Conversations with the Inspiring Bri Little

Today we’d like to introduce you to Bri Little.

Bri, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Coming from a family led by strong women, and strong supportive men, I started my life loving what it is to be a Black woman. I loved everything about how dynamic we are, creative, and just plain ol’ magical. There are not enough words to express my gratitude to have been born one. Through my mother, sisters, great-grandma, aunts (by blood and not), close childhood friends, and teachers, I was shown our light, and that has carried me throughout all of life’s joys and challenges.

Storytelling has always been the most powerful form of communication for me. It is the basis of all of my relationships. When I was young, I wanted to work in the business of changing the narrative of people of color and women in media and shed light on the vast array of perspectives, experiences, and cultures. Paraphrasing Malcolm X, the media is the most powerful entity because it controls the narrative. So, my love for storytelling and diverse perspectives brought me into entertainment and working in film and tv. However, as I pursued this goal I was confronted with the ways corporate America makes it difficult to create positive and healthy environments for relationships between women. So many of my friends expressed the same concern for the lack of genuineness from women to other women. It wasn’t just in entertainment, it was everywhere. I was troubled because all I knew were healthy relationships with other women while growing up and how those relationships made me a stronger person.

I have been lucky enough to be surrounded by a diverse group of women in my life to support and love me. I went to a diverse middle school, a predominantly Black and Latino high school, then UCLA for college. At all of those places, my core circle was always full of diverse women. I gravitate toward dope women, in general, but I’m especially drawn to different perspectives and cultures. That’s why I hate when people say, “I don’t see color.” Please, see my color, my hair, my passion, see everything about me, and hear about my culture and my experiences! Because I also want to see and hear everyone else’s experiences. My friends that are Black, Asian, Latina, Indian, Middle Eastern, White, etc., I cherish my relationships with them because they have made me a more well rounded and empathetic person. We have all learned from one another.

My parents pointed out that all of my friends and I are doing our own thing, in our own way, and are still so close with one another. That set on me, and it hit me that these relationships help me navigate life and that I wouldn’t be who I am if it wasn’t for those women. Because not all my friends worked in entertainment, they were able to see my ups and downs in a different light, help me when I felt like my life was falling apart or I was facing a new challenge. And when it was time to enjoy all the best parts of life, they were there too.

So, I wanted to thank them for putting up with my crazy. I wanted to celebrate them! Most of all, I wanted to bring all of these women together. What started as a hangout intended for 20 turned into a gathering for 60. When I wanted to do another one of these gatherings, the demand had gotten bigger. The next thing I knew I was organizing events that started with 90 women in attendance and ultimately grew to 200 over the course of two years. A name was needed for this passion project, and A Little Day Brunch was born. Creating a space for women – where they feel heard and seen – helped me realize my love for storytelling stems from bringing people together.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Smooth road? Absolutely not. Exciting? Absolutely! If I’m completely honest, a lot of the struggles come from self-doubt. You will have everyone telling you what you are doing is great, and you will still think it was the worst event or product you ever put out. I also am such a harsh critic on myself, which I definitely need to see a therapist for haha. But, when you are creating something new or trying anything new, it’s hard because if it succeeds, yassssssss, but if it doesn’t, you feel like a failure. I, like most people, hate to fail.

Another struggle was balancing the success of my events with the cost it took to make them successful. One of the most costly things in growing A Little Day Brunch was literally GROWING A Little Day Brunch. The larger the guest list, meant the larger the space needed to be, and more of the budget had to go to catering, rentals, flowers, and drinks (it is a brunch after all). And while I was able to get amazing panelists to volunteer their time at the events, their participation still required an AV set up and humble tokens of my appreciation. Despite the mounting costs on my end, I have always been committed to keeping my brunches accessible to women and making sure that ticket prices remained below $50. I even offer flexible prices for women who are unable to pay the full price. In the beginning, I simply did not charge, as this was a celebration of and for women and a true dream of mine to fulfill. It wasn’t until the cost became so high and the demand began to grow that I decided to sell tickets. In the end, undercharging people for the event – and coming more and more out of pocket – forced me to get smarter and more vocal when it came to asking for sponsorships and partnerships.

Still, self-doubt and asking yourself, “What am I doing?” and “Who am I to be doing this?” definitely takes a toll on your vision. And sometimes, it is the doubt from others. Sadly, many people have been taught to reject anything different or outside of the box, or a threat to the status quo. Why do you think so many dope activists have been whitewashed or wholly erased from textbooks? Because you can’t put them in a box. Best believe people will try to put you in a box. They will try to tell you that what you’re doing doesn’t make sense or isn’t an asset. Most of it is self-projection, and all of it comes from fear. I am fortunate enough to have a family that supports me SO MUCH and friends that cheer me on.

I just remind myself that my struggles are not anything in comparison to the struggles of those before me. They struggled, failed, then got back up, so that I could be able to do exactly what I’m doing—living out my wildest dreams. So, I’ve started to write down my fears, learning lessons, and happy moments in my notes section on my phone, treating it like a digital diary. When I look back at it, every fear, struggle, or insecurity I had didn’t even matter two weeks later. The daily things that were stressing me out weren’t actually important, they were literally nothing.

So, when I have anxiety about something potentially not going the way I want it to go, I breathe and remember that God has clothed me in strength, and HE will bring me out of it. I tell myself to just chill girl. Then, I relax, and shortly thereafter panic again and call one of my family members, or one of my close sister friends haha. Hey, I am human and I am definitely working on it all.

What should we know about A Little Day Brunch? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
A Little Day Brunch is a women’s social event that creates an experience celebrating diverse, cultural, and professional backgrounds from women across the board – lawyers, graduate students, teachers, women in healthcare, film and television admins and execs, entrepreneurs, designers, women in tech, mommies, and the list goes on. There is a panel consisting of dope women executives, professors, doctors and more, all moderated by an amazing editor from The Hollywood Reporter.

We specialize in creating a vibe and a space where women can come as they are. For me, it’s essential to have a space where we can simply exist and where our resume is not what makes us “important.” I had always been taught that it’s who I am as a person that’s important, not the job I have. Because when the job is gone, and that title is taken, who are you? Who are you without societal labels, and what do people remember you for? I don’t care if people know where I work or worked, or who I know. I care about how I made you feel after we met. Those words from Maya Angelou swarm in my head all the time because it’s facts.

So, I am very intentional when it comes to curating this space to be about people diving into who they are alongside other women. I always open the event by letting people know it is a judgment-free zone, and if anyone came into the event with a negative attitude or nasty words to say about others, they need to leave. That’s not a joke, I really mean it. The point is for everyone to feel comfortable enough to be exactly who they are, no matter what that might be. If you need to fall apart, fall apart. If you are blazing with energy, blaze on, girl! Women have so many pressures in life; first from ourselves, then from society and sometimes from friends and family. That then spills over into taking it out on to other women. Sometimes our insecurities get in the way of relationships with one another. Instead of being genuine towards one another, we call each other “sis,” but actually we are not being sisterly at all. At the ALDB events, we are not trying to be sisterly for optics, or because it sounds cool. We’re doing it because we freaking need it, and to be honest, the world needs it, desperately. We specifically focus on how we are treating one another and ourselves while taking men out of the picture.

Women coming together from all backgrounds, ethnicities, and perspectives is POWER. That power allows brainchild ideas to become realities, for the energy to be a forever vibe and spark actual, tangible change. It’s not uncommon for there to be tears at these events, and these women are mere strangers, but they are comfortable enough to be vulnerable. People only open up when they feel loved enough to do so. These women that God has blessed me with make the space as unique as it is and feels.

There are so many amazing spaces for women, and I am grateful that they exist. But sadly, in so many of these spaces, some women of color and myself do not feel welcome. We felt like a photo-opp for the gram or a stat. As a woman of color, I wanted to create ALDB to be a space free of tokenism or marginalization, where all women could feel valued. At first, I went back and forth on if it should be a space for only women of color since we don’t have that many spaces. But then I thought about how I would be shutting out my amazing friends who are white women and have been advocates for women of color. I realized I would be doing the same thing that has been done to me. And most importantly, the power in ALL of us coming together was so magical to me, how could I not curate this?

I would say that I am most proud of being able to bring together all different types of women in one space to love one another. When I step away from it, it makes me cry because my love for women coming together is so real, and it is like magic when A Little Day Brunch is in full effect. That magic can never be duplicated for me. Even speaking about this right now makes me think of all of the amazing women that have saved me and held me up. Women, man, since I was a kid, my relationships with women have been my lifeline. For that reason, ALDB isn’t a trendy thing to do, it’s a way to give back to yourself and others.

Do you have any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general? What has worked well for you?
I used to think finding a mentor was extremely difficult. It was the one thing I always complained about lacking in my current industry. Then, I realized that I was completely ignoring the mentors that I have had since birth, childhood, college, and my friends in entertainment. More so, I was ignoring the mentors that came before me. I thought a mentor had to be someone you worked for or someone with a splashy title and company name to go alongside it. I’ve realized, no, a mentor is someone who inspires you to be all of you, both the best and the work in progress version of you. A mentor is someone you can call at midnight or 6 in the morning. Someone who will talk to you and not make you feel like a burden.

A mentor is someone that genuinely cares about your success, and will also call you out on your (sorry for cursing mom) shit haha. I have been called out on mine so many times. God bless those people for doing so. I’ve realized that my family will forever be my best mentors because they want me to win like crazy. Sewed into me are also the words of Malcolm X, Angela Davis, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, Thurgood Marshall, Dorothy Dandridge, Tupac, Whitney Houston, Selena, Kendrick Lamar, J.Cole, Oprah, Beyonce, Rihanna, Serena Williams, Nipsey, Amanda Seales, Issa Rae, Yara Shahidi and sooooo many more. I listen to what they say, and more importantly, watch how they moved and move, and take that as mentoring as well. Then, lastly, I have my chosen family of women. They remind me of who I am when society tries to make me forget it.

So, when it comes to finding a mentor and networking, make sure you have looked inside your circle to someone that has loved you. Granted, I understand I am speaking as a person who was born into a family that gives me that. So, if you didn’t have that, network with people who genuinely are good people. Stop focusing on what they can do for you, and focus on what energy they can bring to you. Are they trying to help your candle burn brighter? Because some people will help you shine until they THINK your light is outshining theirs. I stay away from people like that. Because God made me, and he made you, he made everyone in his light to shine brightly. There is no competition in our lights.

Be sure your mentors are vibing towards the same goal as you. My goal in life is bigger than me; it’s not even about me. It is about everyone else after me and paying homage to everyone that came before me. James Baldwin says to leave this world better than it was before you came in it. That is one of the headlining quotes of my life. Network and grab mentors from people who are trying to live in the same light that you are. Aim for the people who are striving to make the same difference that you are already making.

Pricing:

• ABC Book Club: WHISPER NETWORK Discussion | 9.29.19 @ 5:30pm | Hosted By Allyson Holloway & Bri Little & Chloe Webster
• ALDB ‘Sip & Paint’ Wellness & Visionary Event | 12.8.19 @ 2:00pm | Featuring Artist Yoli G.
• A Little Day Brunch Winter Edition 2020 | Details TBA soon!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.alittledaybrunch.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alittledaybrunch/

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