RRFF and Next Step Connect Leaders Named in National Women's Leadership Book

ROUND ROCK, TEXAS — July 2, 2026 — The Round Rock Fire Foundation and Next Step Connect LLC are proud to announce that their leaders, Diedra Brownell and Sarah Talley, are featured authors in Luminaries: Women Leaders Who Light the Way, a national book releasing July 7, 2026 from Sulit Press.

Luminaries brings together 13 remarkable women writing about leadership forged in the places no one sees — voices from the military, medicine, public service, business, and the arts. Among them, Brownell and Talley represent the first responder family community, bringing a perspective that is rarely named and almost never headlined.

Brownell's chapter, "Incinerated," and Talley's chapter, "Unwanted Sacredness," appear back-to-back — the book's only true companion chapters. The two chapters approach the same first responder life from opposite sides of the front door. Talley writes from the threshold — the spouse at home on shift night, the marriage that nearly fractured before community and language put it back together. Brownell writes from inside the worst version of that story: the morning her daughter Bailey passed away, and what it means to lead a foundation, a family, and a community from inside a grief that does not resolve.

Together, their chapters carry a message that runs through the entire book: that the most powerful leadership often happens in the places no one sees. For the first responder community, that place is behind the front door — and this book finally names what happens there.

"There is a version of leadership people prefer because it is clean — the leader suffers, heals, learns, then leads from resolution. My life did not follow that sequence. Usefulness did not wait for wholeness. Leadership did not come after the grief. It took shape inside it."

— Diedra Brownell, in "Incinerated"

"This life can feel incredibly isolating at times. From day one, Diedra and I understood each other because we'd lived so many of the same experiences — and we shared a vision for what the fire service family experience could be. We've seen firsthand how transformative a strong, supportive culture can be, and we know it shouldn't be limited to one department."

— Sarah Talley

Both authors will appear together on August 6 at the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs Mansion in Austin for a public author's panel and book signing. The event is open to the public and will include a reception.

Luminaries: Women Leaders Who Light the Way will be available beginning July 7, 2026 from Sulit Press. Both authors are available for interviews, speaking engagements, and community events.