I Built a Business That Ran While I Sailed Across an Ocean.
The Story
Brooke Elder is a mom, wife, and entrepreneur who has built and sold multiple 7-figure businesses — all while raising and homeschooling four kids. Her journey hasn't been about choosing between personal fulfillment and business achievement. It's been about creating alignment where every part of life works together.
In 2007, Brooke launched her first web development and marketing agency while her kids were still young, learning to balance motherhood with entrepreneurship from day one. She spent nearly a decade building websites for small businesses and saw the same pattern over and over: talented founders buried under operational chaos, held hostage by manual processes and systems that lived in one person's head.
In 2016, she founded a coaching business for network marketers and scaled it to seven figures in just 18 months, growing a team of 27 employees. But Brooke wasn't interested in building something that depended on her. She pioneered a bot coaching system and automated her operations so effectively that she reduced her team from 27 to 6 — years before AI became a buzzword. The company was eventually acquired by a network marketing company.
Along the way, she also developed CRM software for network marketers and launched a virtual assistant agency specializing in social media, funnels, and systems support.
Then came the ultimate proof of concept. Brooke and her husband sold their dream house and possessions, bought a sailboat in South Africa, and sailed across the Atlantic Ocean — living in the Caribbean for a year. The AI-powered systems she had built didn't just survive; they performed. The business ran without her.
Today, through Operations Elevated, Brooke helps operations professionals discover their own alignment — transforming from task executors to strategic partners. She believes that true success isn't about grinding harder. It's about building a business that becomes a vehicle for your values, not a competitor to your life. As she puts it: “When you seek and allow joy, you keep an infinite amount of wind in your sails.”
Strategy First. AI Second. Every Time.
There is no shortage of people selling AI as a silver bullet. Brooke is not one of them. Her core belief is blunt and unfashionable: technology without strategy is just expensive noise. Before a single automation is built, before a single AI agent is deployed, the operations have to be right. The processes have to be mapped, the decision trees have to be clear, and the humans have to know what “good” looks like.
That is why every engagement starts with operational strategy — understanding how work actually flows through a business, where the bottlenecks live, and which tasks genuinely benefit from automation versus which ones just need a better checklist. Only after the foundation is solid does the AI layer get introduced.
The result is infrastructure that lasts. Not a demo that impresses for a week and breaks the moment something unexpected happens, but a system that handles edge cases, scales with growth, and frees the humans to do the work that actually requires a human. That is the standard. That is what Brooke builds.
How We Can Help
Three ways to work with us, depending on where you are and where you want to go.
Strategic AI Crew
A community for business owners and operators who want to leverage AI-powered systems. Get access to training, resources, and a network of professionals navigating the future of operations.
Learn MoreAligned Ops Certification
A comprehensive certification program teaching operations professionals strategic business planning using 7-figure proven methods. Transform from task executor to strategic partner.
Learn MoreStrategic Hiring
Matchmaking that connects business owners with the right operations professionals. Find your strategic partner through our vetted network of certified operators.
Learn MoreReady to Build Something That Runs Without You?
Whether you need a strategic partner or a community of operators, the next step starts here.