Brooks Bell

Entrepreneur

Brooks started her firm, Brooks Bell, in the early 2000s to help bring a data-driven mindset to digital marketing departments. Companies like AOL, Comcast and Washington Post quickly hired her team. Today, her goal has expanded: to help companies 'discover the people behind the data' using advanced analytics, optimization and personalization, and she continues to work with top tier brands such as American Express, BlackRock and Intercontinental Hotels Group. In the last 5 years, her team has generated more than $1B in value for leaders in retail, financial services, media, and technology. In January 2019, Brooks was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer at age 38. She underwent 6 months of surgeries and chemotherapy, putting her cancer into remission. During that time, she learned of the shocking rise of colorectal cancer in young people, as well as the unique ability for people to detect - and prevent - colorectal cancer up to 10 years before they may get it. Brooks launched two programs in 2019, 50 Colonoscopies Under 50, and CheckOutMyAss.org, to help spread awareness and demand for colorectal cancer prevention. Brooks is also passionate about building communities that encourage entrepreneurial thinking. In 2011, she co-founded HQ Raleigh, now the largest co-working community in Raleigh that helps empower, foster, and cultivate companies that produce long-term job growth and positive social impact. A native of Alaska, Brooks earned her B.A. from Duke University in 2001.

preventing colon cancer and increasing demand for colonoscopies

What if there was a 30-minute painless procedure that you get every decade that would virtually eliminate your risks for a top 2 deadly cancer and that is also one of the most common? What if this cancer was sky-rocketing in young people and predicted to double in the next decade? What if a top barrier to addressing it was a simple taboo? This is colon cancer. More people die of colon cancer than breast or prostate. And it's one of the most preventable cancers out there. Yet it has a fraction of the funding and awareness because of established stigmas and taboos surrounding it. The idea worth spreading is that a colonoscopy is about prevention, not detection. Here's why: 98% of colon cancer starts as a polyp in your gut. They have no symptoms and can grow for up to a decade undetected. Up to 1 in 3 people have a precancerous polyp by their 50th birthday. 5 - 30% of them eventually become cancerous. The only way to find and remove a polyp is a colonoscopy. This means that colonoscopies should be used to find polyps, not just cancer. We should be #polypcurious in our 30s and get our first colonoscopy far sooner than currently practiced. There are many barriers to break down: insurance, cost, stigmas, and taboos. Many doctors feel that this would be unnecessary use of our health system, but they are depending on outdated data and models. A colonoscopy is a wonderful privilege for older people, and it should be affordable and available to young people, if they want it. Polyps are becoming more common in younger and younger people, and colon cancer is only a few years behind - increasingly likely before we have the opportunity to celebrate our 50th birthday.

A/B Testing, Colon Cancer Prevention, Leadership

RV'ing in my Airstream, and driving a truck.