Daily Inspiration: Meet Kristie Brooks

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristie Brooks.

Hi Kristie, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
My name is Kristie Brooks. I’m a Nashville Native. My educational background is in photography, but my career took a hard left somewhere in my early 20’s when I began bartending. I just really fell in love with the job and decided to pursue it full time. I’m really, REALLY good at it and I’ve met some of the greatest people along the way. So for the last 20+ years, I’ve basically gotten Nashville drunk for a living…..and it’s been amazing!

Recently, I decided to retire from my career as a bartender and return to my roots as a creative professional, focusing on digital content creation & social media management.

That’s the process I’m going through right now; the transition. I’m still behind the bar some, but I’m definitely in the process of making the “big move”. It’s scary-venturing out there away from the secure “familiar” into the big and scary “unknown”. But, I believe strongly in the words of the late great Kenny Rogers:

“You gotta know when to hold ‘em & know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away & know when to run.” ….and I think that time has come for me as far as being behind the bar.

Creatively, however, food and drinks is still where my heart is at for sure. Cocktails and content are my passion.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Yes, smooth as glass-broken shards of glass. No, like, even before Covid-NO. Nothing has been easy and it’s still not. In March 2019 I lost my small business that had been successfully in operation for almost a decade, as well as a terrible job that I despised-both in the same day; March 15th, 2019. Beware the Ides of March indeed. Then, exactly one year later, Nashville’s entire Food & Beverage Industry shut down due to Covid-19. Indefinitely. Honestly, I don’t really believe that anything is easy. At the end of the day, you’re going to have to work to achieve goals. There’s just too many ambitious, hard-working folks out there to think that anything can be accomplished by just sitting back and wishing for it to happen. Ha!!! I wish. So easy, smooth-no. Rewarding-possibly. Fun-usually. You get what you put in.

I think for me though, Covid gave me that moment, that space, to really step back and take a look at the bigger picture-really hyper-focusing in on what’s most important to me both personally as well as professionally; asking myself questions such as:

“What do I really want to be when I grow up?”
And….
“What is it that I really want to get out of the next 10 years or so and how do I achieve THAT?”
The answer was Think Tank Creative Services.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’ve been a creative my entire life. I’ve just bounced around between mediums. As a small child I told the world I was going to be a writer when I grew up. My first successful writing was in the 2nd grade I believe. It was a short story about an alien. I wrote and illustrated this piece and received an A-. It stayed on the refrigerator for a VERY long time, so, you know it was a winner. I went to college for photography, but shortly after I began shooting professionally I discovered bartending and that basically took over for a while.

In 2010, I teamed up with a small group of creative, like-minded, industry folks for what would become Nashville’s only food & beverage content driven print magazine at the time. Unfortunately, the magazine closed its doors in late 2013, but I feel like I gained not only a ton of knowledge from that experience, but also my creative writing voice-which had not been exercised in a very long time.

Now, here we are! It’s 2022 and I’ve decided to retire from an incredible career during a global pandemic to launch a creative company.

Think Tank Creative Services is a one-stop shop; providing content creation & social media management needs for small businesses. We provide photography, copywriting, web design, social media & brand management all located in one digital space. Cohesive branding for today’s small business.

I’m in love with the world of digital content creation-all of it. My specialty is definitely food & beverage industry driven content. Bougie cocktails are my favorite subjects to shoot.

I love seeing a project go from an idea to an actual finished product online. It’s very satisfying creatively. Kind of like putting it up on the refrigerator.

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Tenacity. I think for sure tenacity. In other words, I’m just super stubborn and unwilling to take no for an answer. It’s definitely gotten me into so much trouble along the way (I used to drive my mother completely bonkers), but aren’t most of the “greats” historically known as “trouble-makers”? So, I’m sticking with that, if nothing else, than to justify my behavior. Oh yeah, and my sense of humor. You can’t take it too seriously- life, that is. You gotta be able to laugh. Laugh at yourself. Laugh at your enemies. Laugh in the face of death. Laugh…..all the way to the bank.

Contact Info:

• Email: ThinkTankCreativeServices@gmail.com
• Website: www.ThinkTankCreativeServices.com
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/eat.drink.nashville | http://instagram.com/thinktankcreativeservices
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/thinktankcreativeservices
• TikTok: http://TikTok.com/@iamkristieb

Image Credits
Annie Clark-Little (Arrow Imagery | @Anniegrl1972)
Katie Belle VanZandt (@hellokatiebelle)
Wes Johnson-Blackhaven Photography (@blackhavenphotography)
Kristie Brooks (Think Tank Creative Services | @thinktankcreativeservices)