Name: Patricia Brooks
Lives in: I live in an 8,000-person village called Céret that’s located in the south of France. It is a part of French Catalonia and situated just twelve miles from the Spanish border.
From: I was born in Philadelphia, PA. At the age of three, my family moved to South Jersey, first to Cherry Hill and then to Willingboro (where I grew up). After high school, I attended Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts and then went to the College of William and Mary in Virginia, where I graduated with an MBA. I stayed in Virginia (Williamsburg, then Richmond) from 1991 until I moved to France in 2018.
Occupation: I am a life coach specializing in helping people transition smoothly into life in a foreign country. I take my clients through a series of activities that helps them create a clear and captivating vision of their future life abroad, replace disempowering beliefs with empowering ones, shift their identity to that of a thriving expat, and develop and execute their move abroad plan using my signature online curriculum and coaching and mentoring calls (either in a group or one-on-one setting).
Tell us your first three jobs (ever!): My first job was as a waitress at Denny’s restaurant. When I think about that experience, it conjures up images of that ugly brown, polyester uniform and that horrible smell of grease it absorbed. My second job was as a member of the “shopping service” team at the Six Flags Great Adventure Amusement Park. I was paid to shop and surveil the cashiers at the stands throughout the park. In other words, I was undercover security. That was a lot of fun and such a thrill when we nabbed someone skimming off the top. My third job (my first one after I earned my Economics degree) was as a Management Trainee for an automotive fleet leasing company. It’s a job my intuition guided me NOT to take, but sadly, I didn’t listen. As a result, I spent nine hard months at a job and in an organization that was not right for me.
Zodiac sign: Capricorn
What do you love about Greece? The antiquity. There is so much history there and just thinking about what transpired there simply amazes me.
Tell us something most people don’t know about you: I dabble with playing the flute. I played it throughout middle and high school and then put it down for decades. I picked it up a few years ago and even took lessons here for two years. Now I play when the urge hits me.
Tell us your top tip to combat climate change: Plant a tree or participate in tree-planting initiatives. Trees absorb CO2, helping to mitigate climate change, not to mention they are so beautiful.
Anything else you’d like us to know?:
While I hadn’t always known of or believed in my own inner power, my midlife awakening (uprooting my life and settling in France at age 51) has brought me to a place where I do believe in it and embrace it wholeheartedly. It’s a force that we all possess, believe it or not, and I’m passionate about helping people recognize theirs because having an awareness of and a faith in this vital energy is the key to living with intention, purpose, and joy.
Learn more about Patricia or follow her on YouTube.