How Two Years in the South Pacific Shaped My Business Journey & Strategy

When I was 25, I packed up my life and moved to the South Pacific Islands of Vanuatu to serve as a Peace Corps Business Volunteer for two years. I didn’t know then just how profoundly this experience would shape my path as an entrepreneur and now as a business advisor.

In Vanuatu, I lived in a small village with no running water, no internet, and no modern conveniences. My work focused on supporting local entrepreneurs, many of them women, with everything from financial literacy to building sustainable business plans using only the resources available on the island.

I learned what it truly means to build with limited tools, to communicate across languages and cultures, to lead with humility rather than authority, and to innovate with the whole community in mind. There was no hustle culture- just deep listening, creative problem-solving, and the daily practice of resilience.

Those two years grounded me in what business is really about: people, purpose, and progress. It laid the foundation for launching my own companies and now shapes how I support women business owners as a business advisor.

Strategy matters- but so does heart. Especially when you’re building something from the ground up.

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Hi, I'm Brianna “Bre” Russell Certified Business Advisor with Cultivate Advisors & Founder of FemThrive

I support women business owners scale and grow. Schedule a complimentary advising session with me today.