For Bronté, a transplant to DC from the Midwest and mother of three, this is an exciting time in her career. She has triumphed over a very difficult background fraught with manipulation and violence. After spending years confined to her home, she has successfully completed a year in a digital marketing role—something she never imagined possible just a few years ago. Her journey has met tremendous adversity. As she manages the process of ongoing court battles, she is still emotionally recovering from evading a dangerous and controlling marriage.
Bronté’s late husband had exerted extreme power over her life. From an early age, she faced restrictions that limited her independence, including being married before her 18th birthday and being expected to focus solely on household duties. He almost immediately began to discourage her from pursuing any job interviews or opportunities. Further, he made significant financial commitments without her knowledge or input. This loss of autonomy caused Bronté to feel imprisoned and robbed of agency over her future.
Bronté had only just begun to face her fear. Continuing to operate with courage of conviction, she moved out on her own, leaving her husband behind and taking her two children along with her. This decision followed dozens of instances of considering running away but eventually faltering as a result of economic instability. Her husband, being the first primary breadwinner of the household, took complete control of all finances. This left Bronté without training or career experience and no confidence or experience in financial literacy.
Having severed ties with the confining community of her upbringing, Bronté has found strength on her own terms. Today she courageously builds her new life as a single mom, with continuous court hearings still to come. These legal fights brought further pressures to an incredibly strained transition. Undeterred, though, neither would Bronté’s ambition to escape the low-life in St. Louis and provide her children with more opportunities.
To support her move into the workforce, Bronté was connected with CASY, a not-for-profit that focuses on teaching job skills. She graduated from a cohort in the Humans of Purpose Academy. This training gave her the job-ready skills that you need to clear the way for your first digital marketing career. It was during this training that Bronté experienced a turning point in her life. It turned out to be the launch pad she required to rejoin the workforce after over a decade out of it.
Bronté’s path through the academy was not an individual one. She stood alongside 63 other women, all 64 of them ready to restore their freedom and create new lives for themselves outside of their pasts. Among these women, 22 have successfully secured six-month work placements following their training—a testament to the program’s effectiveness in empowering individuals to transition into meaningful employment.
Bronté is currently working part-time supporting NICO in digital marketing, and she has never felt so frei and industrious in all her life. While she still receives some financial support from Centrelink, her goal is clear: she aims to work full-time, increase her earnings, and eventually become financially independent. The hope of one day being free from government support is what pushes her to keep working while she juggles being a mom and an entrepreneur.
Bronté Bristol, the new poet laureate of Indianapolis, reflects on her year of accomplishments so far. She knows what a long way she’s come since fleeing her former life. She is now doing very well in her first full-time digital marketing position. It’s a remarkable reversal from the strictures her husband used to enforce on her. That hands-on expertise was the result of the cutting-edge skills training she experienced. It also gave them something more important — a confidence that had been repressed for too long.
Bronté’s story is a remarkable testament to the power of overcoming adversity and embracing personal power. While her determination to defy the odds is inspiring, it highlights the importance of support systems and advocates. They foil abusers and allow survivors the autonomy to escape oppressive situations. The Humans of Purpose Academy was central to this transition. They provided training that equipped women such as Bronté with skills to succeed in a dynamic, 21st century workforce.
