Lil' AutoBrie-ography

To become a trusted source, I have to tell you who I am! Here's a more in-depth introduction for myself.

Since we have lots of new subscribers this last week, it felt like a good time to tell you how I ended up here, writing about the perspective of unwealthy citizens during what feels like the slow-motion collapse of American democracy. Before that though…

Y’ALL. There are 1800 of you here?!?!?! The honor. The PRIVILEGE! From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU :)

I grew up in Delaware, moved to Arizona at 18, and graduated from ASU with a Communication degree in 2014. Pretty standard stuff, right? But here's where it gets interesting: I've spent the last decade watching the gap between the wealthy and everyone else keep getting bigger and bigger, all while working my way through various jobs - from restaurants (age 16-24) to property management and marketing (24-33). I had a real estate license there for a while, helped coordinate events for 10,000+ people, and was even a board member of a local Chamber of Commerce. It was a privilege to meet people UP AND DOWN the spectrum of rich and poor, left and right, black and white… and the more people I met, the clearer that wealth gap was in real life, too.

You know what a decade of working those jobs teaches you? The American Dream isn't just on life support - it's been DNR for a while now (I’d imagine lots of other jobs teach you the same). We're living in a country where the well-being of citizens matters less than quarterly profits, where "freedom" means the freedom to choose which bills to pay this month, and where the ultra-wealthy have more power than entire communities of working people combined.

2024 tried its best to break me. Lost my aunt, grandma, cousin, left a job I thought I’d have forever, had some emergency back surgery, grieved the crumbling of a few relationships, and dealt with the kind of financial struggles that make you question every life choice you've ever made. But here's the thing about hitting rock bottom: you get a really clear view of the system from down here… and being poor is a learned skill I acquired long ago.

My ADHD brain, which has its challenges, actually turns out to be a superpower when you're trying to connect dots across decades of policy decisions and scanning economic data. My panic disorder? Keeps me acutely aware of the stakes we're facing and vigilant about unplugging. My trauma? Ensures I’ll never judge a person at face value, but I’ll absolutely judge how they treat others, and the human and ethical argument will always be a factor to me. I’m also diplomatic by nature and try my best by default to see both sides of an issue. My Communication degree? Taught me how to build my views on, and pass along, credible sources. They walked us through data analysis too! There is NOTHING I love more than a good faith argument from the other side to make me see an issue in a whole new light! All these lived experiences… These aren't weaknesses - they're unique qualifiers for documenting this moment in history.

I'm nobody special. I'm just one of millions of Americans who are tired of pretending everything's fine when it's clearly not. To ask citizens to call this shit “freedom” is gaslighting at its highest level. I’m capable of spreading credible information and connecting you with resources to help you form your own opinions, and since I can, I’m gonna… I went viral on TikTok in 2020 making commentary videos about America, grew that page to 205,000 followers, and then sold it in November 2024 because I needed to step back and figure out what actually matters.

This is where I’ve landed, y’all: Wealth starts with "We." We The People create the wealth of this country with our time, our sweat, our labor, our attention, and our economic activity. A better standard of living isn't just possible - it's being actively prevented. We're being asked to struggle for basic needs with basically no social safety nets, while billionaires play space cowboys with our tax dollars.

I've got some core beliefs that drive everything I write:

• America is NOT great - America's people are great. There's a difference, and it matters.

• We desperately need common-sense caps on capitalism to prevent ultra-wealthy citizens from having more power than the rest of us combined.

• If the vast majority of freedom's luxuries are economically out of reach, we're not really free.

When I'm not diving deep into political analysis or crafting content, I'm hanging out with my border collie Luna (adopted her in 2018 - best decision ever), working on rebuilding my health after that lovely back surgery adventure, or planning my eventual escape to Ensenada in 2026 (girl can dream). Because let's be real - sometimes you have to completely start over to build something better. I’m a lifelong fan of Jeopardy!, speak an above-average amount of Spanish (not fluent yet, my own fault), and competed internationally in piano as a kid. I live with two roommates, two cats, two dogs, a snake, and the occasional teenagers. I was an antiracist before knowing there was a word for it, and I have damn-near whole episodes of both Frontline and SpongeBob memorized.

I started The Brie-fing because I wanted to serve my country by telling the truth about what it's like down here in the trenches of late-stage capitalism. This isn't meant to be just another newsletter - it's a voice for the economically oppressed, a platform for truth-telling, and a community for those who believe in the possibility of a better America.

If you're tired of the elite controlling the narrative, if you're ready for some unfiltered, well-researched commentary from someone who's living through this mess in real-time and is plugged-in af to the news, you're in the right place. I promise to always talk my shit, but more importantly, I promise to always show my sources.

Let's document this shitshow together. 💪