Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Brittany Christie. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Brittany thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

My business (Christie’s Sports and Philanthropy Strategy Group) reflects my two loves of sports and community outreach. As a child, my mom taught me the importance of giving back and helping others. At the age of six, I remember accompanying her to visit a member of our church who resided in a retirement home. We would polish and her nails and style her hair during each visit. Although our visits lasted no more than an hour, our church member greatly appreciated the company and care. At age 10, my family and I began our Thanksgiving tradition of preparing and serving Thanksgiving meals for members at the local homeless shelter — a tradition we continue to this day. During this time, I equally enjoyed playing on the hardwood and competing on the court in the game of basketball. I went on to win two state titles and earned a scholarship to play in college. With my affinity for sports, I went on graduate with my masters degree in Sport Management in 2014. During the program, my sights were set on working for a community relations department for a professional sports organization. Shortly after, I began to think about the athletes whose causes of interest go unaddressed as they support the team (organization) initiatives. This is where the idea formed to help the athletes and clients who want to make a difference and bring awareness to matters that resonated with them most.

Brittany, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

The mission of Christie’s Sports and Philanthropy Strategy Group (CSP) is to help our clients make a difference beyond the sideline.It is our goal to help clients address their causes of interest through impactful events and initiatives.

My business was formed through my dual interest in sports and community engagement. Throughout the years, I gained event management experience by planning formal events to sports tournaments. After completing my master’s degree in Sport Management, I felt confident in my knowledge and experience to eventually run my own community relations agency.

Christie’s Sports and Philanthropy Strategy Group is a full-service agency that helps clients make an impact in their communities. We cover all aspects of successfully executing an impactful event or initiative. We enjoy working with our clients in a collaborative effort to implement their vision of making difference. Our services include in event management, public relations and marketing. What sets CSP apart from other agencies is our collaboration with our clients. We consider many facets and details regarding the client that will connect with their community and causes of interest.

I am most proud of our ability to connect with our clients and help bring their visions to life. We have successfully coordinated each event/initiative of our clients causes of interest. I am proud of the range of initiatives we have been able to facilitate. From STEM in Sports Camps to backpack giveaways, we area able to successfully help our clients make a difference.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Christie’s Sports and Philanthropy Strategy Group coordinated its first event in the summer of 2020 for former Florida State University fullback, James Coleman. At this time, COVID-19 was very new and several restrictions and parameters were in place for the safety of the local community. James initially desired to have an in-person events that included a backpack giveaways and football camp. Unfortunately, the in-person component was not approved by the venue host (local elementary school). This is where I needed to implement strategy to accomplish the vision of my client. With the initial goal of a dual impact event, I then recommended we move to a drive-thru format (where participants remained in their cars) that included a food distribution and backpack giveaway. Many fell on hard times as businesses closed and jobs were lost. The food distribution component helped hundreds in need. The event was huge success, which garnered over 600 participants. We continue to host this style event to this day, where recently served close to 1,000 meals and provided over 500 backpacks stuffed with school supplies.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

One of my favorite interviews features a young Oprah Winfrey in 1986 where I learned a valuable lesson about life and business pursuits. Oprah’s talk show was set to debut and she was interviewed and asked several questions about the anticipated success of the show. When asked how she would response to the possibility of an unsuccessful show, she responded very profoundly and said, “If it does not do well, then I will still do well.” As we all know, Oprah went on to have an outstanding and ground breaking show. However, her response to the question shows confidence in herself and that if things don’t go well (regardless of how much planning and preparation is done) you will still do well regardless of the outcome.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.christiesphilanthropy.com
• Instagram: @christiephilanthropy
• Facebook: N/A
• Linkedin: N/A
• Twitter: N/A
• Youtube: N/A
• Yelp: N/A