Day 304: Deb Britt

July 31, 2010 at 12:01 am, Category: Inspiration

“I followed my own path and survived a lot of the bumps in the road as well and came out on top of them.  A lot of that, though, has helped me become the person that I am, made me a much stronger person, and taught me that there is never any reason to give up.”

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Toni Reece: Thank you so much, Deb, for agreeing to be part of the Project today, and before we begin, can you please introduce yourself?

Deb Britt: I sure can.  I’m so happy to be here.  My name is Deb Britt, and I own a small business called Britt Marketing where I do graphic design and web design and internet marketing and all kinds of fun stuff like that.  I guess that’s it.  Oh, I also help with the Get Inspired! Project as the techie, creative person.  I take all the interviews and make sure they get up there every day, pick out the nice little pictures that represent each interview … and I also do that as well.

Toni: Well, that’s fantastic – if you wouldn’t have mentioned it, I certainly was going to.  Those people that are following the Get Inspired! Project, Deb is totally responsible for bringing life to the Project visually on the site, and it wouldn’t be as successful as it is if it wouldn’t be as beautiful as it is, so thank you for that, Deb.

Deb: You’re welcome.  Thank you for saying that.

Toni: Now, let me ask you about inspiration.  Who do you think you inspire, and how does that happen?

Deb: Well, I gave a lot of thought to this question, and it isn’t as easy a question as you would think it would be, especially for those of us who aren’t in a more traditional type “helping” kind of position.  I struggle with it a bit because self-belief isn’t something that comes very easily for me, just because of some circumstances I’ve had throughout my life.  I kind of talked to my husband about it as well, and there were some things that I came up with, so I’ll share what I have there.

But you know, as I thought about the question, I did realize that throughout my life people have come to me and made positive comments and when they’ve needed support or encouragement, or if they maybe admire something I’ve been able to do in my life.  I realized that I probably have inspired people and it really amazes me to think about that because I don’t make an extraordinary effort to do that.  I’m just myself, you know?  I do what I do.  And so when I think about those things, it humbles me and I feel very blessed to have been given whatever it is that I’ve been given to make a difference in people’s lives, whatever that might be.

Anyway, the first thing that came to my mind was that I believe that I inspire my children.  I have four children, ranging in age from 17 to 25, and seeing the successes they have in their life and the strong people that they’ve become throughout the years and watching them develop and become independent and making the great choices that they do, I feel like I’ve had at least a hand in helping them to become the people that they are.  And so that’s one way I think that I have inspired people.

I think that I inspire my clients and business partners, people that I’ve worked with throughout the years, because they’ve mentioned to me that I’ve been able to take, say, their vision for whatever they’re trying to create for their business or for them personally and help them make that a reality.

And I also think that people who are in more traditional jobs, 9 to 5 jobs, who have a passion and a dream that they would like to pursue and yet hold back for various reasons, they can look at me and say “Well, here’s somebody who’s done that, who’s taken a passion — my passion for graphic design — and made it into a business and took that risk and left the 9-to-5 grind and is making something of my dream.”  So I think those are probably some people that I inspire.

I always pass along my mantra in life, which is “Everything always works out.”  I’ve really believed that since I was a young person, and I really think that that has had an impact in my life because I truly believe it.  Whether things happen because I believe it, or whether … for whatever reason, things always do seem to work out for me, and so I just live my life by that.

Toni: Well, Deb, let me ask you something.  When you think about … when you talked about your children and that you … the way that you lived your life and you were an example to your kids, did you help them with their visions as well as far as what their life wanted to be and what they wanted it to look like?  Did you do the same thing for them to kind of help them to shape their vision and their dreams?

Deb: I’d like to think so, yes.  They’re all still young enough that they’re still working on some of those dreams, so, you know, I don’t know how things will really turn out when they get to be my age.  I mean, you know, they have quite a bit to go to get there, but I can see in conversations with them that they know that they’re capable of doing anything they put their minds to, and I think that’s one thing that I did instill in them.

Toni: That’s why it’s kind of come full circle for me, as far as who you inspire and how, because you’ve mentioned your children and your clients, and the way that you are as well, is what you do — whether it’s creatively in your work or in your relationship building with your children or your friends, you help people to bring their vision to life.

Deb: Okay, that sounds good to me!

Toni: But I think that’s what you said … I didn’t say that.  So by doing so then, that’s a great lead-in to the next question, which is how do you help them explore their potential?

Deb: First of all, I think I do that by setting the example.  I’m not asking them to do or advising them to do anything that I haven’t done myself.  I’ve taken the risk of pursuing my dream, and I will not give up easily, so I think that that … you know, by setting an example shows them, you know … that’s a great path to take.

The other thing is, I think by … I think people can tell that I’m genuinely interested in them as individuals, and so I think I help them or prompt them to explore their potential by asking questions, getting to know them and showing my interest in them, because I think that people have the answers inside of them, you know?  I think that as a good friend or as a mentor or as setting an example, it’s helping to … it’s just helping them to bring out what they already know inside, giving them … which then gives them the confidence to pursue that.

Toni: Again, I’m listening to you and I’m thinking about the creativity that you bring to the table as well, that when you … that power of listening that you have and showing that something can be done and to not give up, then they can realize that their potential is probably greater than they even first thought.  And then when you throw back to a client your vision from their words … my gosh, I bet that explored a potential of that vision in a way that they never thought would be possible.

Deb: Oh, that’s a great point.  I never quite looked at it that way.

Toni: So what inspires you?

Deb: First and foremost, people inspire me.  I’ve always been fascinated by people: what makes them who they are, how they live their lives, the choices that they make, where they live, how they dress, how they interact with people.  I’m fascinated by people.  People have … I think I’ve been mistaken as a shy person because a lot of … especially at events or parties, I might be the one that’s sitting in the back and just observing, but that’s exactly what it is.  I’m not shy at all, but I observe people, and I think I learn a lot that way.

But I’m especially inspired by people who take positive risks.  And I differentiate positive from negative in that, you know, you can leap off a cliff and not have any plans and sometimes that’s not necessarily a positive thing, but the people who have a dream and pursue it and take the positive risks to make that happen, I admire that very much.  And people who walk their talk.  There are so many people who talk a big game but aren’t everything that they seem.  So I admire and am inspired by people who walk the talk.

I’d also say that … I know a lot of people feel this way, but I’m very inspired by nature in general, but specifically the ocean.  I even have an mp3 file that I keep on my desktop.  I put it on a loop and I sit sometimes at work when I’m working and play that loop of the ocean sounds.  It helps me focus a lot; it’s something I’m very inspired by.

I also do other creative things.  I’m involved with the local theater, community theater.  I do a lot of reading.  I’m really a bookworm at heart.  And of course my design work and creating visions for people; that inspires me.

Toni: Where does your courage come from?

Deb: My courage.  Well, that’s a good question.  I would say my courage comes from having persevered through everything that I’ve faced in my life.  I was raised in a certain way that … and I didn’t follow that path that my parents set out for me, and so there was some negative things that I suffered throughout my life, but I never … I never gave up the … what’s the word … the vision I had for myself and my life and how I wanted to live my life.

And so I followed my own path and survived a lot of the bumps in the road as well and came out on top of them.  A lot of that, though, has helped me become the person that I am, made me a much stronger person, and taught me that there is never any reason to give up.  I think it comes from my experience throughout my life and overcoming adversities.

Toni: What a fantastic message to present in this type of  a forum for people who are listening all over the world, that it does take courage on some days to walk one foot in front of the other, based on what you’re experiencing.  And so to speak about the resilience and the perseverance and the fight, and that wins out over the self-doubt at times, doesn’t it?

Deb: It absolutely does.

Toni: Fantastic.  So what do you do now to explore your own potential?

Deb: Well, I am always … I’m a big techno-geek, internet person, however you want to put that.  I’m always researching, reading books, reading articles, blog posts by people that inspire me on the internet.

I absolutely love getting together face-to-face with other people, like-minded people who are creative and ambitious and have dreams, and getting together and talking about those dreams and brainstorming ways to make them realities … all kinds of … the potential that’s there is just huge, and that inspires me and keeps on my path, too, of kind of finding out what I want to be when I grow up, because I’m still working on that.

The other thing I do is I’m involved with the community theater.  I’m involved as far as being on the Board of Directors, on the committees and that sort of thing, but I also am an actor and that is a huge exploration of my potential in going from, years ago, coming into the theater as just wanting to be in the ensemble and kind of behind the scenes to having just finished up a show where it was a two-woman show, and it was a lot of lines and a huge investment of time and energy, and conquered it.  And so I feel like I’ve been able to do a part that is that big and people loved it, and now I realize, you know, if I can do that, I can do anything, so that’s pretty awesome.

Toni: And that’s a great message to leave the project with, that if you could do that, you can do anything. You stepped outside your comfort zone, you made it happen, and again that sense of empowerment, you can hear it in your voice.  Thank you so much for everything that you do for the Get Inspired! Project, and your interview was fantastic.  Thank you for being here.

Deb: You’re very welcome, and I am so looking forward to wrapping up this Project.  We’ve come so far, and I know we still have a lot of good things ahead of us.  So thanks for having me on.

Toni: Take care.

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For more information about Deb Britt:  www.britt-marketing.com

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