[1] The family lived on a farm, and Brodstone's early and high school education was conducted in a one-room log cabin where students would attend barefoot.

After completing courses in stenography and accounting, she returned to Superior and worked for the Guthrie Brothers and at Henningsen Produce Company.

Brodstone's competence and demeanor impressed Edmund Vestey, who made her his personal stenographer and raised her pay to $20 a week.

[3] Her work took her to the interior of China; to the upper Orinoco River in Venezuela; to Russia, where her hotel was dynamited, killing all within, while she was visiting the Vestey plant;[1] to Australia, where she purchased 6,000,000 acres (2,400,000 ha) for the company;[3] and to many other parts of the world.

When the manager of a Vestey plant in South Africa absconded with the company's funds, Brodstone followed him halfway around the world before catching him.

[1] The Blue Star Line was founded by the Vestey family; at the time of World War I, its twelve vessels all had names starting with "Brod‑" after Brodstone,[4] e.g. Brodholme, Brodland, Brodlea.

[1] She sent Christmas gifts to the school children of the city, and contributed a large collection of relics of her early life, of her travels, and of her time in England to the Superior museum.