Brooke Cagle, founder of Segue Fort Smith, is changing the culture of connection, one friend at a time.
Brooke Cagle, founder of Segue Fort Smith (pronounced seg-way), sits at a table inside Fort Smith Coffee Company, her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. “When I was between the ages of sixteen to eighteen,” Brooke says, “I had a conceptual thought of creating a space for people to belong. Back then, I thought I wanted to start a music venue. Music ran through my veins; both my parents were DJs growing up.”
But six years ago, when she was temporarily living in Ames, Iowa, she had a dream that had nothing to do with music. By then, Brooke was a young adult, finding that friendships, which had arrived like the daily mail in her younger years, were becoming more elusive.
“I was ten hours from home, and for the first time, I was experiencing true loneliness.” Brooke concentrates, moving her cup in a small circle. “Anywhere you go, the people can either make it or break it. That’s what I found. If you don’t have community, your life can feel empty. I don’t think we’re meant to do life alone.”
In the dream, she saw the word segue, written with a straight line above the letter U. To her, it looked like a magnet attracting iron. A visual representation of two elements coming together. It was the perfect symbol for her plan. She’d create Segue social media pages to connect with others, typically from the ages of twenty-one to about forty-two, and then move the party to real life. Social gatherings would be held once a month. It would cost nothing to attend, and it would require nothing of attendees but their time. The only agenda? Friendship.
After waking, Brooke, a graphic designer and UAFS grad, sat down at her computer and created the Segue logo. When she shared her idea early on, the reaction wasn’t always positive. In a world that thrives on transactional interactions—you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours—her plan didn’t make sense. There was no money in it, for one thing. No affiliations with other organizations or businesses. No way to determine success other than trying to quantify the happiness factor. And who could do that?
Still, Brooke, a self-proclaimed extrovert, knew her plan would work, based on a past experience. After getting her degree, she moved to Fayetteville for a job. She’d known a few people there, but not many. It helped that Brooke enjoyed her own company. She wasn’t afraid to attend a party alone, travel alone, or go to a movie solo. But it wasn’t enough, so she reached out to young women in her church, who began coming to Brooke’s to socialize. Before she moved, three years later, the group had grown to fifty, and included women from other aspects of Brooke’s life.
In Iowa, after she’d had her dream, she refined her plans. And by the following year, when Brooke was living in Lawrence, Kansas, she was ready to start testing Segue. At the time, the world was both expanding and contracting. We could talk to people across the globe using technology that fits in the palm of our hand. We could get instant weather alerts, breaking international news, and fashion tips from top designers. But we were often emotionally distant from the people we were supposed to care about. Want to know how I’m doing? Check out my Insta feed. Want to call me? For the love of all that’s mighty, text me first to see if I’m available. Life was busy, busy, busy.
“Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together.”
~ Woodrow Wilson
A Pew Research Center study issued in 2023 showed that eight percent of Americans had no close friends. Not even one. At the same time, sixty-one percent of those surveyed believed having close friends was key to living a fulfilling life. Friendships outranked money as a conduit to joy. Even the medical community weighed in, with reports showing friendships led to better health, sleep, and immunity.
The people Brooke met in Lawrence, Kansas, were far more liberal than the folks back home. It didn’t matter. Segue’s mission to bring people together, find common ground, share ideas, and learn to (really) care about your neighbor, had nothing to do with anyone’s worldview. Brooke simplifies the mission like this. “Show up. Be you. Meet someone new.”
And meet they did. Fifty-five people came for the first meeting in Kansas. Two of those unattached attendees met, fell in love, and later married. Beyond that, friendships were born, and the loneliness factor fell by a few percentage points.
When the chance to come home to Fort Smith materialized, Brooke took it. She’d learned to cherish other places but couldn’t get past the pull of the region that held her childhood, the common mistakes of her teen years, and the flight pattern after her college days.
Now, she takes a sip of coffee and scans the room. Her sapphire-blue eyes take in the people at the nearby tables as if it is only time before they become friends. Afternoon light sparks against her multiple earrings, and she says, “It’s so wild how happy and joyful Segue makes me. If I can help one person find someone to call when things are hard, or when things are happy, it literally feels like my purpose is being fulfilled.”
Not long after Brooke came home, she revived her Segue plan. Since January, the Fort Smith group has been meeting on the last Thursday evening of the month, at the Bakery District downtown. Attendance varies from eighteen to fifty-five, and everyone is welcome to just show up. The space is provided for free, and the group has had food and drink donated from Vinnie’s Pies, Chick-fil-A, Cane’s Chicken, Fort Smith Coffee Company, and Nothing Bundt Cakes.
The Segue group plays games, like cards and dominoes, and spends time getting to know each other in real life (IRL). Brooke pays close attention to the attendees, and when she sees a connection, such as two people who love to hike, she makes sure they talk. In the future, she can see clubs within Segue that target different interests.
The Arkansas Manufacturing Professionals attended the August Segue Fort Smith meeting. After two hours, the combined group was having so much fun that they decided to take the party to Mad Ox Bar, where they sang karaoke.
Brooke keeps a running list of local events and venues on the Segue website and social media pages. Often, several members of the group make plans to show up for a festival or a concert they might not otherwise have attended.
Brooke can’t calculate how many hours a week she spends on this passion project, but it’s a lot. Besides Segue, she has her own graphic design/photography business and works another part-time job.
At thirty-four years of age, she’s living her calling. While Segue Fort Smith isn’t a religious endeavor, it is a spiritual one for Brooke. She refers to the night in 2018 when she dreamed of a friendship connection.
“I want people to know the love of Christ. But how I want to do that is by loving people… I just want to love people well. I think that’s what Jesus did, He just loved people.”
Brooke’s enthusiasm has spilled over into her neighborhood. Brooke laughs. “We have the best Neighborhood Watch parties because we’ve all become friends. Right now, one of my neighbors is remodeling my closet. He said, ‘What’s the purpose of life if you can’t help your neighbors?’”
Like her neighbor, Brooke’s beliefs are forged in action. You revamp a closet. Make someone dinner. Or you bring people together to form a community. At its heart, it’s a simple mission, but one that can change the world. The key is to look outside ourselves and see the people around us. They’re our neighbors. They could be our friends. All it takes is a little love.
To learn more, visit seguefortsmith.com.
