Baltimore, M.D. When young Shelley Brown’s secret journal was discovered by her preteen classmates, she found herself on a rollercoaster to a freight train down a rabbit hole. Like many, she then spent decades trying to fit in and get off the ride.
In her new book Weird Girl Adventures from A to Z, Brown’s escapades entertain audiences with her witty, sometimes angst-filled and often hilarious stories about real life. Through her childhood of pink possibilities to countless misfortunes of the hair, body and beauty kind, and a string of lookin’ for love in all the wrong online places, Brown discovers along the way that she no longer had to be who others thought she should be.
With boldly titled chapters including, “Ooops, there goes my vagina,” “Miss Diagnosed,” and “The girl draggin’ the tattoos,” Brown produces a “compilation of sweet, salty and deliciously snack-sized tales that will make you laugh, cry, nod and, most of all, celebrate your own weirdness,” states Leslie Ehm, WSJ, USA Today and Amazon #1 bestselling author of Swagger.
A fusion of Erma Bombeck meets Sex in the City, Weird Girl Adventures is “Equal parts honest, raw, funny, and empowering,” says Laura Gassner Otting, WashPost bestselling author of Limitless.
A corporate strategist who spent 25 years practicing the fine arts of mergers, acquisitions, downsizings, public-private transitions, acts of God, performance reviews, KPIs, workplace cultures, and more, marathon runner Brown kept her weird to herself until her vertebrae collapsed, forcing her to rethink who she was, and why. Through this adversity, she tapped into her own fearlessness to take the stage with her innovative W.E.I.R.D. program, a fun, engaging session designed to teach corporate leaders and employees how to be the drivers of their own awareness so they can be more effective, productive, and present. Her popularity and repeated requests for her stories prompted Brown to pen her first book, Weird Girl Adventures From A to Z.
“Weird Girl Adventures is filled with stories that will have you laughing so hard you’re going to pee, crying because you feel all the FEELS, nodding because, hell yeah, you think the same thing,” states Teresa Quinlan, founder of IQ+ EQ+TQ
“Shelley Brown shows us how to cherish ourselves with all the quirks that make us beautiful humans,” says Jeanette Bronée, culture strategist, author and speaker.
REVIEWS
“The first time I heard Shelley speak it took about two seconds before I realized how beautifully bizarre she was. Then I read this book and it confirmed everything twice over. I would write whatever Shelley asked me to but after reading this, I will NEVER get a massage with her.” —CHRIS TREW, author How to Build a Comedy Scene from Scratch
“Shelley Brown is all about authenticity. Come as you are. Be as you are. Accept who you are. Weird Girl Adventures is filled with stories that will have you laughing so hard you’re GOING to pee, crying because you feel all the FEELS, nodding because HELL YEAH you think the same thing, gasping because it’s just so wild it can’t possibly be TRUE and yet it is true, and BECOMING empowered to lean just a little bit further into your weird.” —TERESA QUINLAN, founder of IQ+ EQ+TQ
“If you ever thought you might be weird and it has left you doubting yourself, hiding who you are, or feeling disconnected from others, you are not alone. Most of us grow up thinking we have to be like others to fit in, to belong, when really we have to be ourselves to feel at home in the company of others. Shelley Brown shines a fresh light on the judgment we might have been left with after experiences that didn’t quite fit what we expected, and shows us how to cherish ourselves with all the quirks that make us beautiful humans.” —JEANETTE BRONÉE, Rethinker, culture strategist, author and speaker.
“A collection of short essays full of inspiration, reality, and humor, Shelley Brown’s book will bring sensations of nostalgia and relief. Nostalgia for the aspects of childhood you remember as good and hopeful, and relief to be in a place where you know you can choose to move forward, to be different from who you were as a child and young adult, to be mindful of where you are now and comfortable with your past. I could read these all day, over and over again.” —SARAH ELKINS, chief storymaker, Elkins Consulting Inc
“Calling all the weird ones! Proof positive that you’re not alone. Shelley Brown’s compilation of sweet, salty and deliciously snack-sized tales will make you laugh, cry, nod, and most of all celebrate your own weirdness.” —LESLIE EHM, WSJ, USA Today and Amazon #1 bestselling author of Swagger
“Shelley brings to light the fact that our differences and our weird is truly what connects us. She opens up her wonderful world of weird to us in short snippets of her beautiful and complex life. We all feel shame, regret, joy, elation, and dis-appointment. Shelley affirms that in these margins we truly can celebrate our humanity. As an ER physician, I’ve seen so many mental health crises. Framing our mind-set the way Shelley does, through celebrating and allowing our weird, is a step in the right direction to healing our souls.” —ERICA LOCKE, MD, FAAEM, FAAFP
Shelley Brown’s Weird Girl Adventures is quirky, witty, charming and the perfect fit for any woman who’s ever felt out of place in her own skin. Weird Girl Adventures is the chicken soup we all need right now. —LINDSAY SUTHERLAND BOAL, founder, SHE WALKS, women’s life & purpose coach
“A refreshingly quirky collection of stories that hold a mirror up for us to recall the weird moments of our own lives, reminding us that the strange little tidbits of things remembered are to be embraced as they shaped us—for better or worse—yet we decide what defines us. Brilliant!” —JULIE SCOTT, self expansion coach, speaker, author
“Ready for a big ole slice of humble pie ala mode? Served up with a side of hilarity and nostalgia and a whole bunch of I-can-relate? Then you’re in the right club. Shelley Brown pulls the curtain back for those of us who never quite fit in, who are a special kind of weird, those of us who have spent a lifetime ready for a book like this—a book of tales to celebrate the weirdness that dwells in us all. Liberating! Powerful!” —JENNI JO, Tension Tamer®, Massage Therapist to the Rockstars
“If you’ve ever felt that you were alone in your not-fitting-in-ness, your why does this only happen to me-ness, or your . . . weirdness, then Shelley Brown wrote this delightful book just for you. This vignette-filled tour of her charming, tragic, alarming, and often laugh-out-loud world, she shows us all how being weird—and loving what that looks like for you—is the key to living a full and altogether human life.” —TAMSEN WEBSTER, founder and chief message strategist, Find the Red Thread
“Shelley Brown captures the essence of what it means to be human with her beautiful, poignant, funny, and lyrical voice. We all have that thing that makes us unique and different, yet we all want to fit in and be like others. What makes us truly connect with others is allowing ourselves to be who we are, allowing others to be their true selves. This is what Shelley calls ‘our weird.’ I’ll take it!” —KATE MACKINNON, Feng Shui expert, speaker, TedX 2020, mentor
“To be human is to embrace our imperfection. This book so beauti-fully invites people to understand that our uniqueness is our competitive advantage.” —BRYAN KRAMER, author of Human-to-Human, TED speaker
“Equal parts honest, raw, funny, and empowering, Weird Girl Adven-tures is a call to action for those who are caught in betwixt and in between who they are and who the world expect them to be. If you are struggling to live your truth, let Shelley Brown ignite your path.” —LAURA GASSNER OTTING, WashPost bestselling author of Limitless