at. And just kind of start from there. Tracy Laskos Hill: That's great advice. Sara Frasca: That's really great. Yeah. And and I do think, I mean, you've had a really, you know, kind of early kick start. I mean, you ⁓ what was your kind of impetus to do all of this so fast? Like you I think I work Dr. Braley Bourque: Anger, girl anger. be honest with you. they a woman literally will get broken up with and they'll have like five degrees and a million dollars in their bank account by next week. Like I am fueled by people who underestimate me. I knew ⁓ one of me and my brain was like, get out of this industry, it's not for you. And then the other part of my brain was like, come back and build something and show them that you can stand with them. And that was what I was fueled by. was like, I can do this. the right way, I can try to unite women in this space and use these women attorneys who are going through the same thing, these women medical doctors, like that's what I wanted to create because we all felt the same way, but no one was doing it. And that was kind of my biggest thing was kind of bringing that forth in the space. And I love a lot of the women who have kind of started doing more of the networking events. I'm a part of all of them. I sponsor a lot of them, cause I just want them to know like, I'm here if you need me. Sara Frasca: Really great. Really great. Tracy Laskos Hill: Yeah. Laura: And on that too, you know, to be genuine in the space. Because we've often talked on this podcast about women, we're we are our own worst enemies and competing and not really supporting each other. You know, and it's like being genuine of like, yeah, networking is important. I mean, it's just like the guys having their golf tournaments of 50 years or the private clubs or whatever. You know, we need to be able to do that and not feel bad about it. As well as be genuine about of like helping each other out. Dr. Braley Bourque: Yeah. just, mean, jealousy, you know, I speak on this a lot is jealousy is just a miss, like a direction of things that you actually want. So if we as women, this applies to so many aspects of our life, but think about when you were younger and a pretty girl came to your friend group. And the first thing you think is, ⁓ she's really pretty, right? That there's like this envious feeling. Women naturally have it. It's very normal. But if we actually met, like saw that that was a direction towards something that we want. whether it's she has the husband, she has the looks, she has the job, maybe you'd actually collaborate with her. Maybe you would notice, ⁓ something I really value is I want that thing. But it's not competition because she has it. And I think at a young age, I just really, it was always kind of hard because at young age, I was so not a jealous person. So I never understood when people were kind of mean to me because I was like, man, I just, I would just ask someone if I wanted something or I would say, hey, let's be friends. So that was just never an emotion I ever felt, but I noticed as you get older, you know, the passive aggressive responses, it just exists with women. And so being able to create a space through Elevate Her of, like I want strong women in this room. I want pretty women in this room. I want moms in this room. Like I want y'all to connect with each other. Cause you might get nothing from me, but there might be a woman sitting next to you that y'all can do something together. I have people now doing Bible studies in that group together. I have people who are doing things in their industries. like, just creating this, it was a one day event. I just pushed it on my Instagram kind of as like a maybe it'll work out and a hundred people, like 300 people signed up and you know, 50 people showed up. It was a really bad weekend and we didn't have that much space. But I know like, I know now exactly how to actually probably market it. But also like, How powerful is it that 300 people signed up? They just couldn't make the weekend that I did it. I didn't have to do a paid campaign. It was just me putting my face out there and saying, I just want to create a space for women. them saying, okay, you know. And being able to look out in that room and know that they are there because you created it is such a powerful feeling. It's not about a business, not like Clarity I'm not selling anything. I'm literally selling connection. Laura: Sure. That's good. Tracy Laskos Hill: Mm. Mm. Dr. Braley Bourque: To me, like the best thing that I could do, it's the most rewarding thing that I've created is elevate and clarity because clarity allows me to actually give people the capacity to show up in their everyday life, in their health. And just those two things, you can't beat that. Sara Frasca: Awesome. All right, next question for you. So now that we're really rolling, tell us about an ⁓ shit moment. It could be personal, professional. It kind of put you on your heels, made you literally stop in your tracks, and it was like, ⁓ shit. Dr. Braley Bourque: Yeah, I think there was an event I went to that really pushed me to do Elevate Her where it actually was a women's event. And I noticed that ⁓ this person was actually not treating it as connection, it was more about making money. So I saw that there was like this need in the space that was actually still valuing connection. Actually, Elevate Her is not just a PI event, it's for anyone. So... So I kind of created it as well to get out of the PI space, but this particular event was mostly for PI. And I saw a lot of women come out of it ⁓ asking me or telling me situations with this person who was one of the tire up people in that event and kind of the problems they were having. And I was like, wow, that really sucks because this event, the word is leadership and it's lacking a lot of actual leadership. So. Laura: Yeah. Dr. Braley Bourque: think people create these events and they want to throw the word leadership in it, but being a leader is really freaking hard. ⁓ It's doing the thing that no one wants to do. It's being not liked all the time. It's firing people that people may like because you see it from a different lens and it's doing things. It's honestly, I personally believe that leadership is shows up in every area of your life. So even if like a person is next to me and I see them take off their wedding band, cause we're going to do something. That to me makes me change my view of you. I'm not gonna be mean to you, but I am gonna tell you I saw what you did. I have actually done this twice in my life. And it makes that person very uncomfortable, but I don't care because you're putting me, you're making me uncomfortable. So I'd rather call you out and say, hey, look, as your friend, I'm not about what that is. So like do what you want, but I saw what you did and it just doesn't sit right with me. People don't like that person. That person is not the most liked person in the room. I personally don't care. Tracy Laskos Hill: Yeah. Dr. Braley Bourque: value integrity and I do think if you're married like I don't want be around those women and ⁓ there's a lot of things that have been unethical on men the men's side and the women's side and so I just I want to tell women like you can be a good person and still be successful there's this weird thing right now in society where it's like you kind of like are a shitty person to get where you are you're having sex to get where you are you're doing whatever to get where you are and it's like that really isn't The case a lot of people that I know are really, really high up there are collaborating. Are there great family people? ⁓ Those are probably the billionaires. And I have a lot of those friends through Eric's network. And I do see a very big difference between those kinds of people and some of the people in the industry. And I'm like, if you were truly successful, like to me, what you're representing just isn't really success. So an ⁓ shit moment was still seeing in the space that they were lacking even with women. true authenticity and true connection. And I wanted to just not be a part of it. I'm not a part of it anymore. I don't want to be around it. And you hear things through the grapevine and I hate that that is where that person is, but sometimes you will get excited about the money and they forget the purpose. Sara Frasca: Kind of a follow-up question and I'm just curious, ⁓ is is it still when when people find out that you're a doctor or is there a level of respect that you are offered because of that, the hard work and dedication that you put into becoming, you know, Dr. Bourque Yeah. Dr. Braley Bourque: Yeah, yeah, I mean, I think when I shake someone's hand, I don't actually like to call myself Dr. Braley a lot. I like to just say I'm Braley. But I do think in my space, in the PI space, when I go to a lot of events, I do shake my hand and say, I'm Dr. Braley, because I think it does create ⁓ authority. And it is you worked hard for it. I think you should you should call yourself by your name. But when people really get to know me, I really am just Braley. And I tell my team that a lot. They call me Dr. B. ⁓ Because, you know, I don't need to ever feel superior. I did work really hard, but especially in my organization, they don't really refer to me as Dr. Braley. But I do say it to I'm marketing, because I think it is probably necessary. And I do think it probably changes how men view me. I don't know, ⁓ they usually don't treat me weird after that. So. ⁓ Laura: Yeah. I think you're exactly right. Yeah. I think you're right though. ⁓ okay, another shit question. No shit. So what either things that you don't put up with, like no shit, not standing for that, or what's one boundary or habit that actually changed the game for you? Dr. Braley Bourque: Some do, some don't care. ⁓ Tracy Laskos Hill: Yeah. Dr. Braley Bourque: ⁓ Man Who Cheat on Their Wives is a no, no, I don't play that. Like I don't go to dinners after 8 p.m. anymore because I feel like why am I doing that if you're a family man? It's weird. When I was single in my 20s and I was just hustling so much, think I didn't understand it because I wasn't married yet with kids. Now I'm like, what is this 50 year old dude doing at 10 p.m. wanting to meet me for dinner? It is weird. And so I just don't do that. And plus I want to be home with my family at 10 p.m. ⁓ And then, you know, I think I may have shared this story before, but ⁓ I actually had someone's wife call me because I went to a late dinner. I was not married to Eric yet. And ⁓ she called me and I had nothing, I have nothing to hide in my life. I'm very much an open book. And so I had her on speaker and she's cursing me out, telling me to stay away from her husband. I'm over here thinking like, what is going on? Because I know I did nothing wrong. And so. You know, I'm thinking like my ego is kind of getting high because I want to go off on this lady. But as she's talking, I just realize, ⁓ my gosh, this man has put this woman through so much shit that she's calling probably random women thinking that they're sleeping with her husband because he probably is sleeping with a bunch of women in this space. She probably saw my picture and thought she looks young and whatever. And I actually told her I'm sorry on the phone. I said, I'm sorry you're going through what you're going through. I'm not sure what your husband is doing, but it's not with me. ⁓ you know, she was, I think she's pregnant. I don't know enough about it, but I do feel like ⁓ it makes me very sad that that's somewhere a woman would be. And so I do not do really the dinner thing anymore. I'll do lunches. And if someone gets weird about that, then we can do a Zoom. But, I mean, if we're talking about work, you could eat your dinner in front of me, but we can do it on Zoom call. Tracy Laskos Hill: Hm. Yeah, yeah. Laura: Look at it. Dr. Braley Bourque: ⁓ And so, and I guess to speak on a little bit when we were talking about the tits section of it, I do probably dress a little bit more conservative at events because I feel like I almost have to as a woman. ⁓ Especially as like an attractive woman, I would say I'm subjectively attractive and I feel like ⁓ I do have to almost overly dress conservative so that I have to still, instead of saying, I'm Dr. Bruehle to everyone, just dressing better leaves less attention on me, which which does ⁓ suck as a woman. You shouldn't have to do that. But I do think there is a level of dressing respectfully that you should do. I don't think everything should be out in an event, but it is unfortunately kind of how that industry is. And so I don't want anyone's wife to see me while I'm shaking their husband's hand. That is an attorney. And the first thing they do think is, she's sleeping with my husband or what is she wearing? Because unfortunately it's just kind of how it is. I'm so opposite. If I see an attractive woman, I'm like, Tracy Laskos Hill: Mm. Laura: Sure, sure. Yeah. Dr. Braley Bourque: All my friends are highly attractive and literally all entrepreneurs. And some of them are more successful than me. So I'm just like, I don't get it. I don't understand it. ⁓ But I try to, know, not, don't want to just put everything out there and then just make more issues because it's not necessary. ⁓ Laura: Yeah. It becomes a distraction of who you are. Content over yeah. Dr. Braley Bourque: Yeah, so I don't need... Yeah, and I think my looks are the most boring thing about me. I mean, I think I'm so much more than that. You know, like I think I'm really smart and I actually think I am very funny. you know, looks, it's just, yeah, it's the least important thing and the least cool thing about me. Laura: Yeah, that's good. That's great. That's awesome. So let's talk about good shit. Let's celebrate the good stuff. What's what's some good shit personally, professionally, that our listeners would love to know. Dr. Braley Bourque: Yeah, I mean, the good shit is I scaled a company in the first year. had like, I don't know, over a thousand cases the first year. We were getting like over 200 our second month in the PI space. I mean, we have a great reputation in this space. We make an issue, we're really quick at fixing it, we're easy to work with. Yeah, I mean, all the good things is, I mean, all those... bad things allowed me to create a space to do all the good. I mean, that really is the truth. So even in the peptide space, I actually, I've been on peptides for years before I started my company and I realized all the things that were wrong in the space. So it's like, you really have to see all the issues to create the solution. Like if you're not in the shit, you don't really know what to fix. And if you're not like creating something from scratch, you don't know all the positions. So you don't know what to hire for. And so I, thankful that I have hustled and did all the crappy things I had to do to one, treat people better and two, create the opportunities in the jobs and whatever it is, positions that allow people to have good leadership and be able to show them how, which is a good leader. don't think, they have so many positions now in corporate where it's like this person does this one thing, but if you're a good leader in your organization, you know how to do all the things. And that's what we're lacking. in organizations today, like leadership is just so bad in corporate. And I don't know why it is that way. I just think they hire CEOs that are great at scaling, but they're not people, people. So you don't know how to scale a team, which is the only way you're going to scale is if your team actually believes in what you're doing. very, yeah. I mean, they don't, they're only worried about numbers, which is Laura: Mm-hmm. Tracy Laskos Hill: They lost connection with their humanity. Yeah. Dr. Braley Bourque: The COO could do that, but the CEO should still be kind of the visionary and the connection of the company, not HR. I think they're missing that. Tracy Laskos Hill: Yeah, I love that. Laura: I I don't disagree. I s I'm sorry, Tracy. I saw a quote the other day was in order to get out of it, you have to go through it. Tracy Laskos Hill: Mm-hmm. Laura: And was like, Yeah, so many people wanna go around to get on the other side, or whatever. It's like, Nope. Whatever that journey is, you just gotta go through it. Dr. Braley Bourque: And social media is the worst thing for the younger generation because they really, they don't see all of what's going on behind it. And I think the actual influencers are the ones who kind of document the journey. And those are people I like to follow. I mean, I don't care about all the other stuff, but I think they're showing, you know, the cars and all the things. And look, I love to post those things to motivate people, like in some ways, but I talk a lot to people through my story. and kind of share more of the business things that I've done and my relationship that I'm happily married. And you can have two entrepreneurs in a marriage and be successful in family and all the other things. So they actually say, a man who has a good wife can scale way more companies than a man who doesn't have a supportive wife or isn't married. You need that. And you also need sisterhood. You need people who are also entrepreneurial in your corner because unfortunately, It's very hard to connect with people who just aren't going through that same process. Laura: Yep, for sure. Sara Frasca: Mm-hmm. Yep. Tracy Laskos Hill: Yeah. Braley you've talked a lot about leadership. ⁓ I'd love to know if you've got a story that you could share a little bit about ⁓ a a a leadership or growth lesson that you experienced ⁓ that was hard, but now it's something that truly is part of your leadership DNA. Dr. Braley Bourque: Yeah, so actually when we first started my first company, I have two partners and it was the first time I ever had partners. So there was a lot of ego death that had to happen through that journey on all sides, all of us. We're all in our late twenties, like trying to grow companies. And ⁓ we hired this person who I immediately was like, nope, this is not a good egg. And one thing I will say that women do have is discernment. I believe that that is something like God has put in us is discernment. Laura: Okay. Dr. Braley Bourque: And so my other two partners are men. And I'm like, I just don't think this person is a good fit. And I'm the CEO, so I'm more in the day-to-day working with this person. And I'm seeing the culture changing. People calling me, complaining about this person. A lot of power play with me because I was actually younger than her she did not respect me. She did not, so they called me Dr. B, but she would purposely call me Braley. But you could tell it was like the energy was just to be combative. ⁓ And so I actually, was like, okay, I'm gonna really challenge myself. was telling my team, ⁓ my partners, like, I just don't think this is gonna fit. They challenged me and said, I think you should go out of your way, sit down with her, kind of really go through a process with her. And so I did all of this multiple times. And it was still this very combative, undermining my authority. She just didn't like me. mean, was very odd, because she would even tell the team things about me and like just undermining me. It would always get back to me. The funniest part is people don't realize everyone like wants to be the owner's friend. So they're all going to tell me everything that is ever being said. So I'm like, I know everything that's been said. Long story short, I ended up firing this person. all got in a call. We let this person go. She tried to sue our company for things that was not true. She told people in the industry that she did sue us. It's never happened. She has nothing to sue us over. Just trying to tarnish like my reputation when I really worked hard to build it I actually went out of my way to like help this person when I really never wanted to hire them anyway ⁓ because they were difficult and So just all these lies and to the point were actually two people that hired this person after called me directly saying that she was saying such bad things about me, but they were having the same issues that I was having So actually kind of relied on me for that and they were like, wow, you're not saying anything bad about this person They were like, you're just saying, hey, look, if that's the issues you're having, it's probably not part of your culture. Good luck. I still don't talk bad about this person. I had everything documented, obviously, so that if anything ever happened, but even to the point where in the nitty-gritty, she tried to get a specific person involved and this person saw all the emails and actually responded on my behalf and was like, actually, Dr. Braley did literally everything she can. She's right. this isn't something you can sue over. And so what that ultimately taught me was discernment. I really, there's a couple of ways to look at it because, you know, as a leader, there's going to be personality types that are more difficult to get along with. Like, I don't know if you ever heard of the disc, but there's like the D-I-S-C. I sometimes struggle with D-C personality types. The reason is I'm a high I with D. So I'm all about connection and also like goal, give me a goal and I can do it. And I'm going to like, talk about the ⁓ collective, like everyone, we got there as a team. I sometimes find that DCs, this isn't just true, this is my opinion, DCs are very calculated, which can come off cold. They're not cold people, they just like the facts. And sometimes the facts bother me, because I'm not operations. So people who are only facts and not any emotion, I struggle with. And I find that that type has come up in my life, because you need operations, it's very important in your company. And so I've learned as a leader, how to understand it's a personality difference, but what the difference is between just personality and ⁓ like values and integrity. Because this person was undermining me, not just saying facts. There's a difference between being straightforward and being respectful, but being someone who is literally just trying to put you down in the process. And so it really, taught me to, I knew there was things that this person said about her old boss that I noticed immediately. Laura: Mm-hmm. Tracy Laskos Hill: Yeah. Dr. Braley Bourque: probably needed to just not hire them. And now my team trusts me, my partners trust me more. whenever I'm kind of in charge of the hiring process, but I always talk to them and get their feedback and they're like, really, whatever you think. Because I allowed, because I did do it their way. I didn't just not hire this person. I tried it their way. And I was like, hey, look, I just have a bad feeling. And so they're like, obviously that's your strength. So we're just going to go with it. But it actually created trust between us and it allowed us to be better teammates. Tracy Laskos Hill: Yeah. Mm. Dr. Braley Bourque: And yeah, I mean, that is hard because when you do work really hard for your reputation, you don't do anything wrong. You try to create something that is connection and then someone comes in to your culture and just tarnishes it. You're left being like, oh my God, and then your teams, now they're starting to kind of push back on you and you're like, this person is like, what is going on? And it only takes one. So you do have to protect your team and you know, if there's someone bad, you gotta get them out. Tracy Laskos Hill: Yeah. Sara Frasca: Mm-hmm. That discernment is interesting. I think trusting it ⁓ is a lesson that I've learned too of like, okay, trust your gut. And we've talked about that on the podcast a number of times, whether it's the creep meter or, you know, the intuition about a person. And yeah, it's great. It's a really great story. I have a question for you on ⁓ maybe the mentors in your life. Just kind of who was impactful as you became Laura: Mm-hmm. Tracy Laskos Hill: Mm. Sara Frasca: you know, a leader. It could be men, it could be women, it could be both. I'm I'm curious who helped you. Dr. Braley Bourque: Yeah, so it's funny you asked. So one of the first people in my life was a mentor and that's the one that I saw actually was doing a lot of the wrong things. And it kind of showed me who I wanted to be. So I kind of got a bad taste in my mouth with mentors because I was like, this person was someone that I hate to the word venerated, but I did, I put him on a pedestal and I felt like he was everything I wanted to be. ⁓ So that was really tough for me, but I gotta be honest, my husband, ⁓ Laura: Yeah. Dr. Braley Bourque: is my biggest mentor. is a consultant. he's big on leadership. And so a lot of times my life when things were happening, ⁓ he would say, Hey, this is a leadership thing. And he's like, That's lacking this. And he's like, you know why? Because your core value is that. And I've actually learned ⁓ who I am a lot through his direction. ⁓ because this is literally what he does. ⁓ And ⁓ Yeah, I would say that he is my my biggest mentor and my best friend. And although we don't do anything together through business financially at all, he has made me the business owner that I am. And he has great mentors. ⁓ so he's learned through them. So I kind of just get like the the benefit. Sara Frasca: Great. It's really great. Laura: What do what do you see as the future for women leaders? Dr. Braley Bourque: nothing's gonna hold us back. I mean I think women now like the whole that we can't be where men are is just dead. I also think like the whole ⁓ it's lonely at the top phrase is dead like it's not I'm not lonely at all I have strong women around me did I have to weed out some of the bad ones yeah it's just kind of a part of of the shedding of becoming an entrepreneur but I know some strong ass women and I stand on stage I speak with Every month, go on their podcast. I have watched them scale their companies. We've become best friends. We've traveled together. So you got to get around the right women. I mean, women's life that you admire and you want to be a part of. If you don't admire their life, they're probably not your people. You want, you want to be their life has to be attractive to you. And and you know, everything is they always say, like, don't become an opportunist. But the truth is, like, I had to learn early in my ⁓ In in entrepreneurship, like I would get angry when people weren't giving me like a chance. But I had to realize I had to prove myself to get the chance. And so now that I have people coming to me, I am always very kind, always try to help. But I do like everyone wants to become a part of something that's great, but no one wants to help you when you're not great yet. So I try to, I kind of try to create the balance of, hey, you don't have to already, you have to provide an opportunity for me to help you, but also like. For people that I admire, they're going to be above me or better because that it wouldn't make sense for me to admire someone who isn't doing what I'm doing. Laura: Mm-hmm, for sure. Yeah. Tracy Laskos Hill: That's great. So really we're kind of coming up on time and one of the things that we love to do with our guests is kind of a lightning round of questions. Are you are you game? The guardrails are coming off. Let's go, girl. Dr. Braley Bourque: ⁓ Lord. game but I don't know what's about to happen. I talk too much. Laura: No Dr. Braley Bourque: ⁓ Lord. Tracy Laskos Hill: All right. So what is your favorite book that helped shape you? Dr. Braley Bourque: ⁓ my God. Okay. I can't think of it right now. I can't think of it right now, but I have one. ⁓ traction. The book is traction. I don't know who it's by. I don't know if you ever watched it or read it. Sorry. ⁓ but it teaches you literally how to create a company. Tracy Laskos Hill: Yep. I think it's probably just to the right of where Sara's sitting, so Yep, yep. Mm-hmm. Yep. Sara Frasca: It will. Laura: Sara's got it. Dr. Braley Bourque: ⁓ yeah. Traction. Sara Frasca: I we all have it. Yep. We love it. Gino Wickman. Laura: Mm-hmm. Dr. Braley Bourque: Yep. It's a good one. Tracy Laskos Hill: what is one thing that reliably grounds you ⁓ when things get real heavy? Hmm. Dr. Braley Bourque: Faith, easily faith. ⁓ that's all the things that have happened in my life. Like, yes, I've worked hard, but when you just don't know what to do, kind of just relying on your faith. Tracy Laskos Hill: That's beautiful. I love that. What is one thing few people know about you besides the bartending at the strip club? ⁓ Dr. Braley Bourque: That I s yeah, I know. I mean, I don't even care because it became such a thing in school and I was like, whatever, it's not that deep. they don't know about me is I actually sing. I I did performing arts, I did American Idol when I was 15 and I did get the golden ticket. but do you have to go through seven rounds of producers and I didn't make it through the third round in New Orleans because of my age? I was fifteen and they weren't taking minors. They can only take so many. So yeah, I sing. Sara Frasca: Mm-hmm. Tracy Laskos Hill: Wow, what sort of genre. Yeah. Laura: Wow. Are you Soprano Elto? Like where? Like Dr. Braley Bourque: Like alto two. So I have like a good, like I sing my prettiest sound is in my mix. So yeah, it's it's like an it's alto two. Tracy Laskos Hill: Mm. Laura: Yeah. Okay, so w I have to ask a question. This is not lightning but like so what singer do you like? If someone said she couldn't be on the show, I would stand in for her 'cause I sound like her, I admire her. Dr. Braley Bourque: ⁓ I don't know who I sound like because my my background is in performing arts. Like I was Annie when I was young. So I'm very theatrical. ⁓ and that's also something American Idol doesn't really love. But ⁓ my favorite person to sing songs from is Lady Gaga. I think she has a great voice. I think she's a beautiful. I think when you actually hear her sing, like I've seen her live, she has a phenomenal voice. It's just the music she puts out is very pop. But she has a great sound. Sara Frasca: Mm-hmm. Laura: Yeah, right. Tracy Laskos Hill: That's great. That's really good. All right, my friend, one last question. What is your happy hour drink of choice? And it could be non-alcoholic, but just happy hour drink. Sara Frasca: Mm. Cool. Dr. Braley Bourque: My happy hour drink is probably a dirty martini. Yeah, you know why? Because when I was young, I watched Sex in the City and I saw her sitting there. She ordered in Manhattan, though. And I told myself, my mom thought I was crazy, but I was like, one day I will be in a city and I will order myself, like at a bar, a martini. And then I remember when I was 22 and I moved here, the first thing I did in Buckhead was go to a bar by myself, order a martini, and cry because I felt like I had made it. Tracy Laskos Hill: Yeah. With Yeah. Laura: Well. Sara Frasca: That sounds good. Dr. Braley Bourque: I was like, I finally have my martini in the city and I'm only twenty-two. Like this is the start of my sex in the city. Tracy Laskos Hill: That's really Look at you, eight years later, my friend. That's awesome. That's amazing. That's Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Laura: Yeah. Sara Frasca: Well, Dr. Braley Bourque: Yeah. Laura: That's great. Mm-hmm. And good choice. We'll go to happy hour. Uh-huh. ⁓ Dr. Braley Bourque: Yeah. Yeah. We love we love a dirty martine. Sara Frasca: Yeah. Tracy Laskos Hill: Yes. Sara Frasca: We do get to Atlanta quite a bit, my dear. So we're gonna have that with you. That dirty martini. Good. Well, I have to say thank you so much for all that you've done for women in your world and in the community and empowering folks to kind of believe in themselves. And thank you for being on the show too. So Laura: Yeah, we do. Dr. Braley Bourque: I've always been Laura: Awesome. Dr. Braley Bourque: Yeah, I love it. I appreciate it. Thank y'all for allowing me to share a little bit about my story and ⁓ maybe inspire some people, older, younger, ⁓ that, you know, you really can do it all. And I do believe you can have it