Brave Enterprises studies fear in order to activate bravery in people. We help people maximize their performance in life, work, sport, and school by facing and navigating fear, adversity and uncertainty. We are inspired by vetted science and bring it to life for groups and individuals through an electric and active session. The interactive session work offers repetitive practice in distress management, active listening, personal expression, collaboration, and risk taking.
External link for Brave Enterprises
90 W Broadway
New York, US
Working with school leaders, teachers, and kids is the BEST. Thank you Abigail Greer, Ed.D for Activating with us!
I couldn’t be more thankful (or exhausted) after the last 48 hours of work with Brave Enterprises and the 10th graders from Bishop McNamara High School .
We love the work we do. It’s especially great when we get in the rooms with people who love what they do and the athletes they work with. Our Founder Crista Samaras has been in the business of competence-building since she took her first gig coaching in 7th grade (she coached 6th graders!). The are so many people out there who have played with or for her. There are those who have encountered her or worked with her along the way who know that she stands for and values PASSION, BRAVERY, and EXPRESSION above all else. Thank you to Michele Dombrowski at The University of the South for bringing Brave to all female athletes and for capturing the value of our work at her institution. “My initial connections to BRAVE go back to Crista’s XTEAM days. Every single player we connected to through that program were strong leaders for us in addition to being ideal teammates. They were rockstars as people, and I still treasure their time here. Knowing Crista’s programming has had an impact on their lives for so long means I’ve definitely been keeping tabs and really wanted to bring BRAVE to a larger Sewanee population. As the mom of two teenage daughters, I also feel the value on an even deeper level. Confidence is absolutely my favorite word in regards to student-athlete development; it’s something we want our players to explore and grow in. Athletics pushes athletes beyond their comfort zones; the goal is to take the lessons learned on the field into their everyday lives. Sometimes that’s easy; a lot of the time, it is really hard. The Fun with Fear program was an energetic way for the athletes to explore tough concepts with their peers and do some hard self-reflection. The impact of having all of our women’s teams there at once was really special. There were a lot of smiles, many deep thoughts, and much to be proud of . . . so thank you BRAVE and thank you to our supporters and student-athletes for an amazing event. What sticks with me is seeing them embrace being empowered in such a large group as opposed to being intimidated…that they could find their voice and gain confidence in using it.”
The joy in bravery.
Founder, Brave Enterprises | Founder, BOOM Lab | Consultant/Advisor/Builder of proprietary, novel, science-based programming that activates your team.
How many kinds of joy can you see? The joy of learning. The joy of trying. The joy of teaching. The joy of screaming. The joy of reflecting. The joy of pumping people up. The joy of braving. Brave Enterprises is truly remarkable programming that comes to life because of our partners and our Activators. Thank you to our great and recurring partners since 2018 from Bishop McNamara High School and to our incredible fleet of Activators who lead with passion and love: Ashley Boles, PhD. Matthew Harris Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman Lakin Roland, MBA Charles Ruiz Naya Tapper, OLY Jasmine Docal Henry Sarah Fisher Sarah Lucas Jessy Morgan Cory Griffeth Xav H. Ella Harrison Kylie Loftis Let's brave, people!
Full body expression is power generated from bravery. Our session is called "FUN WITH FEAR" and it helps put people in positions to practice their bravery. So much of the impact relies on participants feeling the value of bravery over the sting of fear; and finding ways to try, to risk, to expand, and to express this work in their real lives. And still, we are stunned by the wisdom of NC State athletes in response to our question: What from the Brave Session can you use in real life? - Feeling good in my own skin. - Ways to cope and expect fear. - Being who I am no matter who I am around. - My voice and my strength. - Hyping other women up. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Thank you to the incredible female athletes at North Carolina State University, who showed up and out for the third year running. There is something so special being cultivated in NC State Athletics and we are grateful to kick off each year in Raleigh with bravery language, training, and community building.
Our work is led by joy and packed with data. We are on a mission to help people confront the reality of their lives and emotions right now with bravery.
Founder, Brave Enterprises | Founder, BOOM Lab | Consultant/Advisor/Builder of proprietary, novel, science-based programming that activates your team.
It's hard out there. With the rise of mental health issues and the pervasive nature of fear, Brave Enterprises is so grateful to get on campuses and create space for self-reflection that leads to self-expression. Our objectives are simple: - Guide people outside their comfort zones through joy - Make discovery of self the bedrock of their experience - Bear witness to the fulfillment of a community of people doing things they never thought they could/would The University of the South female athletes were fierce and vulnerable, they were packed with fervor and willing to get outside their comfort zones. Some notable impact data from this session with 200 female athletes: - 86% took brave action in the session - 100% witnessed brave action in the session - 12% increase in self-reported bravery - 14% increase in self-reported confidence Let's get back to how hard it is out there. For so many college students, more often for female-identifying college students, they do not go into our session FEELING as confident as their peers. In other words, they are at a self-identified confidence deficit. For this school, 23% of the female athletes (compared to only 6% of the male athletes we surveyed at this same school) said they were LESS confident than their peers, which results in confidence scores that are 38% lower than female athletes who say they feel AS or MORE confident than their peers. What we are MOST proud of is this statistic: In our 2-hour Brave session, confidence scores for the 23% of female athletes who felt LESS confident than their peers increased by 38% during our Brave session. Many people don't know what they might do with more bravery. But they KNOW what they would do with more confidence. What we know is that bravery is a lever to confidence. And, we are trying to get to as many people who want more of it as we can. Thank you to Ashley Boles, PhD. and Jasmine Docal Henry for Activating this big group and for Michele Dombrowski for helping to bring Brave Enterprises to Sewanee, Tennessee.
Jasmine Docal Henry is a game changer. Welcome back, Jasi!
After two amazing years, I’m moving on to the next chapter in my professional journey. Reflecting on my time with Command Education, I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to mentor some remarkable students. Watching them grow—whether through securing college admissions, launching innovative passion projects, or developing executive functioning skills—has been an incredibly fulfilling experience. As I move forward, I’m excited to announce that I’ll be rejoining Brave Enterprises as the Vice President of Operations. With a long-standing connection to Brave & Crista Samaras, this transition feels like coming home. Brave’s programming has impacted thousands—myself included! If your team, company, or classroom is looking to manage self-doubt, tackle obstacles, grow confidence, and chase goals, let me know! I’m eager to explore how we can work together.
Incredible opportunity with a great organization!
Extra, extra, read all about it - 2025 Summer Intensive Program (SIP) & Online Intensive Program (OIP) applications are now open! Check out our website for more information on eligibility for this year’s programs, application requirements and more. Ready to apply already? Click the link below to start telling us your story! https://lnkd.in/eEb2CXbA
Here's a Moneyball statistic for you: Those people who feel LESS confident than their peers have bravery and confidence scores that are significantly LOWER than people who feel AS or MORE confident than their peers. But, the same people who feel LESS confident than their peers leave our sessions feeling up to 3x more brave than they did before the session. Quick story: People who feel less brave and confident get up to 3x more brave and confident during our sessions. We love what we do.
The BE word has been around for a long time. Before she started Brave Enterprises, our Founder Crista Samaras' previous company was called Bounce Entertainment. This is where the concept of the BE word originated. It was designed to help people, kids especially, identify a strength in themselves they could celebrate, even if it felt too big or too difficult to embrace. The tagline of the original campaign was "You are who you are. So, BE it." and it featured some of the most influential people in lacrosse including Kyle Harrison (BE diverse.) Jen Adams (BE great.) Rachael Dececco (BE solid.) Cathy Samaras (BE outspoken.) David Morrow (BE hard. and BE soft.) Gretchen Lasda & Betty Hallmark (BE beautiful.) At Brave, we gave the BE word some direction and now it's featured as the 7th line of the Brave Pitch. People choose among the strengths they have in order to deploy it toward a goal they are currently chasing. The question we ask now is: What do you need to BE in order to continue to chase your goal? All artwork and ads were done by the incredible Amanda Pittenger. Crista sold Bounce Entertainment in 2014.
Young men are awesome, and eager, and fun, and brave. Observationally, we notice boys being very willing to take brave action with their bodies. In our work since 2016, they have always been like this. Before the pandemic, however, they were far less interested or willing to take the same leaps emotionally. Post-pandemic, we are finding that boys and young men come into the room to start learning our physical Brave drills, and quickly transfer the physical practice (high-5s, handshakes, pitch exchanges) to an emotional practice (extended answers on their worksheet, sharing vulnerably out loud, connecting over shared vulnerability with other guys in the room). The work with the inaugural group of guys attending Ready Set Row with Holly Austin was exceptional - they laughed, they learned, they braved. Some impact data: - 85% feel more brave than before the session - 84% took brave action in the session - 100% witnessed brave action in the session If you watch in this video, you see a guy who is fully expressing the story he built over the course of 90 minutes. You see his peers repeating his story, giving it back to him, and honoring who he is. Full of joy. Full of love. Full of truth.