In the third episode of We Get It Your Dad Died, host Margy Feldhuhn speaks with Brandi Bernoskie.
Brandi is a digital strategist, website developer, and founder of Alchemy+Aim and North Star Sites, companies that help entrepreneurs and business owners elevate their online presence and enhance their digital experience. She is an advocate for using technology in ways that humanize, connect and serve people as well as for asking deeper philosophical questions and teaching others to think more broadly about impact when they create.
Brandi and Margy met at the Ali Brown Iconic Event in Miami. While they were sitting at lunch, Brandi and Margy started sharing stories of loss and grief. That conversation is part of what inspired Margy to create this podcast as a space to share stories about loss and how it has impacted us.
Brandi agrees and is an advocate for normalizing the process of grief. It’s so important to feel like you don’t have to hide your grief, or only grieve when you’re alone. Brandi explains that there is a lot of potential for healing when we share what we’re going through with others.
Brandi has always followed her curiosity. She has a BFA in theater, and minors in physics and math. She also ended up getting a bachelor’s degree in physics, philosophy, and religion with another minor in math. Brandi also spent two years in a Ph.D. program in philosophy of science and science studies. She loves to think bigger about who we are in the world.
Two and a half years ago, Brandi lost her mother to cancer. Her mother’s battle with cancer was up and down, going through chemotherapy and surgeries to give her more time. Brandi moved back home to be closer to her mom in her final months. After moving her mother to hospice, Brandi realized that her mother’s body was like a prison for her mother.
Brandi explains that, even though you want your loved one to stay with you so badly, you realize you have to let them go. There is so much heartbreak and absolute beauty in that moment of gut-wrenching loss but knowing that you were there as the person that your loved one needed.
Loss profoundly shaped Brandi. She learned that the stages of grief are not linear things. Her grief pops up at seemingly random times. But she actually learned something very important in a business mastermind. She learned that it’s okay to go fetal and feel your emotions. Brandi let herself feel my emotions anytime they came up. While grieving her mother’s death, Brandi also learned that being honest and vulnerable led to deeper relationships with her clients.
Ultimately, Brandi knows that her grief was the price of love, and she loved her mother so much.
You can connect with Brandi on Instagram – www.instagram.com/brandibernoskie
