_Brook McCarthy is a writer and marketer specialising in yoga and the wellbeing sector.

Starting with impertinent questions during high school religious classes, Brook went on to graduate with a Comparative Religious Studies degree from Sydney University in 1999. It was at university that Brook discovered meditation and was initiated into mantra meditation by a Hindu Tantric monk, attracted by the promise of samadhi delivering 'a permanent drugless high'. A year later Brook discovered yoga which prompted further interest in other natural and alternative therapies.

In between her university studies, travels to the Indian subcontinent, and a two-year stint as a small group tour leader in South-East Asia, Brook worked in Public Relations. Public Relations acquainted her with the excitement, immediacy and measurability of online communications. She also gained useful print media skills, working briefly in magazine publishing.

In 2006, she returned to university to complete a Masters in International Studies and, in February 2008, took the plunge and established her own business - Yoga Reach. Now, in tandem with running Yoga Reach, Brook teaches yoga and meditation - something she's done since 1998.

Brook aims to communicate with skill and flair to ensure her clients' messages cut through the everyday clutter. Regular tasks include search engine optimised writing, web articles, advertising copy, email newsletter publishing and online community management for clients' social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter. She also spends far too much time Tweeting on behalf of Yoga Reach. Brook is giving a DIY online marketing workshop in Sydney in February - hope to meet you there!

(PS: the picture is bambini yogini Brook with her Mum on their way to yoga. Yep, yoga in leotards.)