Amber Brandner (NRS’11) builds her life around experiences, traveling frequently and immersing herself in the minds and lives of those whose stories she helps craft. Through social media, video production, live events, and design, she looks for ways to connect people and businesses through thoughtful, experience-based touchpoints. 

“Look at the popularity of video storytelling,” Brandner says, speaking from one of her home bases in San Diego, California. In a few days, she’ll be back in Chicago, closer to her family in Indiana and some of the businesses she’s working with at the moment. “Every time a new medium comes along, we get the opportunity to redefine our story; and we are our stories. The stories we share through social media conversations, through video — we’re infusing what we value into the world.”

Her work has taken her around the country and globe, as she’s created and delivered content for KPBS (San Diego’s NPR and PBS affiliate), Geek Girl, TEDx, Sony, and the University of San Diego, among others.  

Heidi Rataj, a documentary and podcast producer, worked with Brandner on her documentary series Re’flect, which examines how six older adults are aging successfully. It has expanded into discussion panels and forums nationwide. “Amber recognizes the need to listen, collaborate, and generate ideas from everyone in the room,” Rataj says. “Her success lies in her high level of curiosity of the common narrative.”

Brandner shares that her life used to be a bit more predictable. A nursing graduate, she worked as an RN for eight years before leaving on an extended overseas trip. The time away changed her perspective and allowed her to develop her creative skills. “In life, we change if we’re willing to,” she says. “I had never taken the time to explore myself or my passions.”

Having combined her passion for communication with entrepreneurship, she found a new opportunity when Andres Schabelman, an investor and startup mentor, asked her to join a technology venture. The collaboration led to the founding of their company, trippin, which aims to connect people through travel and the sharing of geocentric knowledge. Expanding on online review systems currently used by other sites, the platform allows users to make suggestions for others and share experiences in real time rather than through written reviews after the fact. 

“We are building an app for the modern traveler,” Schabelman says. “One thing we wholeheartedly believe in is that the best way to get to know a person is to get to know how they explore. Amber’s idea to add lenses into the app so that you can literally see the world through other people’s eyes is revolutionary.”

For more than a year, Brandner has been living the development of trippin, working with Schabelman and other team members to ready the platform for launch. “The hope is that it leads to people experiencing more about themselves,” she says. “The world is full of a lot of discouraging stories. That can take our hope and crush it. I’m interested in maintaining the human connection between ourselves and the world around us.”