We recently connected with Brittani Martin and have shared our conversation below.
Brittani , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?
The process of going from idea to execution is the very reason I created Build Yourself Up! I had an idea but I also had EXCUSES, which we all know are like assholes. Everyone has one and they are all full of shit, lol So it was at that moment, in 2016, sitting in my college apartment at UWG, that I decided to stop making excuses once and for all. I decided that if there was something that I was passionate about doing and I couldn’t stop thinking about making it happen, well then I MUST make it happen and ELIMINATE any and all excuses! It was kind of like having a pep talk with yourself. When you know deep down that all you need to do is stop playing with yourself , ya know? Like , stop playing with your potential!! I was fed up with myself for always coming up with a lame reason for why I hadn’t started working towards making my dreams come to fruition. And then BOOM, I got to work. I wanted to create a brand that was inspirational but at the same time, it was super fly so people would want to style it and wear it. My hope was that I could inspire others to eliminate excuses and “build themselves up” by introducing a motivational style of clothing that reminds you to live your life to your fullest potential, each time you wear it, or see someone else wear it. I wanted to encourage people to start working on their dreams and goals, because I finally had, and all it took was a little self motivation, a little pep talk, a little bit of “eliminating excuses” and dash of sacrifice! I said if I can spend hella money on sneakers, clothes, and all types of other things that come and go, then why can’t I spend money on something that one, I’m passionate about, and two, that could potentially change my life for the better AND make me more money in the long run?! So I made a sacrifice. I only had about $100 or so dollars in my bank account at the time and of course that would be the time that I decided to sacrifice and make a commitment to my purpose and passion. It seems like its always when you feel like you have nothing, that you realize, you actually have everything! With that, I designed and ordered my first t shirts because I just HAD to see my vision in real time. That’s also one thing that is very important when going from idea to execution. To be able to see the vision is what keeps you going to be able to execute the goal. Giving yourself a date or timeline to complete something and holding yourself accountable is another way you can ensure that you execute your ideas and the BIGGEST way of all is to JUST START! Even if its just writing down your goals, or tackling one thing that will get you closer to manifesting your dreams, then just DO IT! Many times, like 9/10 we are the ones that get in our OWN way! We have to start getting real with ourselves and really understanding who we are and what we truly want out of life. That is when you will really find that passion and purpose to stick to the plan and make sure your ideas are being executed. Consistency is also very key! Once I purchased my first 3 shirts, with my last $100, (the shirts totaled like $75 i think), I was left with like $10-15 but I felt so rich! I felt good knowing I had invested in myself! I was one step closer to bringing my dreams to reality. I am also the type of person that when I start something, I have to finish it! So once I got the ball rolling, it was up from there. I gave a shirt to my brother and sister and we modeled and took pics and it was then that Build Yourself Up really began. Since launching in 2016, I have maintained a consistency with delivering the message “when life hands you rocks, make a rocket ship” which is the quote of our brand and with the support of my family and friends, my vision was made real and it continues to amaze me. We are now 6 years in, and have ventured into the non profit world by transitioning Build Yourself Up motivational clothing brand to Build Yourself Up Academy non profit. I wanted to be able to give more to people and encourage them to build themselves up in an even deeper way then just wearing a shirt. I wanted to provide resources. The passion for what I do continues to grow, which in turn grows my business! Build Yourself Up Academy has brought over 30 events to our community that have helped provide resources in the areas of finance, fitness, self awareness, entrepreneurship and so much more. We have touched the community in ways I never imagined I could. Every time I think about the impact I have made, it lets me know I’m living in my purpose. Keeping my goals written down and applying pressure by giving myself a timeline and due dates, has helped me continue to remain consistent and progress forward to continue making my dream a beautiful hard earned reality. EXECUTED!
Brittani , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Brittani Martin AKA Cool Cat Brit Brat lol. I was born and raised in Marietta, GA! I got into the non profit sector in a bit of an unorthodox way as this was not something I went to school for or imagined I would be doing. I actually studied at the University of West Georgia and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Criminology because originally I wanted to be a forensic psychologist. Then I took the LSAT, and wanted to become a lawyer but decided that was very costly and I didn’t know if I could handle the rigor. I decided to get my Master of Education in Professional Counseling with a concentration in College Student Affairs. As a graduate assistant in my masters program, and even in my undergrad career, I managed events on campus. I created events and brought them to life and I saw how much people enjoyed my creative touch. From there I gained a love for providing resources to my peers in a fun and creative way that help them to be or feel better. I also realized that with me on a college campus, I could reach a lot of people at one time if I created my own brand or movement. I could test out the waters with a whole campus! I started making my t shirts after I came up with the name and logo and I participated in UWG’s very own fashion show as a fashion designer to get my name out there and get people introduced to my brand. I got a lot of good feedback which encouraged me to continue to spread the message of self motivation by putting myself out there and getting people acclimated with the meaning behind my brand and what I was trying to accomplish. I have sense made so many connections and relationships that I still have to this day! I challenged myself to take my creation of Build Yourself Up on campus, to the community when I graduated. It was hard trying to establish my brand in a place that was not all the way familiar but I made my mark and have been consistent in my journey ever since. I was able to bring the events that I created at UWG, to my hometown (Marietta, GA) and provide those same resources to my people! With my brand turned to non profit, I wanted to be able to make a difference by encouraging individuals to live their life to their fullest potential and to really build yourself up! Don’t talk about it , be about it and here, I am providing the resources to make it happen!
What I think sets me apart from others is that I am real and relatable. All of my styles are modern and urban when it comes to my merchandise and my events are definitely for the culture. I provide a creative and modern touch to all of my events and ensure an interactive component in order to reach my targeted audience in a way they will be impacted and can remember. My targeted audience ranges from 19-25 typically but I am working on a curriculum for middle school students that will start them on a road to building themselves up earlier in life, so that they are ready and equipped to reach their fullest potential by the time they graduate. My events don’t have an age requirement because the information can useful to anyone.
What I am most proud of out of all that I have managed to accomplish with Build Yourself Up , is the inspiration I have gained and given to the people around me. I have seen so many of my close friends and family start their own businesses, and just really open their eyes to their capability after witnessing someone close to them making it happen right before their eyes. A lot of times I feel like that’s all you need to get started on your dreams. Someone that looks like you, to show you that its real and possible. It’s motivation! My dad always told me that we are all human, and the most successful or famous person, eats , sleeps and shits just like we do , and has the same 24 hours, so knowing this, let me know I can truly do anything I put my mind to and I believe I have been able to educate people through my events and also encourage and motivate people to believe that they can accomplish anything! Because when life hands you rocks, make a rocket ship!
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Resilience is a huge characteristic to embody when building your own anything. Nothing worth having in life comes easy, so with creating this brand of mine, I definitely had ups and downs that played a heavy role in my success.
Having a business as you know is not cheap. My personal life and bills do not go away just because I have a great idea and purpose. Life has gotten hard for me on numerous occasions to the point, I felt like I needed to decide if I wanted to continue building my brand, or focus on my personal life. I felt like I had to make a decision which was very difficult for me. I even had people close telling me maybe I should hang it up because my shirts weren’t selling off the racks, and I wasn’t making a ton of money. I had given out probably half of inventory for free to people and potential brand ambassadors when I got my first batch of shirts, because I wanted to bring awareness to my brand and wanted people to have my products. With the discouraging words from people closest to me, and my sales plummeting, my brand ambassadors posting well at first and then falling off, this whole business thing started to become overwhelming.
It was extremely difficulty to ignore the naysayers because they were people who I thought believed in me. But what I had to realize was that those people just did not understand my vision and purpose. Nothing I have ever done with my brand was solely to make money. I want to encourage. If I don’t make a single dollar off of anything else but I am able to impact someone and encourage them to be a better person then I say job WELL DONE!
That was how I kept my resilience to keep pushing forward. I would fund all of my own events with my last amounts of money just to prove to myself that nothing would stop me from accomplishing my goals! I pushed through the hate, the misunderstanding, and the lack of support in those moments, by reminding myself why I started this in the first place. My resilience came from a place of never giving up no matter what. There is always gonna be times where business is not progressing how you’d hope, but what you gone don give up? No! There will always be times where people don’t understand your vision and project their negativity onto you, but is that gone stop you? NO! It shouldn’t!
I read a book called the four agreements that helped me to unlearn certain things like “taking things personal”, and “making assumptions” and that really elevated my mind and allowed me to see from different perspective. I started to realize that nothing that anyone does is ever personal to me, it is a projection of how they may feel. A person may feel they aren’t capable or they can’t see how you will make something happens they project that negative energy onto you. But those things aren’t to be taken personally. They should be looked at as projection in which case, it has nothing to do with you at all. This really helped me to overlook the lows and continue to look forward to the highs to come.
Once my mindset changed, the people who once didn’t support and were discouraging me, they finally started to understand my purpose and my vision. They were seeing the impacts I was making on the people around me and the feedback I was getting from my community.
This just goes to show that with anything you are trying to accomplish, there will be good and bad times, times where you just don’t know if you should continue or stop, times where you feel like you can’t fund it or you have no one in your corner, but you have to just remember your WHY!
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Most recently in the past 2 years, I have become a published author of 2 poetry books, a self held book and a childrens book. Starting a new creative venture is always fun and exciting! I didn’t realize how much it mattered to separate your businesses until I became an author. up until this point, everything has been Build Yourself Up and Build Yourself Up Academy!
With me launching my own books, based on my identity and who I am as an individual, this brought up a moment of uncertainty. I was unsure of how to promote by books as a part of myself but also separate that from BYU/BYU and have people know the difference.
I decided to create a personal brand for my books and poetry call “Brittani Ellise” so that my poetry readers can identify with Brittani the individual instead of always BYU! I do sell my books on the BYU website but I promote the two very separately.
Keeping my businesses separated helps with my organization and also allows people to see different sides of me.
Because I have so many outside passions and businesses, I realized that my career needed to work around that. I needed to have career where I can could advance in my business at the same time as advancing in my career. As an academic advisor, I am able to test out my events and workshops with my students as well as use my office and free time to work for me and my business at home. The flexibility and time off is all helpful and useful for me to be able to be successful in my career and my personal goals and businesses outside of my career,
Contact Info:
- Website: www.byuacademy.com
- Instagram: @build.yourself.up
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/buildyourselfup
- Twitter: @buildyourselfup
Image Credits
@ProlifikVisuals