Support Brenna’s Career Transition

Hi, everyone!

My name is Brenna Kamppi. I’ve been a dedicated service industry worker for about a decade, now.

I’ve worked at several bars and restaurants in my career, but most recently, for about five years, Liberty Bar in Capitol Hill has been my home.

Four months ago, I was presented with the opportunity to begin a massive career shift — becoming an Office Assistant at an Elementary School in Rainier Beach.

This has come up for me before — switching careers into schools. But, I hadn’t been ready until now.

Two years ago, I woke up with a hangover after a night of blacking out while drinking. It wasn’t the worst one I’d ever experienced… but it was the last. For some reason, that particular hangover struck a chord in me, and I never wanted to feel that way again.

Drinking was damaging my relationships. It was wreaking havoc on my mental health. It was inhibiting my growth and honestly, it was disguising parts of myself that I was too scared to face.

Flash forward two years: and here we are. Two years of sobriety under my belt. Two years of unmasking the DECADE LONG safety measures I’d put in place to self-medicate and manage my AuDHD brain. Two years of confronting decades old trauma that I’d never really been able to approach. There are so many reasons I was drinking. So many good reasons, if I’m being honest.

But sobriety (or, really, just changing my relationship with drinking) has opened up the door to connect with myself and my community on a deeper, more intentional level. And through that intention, of course I was brought back to my roots — being in schools.

I spent sooooo much time in school growing up. It was my safe-haven and my life-force. To return to this particular setting is really a full-circle, heartwarming endeavor.

okay okay okay, now that you have some context, here is my ask:

if you are in a financial place to send some money my way, as I navigate this transition, I would be honored and so, so appreciative.

We ALL feel the impact of how expensive this city is, and it’s just… it’s hard to survive. The cost of living is astronomical, and I don’t know a SINGLE person who is thriving in a financial sense. Then again, most of my friends and community members are bartenders, chefs, musicians, artists, etc… but we deserve to feel financially safe and secure, too.

I’ve been struggling to pay my rent for the last couple of months, with working less hours at the bar and training for my new position at school. To be honest, for the last year or so I have been falling behind on bills and other financial obligations. Financial literacy is something I am working on actively, and how my neurotype and money and resource-related trauma affects my ability to stay on top of everything I should be.

With my new pay schedule at my new full-time position at BF Day Elementary School (yes, I got the job!) we don’t actually get paid for our first month of work until October 1st. So that leaves me money-less for the next couple of weeks. If you think “why don’t you just use your savings” — I wish I was able to maintain one. But most of it went to vet bills for Winnie and supporting myself through my cut in pay.

Anyway, thank you for listening, if you have made it this far. I am so deeply appreciative of my community and the way they have held me through my many iterations of self. I am unbelievably excited to give back and become a public-school worker. And I will deeply, deeply miss my job as a bartender. ♥️

25% of whatever money I raise will split between a friend’s top surgery fund and the Lavender Rights Project, or a comparable organization that supports black, trans folks.

love you, thank you ♥️♥️♥️

(if you’d prefer a more direct donation, my Venmo is @bumblebeebrenna)