[PROCESS] Pom-Poms & Propofol: Defying Stereotypes in Anesthesia ft. Brooke Ferris, CAA

What happens when you refuse to choose between two seemingly opposite dreams? Brooke Ferris, CAA knows firsthand. As both a Certified Anesthesiologist Assistant and a six-season veteran of the Atlanta Falcons cheerleading squad, she's lived in two worlds that many insisted couldn't coexist. Hear her story and be expanded in this Season 5 PROCESS premiere.

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Harmony is CAA-owned, clinician-forward, and leading the way in the CAA locums market. Schedule your free 15-min consult and see how locums can work for you. Say 'hi' to Rad and Sasi for me when you do!

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
I'm honored to introduce our season 5 flagship

(00:03):
sponsor, Harmony AnesthesiaStaffing, a locums company
founded by CAAs and for CAAs.
Like this podcast, Harmony isrooted in the belief that our
work and our lives are mostfulfilling when they align with
our values.
Harmony exists to help CAAsshape careers that truly support

(00:25):
the life you want to live.
A life by design, not default.
Throughout season five, you'llget to know Harmony more deeply,
their origin story, theirgrowth, the CAAs behind the
name, and what it's really liketo work with them.
I think you'll find their visionand mission resonate with the
same themes we explore here onAwakened Anesthetist and in this

(00:47):
process series.
And knowing that, let's stepinto this expansive process
episode.

(01:32):
If you are a practicing CAA,current AA student, or someone
who hopes to be one, I encourageyou to stick around and
experience the power of being ina community filled with voices
who sound like yours, sharingexperiences you never believed
possible.
I know you will find yourselfhere at the Awakened Anesthetist

(01:53):
Podcast.
Welcome in.
Welcome back to season five ofthe Awakened Anesthetist Process
Series, the place wherecertified anesthesiologist
assistants come to expand whatthey believe is possible, not
just in our careers, but in ourlives.
I'm your host, Mary Jean, andI'm so glad you're here for this

(02:16):
very first process episode ofthe season.
Today's guest is Brooke Ferris,a certified anesthesiologist
assistant and a former AtlantaFalcons cheerleader.
For six seasons, Brooke lived inthe high-pressure world of the
NFL, where strength, discipline,and performance were on constant

(02:37):
display.
And at the same time, she wasnavigating imposter syndrome as
a first-year AA student duringCOVID, the intensity of AA
training, and the weight ofjudgment from others who
couldn't quite understand herpath.
You may have seen the recentcultural spotlight on the Dallas
Cowboys cheerleaders, butBrooke's story reveals the part

(02:58):
we rarely get to witness.
What it's like to pursue twoseemingly opposite dreams at
once, and the courage it takesto fully own your complexity.
If you're in this CAA communityand you feel like you don't
quite fit the mold, or if you'rejuggling multiple passions, or

(03:19):
if you're ready to stopsqueezing yourself into other
people's boxes, this episodewill inspire you.
Let's get into it.
I'm really excited and congratsfor um kicking off season five.
This is, I'm kind of starstruckmyself.
I saw you years and years ago,and I was like, one day I'm

(03:41):
gonna have her on the podcast.

SPEAKER_02 (03:43):
And today's today.
You're so sweet.
I'm honored.
Um, I'm excited to be here.
I've never done a podcastbefore.
Somehow, with all the othermedia stuff we've done with the
Falcons, none of it was apodcast.
So this is exciting for me.

SPEAKER_01 (03:55):
Well, I'm so excited that our CAA community has the
first crack at your podcasting.
So wonderful.
It's exciting.
Um, I'd love to start with yourupbringing, like what shaped you
when you were a kid.
I think us as CAAs all have sucha unique background.
Um, and I really like tohighlight sort of youngbrook so

(04:15):
we can kind of get a sense ofyour full journey as we get into
more of your career as a CAA andas an Atlanta Falcons
cheerleader.

SPEAKER_02 (04:24):
Yeah, for sure.
I've always been super driven,motivated, goal-oriented, all of
that.
Um, have great parents.
And the thing is, is I neverreally put much thought when I
was younger into like how I wasgoing to do something.
I just would get my mindset onthings and just do it.
And I'm still the same way tothis day.
Um, I think I've gotten myselfin so many situations where I'm

(04:45):
like, okay, well, I could have,I could have prepared better for
this.
I could have thought betterabout this, but I just go for it
and then kind of see whathappens.
Um, a lot of times it works out.
Um, there's some hiccups alongthe way, you know.
But yeah, I don't know.
I'll just I'll get my mind seton something and I'm like, we're
gonna figure this out.

SPEAKER_01 (05:02):
And was dance something early on that you
wanted to do or your parents gotyou into?
Or tell us how dance started foryou.

SPEAKER_02 (05:09):
So yeah, my mom put me in ballet when I was like two
and a half, and then I justnever stopped.
Um, I did competitive dancinggrowing up all through high
school.
That was like my life.
And then I did sideline cheer inhigh school as well.
And then when I was a senior, Iwas kind of like super burnt
out.
I didn't know if I wanted tocontinue with it.

(05:31):
And then I went to one Georgiagame and I was like, yep, I want
to be on the field.
And then I danced at UGA.
Um and then senior year, UGA,tried out for the Falcons, and
then did the Falcons for sixyears.

SPEAKER_01 (05:44):
Wow.
And what did you think you weregonna do with dance?
Like, you know, I I I have someexperience in um like collegiate
sports on a much, much lowerlevel, but I knew there was no
place to go.
Like for me, I was playingdivision three basketball.
I knew there was no, there wasnothing after this.
When did it first enter yourmind that you wanted to do

(06:06):
something extended past evenhigh school or college?

SPEAKER_02 (06:10):
Yeah, so like when I was in elementary school, grade
school, um, I wanted to danceprofessionally.
I didn't really know what allcame with that or much about it,
but my parents really pushed meto try really hard in school as
well and just kind of keep everydoor open.
And I'm very grateful for thatbecause uh, I mean, dancing my

(06:31):
full-time job would be awesomeand fun for so many reasons.
Um, there can be a lot of moneyin it.
It's really hard to make it tothat level.
And I didn't want to be livinglike paycheck to paycheck.
Um, and so that's kind of why Idecided to do something else.
When I first started this wholeprocess of um deciding I wanted

(06:53):
to go into the medical field andall of that, I really didn't
even know that I could cheer atthe same time.
But it was kind of one of thosethings, like I said before, I
was like, I'm gonna do it.
I don't know how it's gonnawork, but I'm gonna try and do
both.
And I had so many people, somany people tell me I couldn't
do it.
Um, you can't go to Anastasiaschool and cheer in the NFL at

(07:14):
the same time.
You can't go to medical schooland cheer in the NFL at the same
time, you can't keep pursuingboth.
You have to choose one.
I heard it all, but honestly,that fueled me so much more.
Um, that's the type of person Iam.
If you tell me I can't dosomething, I'm gonna try that
much harder to do it.
Um so I don't want people tolisten to this and think like,

(07:36):
oh, it's the easiest thing inthe world.
It's a walk in the park.
It was hard.
It was really hard.
I missed out on a lot of likelife things.
Um, you know, there were certainthings I couldn't do on
Saturdays because I had to getready for the game on Sundays.
You know, pretty much all mySundays were taken up practice
all the time.
And when I wasn't practicing,when I was in anesthesia school,

(07:57):
because I did I did three fullfootball seasons in anesthesia
school.
Um, and so if I wasn't doingsomething with cheer, I was
studying.
Like that was it.
And it was kind of even to thepoint where like I would be out
to dinner with friends and Iwould just be sitting there

(08:17):
like, I need to go home andstudy after this.
Like there was a lot of parts oflife that I feel like I didn't
get to like fully enjoy becauseof everything that I was doing.
Like being here now, it wasdefinitely all worth it.
But I don't I don't know that Iwould recommend someone to do
both, honestly.
I'm grateful for it, but it wasit was a struggle for sure.

SPEAKER_01 (08:38):
Well, I love that you're saying this because this
is what I love to hear.
Like, this is why I lovepodcasting, because um, when I
was a CAA looking for people toshow me what else was possible,
or um, like, you know, even evenpeople outside of the met of
medicine or being a CAA, youknow, you see the end product of

(08:58):
like, wow, I can't believe youdid this thing, but no one tells
you what the middle looked like.
And I'm like, I need to hear themiddle because personally the
middle felt really, really notso fun.
And I'm like, is this normal?
So I can't, I just I'm reallyexcited to get in and share that
messy middle part because it issuch a wow what you were able to
do.

(09:19):
So let's back up a little bitbecause you mentioned that you
were told that you can't go tomedical school and be and cheer
and be an Atlanta Falconscheerleader.
So at one point you werethinking I'm going to medical
school and not a CAA.
So tell me that whole path tofinding out about being a CAA.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (09:38):
So I would say since I was in like eighth grade, I
knew I wanted to do something inhealthcare.
There was a while I wanted to bea surgeon.
Um, and I actually went, mycousin was a surgeon and he had
his own practice.
So I think I was like 14 maybe,and we were at dinner, and he's
like, Do you want to come towork with me tomorrow?
I was, oh my gosh, I was soexcited.
I was like, What?

(09:59):
There's no way.
Like in the morning, liketomorrow.
And he's like, Yeah, come on.
And um, so I went to work withhim the next day and was looking
at like the anesthesia providerin the room, and I was like,
What are they doing?
Like that, that is cool.
Like, what is that?
And I swear it was that day, itwas that easy that I was like,
no, I want to do that.
I want to do anesthesia.

(10:21):
Um, and you know, a lot ofanesthesia providers I feel like
like to teach.
Um, and that was no, well, maybenot all of them, but um,
anesthesiologist was likeshowing me everything that she
was doing and very into it, andI think that helped a lot too.
And so then from there, I wasbetween becoming an
anesthesiologist and becoming aCRNA because I didn't know about

(10:45):
our program.
Um, and then the CRNA decisionwas really easy for me to make
because UGA doesn't have anursing school.
So I was kind of to the point, Iwas like, okay, either I'm gonna
finish this um science degree atUGA and go to medical school, or

(11:07):
I need to like figure somethingelse out because I knew I didn't
want to be a nurse.
Um and I was just like trying tofigure out the next step.
So skip to the part where Ifound out about the AA program.
Met someone at a graduationparty, and she told me about it.
And I was like, there's no waythat is real.
How have I never heard of that?
Um, and it was perfect for mebecause I was already gonna have

(11:29):
the like advanced science uhundergrad degree.
I had all the classes to go tomed school.
Um, and you actually need somany more of those classes, I
feel like, for AA than like youwould have for CR and I.
So it was perfect because then Ifelt like it wasn't going to
waste and all of that.
And so I think there was likethree extra classes I had to add

(11:53):
my last semester.
So I had to get specialpermission to take physics one
and physics two at the sametime.
I also took biochem thatsemester.
It was like all like all I tookwas sciences, and I swear that
was the worst semester of schoolI've ever taken in my life.

(12:15):
I can imagine.
But like I was like, I'm gonnado this, and I just signed up
for them and I was like, we'regonna figure it out.
Would I recommend it?
Probably not.
Did it did it work?
Yeah.

unknown (12:25):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (12:25):
Basically, once I found out about AA, I was like,
yep, this is it, this is whatwe're doing, um, and just rolled
with it.
So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (12:32):
And you were dancing at UGA as well.
I was, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (12:36):
I was on the dance team at UGA.
Um, we danced for the footballgames, which was one of the best
things I've ever done in mylife.
Getting to travel to all thedifferent college stadiums, and
I cheered in several bowl games.
I cheered in I think three SECchampionships.
I cheered at a nationalchampionship, the Rose Bowl.

(12:59):
The Rose Bowl, oh my gosh, wasinsane.
Uh, got to dance at the RoseBowl parade.
Wow.
Oh my goodness.
By the way, is five and a halfmiles, and we were like dancing
the whole time.
But what they don't tell me.
Oh my gosh, I know, in bootswith a little heel on them.
And what they don't tell you isthat you're not just going the
whole time.
It, you know, with the flow ofit, it stops and it starts and

(13:22):
it stops.
So while it was five and a halfmiles, we were dancing in place
for like half of that.
So I swear we danced like 10miles that day and then straight
into the stadium to tear thewhole game.
So cool.
Wow.
But it was amazing.
That's like one of my bestmemories from college for sure.
That's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 (13:42):
And you you were dancing in college, thinking
you're gonna go to medicalschool, you found out about
being a CAA and transitionedfairly um seamlessly, minus
having to stack a bunch ofclasses together at the end
there.
And then when did you think,okay, I could be an Atlanta
Falcons cheerleader, uh, youknow, in this time frame right

(14:02):
after college as well?

SPEAKER_02 (14:04):
Ugh.
So I think I was a junior when Istarted to get my heart set on
that.
There was a girl on my UGA danceteam that went on to that step.
And so I got to see her gothrough all of it, saw how much
fun she was having and all that.
And then in my head, I'm like,okay, well, if she can do it,
maybe I can do it too.
You know, it's never a guaranteethat you're gonna make it.

(14:26):
A lot of people honestly do notmake an NFL cheer team their
first year.
It's something that people willtry out for time and time again.
One of my best friends did notmake it until her eighth year.

SPEAKER_01 (14:39):
Wow.
Why?
Why is that?
It's just a whole different typeof dance, or I feel like
sometimes you're just not ready.

SPEAKER_02 (14:47):
And I think she would she would tell you that.
She would say, I wasn't meant tomake the team until the year
that I made it.
Um, and I think the coaches knowthat they're not gonna throw you
into a situation that you're notready for where you're gonna be
struggling all year with these30-something other girls that
are at like the top, top level.
Um so they just wanted to getwanted her to get stronger in
certain areas.

(15:08):
She did it.
She did, she was my rookieclass.
She did six seasons with me andshe crushed it.
So I I honestly I was veryshocked that I made it my first
year.
Very grateful.
Yeah.
But yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (15:20):
Um I have a question.
I'm gonna be I'm the oneanswering all of the like
audience.
Uh I don't know anything aboutdance except for I did my
homework and watched DCC beforethis to like get any sort of
balance.
Why do you think you made it?
Like, can we just be frank aboutwhy you think you made it your
first year?

SPEAKER_02 (15:38):
Like so, like I said, I started dance/tier when
I was three.
So I've been doing it my entirelife.
I think UGA properly prepared mefor uh the audition process and
being on a team and theprofessional aspect of it, um,
and what to expect and all ofthat.
But I also will say thissomething about so one thing

(16:02):
about NFL cheerleading, everyteam is extremely different.
Extremely different, differentrules, different contracts,
different practice times, likeeverything is different.
Um, it's really kind of like atop-down thing.
So I would say like some of ithas to do with the owner.
Um, a lot of it has to do withthe coaches, like the CR

(16:25):
department.
There's so many things.
What's that?
What's CR?
Uh community relations.
Oh, okay.
So that's like the appearances,the community stuff, uh being an
ambassador of the organization,all of that.
So I can speak for the Falconsorganization in particular.
They really, really, really lookfor well-rounded individuals.

(16:48):
Um, they let that be known fromday one.
So it's not always like the mosttalented person or any of that.
It's okay, well, she has thisgoing on outside of cheer.
Uh how are her interpersonalskills?
How do we think she's gonnainteract with fans?
How do we think she's gonnainteract with 30 other girls

(17:10):
that are at this professionallevel?
Every, you know, everyone onthis team was the best at their
respective university, was thebest at this, was the best at
that.
So you put all these like superhigh performing individuals
together, and you have to likebe able to navigate that.
Um, you might have been frontand center every college

(17:31):
routine, but now you're with 30other girls that were front and
center in theirs.
So, you know, there's there'sall kinds of different um things
that play into it.
So they really care about likeyou as a person and like, are
you genuine?
Um, do you have goals outside ofthis?
So basically I showed up at myinterview and I was like, I want

(17:51):
to go to Anesthesia School atEmory.

SPEAKER_00 (17:54):
And they were like, what?

SPEAKER_02 (17:55):
Um, you know, Emory and the Atlanta Falcons
organization have a hugepartnership, um, which was very
cool for me, I will say,throughout my tenure.
Um, you know, the sidelinedoctors overlap with the doctors
that I work with at Emory.
There was a lot of like Emoryevents that happened that they

(18:18):
would book the cheerleaders for.
And so I think my coach wouldkind of intentionally put me on
those like ribbon cuttingceremonies for opening new
hospitals or surgery centers oranything like that.
So it really did intertwine alot, which was awesome.
Um, but yeah, so when I saidAnastasia School at Emory, they
were like, okay, like we likethis girl.

(18:38):
We need to like look into hermore and see if she even good,
or you know, um, because youhave to kind of get on their
radar.
So sure.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (18:46):
I love this overlap between like if their uh
perspective AA's listening, andum, I just actually listened to
the very first episode of theother new uh CAA podcast, Lights
Out, that the FAA put out.
And um they were talking aboutjust how the caliber of

(19:06):
applicants has been raised sohigh that everyone has perfect
scores, and just how do you makeyourself stand out?
And I love the message that youbring your whole whole self to
it, which is also kind of themessage of this whole episode as
we get further into this, butthat your one of your biggest
strengths was that you didn'tjust do dance, like you were

(19:26):
also this other person who hadthese other dreams and visions.
Like I just I'm I love this,Brooke.
Um, okay, so I am dying to knowthen what it felt like to
realize you want to try out forthe Atlanta Falcons cheerleading
team.
And this was in your junioryear.

(19:47):
Like, take us through thattimeline, tell us about what it
was like to be in school also atthat time.
Because these, you know, the endof your college career and
auditioning were at the exactsame time, which was what
2019-ish, 2018-ish?

SPEAKER_02 (20:01):
2019.
Okay, yes, and I actually have agood story that comes with this.
So um, so yeah, I get I get myheart set on it.
I'm like, I'm doing it, don'tcare what I have to do, we're
gonna figure it all out.
And with NFL cheerleadingauditions, at least for the

(20:21):
Falcons, actually, I think everyteam, I don't think this is
unique.
Um from when the auditionprocess starts to when you
finally found out if you makethe team or not, that is months.
It is months.
Um, and I remember just feelinglike I can't do this anymore.
Like, almost like, do you guyswant me or not?

(20:43):
Because this is so hard to justkeep doing this day after day.
And like, uh, you know, you'reeating super healthy, you're
working out all the time, you'retraining like crazy, you're just
in this mindset.
But it is a lot to do to noteven make the team.
Like, if you make it, it's wortheverything and more.

(21:05):
But I just remember being like,oh my gosh, if I'm doing all of
this and I don't even make it, Iwas gonna be so sad.
But yeah, so basically it comesdown to it.
I make it all the way to finalauditions.
There's like several processes.
There's like uh preliminary,semifinals, finals, and I make
it to finals and find out thatfinals week, the whole last week

(21:27):
of finals, is the week of myschool finals for all of those
science classes that I just toldyou I was trying to take in the
same semester.
So it was fine because a lot ofmy finals were in the morning
and most of the final auditionstuff was at night.

(21:48):
So the very last final audition,like I'm talking like this was
the last performance.
This was like my performance inthe center of the field with
just one other girl in front ofthe huge panel of judges.
This single performance waskeeping me from that.
Was the last step to find out ifI made the team or not?
The same time, like the sametime to the minute as my organic

(22:12):
chemistry lab final.
And I was like, there's no way.
And so, like, obviously, if youmiss it on a filter audition,
that's it.
There's no, there's no way ofgetting around that.
So I decided I was gonna go talkto my OCEM lab professor, which
the classes, this is so funnybecause the classes at UTA are

(22:33):
so big that like this man didnot know me.
Like he he didn't.
So I show up to his office hoursand I'm like nervous rambling.
I'm like, hi, my name is Brooke.
I'm in your Ochem uh class, andI actually decided that I wanted
to try out to be an NFLcheerleader.
I'm rambling.
And he's just kind of likesitting there, like, where is

(22:53):
this going?
And so I like tell this wholestory.
And then I'm like, and basicallyI'm telling you all of this
because I've made it this far,and my last audition is at 6 30,
and so is our OCEM lab final.
And like, is there anything thatI can do?
Like, can I take it like nextweek or something?
And he's just sitting there andhe's like really quiet.
And I'm like, oh my gosh, hethinks I'm an idiot.

(23:13):
And then finally he goes, Okay,I can tell how passionate you
are about this.
I can tell this is like alifelong dream of yours.
I do think this is a very rarecircumstance, is what he said.
And he was like, We're gonnafigure this out.
And I was like, Wow, okay.
And so then I'm like, there'shope.
There's hope.
Um, and I was so excited, andI'm thinking he's gonna be like,

(23:35):
Okay, you can take it like nextweek or something.
And he goes, You can take it atthe end of next semester when
the other kids from the nextsemester take their final.
And I'm like, in my head, I'mlike, what?
I'm supposed to remember allthis stuff for a whole nother
semester.
But honestly, in the moment, Iwas just so happy to make both

(23:57):
work that I was like, okay,thank you so much.
Yeah, but then that was hangingover my head for the next
however many months.
Um yes.
And that was your senior year.

SPEAKER_01 (24:06):
That was your senior year, correct?

SPEAKER_02 (24:08):
Yes.
Okay.
Yeah.
Um, and then I went to the finalauditions and then my life
changed forever that night.
We found out that night atprobably like 10 p.m.

SPEAKER_01 (24:21):
Hey Awaken Anessis community.
I want to take a moment to tellyou how our season five sponsor,
Harmony Anesthesia Staffing, wasstarted.
You may have seen their name onsocial media or heard it come up
in conversation with other CAAs,but what you might not know is
that the idea for Harmonystarted in a really personal
way.

(24:41):
Harmony's CAA founder named Radwas working as an independent
contractor when his lifeshifted.
He needed more flexibility to bepresent as a parent and as a new
entrepreneur, but what he foundwas that as an independent CAA,
he had no real power tonegotiate his contract to fit

(25:01):
his personal needs.
That frustration of being stuckin a model that doesn't value
him as a clinician or as a wholeperson was something he knew
many CAAs shared.
So he set out to build somethingdifferent.
That's where the name Harmonycomes in.
The balance, connection, andalignment that so many of us are

(25:22):
seeking between our careers andour lives.
Harmony's goal isn't just tofill shifts, it's to humanize
contracts and create anesthesiastaffing solutions that actually
respect the CAA behind the work.
For those of us who want morethan just a job, Harmony is
about designing a career thattruly supports the life you're

(25:43):
building.
If that resonates with you, Iencourage you to schedule a free
15-minute consultation call withthe Harmony team.
It's a simple way to explore howthey can support your goals and
maybe even help you find morealignment in your own career.
You'll find the link to scheduleyour free consultation in the
show notes or on my website,awakenedanest.com.

SPEAKER_02 (26:11):
Yeah, I swear my life like changed so much after
that day.
I had only told my mom and myboyfriend at the time.
So no one knew.
My roommates, I had tworoommates in college, they
didn't know where I had been.
Oh my god.
So everyone was just likeshocked, uh, excited, but
shocked.
So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (26:32):
And you were like, you had already got into
anesthesia school at this point,correct?
Had you known you were into ano.
You had not known.
No.
Okay, so tell me at what pointthen you realized you were also
gonna get into your other dreamand you would be living these
two dreams like side by side.

SPEAKER_02 (26:52):
Okay, so I made the team spring of 2019.

SPEAKER_01 (26:57):
Your senior year of college.

SPEAKER_02 (26:59):
Yes.
I started the applicationprocess for Emory.
I may have already started it,but I I definitely know it
wasn't finalized at that point,and I definitely wasn't
accepted.
Um, and then oh, you know what?
This is a good story too.
So hopefully I don't make it toolong.

(27:23):
Um we love it.
Amazing.
Okay, so I remember my veryfirst practice.
I was a rookie.
First practice, terrified,terrified.
Um, things are no joke in theNFL.
It's very cutthroat.
It's you better know this, youbetter be on your A game, all of
that.
So I'm at my first practice.

(27:46):
Okay, I gotta rewind.
There was an issue with mytranscript for anesthesia
school, and it was getting veryclose to the date that the
application like was supposed tobe finalized and due.
And me now would have handledthis so differently than
22-year-old me did, but it'sneither here nor there.

(28:08):
Um I was just like being verypatient with UGA, they hadn't
sent my transcript over yet.
I was kind of waiting andwaiting and waiting, and then it
gets to the week of, and I'mlike, where is it?
I had been on the phone withthem, nothing was working, I had
been emailing them.
And so finally I get to thepoint I'm like, this is not

(28:29):
gonna be in in time.
And I was so sad because youknow, I had done all of the
other things, the thestandardized tests and all the
classes.
I crammed them into that onesemester, um, and my personal
statement and all the things.
And so this was like the onemissing piece.
So I ended up calling one of theprofessors from the program.
I knew her because I hadshadowed her before I applied

(28:53):
for the program.
And I called her.
I'm like, have you ever heard ofthis happening before?
Like, is there anything we cando about it?
And she put me in touch with thedirector of admissions.
And so I call her, I'm talkingon the phone to her, and she's
basically like, Yeah, like maybethis is happening for a reason.

(29:14):
And I'm devastated.
I'm I'm devastated.
Wow, goodness.
Um, and she's like, let me lookat your application and see if
there's anything I I think Ineed you to strengthen for next
year.
And I'm like, you know, I'm likedevastated, but I'm trying to be
like, okay, like this.

SPEAKER_01 (29:30):
And this was like a clerical error.
This was a clerical error thatthat you were trying to get to
the bottom of.

SPEAKER_02 (29:36):
Yeah, it was just the transcript thing, but I'm
telling you, it was the week of,and that's why I said Brooke
Nell would not have waited, butI was trying to be patient and I
don't know.
Anyways, um, so she's goingthrough my transcript and she's
reading and reading and reading,and she gets to the bottom where
I have my extracurriculars, andshe's like, Hold on, are you a

(29:59):
are you a Cheerleader for theAtlanta Falcons.
And I was like, yeah.
And you know, I have been plusor minus whether I should put
that on there at all.
But it is such a big part of mylife.
Like, and there are more partsof it than just the
cheerleading.
My coach always says that.
She's like, Yeah, the games are10% of what you guys do.
The other 90%, you're in thecommunity, you're at the

(30:21):
schools, you're at theretirement homes, you're um at
the hospitals, you're atpractice, you're just, you know,
being an ambassador for thebrand.
And so I'm like, Yes, uh, I am acheerleader for the Atlanta
Falcons, but I didn't reallyknow why she was asking.
So I'm like nervous.
And she's like, oh my gosh, youguys practice at the same studio

(30:44):
like one day a week that I takedance lessons at.
And I'm like, this lady inemotions.
What?
She's like, I'm gonna be theretomorrow.
Are you?
I'm like, yes.
She's like, okay, like uh, Iwould love to meet you.
Like, let's meet.

(31:05):
And so I'm just excited to meether.
Yeah.
So, like I said, first practice,rookie.
We do this thing at thebeginning of every practice that
we call good news, bad news, sadnews, glad news.
And it's amazing.
I love that we do that becausepeople share just all the things
going on in their life, and it'sa really good way to just kind
of know like where people are atand all of that.

(31:26):
So, but rookie, like I was notplanning to speak at the first
one as a rookie.
But I needed to talk to thislady, and I knew that she was in
the other room.
So we're at the beginning ofpractice, and I nervously raise
my hand as a rookie, and I'mlike, no one knows me.
I'm like, hi, um, I know youguys don't know me, but um, I

(31:50):
have this dream and I reallywant to go to Emery's Anesthesia
program, and I tell them I tellthem everything.
I'm like rambling.
I'm like, there's a problem withmy transcript, and the director
of admissions somehow like takesdance classes here, and she's in
the other room right now, andshe wants to talk to me.
I expect these girls to be like,what is this girl talking about?
Like, is she asking to leavepractice right now?

(32:12):
Like, but no, they're like, ohmy gosh, what are the odds?
Like everyone's like screaming,like freaking out.
They're like, you have to go,you have to go.
And my coach is like, you canlearn the choreography later.
You need to go talk to her.
Like, let me know when it's likethe perfect time.
We're gonna let you leave andyou're gonna come back.
We're gonna figure it out.
I'm like, okay.
And she looks at my captain,she's like, you make sure that

(32:32):
she goes out there and she talksto her.
So, like 20 minutes pass, andthey call me over and they're
like, You put a shirt on,because you know we practice in
like sports bras.
They're like, You put a shirt onand you go over there and you
talk to her.
So I leave, and once again, Ilike start rambling at her.
I'm like, I'm so honored to meetyou.

(32:53):
Like, I've heard so much aboutyou.
This is my dream program.
Like, I can't even picturemyself doing anything else, and
I'm just like rambling,rambling, rambling.
And she's so sweet.
Um, she's kind of like, I'm sosorry about your transcript.
Um, but like you really seemlike you have the heart, and
like I just I don't want you tostop trying and all this stuff.
So this was a Thursday.

(33:14):
The next day was Friday, thedeadline of the application.
And I get an email the next day,and then they called me for an
interview, I guess a couplemonths later.
Um, interviewed, and theyactually called me on the way
home from my interview andaccepted.

(33:34):
Oh my gosh.
Yeah, I was shocked.

SPEAKER_01 (33:38):
So Brooke, this story has so many twists and
turns because I'm just gettingready to ask you that you know,
it per your timeline, you startanesthesia school as well as is
it your second season with theAtlanta Falcons?
Because you had been cheeringwhile you were still in
undergrad, right?
Or like kind of betweenundergrad before anesthesia
school, and then COVID hits.

(34:00):
So not only are you startingEmery's AA program admits the
very beginning of COVID, butyou're also cheering now in the
NFL amidst the very beginning ofCOVID.
Okay, so please tell us what thehell was going through your
mind.
What was going on?

SPEAKER_02 (34:16):
Okay, COVID turned my life upside down, truly.
So my sister lives in Hawaii.
Um, she came home.
I went back to my parents, mybrother went back to my parents.
So all five of us were in thesame house for the first time
since I was in high school.
Um, and like I'll be honest insaying my family is all we're

(34:39):
all kind of just doing stuff allthe time.
It forced us to slow down.
And I think that we will alwaysbe grateful for that time.
This is just to say one nicething about COVID.
Um I think that I think that youknow, we watched movies, we
played games, we really enjoyedthat time together.
Um, everything else about COVID,obviously, COVID COVID was

(35:03):
beyond devastating for so manyreasons.
It was horrible for so manyreasons.
Um and mine are are nowhere nearsome of the things that that
people went through.
So I don't say this in that wayat all.
Um for me, my schooling wasdelayed by I think three months.

(35:24):
You're gonna see the program.

SPEAKER_03 (35:26):
Yeah, we started.

SPEAKER_02 (35:27):
We started virtually.
Um that was interesting.
You know, we had the name of theCOVID class because we we were
on Zoom school and I wascheering to an empty stadium.
I think the only people in thestadium were the players, the
coaches, the doctors and medicaltrainers, us, and then like us

(35:49):
and the players' parents.
Um I have a question.

SPEAKER_01 (35:54):
It was a question from the peanut gallery.
Um, I was not watching footballduring this time.
Were the games still recorded?
So you like had to pretend likeit was a real I mean it was a
real game, but you had topretend like it was a full
stadium, but there was no onethere.

SPEAKER_02 (36:06):
Yeah, there were they were real games, they were
televised.
We were getting COVID testedlike crazy.
I do remember that.
Um yeah, and it's so funnybecause you don't realize like
how much of the noise in thestadium is just from all the
fans like chatting.
It was dead silent in thatstadium.
Dead silent.
Like we can always hear like thehits, like when the players hit

(36:29):
each other because we're rightthere.
But this was like these playersgetting trucked in this empty
stadium.
It just was so loud.
That's what I remember.

SPEAKER_01 (36:40):
And I remember it being so silent.
And that was a full season, likea full season of the NFL was to
an empty stadium.
And your full year of AA school,how how did the transition into
clinicals go?

SPEAKER_02 (36:54):
Oh yeah, so my first whole first semester was
virtual.
Um, they did bring us in likeone or two at a time for like
SimLab type stuff, learning howto do IVs, um, you know, more
the hands-on kind of stuff.
Um, and then we started clinicalthe next semester.
It's funny, I really thoughtlike we were gonna be considered

(37:17):
a really weak class, but we wereactually just talking about this
last Friday.
And our class is actuallyconsidered a really strong
class.
I don't know if we just had totry that much harder or what it
was, but we came out with areally strong class.
Um, so it, I mean, it all workedout fine.
It was definitely a lot ofuncertainty with both of my
school and my job at the time,um, for sure, but it all worked

(37:42):
out.

SPEAKER_01 (37:44):
Girl, oh my goodness.
So you went your entire program,um, your entire AA program as an
Atlanta Falcons cheerleader,correct?
And then you graduated AA schoolwin in like 2022-ish?

SPEAKER_02 (38:01):
December of 2022, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (38:03):
Okay.
And then got your first job andcontinued uh your Atlanta
Falcons career for two moreyears, was it?

SPEAKER_03 (38:11):
Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 (38:12):
Okay.

SPEAKER_02 (38:12):
So I did I did two years actually working.
Um both of those years wereharder for different reasons.
My first year was hard because Iwork at uh Emory and we do
super, super big surgeries,super, super sick patients.
And so there was that learninghump that I was trying to get
over of being by myself, doingall these big scary cases with

(38:37):
all these um patients that arejust so sick.
So I think that was hard tojuggle.
And then my second year, Idefinitely had the hang of
things uh for the most part atmy hospital job, but I was a
captain for the Falcons.
So then that year was hardbecause I was navigating being a
captain.
I loved being a captain.
Um, I loved being there for thegirls, but it was it was

(38:59):
challenging.
I'll say that.

SPEAKER_01 (39:00):
Yeah.
I can imagine anything else.

SPEAKER_02 (39:03):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (39:04):
I'm interested, like when people, you know, I'm
thinking what AA school was likefor me, you're meeting so many
different people, all thesedifferent preceptors, you're
going to different hospitals.
Every time people are findingout that you are an Atlanta
Falcons cheerleader, I assume,or like word comes before you.
How do you navigate that?

SPEAKER_02 (39:23):
My gosh, yes.
I when I first started clinical,it was it was really tough.
People definitely knew about mebefore they met me, and that was
hard.
I think people were like, who isthis girl coming in, thinking

(39:46):
she can do both?
She's an NFL cheerleader, shecan't be smart, she can't be for
real, she can't be serious, shecan't be nice.
Um, and I felt it in the moment,but then it was like really like
later on when people would kindof make comments to me, I'd be
like, Okay, yeah.
So everything I was feeling wascorrect.
People would say things likewhat?

SPEAKER_00 (40:06):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (40:08):
Like, oh, you're you're actually uh you actually
are so nice, or oh my gosh,wait, you're actually so smart,
or wow, you take this veryseriously, stuff like that.
That they didn't mean anythingby it.
They actually meant it as acompliment in the moment, but I
knew that that meant meant thatthey assumed that I was gonna

(40:29):
come in and like um basically Ijust had to try really, really,
really hard my first couplesemesters.
It did eventually get to a pointwhere people knew about me
enough to know, okay, like thisgirl's nice, she's not evil, uh,
she knows what she's doing.
You know, the anesthesiacommunity is so small.

(40:50):
So we're word travels, but atfirst, oh my gosh, I was having
to try just as hard with my likepeople skills as I was with my
clinical skills just to provethat I deserve to be there.
Um and you know, I took all thesame tests as you guys, I took
the same classes as you guys.

SPEAKER_01 (41:10):
And what worked?
I would love to hear.
I'm hearing people in theaudience are who are listening
saying, like, okay, yeah, I kindof feel that too.
What were those people's skills?
What worked to prove yourself?

SPEAKER_02 (41:21):
Um, like clinically, I had to be that much more
prepared.
Um, you know, I would sit upafter practice, I would sit up
looking up the patients for thenext day, taking notes, deep
diving in the chart, deep divingon the procedures that we were
doing, and then just beingoverly understanding, overly
kind, overly open-minded, overlyjust just everything.

(41:46):
Um, you know, checking your yourtone, every single thing that
that comes out of your mouth.
And I I do think that'ssomething that the Falcons has
taught me in general.
You know, it's almost like Ihave a big, big Falcon on my on
my forehead.
I represent them in everythingthat I do.

(42:06):
You know, I guarantee you, if Icause some problem somewhere, my
coach or the higher-ups of theFalcons organization would know
about it that day.
Um like things just you're kindof under a microscope sometimes.
Um and I think that it's it'sgood in a in a lot of ways.
It's um impacted the way that Ihandle situations and and stuff

(42:28):
like that.
Um, but there's not a lot ofroom for error or having a bad
day or mistreating someone.
Not that I would do thatanyways, but sure.
You know what I mean?
Being human, yeah, not beingperfect.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (42:41):
Wow.
I'm my brain has like 27follow-up questions on how
you're acclimating now that thatpressure is possibly a little
relieved now that you'reretired.

SPEAKER_02 (42:52):
Swear that could almost be like a part two
because I am just starting tolike navigate all of that.
I've really only been retiredfrom cheer for like two, almost
three months now.
It's turned my life upside down.
Um to retire.

SPEAKER_00 (43:09):
Yes.
Sure, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (43:11):
Yeah.
Um, I've spent a lot of timetalking about this the past two
weeks in general because I thinkit started off and I was so like
I would just be with my familyor my friends doing something
fun, and I would just lookaround and be like, guys, I
would never be able to be hereright now if I was still
cheering, like because I wouldhave practice or a game or

(43:33):
something.
And that was fun.
And I was like, oh my gosh, thisis so fun.
Like I told my friends, I'mlike, this is the most summer
summer I've ever had becauseusually summer when you're an
athlete is extra practice andtraining, extra training.
You're getting ready forfootball season, this and that.
Um, and so this was the firstsummer that I had where I was

(43:54):
like, okay, like I could, Icould go to the beach, I can do
this, I can go to a littlecookout at the last minute.
Um this past week was the firstweek that I would like wake up
in the morning, I would not evenknow where to begin my day.

(44:14):
Um I realized for people thathaven't been through something
like this, this all sounds verydramatic, but my schedule was
completely turned upside down inlike a day.
Um, because I was still doingstuff with the Falcons up until
like the day I retired, prettymuch.
I was still doing communityappearances and helping with

(44:35):
auditions and stuff like that.
So now on my off days, I wake upand I'm like, okay, I should get
out of bed, but I don't reallyhave to.

SPEAKER_01 (44:46):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (44:47):
I should do this, but no one's really telling me
to.
No one's telling me to work outanymore.
No one, it's just, it's sodifferent.
Um, and I have now learned thatI just need more stuff.
So I'm starting some otherthings.
Um, I just started personaltraining yesterday.
Uh, someone's training me, notme training other people.

(45:09):
Okay.
Um, I'm learning how to cook.
I've never had time to learn howto cook.
So I'm learning how to cook.
Um, I'm gonna start playinggolf.
I'm trying to become fluent inSpanish, so I've been on
Duolingo every single day.
Yeah.
Um, but I just needed somethingto like fill that void.
It just took me a minute to likefigure that out.
Um but yeah, it's it's been ahuge adjustment.

(45:31):
And you know, I've obviouslyspent a lot of time talking to
my teammates that have retired.
And I've also spent, I have alot of uh friends that have
retired, uh football playersthat have retired from the NFL.
And they have just made mereally realize how lucky I am to
have this other job because intheir case, NFL players don't

(45:54):
have other jobs like thecheerleaders do.
So they retire and they're done.
A lot of them have these likefull-blown identity crises.
A lot of them go through likesevere mental health.
No one talks about this.
Severe mental health battleswhen they retire.
Um, I think it happens in thecheer world too, but maybe not
to as much of an extreme becausewe all have something to fall

(46:17):
back on.
So they've made me reallyrealize like I have a whole
other job, and that is sopowerful.
Um, and it's a job that I careabout and I'm passionate about,
um, and all of that.
So I feel very lucky in thatsense.
Um, but yeah, we're just we'renavigating it as we go.
Um, oh, and something elseexciting.

(46:40):
My next step, I have alwayswanted to teach in the AA school
programs.
And they've known that.
Like I went through school beinglike, I want to do this, I want
to be, I wanna do what you guysare doing, I wanna like teach
people just how y'all taught mebecause I was so pleasantly
surprised like how much theprofessors cared and like poured

(47:03):
into us and how human they were,and just like amazing and
understanding.
Um, and so they they knew that.
And so they had a position openup um, I guess a couple months
ago, and I interviewed for itand I got it.
So I know what position, whatposition?
So I'm gonna be like, I don'teven know what the official

(47:26):
title is, but basically I'mgonna be a professor through the
school of medicine um in theanesthesia program, and I'm
gonna be doing simlab.
Gotcha for for like the the babybabies, like the just starting
out the first semesters, whichis exactly where I want it to
be.
Exactly where I want it to be.
So um I'm super excited forthat.
I think that's gonna give mesomething to be passionate

(47:47):
about, you know, to help fillthat cheer void a little bit.
I'm filling it with like fivedifferent things, but um, you
know, I was doing it for so manyhours a week that it takes that
many things to replace it.
Um, so yeah, I'm very excitedabout that.

SPEAKER_01 (48:00):
I'll be uh Congratulations.
That's awesome.
You're gonna be amazing.
And I just I'm excited for thefirst years to meet you and be
like held by your energy andjust your passion and
leadership.
I mean, so much leadership inyour story.
It's just I'm proud to call youa CAA colleague.
Um you're welcome.
It totally deserved.

(48:21):
Uh I would love to hear.
We've heard a lot about how umcheering and dancing impacted
being a CAA.
Can you shed light on thereverse?
Like, how did anesthesia or likewhat did your anesthesia
community feel like in supportof being a cheerleader?
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (48:41):
Oh my gosh.
I so I guess I've kind oftouched on this a little bit,
but I really thought that I wasgonna come in and kind of just
keep my head down for theentirety of my anesthesia
schooling, possibly even after,um, just because of what, you
know, the the medical field ingeneral can kind of be like a

(49:01):
doggy dog world.
Um and, you know, you hear aboutpeople talking down to the
trainees and and all that.
Um I was fully prepared to comein and just be low-key, blend
in.
To my surprise, once they knewme, the anesthesia community

(49:22):
fully embraced everything thatcame with me and cheering.
And I will be forever gratefulfor that.
I'm talking, they had anesthesiatailgates before the games, they
were all there with signs, theyhad tattoos that they made of my
face.
People have them on their face,on their arms.

(49:43):
Oh, that's awesome.
Um my boss works with myschedule, with my cheer
schedule, which I'm forevergrateful for.
I mean, so supportive.
Just you name it.
They they did it.
It was amazing.
And my last game, that was likeone of the most special days of
my entire life.
People knew I was dreading it uhfor years, and they were all

(50:09):
over the stadium that day, thatlast game, and I could see them.
And I it was the the fourthquarter, um, my last quarter
ever.
And my mom was right in front ofme.
I will never forget that.
And a whole bunch of anesthesiapeople were in a section right
in front of me, and I had turnedaround, I had just gotten to

(50:32):
because we rotate each corner,each quarter.
So I ended intentionally, Iended in that corner because I
knew that they were all gonna bethere, and um, that's where I
wanted to be.
And I turn around and I lookback up, and there is this
massive, I'm talking like10-foot banner that they had

(50:53):
hung down over the ledge thatsaid, last game, best game, we
love you so much, or somethinglike that.
And I will never forget that.
Um that's like a core memory forme for sure.
Just how everyone rallied aroundme that day.
Um, some people came to thelocker room or like outside the

(51:15):
locker room um with flowers anduh that kind of thing.
Um, and then afterwards they hada retirement party, um, which
was crazy.
It was at this uh littlerestaurant bar kind of by my
house.
Um, and I'm talking like myprofessors were there, my

(51:37):
colleagues were there, theirkids were there, every like
everyone who had had an impacton my journey throughout
everything was there.
People that don't go outside thehouse were there.
It was crazy.
Um and the T Recluses literally.
Um, and I just like I was sohappy and so overjoyed by

(52:00):
everyone being there and allthat that I like wasn't even sad
on my last game.
I I was a little sad, but likemostly I remember my last game
in that whole day as being sohappy.
Um because they just ralliedaround me in such a way that I
just like there wasn't even roomto be sad.
Um so yeah, that was amazing.

(52:22):
I will I just did not think itwas gonna be like that.
I thought they were gonna belike, who is this NFL
cheerleader and what is shedoing in the operating room?
Like, yes, that doesn't gotogether, but it was the
complete opposite, and I'm sograteful for that.

SPEAKER_01 (52:35):
Ugh, so how awesome.
How awesome.
I just it really the NFL, andwould you agree with this that
the NFL culture and community oflike dog eat dog, because you
had said that as well, like it'sreally high pressure, have to be
perfect, and medicine seem sortof related.
I mean, does that feel did theyfeel similar in terms of the
perfection that's demanded andthe strikes for sure?

SPEAKER_02 (52:58):
Uh definitely something about both of them.
There is no room for error, likeum, it's not really tolerated on
the NFL level.
My coach always says, stay readyso that you don't have to get
ready.
Um, and she could press play,she calls it pressing play at
practice.
She could press play on a dancewe haven't done in four months,
but it better be perfect whenyou when she presses play.

(53:20):
Like that's just how the NFLworld is, as it should be.
It's the highest level that youcan get to.
Um and then obviously there's noroom for air in the operating
room either.
Um, you know, that's life ordeath type stuff.
So yeah, um, I do thinksometimes um I was I was very
hard on myself being a captainuh the past year.

(53:40):
Um I think sometimes I would getto practice and you know, I
tried not to share what had goneon.
We say leave it at the door,like whatever you're you're
dealing with, like this shouldbe your your your fun safe space
where you can just dance andexpress yourself and and um so I
tried to leave it all at thedoor.

(54:02):
Um, you know, whether I had hada a case that didn't go well or
a patient death or somethinglike that, I tried to leave it
at the door.
Um, but honestly, the days whenI did work and then go to
practice were a lot.
Um and there were some days thatI just wanted to be like, you
guys don't even know what I justwhat I just dealt with.

(54:23):
Like, you know, days I wouldstruggle teaching choreography
or just stuff like that.
Like, but I like I said, I triedto like leave all that out of it
um and not really bring it up.
But I do know that that that didimpact um some of my time as a
captain.

SPEAKER_01 (54:41):
Yeah, but um I mean you're you're touching on a
paradox that I really like toexplore, which is how do you
have both?
You the need for um maybe notperfection, but the the to not
make mistakes, because inmedicine mistakes can kill
people.
And in the NFL, mistakes costI'm assuming it's a millions and

(55:02):
millions of dollars, is maybewhy the perfection is so needed.
But um how do you then also be ahuman in those environments?
Because humans make mistakes.
We are not robots, we have torest.
We there has to be a certainlevel of like um taking care of
ourselves in order to be able toperform at that high level.

(55:22):
Like pushing, pushing, pushingis not going to be able to
sustain long term, which itsounds like you would agree with
that, like, okay, I did that forsix years, you're a cheerleader
for six years for the AtlantaFalcons, and it pushed me to my
limits that now I'm not evenit's hard for me to reintegrate
back into normal society.

SPEAKER_02 (55:40):
Yeah, and I think that's part of this like
identity, whatever I was kind ofgoing through last week.
I was for six years, I wasalways on.
I was always on, whether I wasat practice, whether I was at a
game, whether I was in thecommunity, whether I was at
work, I was always on and I wasalways doing something.

(56:03):
And that has been a huge part ofthis adjustment.
Like my uh my friends have beenlike, you know, it is okay to
like sit on the couch.
And I'm like, why would I sit onthe couch?
And they're like, because youyou need to like relax.
I'm like, yeah, huh?
Um do not confuse.

(56:24):
I don't I don't do well withthat.
Yeah.
Um, yeah.
I think it will get easier.
I do think like I am someonethat does better when I'm busy,
but I do think in general, maybethe uh not always having to be
doing something will get easier.
Um but yeah, I do think thatthat's that's part of why this

(56:45):
whole transition has been sodifficult.
Sure.
Um, sure.

SPEAKER_01 (56:49):
Yeah.
But yeah.
I mean, I think people who arejust getting out of AA school
could even relate to thatwithout having the Falcons
experience on top of that.
Like AA school demands thatyou're on this rigorous
schedule, that you've, you know,you've compartmentalized your
life so that you can do thisreally, really hard thing.
And then you get out, and youknow, people have that like, oh

(57:10):
boy, what do I do now?
Um experience.
So I think that's very real andnormal for um CAAs to feel.
And then it's kind of like,okay, what do I do with that
next step?
And knowing that you don't haveto have all the answers, you
don't have to figure this out,you don't have to be super
comfortable sitting around foran hour on your couch, but
knowing that, like, hey, I knowI can't push myself at that

(57:32):
level forever and always.
Eventually, I have to get morecomfortable, you know, maybe
going from rest to rest andstress, rest and stress.
Like that's what our bodies aremeant to do.
Um, yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, I could, we could goagain, we have like seven
episodes within this oneepisode, but I do want to, I
know your story is just sointeresting.

(57:54):
Um and I'm just grateful for youbeing here because I just love
being able to find these CAAstories and expand our
community.
Like, I know you think it's notpossible to do this dream with
being a CAA, but it really,really is.
And it's oftentimes a matter ofwhat are you willing to
sacrifice?
You know, you said you missed abunch of your early 20s, and you

(58:16):
know, um, I'm sure before thatwith dance that you just were
not living a normal teenage lifeeither.
Um, and I just think it's areality check to say, yes, sure,
anything is possible, but youcan't it everything has
sacrifices, you know.
So I just love that part of yourstory.
Um, okay, so I have a couplemore questions to um before we

(58:38):
wrap up.
And I'm just wondering whatparts of being an Atlanta
Falcons cheerleader will youhold forever and always in the
operating room?

SPEAKER_02 (58:46):
Ooh, I would say like the interpersonal
communication skills.
Um, I think that is a huge partof being an NFL cheerleader
because you are representing thebrand.
Um, and you honestly, you'rejust put in so many interesting
situations.
Like fans will ask you crazyquestions, like questions that

(59:09):
we can't answer.
Like, and you have to likedivert though with a smile on
your face, and I guess like it'snot weird.
Like, yeah, um that for sure.
Um I have had talks with someanesthesiologists before, and we
always feel like having beensome type of athlete before

(59:30):
makes a really solidanesthetist.

SPEAKER_00 (59:32):
Um I see that too.

SPEAKER_02 (59:34):
Yeah, I don't know if it's from you know the
discipline or being used tobeing on a team, the work ethic
or or what, but I see a lot ofuh parallels between that.
And on top of that, I think thatlike everyone at my job knows
that I cheer or cheered now.
And I I mean I walk around withthis smile all the time.

(59:57):
Like I'm just like singular,like, hi, what's up?
I'm dancing all the time.
Um people would definitely saythat.
I'll be doing boots on theground.
You know that line dance?
Uh no.
You you got that.
But I would love to have saidI'll teach you.
I'll teach you.
I'll be doing that in pre-op.
I'll be day.
I'm I'm always dancing.
I'm always moving.

(01:00:17):
I'm always that.
Um and people will call me likea cheerleader at work, meaning
in like a morale-boosting way.
Yes.
But I'm I'm happy to be thatperson.
I think especially at Emory, um,the cases can be so sad.
Um some days you're seeingmultiple sad things back to back
to back to back.

(01:00:37):
So I'm happy to be hopefullywhat people consider like
positive a positive uh person orlike a light in what can feel
like darkness sometimes.
Yeah.
Um, so I think that's that's aparallel for sure.

SPEAKER_01 (01:00:56):
Okay, last question, because I I know that there are
CAAs who are practicinglistening, being like, okay, I
have this thing that I want todo, but yet like I want to have
a kid, or I want to paint andand make art, or I want to start
a business.
And there are perspectiveslistening who are like, gee, how

(01:01:17):
do I pick just one career forthe rest of my life?
Is it a is it being a CAA?
I know people are wanting tofind that perfect place to live
their whole life.
And I'm just wondering, as aCAA, what you would say about
this profession allowing you tobe all of yourself if you feel
like it supports that well, oryou know, gee, are you kind of

(01:01:40):
locked, lucked into somethingthat allows you to do both?
Or like what your thoughts areon living a life uniquely meant
for you as a CAA?

SPEAKER_02 (01:01:49):
Yeah, for sure.
For starters, I would say thatbeing in anesthesia school and
actually being a practicinganesthetist are are different
things.
Um, I think like a parallelbetween cheer and being in
anesthesia school is that you'renever really done.
There's always something thatyou could study.
There's always something I couldbe doing for cheer all the time.

(01:02:09):
Something I could be gettingbetter at, uh, planning
something for my line, somethingthere's always something in both
of those that I think you couldalways be doing.
The blessing with this job whenyou're actually practicing is
most of the time I don't take ithome with me.
When I leave work, the patientis out of my care.
I've done everything in my powerto do what's best for them

(01:02:33):
during that surgery and wakingthem up and all of that.
Um, and there's nothing elsethat I can do now.
They're they're out of my care,they're in someone else's care,
they're in the ICU or wherever.
Um, and so I think that onceyou're actually working, there's
a lot of room for your otherpassions, whether it be starting

(01:02:53):
a family, starting a little sidehustle.
You know, there's tons of peoplein anesthesia with with side
hustles.
And I think you find that thethe community, anesthesia is a
really interesting group ofpeople.
There's I feel like there's nota lot of bad egos in it.
Everyone tends to like supporteach other, and like so I think
absolutely when you'repracticing, there's uh so much

(01:03:16):
room to to do what you want todo.
Um, and on top of that, I say,and I say this about everything,
if you can't listen to people ifthey tell you not to do
something, clearly, because Iwould never be in either of
these careers if I would havelistened to people.
Um, I would maybe be in one, um,but I'm not even so sure that

(01:03:37):
one would have necessarilyhappened without the other
because in this weird roundaboutway, they kind of built on each
other and it all worked out theway that it was supposed to.
And people close to me know thatI say this all the time.
It always works out.
It always works out.
Even if you think that it's notgoing to, it does.
And it wasn't meant to be theway that you wanted it to work
out for whatever reason.

(01:03:58):
Um, I think my mom hates thisabout me because I am like so go
with the flow on way too manythings, um, which I kind of
touched on earlier.
I all go into things with nogame plan and just be like,
we're gonna figure this out.
But if you think about all thethings in your life that you
stressed about, you were upworried about, and then they

(01:04:19):
ended up working out anyways,you know, it's crazy to look
back and be like, why did Iworry about that at all?
It all worked out exactly theway that it was supposed to.
So I would say just follow yourheart.
I feel like I'm I'm preaching.

SPEAKER_00 (01:04:34):
I would say just I'm taking it.

SPEAKER_02 (01:04:37):
Just just follow your heart.
Um, and even if you don't knowthe exact route, just jump into
it and figure it out as you go.
Because you're if you don'tstart, you can never finish, you
know.
So that's that's what I wouldsay.

SPEAKER_01 (01:04:54):
I love it to end on.
I love it to end on.
Amazing.
Well, thank you so much, Brooke.
I am so excited to continuewatching your journey.
I found you on Instagram, sohopefully you continue to post
there.
But yes, I was like, who is thisgirl?
Show me more of this girl who'sa CAA.
Awesome, Brooke.
Well, I'm excited to continuewatching your journey and best
of luck on your new ventures.

(01:05:15):
Yeah, and just thanks for beinghere.
Yeah, you were so awesome.
Thank you for everything, and Ireally enjoyed talking to you.
Awesome.
Thanks for listening to AwakenedAnesthetist.
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(01:05:38):
podcast and its mission.
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(01:05:58):
And while you're scrolling thewebsite, check out my trusted
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Talk soon.