Story & Lesson Highlights with Jean Briese

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Jean Briese. Check out our conversation below.

Hi Jean , thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
Right now, I’m being called to go deeper—to tell the stories that haven’t been told. I’ve spent years helping others live a life they love through speaking, but now I’m writing From Forgotten to Fierce, a historical fiction novel rooted in truth. It’s a tribute to women who were overlooked by history but lived with extraordinary resilience. What I’m most proud of is the quiet, unseen work—researching, healing generational wounds, and bringing these fierce female ancestors into the light so others can see themselves in their strength.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Jean Briese—a speaker, writer, and truth-teller passionate about helping others rise. I built a successful career in sales and leadership, leading award-winning teams and earning recognition as one of Phoenix’s Outstanding Business Women—not just for results, but for mentoring others and serving my community. As president of NAWBO during the pandemic, I helped women business owners stay afloat and supported them through impossible decisions. I also founded a nonprofit to support law enforcement families after tragedy struck close to home. Today, I bring that same resilience and heart into my speaking and writing. Whether on stage or on the page, my mission is the same: to help others bloom—whether they’re rooted in rich soil or breaking through concrete.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
The moment that shaped how I see the world wasn’t dramatic to the outside eye—but it changed everything. I was fifteen when my mother left and didn’t come back. For days, I kept my siblings fed with toast and cartoons until I finally crossed the street and asked for help. That was the day I realized: no one was coming. I was the adult now. That moment taught me resilience—but it also hardened me. I decided adults were the problem, and I shut down.
And then, a few days later, something happened I’ll never forget. A car pulled up to the trailer where my sister and I had been placed. I braced for disappointment. But it wasn’t social workers. It was a group from a local church—strangers who brought food, gifts, and something much more powerful: hope. I never met them. I didn’t trust them. But they gave anyway.
That moment taught me that even in the bleakest places, love can still find a way in. That sometimes, the very people we shut out are the ones who show up—and that there is always another way. That’s the lens I’ve carried into my work, my writing, and my life ever since.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering taught me what success couldn’t: empathy, patience, and perspective. It taught me that even in the darkest moments, we always have a choice—maybe not in our circumstances, but in our attitude, our actions, our love. As a child, I turned to music and writing—creative outlets that let me say what I didn’t yet have words for. I learned to find light, even if I had to make it myself. And perhaps the greatest gift? That helping someone else through their pain often heals something in your own.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What’s a cultural value you protect at all costs?
Love. From a young age, I noticed that people move from either a place of fear or a place of love. And love takes courage. It means choosing compassion when it’s easier to turn away. It means seeing someone not just for their circumstance, but for their potential. In business, it meant caring about everyone on the team becoming their best self—and when that’s the culture, teams deliver results others think are impossible. Whether I’m writing, speaking, or leading, love is the root. And with love, we rise.
That’s why I live by this: Go Fierce. Live Bold. Love Big.™

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope people say I was a blessing—someone who left them better than I found them. That in rooms of strategy and struggle, I led with both clarity and compassion. That I showed up with love, resilience, and the belief that we all deserve to bloom, no matter how hard the ground we’re planted in. Whether I was mentoring others in business, leading teams to game-changing results, or helping someone find their voice, I hope I left behind more light. That’s the story I want told.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jeanbriese.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeanbriese/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanbriese/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jean.briese/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jeanbriesemotivationalspea4892
• Other: To Read From Forgotten to Fierce as the story unfolds: GoFierce.net

Image Credits
Karianne Munstedt