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

Alright, Brittany Selah thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

My training and knowledge of reading instruction has been a long journey. I began teaching middle and high school students at Oak Hill Youth Detention Center (now New Beginnings) in 2007. It was working here that I realized I wanted to help students build their literacy skills. From there, I began reading anything I could get my hands on that would help me with my aim. Eventually, I went back to school for a master’s in special education and worked with students with learning disabilities, many of whom were struggling readers. But it wasn’t until 2018 that I decided to study literacy. I enrolled in another graduate program, this one for literacy instruction. The knowledge I gained from this program has been invaluable to the students I serve.

Knowing what I know now, I believe I could have gone back to school for literacy instruction much earlier. For 11 years, I had known that I wanted to be a reading specialist but lacked the confidence to even apply to another graduate school program. While my experience and various trainings were informative, graduate school gave me tools and a deeper understanding of literacy that I use every day.

Brittany Selah, 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?

I like to say I was called to being a reading specialist. I wanted to be a civil rights attorney, but by the end of my college years, I realized I wanted to help people in a different way. In prayer and meditation, I came to the desire to be a teacher. I’ve always loved learning and reading and writing were my favorite pastimes as a child. But I also knew I wanted to be an author. Since first grade, I knew I wanted to publish books. Between my passion for teaching and understanding language, EtymologyRules was born. The book, EtymologyRules: Back to Basics, was designed for teachers to better understand how language works. I believe this is critical to providing strong literacy instruction. The aim of the book is to introduce foundational linguistic concepts to teachers. I find it odd that teachers are essentially teaching written language, but do not take linguistic classes. It seems that linguists and literacy specialists live in separate worlds, but they truly have similar aims – understanding how people receive and express information via the written word.

What I’m most proud of is how my book has impacted teachers. Many have shared that EtymologyRules has taught them how the English language works and they then can pass this on to their students. As I said before, I wanted to make a difference via the law, but I realize I’m making an impact as a teacher, and even more so as an author of this workbook. EtymologyRules seeks to introduce people to the power and knowledge of words so we can improve our verbal and written communication with one another.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I started my social media presence simply creating my own memes about language and the etymology of various words. As my following grew, I decided to hire someone to design these memes, and for a few years, I solely posted these images. In keeping up with the times, I now post reels and I receive a lot of positive feedback. I’ve met and connected other language enthusiasts and I’ve even been told that my reels are a nice reprieve from some of the more toxic reels on my followers’ feed. My advice to anyone just starting out is to pay attention to trends, but don’t feel beholden to them. Be creative and authentic and your tribe will find you.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

What’s most rewarding for me as an author is that I get to share information about my passion with others, and hopefully, encourage them to develop a love of language as well. We all use language to communicate. So, my book addresses a somewhat universal concept (albeit, the focus is the English language). Writing EtymologyRules and being a reading specialist has inspired me to pursue more learning about language, which will allow me to continue to impact society in a positive way.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.etymologyrules.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/etymologyrules/?hl=en
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittany-selah-lee-bey-a5910334
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ATPKidsNetwork/playlists

Image Credits

Yule Pieters