ABOUT ME
MY STORYThis 2000s baby is changing the landscape of consulting with her can-do attitude and vision of accessibility, autonomy, and artistry for all.
Caroline Krolicki was raised with two foundational values: education and hard work above all else. She joined the workforce in her teenage years and knew early on that people learn the most from the school of life, not from obtaining a piece of paper.
Caroline’s approach to business is sensationally simple: where there’s a will, there’s a way. With technological innovations and the wealth of information at our literal fingertips, businesses can be small, mighty, and cost-savvy.
Her craving for creativity, combined with her appetite for reciprocal abundance, makes Caroline a powerful partner in all things behind the scenes.
Caroline looks out for entrepreneurs because she is one. Her dream is to leave a wake of empowered, successful, independent small businesses backed and built by a powerhouse of trusted freelancers. Everyone is capable of taking charge of their future. And yes, we’re looking at you ;).
With that in mind, she pursued her passion instead of a paycheck in her higher education. Her time spent in classrooms was dedicated to the arts, while her time in the professional world was spent scaling the org chart.
Climb after climb, she realized the only difference between the top and the bottom was the belief in one’s self. Startup after startup, it was clear she thrived on the ground floor of budding businesses. And consultant after consultant, she watched the “experts” overcharge and underdeliver.
WHY "THE BUSINESS BRAT"?If you’re anything like Caroline’s family, you may be asking yourself why anyone would call themselves a “brat,” especially in a professional setting. Besides the yummy alliteration “The Business Brat” brings with a splash of spunk, there are alternate motivations behind this emboldened branding.
"Nobody wants to work these days."
"Nobody wants to work these days."
"We want to work for ourselves."
"We want to work for ourselves."
Gen Z gets a bad wrap, but the best toys. Early 2000s babies could all be categorized by their choice of doll company: Barbie, Polly Pocket, American Girl, or Bratz. No doll of choice was free of stigma or sweeping generalizations, but Bratz girls got the brunt of it. These fashion-forward dolls were ridiculed for their pouty lips, outrageous fits, and extravagant glitz. In 20/20 hindsight, these fashionistas were merely misunderstood icons ahead of their time—emblems of uniqueness and authenticity in the decades to come.
Gen Z is the Bratz of the century. Labeled as unwilling to work, valuing aesthetics over ambition, and constantly pitted against the Barbie Boomers, Gen X American Girl dolls, and Polly Pocket Millenials.
The truth is Gen Z is seeking purpose, value, and self-expression. Traditional 9-5s and devoting their lives to someone else’s dream but never their own is a way of life Gen Z will never comply with.
With the help of pop culture movements like ‘Brat Summer,’ Gen Z is rebranding brat from entitled and whiny to empowered and unapologetic.
Nostalgia
2. Authenticity
To Caroline, being a ‘brat’ means showing up as her authentic self in every room, every time. Like all subjective things, she’s not for everyone. She knows exactly who she is, what she wants, and what she’s capable of. To some, those qualities are synonymous with the less favorable definition of a brat. And that’s okay, too.
To those who understand her, she’s refreshingly honest, kind, and hard-working.
She hyper-fixates on pop culture podcasts “for smart people who love dumb stuff” and has pop icons in her Spotify wrapped every year.
She absolutely wants to see pictures of your cat/dog/baby/anything cute on your camera roll.
She starts every morning with a cappuccino and is on a never-ending search for the perfect chocolate croissant.
She’s a lifelong learner and a lover girl.
She cries a lot and says too much, not always in the right way.
But her authenticity is her magic, and it’s contagious. Everything that makes her authentically herself is what makes her a bada** in the business world.
