Productive Living: Having It All, with Brooke Bentley – TPW484

This week's episode features my conversation with Brooke Bentley, mother, author, and former television anchor and award-winning sports reporter, talking about "having it all" and how to manage a busy life and be productive, without feeling overwhelmed. Having it all--possibility or myth? Brooke Bentley has some thoughts. I'm excited to share with you my conversation with mother, author, and former sports journalist Brooke Bentley as part of our Productive Living series. Who is Brooke? Brooke is a former television anchor and award-winning sports reporter. After graduating with a master’s in journalism from the University of Southern California, she spent two years working for the Houston Texans as a media personality and over a decade working in sports journalism. She recently released her first novel, Sideline Confidential, inspired by her work as a journalist in the NFL. Brooke now devotes her time to championing local nonprofits, including Homemade Hope, where she serves as the development director. She and her husband live in Houston and are raising two young boys.  How Brooke got started Brooke was born and raised in Houston, Texas, and always loved playing sports growing up. She also loved going to Houston Rockets games, which is where she saw a female sports reporter for the first time. Brooke decided that she would be a sports reporter someday too. She went on to Davidson College, where she played volleyball. She also got her Master's Degree in Journalism at USC and pursued her dream, despite her fears of being a female in the male-dominated industry of sports. She wasn't sure there was a place for her. Right out of college though, she did end up getting a job with the Houston Texans, which was both an exciting and humbling experience. Brooke was one of the few females working for an NFL team at the time but she learned a lot about herself and how to navigate tricky situations. Brooke realized that all the experiences she was having would make a great book. She wrote small stories here and there, but writing an entire book was hard to make time for. Brooke went on to work as a sports anchor and a sports reporter and also had her two children. During this time, she hung on to the dream of writing a book and was able to put in time here and there, but again, it was hard to get any real work done. In 2020, Brooke left sports reporting and began working in the nonprofit sector. She was no longer in the hectic space of the sports world and had some time to devote to her book. She set goals, disciplined herself, and learned more about productivity. She was able to finish her book, which came out in 2023. Brooke considers writing this book to be the most rewarding part of her career. Brooke wrote this book to share a message; it is very difficult for women to be a part of a male-dominated industry but it is possible to succeed. This book is a combination of Brooke's personal experiences, as well as those of other women. There is some fun, juicy fiction in there as well. A typical day for Brooke Brooke is a morning person and does her best work at the earliest part of the day. She typically gets up before 5:00 am so she can begin writing before her children wake up. After writing for a while, she gets her children up, makes them breakfast, gets their lunches ready, and then takes them to school. She then comes home and continues to write until lunch time. She will use her lunch break to not only eat but to exercise, take a walk, or be involved in the community in some way. She is very involved in the nonprofit organization she and her sister formed, Homemade Hope, which teaches at-risk children how to cook healthy foods.