Cara Brookins

Biography

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Cara Brookins built software systems for 20 years as a senior analyst, but when her life crumbled around her, she rebuilt in an unconventional way. Cara built her 3,500-square-foot house from the ground up by watching YouTube tutorials.

Her story went viral in more than 75 countries and has been viewed more than two billion times. She is the author of eight books, including Rise: How a House Built a Family, in which she deftly narrates the extreme learning curve she experienced while putting her family back together again.

Equipped only with YouTube instructional videos and her eager construction crew consisting of her four young children, Cara built a house from the foundation up. Convinced that by building a house, they could rebuild their broken family, she and her kids poured the concrete, framed the walls, and laid the bricks. In the end, they had built a two-story, five-bedroom home. Cara’s story is an inspiring blueprint that traces her family’s rise from battered victims to stronger, better versions of themselves—all thanks to one impossible, extraordinary do-it-yourself project.

Cara uses real-life examples from her unconventional construction site and shares lessons of teamwork, perseverance, and overcoming incredible odds. Her tactics of self-empowerment show how to blend an imperfect mix of personalities, talents, and temperaments into a cohesive, unstoppable team. Her podcast, The Cara Brookins Show, guides listeners on how to push past their fears, get un-stuck, and take the first steps toward building the life they want.

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Videos

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RISE & RESILIENCE - THE TRUE STORY

Cara Brookins didn’t know how to build a house. But when she and her four children went through desperate times, she used YouTube tutorials to build one. Fueled by a strong will to rebuild their lives, Cara and her kids mixed the concrete, raised the walls, even ran the plumbing and gas lines.

In this motivational talk, Cara shares behind-the-scenes disasters and victories that show how an unlikely person can reach past doubts and fears to do the extraordinary. This story of grit and determination pushes audiences to tackle hard things.

HOW TO GET UN-STUCK

With much of the world feeling stuck because of a global health pandemic, author and speaker Cara Brookins helps rebuild the confidence and enthusiasm we need to get “unstuck.” Sharing her real-life story of the desperate times that led her and her children to build their own house using YouTube tutorials, Cara demonstrates tools that anyone can use to turn that feeling of being overwhelmed into one of bold action.

BUILD UNSTOPPABLE TEAMS

Cara Brookins was a senior software developer for 20 years, she also worked with a major publishing team, but it was her work with a construction crew comprised of her four young children that taught her how to build an unstoppable team. As she took on the challenge of building her own home by hand, Cara realized success depended on building a culture that rewarded innovation and invited mistakes.

Through construction stories that are sometimes humorous and at times harrowing, attendees learn to focus on action. Cara shares how every member of your team can work to create a workplace culture where every team member is empowered to figure things out and embrace the process of action and change.

Testimonials

Cara captivated the entire room, addressing themes that we wanted her to touch on (e.g. leadership, teamwork, resilience) and did it with humanity and humor…all the while making it so relatable and human.

– YouTube's Global Leadership Team

We knew Cara had an interesting story to tell and was a good speaker – we were wrong! She had an amazing story to share and was equally amazing at holding our audience and moving them. She inspired. She uplifted. And she thoroughly convinced our attendees that they can accomplish far more than they believe is possible. I would highly recommend Cara to any audience!

– Utah Association of Counties

She is amazing person, with a story that really resonated with our crowd!

– NRL Mortgage

I truly appreciated her spending time with our credit union attendees, and being so gracious under pressure. She is a rock start professional, and I can’t say THANK YOU enough!

– Members Development Company

We’re so happy with how the event turned out! It was a real bright spot during some difficult times.

– Project Management Institute (Virtual Event)