Social Impact Authors: How & Why Brittany Wagner of 10 Thousand Pencils Is Helping To Change Our World
An Interview With Edward Sylvan
I want to inspire others to believe in their own ability to maximize each opportunity! I had the honor of starring in the Netflix documentary, Last Chance U. The show spotlighted college football players on their “last” chance of pursuing their dream of playing football at the next level. While many of them were indeed on their last shot at a football scholarship, none of them were actually on their last chance of succeeding in life. None of us are. We all wake up with our next opportunity every single day. Whether faced with a divorce, job change, or just a desire to be better today than yesterday, we are not stuck.
As part of my series about “authors who are making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Brittany Wagner.
Brittany Wagner is a nationally respected athletic academic counselor and motivational speaker best known for her role as the breakout star of the hit Netflix documentary series, Last Chance U. Recognized for her compassion, encouragement, and no-nonsense attitude, Brittany guided many young men to academic and professional success despite run-ins with the law, extreme poverty, abandonment, and often a complete lack of academic preparedness. She has helped over 200 football players academically qualify for nationally respected NCAA Division I schools, and all the students Brittany advised who are currently playing in the NFL also hold college degrees.
Brittany’s inadvertent stardom led to feature interviews with ABC’s Nightline, the Dan Patrick Show, GQ, the New York Times, and Sports Illustrated — to name a few.
For the past four years, Brittany has traveled all over the country as a motivational speaker. In the fall of 2017, she launched her own company, 10 Thousand Pencils (10KP). Through 10KP, she is able to aid at-risk youth by working individually with high school and college-level administrators, counselors, and teachers to help them build relationships with these students and better support their emotional, social, and academic needs.
Brittany is an adjunct professor in the Stephens College of Business on the campus of the University of Montevallo. She also is a boxing coach at the boxing fitness club, Battle Republic.
Spectrum Originals optioned Brittany’s life rights and is creating a new, scripted television series based on her personal and professional life as an athletic academic counselor. Actress Courteney Cox will be portraying Ms. Wagner in this series. Michael Strahan, Cox, and Wagner are all executive producers on the project.
Brittany earned both her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Sports Communication and Administration from Mississippi State University. She currently resides in Birmingham, Alabama, with her daughter, Kennedy, and dog, Ollie.
Hire Brittany for speaking engagements and/or consulting gigs through her website: www.brittanywagner.com. Be motivated by and connect with Brittany on social media: Twitter: Brittany_MSgirl Instagram: Brittany_MSgirl Facebook Fan Page: Brittany Wagner
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
I was raised in Mississippi and lived in my home state most of my adult life. I had two loving and supportive parents with post-graduate degrees and every resource I needed to be successful. I was a good student but, quite honestly, never really took my academic life seriously. I didn’t have the internal belief or confidence to dream and then go for those dreams.
When you were younger, was there a book that you read that inspired you to take action or changed your life? Can you share a story about that?
I remember being impacted by Elie Wiesel’s book Night. It was required reading in either junior high or high school and the first impactful non-fiction book I think I read. It was also the first time I actually processed the enormity of Holocaust affecting humanity and history and not something I was simply supposed to learn about in a classroom and regurgitate for a test. I remember having intense emotions surrounding that book and the thoughts of persecution of human beings.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that occurred to you in the course of your career? What lesson or take away did you learn from that?
Oh my gosh! There are so many mistakes! Sometimes, I feel like my entire career has been one big “fake it ’til you make it” event. A funny “uh-oh” moment that I remember is spilling coffee one morning all the way down one leg of my white dress pants and having to work the rest of the day with a huge brown stain. That makes for unshakeable confidence and a great conversation starter!
Can you describe how you aim to make a significant social impact with your book?
I want to inspire others to believe in their own ability to maximize each opportunity! I had the honor of starring in the Netflix documentary, Last Chance U. The show spotlighted college football players on their “last” chance of pursuing their dream of playing football at the next level. While many of them were indeed on their last shot at a football scholarship, none of them were actually on their last chance of succeeding in life. None of us are. We all wake up with our next opportunity every single day. Whether faced with a divorce, job change, or just a desire to be better today than yesterday, we are not stuck.
Can you share with us the most interesting story that you shared in your book?
I think all the stories I share in the book are impactful — each in their own way. One of the most impactful athletes I have ever met is Ronald Ollie. When he was a young boy in Mississippi, his father killed his mother and then killed himself. Ronald was parentless and homeless. Through football, he earned life opportunities and a two-year college football scholarship. I tell several stories of the lessons Ronald Ollie taught me during my time with him. Lessons of awareness, perseverance, and fear.
What was the “aha moment” or series of events that made you decide to bring your message to the greater world? Can you share a story about that?
I guess my story is a tad bit different because my message was brought to the world through a TV show, which then gave me the platform to reach thousands more and write a book. I had no idea, though, that a TV show about college football players in Mississippi and the advisor who counseled them would reach and inspire millions of people all over the world. I didn’t have Netflix at the time we started filming the show, and I literally thought no one would watch it. Never in a million years did I expect to have an audience of millions impacted by what I had to say and wanting to hear more.
Without sharing specific names, can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
The interesting thing about what I do is that I am supposed to be the one doing the impacting, right? I am a professional with the skillset and the knowledge to listen, advise, inspire, and motivate those individuals that I work with. The perhaps surprising thing about being in that position is that I believe I am the one impacted the most. Each individual I have worked with has impacted me in some way. Some have literally changed me — changed my beliefs, thoughts, behaviors, attitudes. The short answer to this question is there isn’t one particular individual because everyone has impacted and helped my cause.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
I worked (and still do work) in education. I advised and counseled college athletes on their academic success and oftentimes, preparing them for life off the field. Most of the academic issues I witnessed had nothing to do with the student’s ability or desire to learn. In our education system, we focus on numbers. The statistics and data that grant our schools’ funding. I believe we need to shift our focus to the human beings we are trying to educate. We cannot impact or educate young people when we do not know them. A little boy who is starving will struggle to learn at the same rate as someone who has their basic needs of food met. Yet we punish starving kids for behavior issues every day at school. We need to meet the social and emotional needs of our students in order to educate them. We must start equalizing the opportunities within our education system and focus on the human beings we are educating. The lives of these individuals are more important than the test scores.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
I see leadership as more of a servant role. True leadership is having awareness, understanding, and empathy. It is not ego-driven or a label that gives someone permission to bully or take advantage of someone else.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
This is tough. Only 5!
- My number one would be to listen to the things people told me! I had so many wise people surrounding me constantly, but seldomly did I stop and listen to them. I wish I had. Talk less, listen more.
- Remove the labels. Do not let the labels that society has placed on you define who you are or what you can accomplish. Just go for it.
- Don’t sweat the small stuff. Let the little things go. Don’t allow small, irrelevant nuances to take over your energy or space. Save the sweat, energy, and space for the things that matter.
- Bring the right energy in every space you enter. Be intentional with the energy you want to bring and carry it into the space. You can change the dynamic of an environment with your energy and that, in turn, changes behaviors. I wish I could go back into some of the meetings I was a part of with this knowledge. I walked into so many meetings either draining the energy or allowing everyone else to drain mine. If I had been more intentional, I believe the outcome of some of those meetings would have been different.
- There are three sides to every story. The two sides being told and the truth. Be smart enough to not believe everything you read, see, hear, or even experience. There is always more to the story.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
My favorite quote is the “Man in the Arena” speech given by Theodore Roosevelt in 1910. He said:
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
In anything we do in life that we are putting real effort behind, there will be critics. I can’t even post on social media without someone stealing my joy (or attempting to) with a negative comment. The critic doesn’t count. It is easy to sit on a sideline and judge those actually playing in the game. But those of us on the field have the choice to fight with bravery and with purpose — understanding that there will be critics and we might fail. And yet, we do it anyway.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
Dr. Jill Biden; is a teacher and I believe would share the same sentiment surrounding education that I do. I believe we could sit for hours and tell stories of students who have impacted our lives. I also think we are two very smart and strong women who could unpack and find solutions for most of the issues surrounding our education system in one long breakfast.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Twitter and Instagram: brittany_msgirl
Facebook Fan Page: Brittany Wagner
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!
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