Brooke Burke's revealing new book, "The Naked Mom" is a must read
I was fortunate to have read Brooke Burke's new book, "The Naked Mom: A Modern Mom's Fearless Revelations, Savvy Advice, and Soulful Reflections" prior to it going on sale today. It's a quick and witty read. I would describe Brooke as "evolved" and "attentive." I'll explain why in a minute.
First, I wanted to share that I actually met Brooke earlier in her career when she was just started the E! "Wild On" series. Back in the summer of 2000, I was new to the consulting world, and one of the fabulous women I was working with had a connection to the producer of the show. She discovered they were planning to do a "Wild On - Denver" show and she was determined to get us on the show. I laugh right now because at the time it seemed like it was the most important event of our lives. The three women I was working with had an amazing circle of friends. Couple that with my strong business network, we were able to throw together an event within 24 hours that had 300 attendees. We rented a hip, roof-top nightclub for several hours to accommodate the Wild On's film crew and Brooke's schedule. They were interested in meeting the hip, dot com crowd in Denver. So we delivered! Free drinks all around to those who would come to our event.
We had no clue what to expect. Would at least 100 folks show up? Would E! really show up and film there, or would they get a better offer? We didn't know. We got ourselves dressed for what we hoped would be a very exciting night to remember and hoped for the best.
Brooke made it - along with her producer and film crew and was extremely friendly and gracious to everyone at the event. I forget if she was pregnant or had just given birth to her first child, but we would never have guessed. She was tiny!
Here's a photo from that night of me and my friends who made this event happen. (I'm on the far right by the way).
So, having met Brooke, and then reading her book "The Naked Mom" gave me more appreciation for what her life has been like.
I mentioned earlier that "evolved" and "attentive" are two words I would use to describe her. The reason I say evolved is that she has successfully achieved something I've recently begun working on - detachment. Think of The Christmas Carol, three ghosts appear and show Ebenezer Scrooge his life from the past, present and the future. Scrooge became a neutral observer of his own life. That's a very difficult thing to do because we're hung up with our own egos and personalites. Brooke mentioned she had gone to therapy for years and I wonder if that's where she was able to learn how to do that. She is able to identify and label her "Inner Bitch" and the "Nice Girl" - and call out those personalities that she wishes to control a little better. Individuals who can take an honest look at themselves and focus on what they want to change, do better, detach from, is the way to become more evolved. The Naked Mom is about her journey through all that, which is pretty interesting!
I mention "attentive" because that is what I find most inspiring about her book. Brooke talks about living in the moment. She creates specific moods or ambiences to create the right energy vibes around her. Whether she's at work with Dancing With The Stars, at home planning a romantic evening with her hottie husband, David Charvet, or even a Mediterranean themed, relaxing dinner for friends, Brooke provides all the details about what she focuses on to create that vibe. And yes ladies, she gets into the "steamy stuff" too - which I found particularly refreshing. She talks about everything from her 72 hour trip to Africa to connect with her hubby while he was filming a show, to adding the appropriate attire to her wardrobe to perform her own show for David. Now that is some good advice! LOL That's an area where I typically feel uncomfortable talking about it with my girlfriends. It's tricky to bring up the subject "what do you do to please your man?" during a happy hour. Ha! But reading about her tips and tricks, I think I'll plan a little surprise for my guy, not just for Valentine's Day when you try to do something romantic, but for any day! (Hey Brooke - I'm sure my husband will be sending you a thank you letter soon!)
Brooke also talks about motherhood and how she cherishes her 4 kids. You can see the beautiful family photos in the book. I don't think I've seen an entire family be so photogenic before - but then again - look at who the parents are! Sheesh!
Brooke tackles motherhood with the same zeal she tackles her career and businesses. That is impressive. She claims she doesn't have all the answers. But you know what? She has plenty of "savvy advice" as the book title claims. She doesn't feel balanced, and that balance is nonexistent. But I beg to differ. Balance is being able to live one day at a time, deal with anything and everything that comes your way, and going to bed at night realizing you pulled through, despite the odds. Brooke is brutally honest about her challenges, her mishaps and her bad ass attitude (particularly if it deals with her kids). I forgot that she was one of the owners of ModernMom.com - a very cool online community of moms! She reaches out to the community for support and she receives it 24/7, whenever she needs it. That's pretty cool.
Another thing that you may not know about Brooke is she's a tech junkie. She loves to tweet (@brookeburke). And that's where she turns for advice in addition to her ModernMom community. She has a laptop, an iPad (which she prefers it seems), a blackberry, and god only knows how many cellphones. She's constantly connected and vows to disconnect as often as possible so she can reconnect with her family. How's that for irony? :)
If you're into beauty and fitness tips - there's plenty of that in the book as well. There's basically something for every woman. The Naked Mom is now on my nightstand for a while to be my inspiration to become more evolved and more attentive to the people that matter the most in my life. I'm grateful to Brooke for bringing all of that to light!