Female Disruptors: Carly Brasseux of ‘Miss Pursuit’ On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
Go. Just go. Planning is great, but if you focus too much on perfection, you’ll never step forward. Build a website. Start an Instagram page. Write an article. Go. My friends continued to encourage me to start sharing my adventures. My Instagram grew from 0 to 5,000+ in 6 months.
As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Carly Brasseux, Owner and Founder of Miss Pursuit.
Carly Brasseux is a determined and passionate business owner and social media/marketing consultant, published author, and freelance outdoor writer based in Texas. In a world where women are the fastest-growing segment of the hunting population, she is a major proponent of those women who want to learn more about the outdoors and hunting. Her handle, Miss Pursuit, is an expression of her enthusiasm for all things outdoors, from educating women through her experiences learning to hunt over the last decade, to getting out with her kids to explore the wild.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
I’m definitely a normal, city girl who just happened to become a little outdoorsy once I started hunting with my husband. I didn’t grow up hunting and I’ve never been a tomboy or outdoorsy.
I learned very quickly that my husband was going to hunt with or without me and I figured, if you can’t beat ’em, you better join ’em. My hunting journey started because I wanted to connect with my husband. But really, I found myself through the pursuit.
I learned to love all things outdoors and here I am!
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
I’m a woman in a male-dominated sport. Try being a woman who hunts big game. It can come with a few challenges. Women are the fastest-growing hunting demographic in the country. My goal is simple — to inspire women to pursue an extraordinary outdoor lifestyle by creating an online hub of information and inspiration through useful and inspiring content — expertly curated and tailor-made for our readers. My team of 18+ women from across the country, and two globally, are shaking-up the good ol’ boys club of hunting.
We are igniting a passion for the outdoors in women and sharing the intimate journey of women’s pursuits and their love for the outdoors. We’ve brought together a team of skilled contributors to communicate their knowledge of an outdoor lifestyle through a relatable and engaging approach.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I hired someone in a far, far away country to do my website super cheap — like CHEAP! You know the old saying, “you get what you pay for?” Well, I did; it was a disaster. I ended up having to pay double to get it back in shape and where I wanted it. If it’s too good to be true… then it’s literally not good enough for your business. Invest a bit. It’ll pay off.
We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
As I started my journey, I quickly joined women’s hunting and fishing Facebook Groups and organizations. I started writing for the Exotic Wildlife Association, ReelCamo Girl and Huntress View. I reached out to like-minded women through social media. Each woman and group helped me, taught me and encouraged me.
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
Women are taking over the outdoors. The hunting industry has been slowly declining — which means a decline in conservation funds, a decline in healthy wildlife herds, and a strain on our ecosystem. Women are taking up arms and taking notice of the benefits of being outside and feeding our families healthy foods. We are the Chief Medical Officers, Chief Financial Officers and VP’s of our homes — which means this is our time to join in the ranks to mentor other women and children to get them outdoors supporting Mother Nature.
Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
Go. Just go. Planning is great, but if you focus too much on perfection, you’ll never step forward. Build a website. Start an Instagram page. Write an article. Go. My friends continued to encourage me to start sharing my adventures. My Instagram grew from 0 to 5,000+ in 6 months.
Pace yourself and build a foundation. A business doesn’t grow overnight. Build a foundation and it will happen. I didn’t start out with a team of 18 contributors. I continued to work on my site and wrote all the posts for two years before I brought on a team.
Grit. A little grit goes a long way. Don’t miss deadlines. Have your teammates back. Mental toughness and grit give you a clear goal to work towards every day.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
We’ll soon be launching digital products for women to learn and grow in all of their outdoor pursuits.
In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?
I think one of the biggest issues for the ladies in my field is a lack of mentorship. I’m blessed to have an experienced outdoorsman for a husband who not only includes me but patiently teaches me. Just like any other prospective hunter, angler, or outdoor enthusiast, sometimes we just need someone to put their arm around us and take us along.
Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?
The thing that’s had the deepest impact on my thinking isn’t a book, it isn’t a podcast or TED Talk, it’s friends, supporters, and my team members. They motivated me. They strategized with me. They pushed me up when I was down. They taught me things I didn’t know with patience — and that has been more impactful than anything.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
Get outside. Take your kids. Go solo. Try fishing, hiking, or camping. It’ll benefit you physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I always say I’ve stolen it from Nike, but just do it. Don’t be scared. Don’t piddle. Don’t waste time. If you want something — just do it.
How can our readers follow you online?
https://www.instagram.com/misspursuit
https://twitter.com/MissPursuit_TX
https://www.pinterest.com/misspursuit
https://www.facebook.com/MissPursuit
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
