Britt Around Town
By Cynthia Marone
The memory of Brittany Brown's most special visit to Disney World is as crystal clear as Cinderella's glass slippers. It was during that time among the twirling teacups and soaring castles, as well as a trip to Disneyland in California years later, that the seeds of her future were sown.
There was plenty to do at the Florida theme park, but the Magic Kingdom's Main Street U.S.A. left a lingering impression, one whose impact would take decades to be fully realized. Even so, seeing that colorful slice of small-town Americana inspired by the early 20th century wasn't even the sole life-changing event of that vacation. "I remember getting my very first camera when I was six years old. It was my birthday trip to Disney World, and I got a Crayola camera," said the president of and arbiter of local culture for Britt Around Town, a blog that zeros in on small-town travel while emphasizing that area's businesses and experiences. "As long as I can remember, I've had a camera in my hand. There's so many times I love just looking at pictures and reliving the moment."
That trusty Crayola has surely since been retired, and its replacement has become the Sellersville resident's constant companion, capturing her adventures and even her favorite dishes. It was image-heavy Instagram where Brittany launched her first Bucks County-centric blog, Britt on a Fit Journey, in 2017. Two years later, the same year she went to Disneyland and connected with her hero, Walt Disney, on a deeper level, she reconsidered her content. "It was such a magical experience because that was where it all started," Brittany, who has been married to high school sweetheart, Pete, for five years, said. "I got to go to Walt's apartment. I got to stand where Walt stood and take pictures. That's where that whole dream for him started because he never got to see any of the other parks. He only got to see Disneyland. It was me being there and actually seeing his dream come true."
That same year, Brittany rebranded from health and fitness into what has become the must-visit blog for residents and visitors alike, Britt Around Town. Fusing her love of photography and small towns, Britt Around Town celebrates neighborhood nooks and what they have to offer, from delicious bites to barre classes and everything in between. Bucks County is front and center, but Brittany routinely takes side trips out of state or to nearby counties that keep her 15,000 plus followers (and their 200 percent engagement rate) attune to not only what's in their backyards but also within a few hours of their homes. There's so much to be found in small towns, especially throughout Bucks County, why not share their charms with the world?
"I think the way Walt Disney did it was definitely an inspiration and definitely I feel like subconsciously has to do with what I've been doing with Britt Around Town," the 32-year-old said. "A lot of people don't realize these businesses are here or these locations are here. I'm trying to bring a spotlight on them. One of my favorite sayings is bloom where you are planted. I think that has a lot to do with what I'm doing too — trying to take where I am and, even when I go places, make it bloom and show other people the beauty of it."
Brittany takes pride in keeping her focus clear, her intent pure and her content real. She did bike the Delaware Canal State Park towpath over two days and climb Huntingdon County's Standing Stone Trail Thousand Steps ("The accomplishment and the views at the top were pretty cool."), and she routinely turns her attentions to local shopkeepers. "I truly believe small-town businesses, small towns and mom-and-pop shops are the heartbeat of America," said the 2009 graduate of Central Bucks South High School in Warrington. "That's the stories I want to tell and the people I want to share and the things I want to share with my followers because those are the ones that are going to keep our society and our community going. They're the ones who are going to support our baseball teams and our school plays and our hospitals. I think it's really important to share their stories."
Britt Around Town was a passion project for Brittany before it exploded into her full-time career, which is in addition to being an account manager and content creator at Buxmont Social Media & Marketing in Levittown. Yet, it was not even on her radar growing up in Warrington and Levittown. She considered various paths, including pediatric oncology and being a juvenile counselor, that had the common thread of helping those in need. She set her sights on psychology, earning a bachelor's degree in the field from DeSales University in 2013. She eventually segued into marketing as an administrative assistant, a position she held for almost five years, then as a marketing manager. As Britt Around Town became a site to behold, Brittany said goodbye to her managing role.
Britt Around Town, though, was not her first foray into sharing what she loves with others. As early as middle school, tidbits about her favorite musicians were corralled into a newsletter and emailed to friends "whether they wanted it or not," Brittany said with a laugh. In high school, she ran not one but two band Myspace fan pages. "Those little things back then, if I would've known what social media could have become, I think I probably would've followed that path a long time ago," Brittany, who lived and worked at Disney World for six months during an internship with the Disney College Program, said.
The path eventually found Brittany about a decade later. Shortly after its launch, Britt on a Fit Journey and its creative photos caught the eye of those at her Warrington health and fitness center, Cornerstone Clubs. "I was posting pictures all the time, and they're like, 'If you want to keep up with this, we'll make you an ambassador.' That's how the whole ambassador influencing marketing came about for me. That was the very first time I even stepped foot into that water," said the blogger who has been honored with the 2022 Visit Bucks County Award; River Reporter's Best of 2022 for 2023 Best Social Media Engagement; Bucks County Herald's 2022 Best of the Region in the Local: Community Activist category; and Bucks Happening's 2021 The Happening List Bucks County's Best Social Media Personality, which she was a finalist for in 2023.
While posting on her initial site, she found Pine2Pink, now known as Main St., which raises money for area breast cancer patients. Brittany, who was searching for a cancer community to get involved with after the loss of a relative, discovered the Doylestown-based nonprofit's scavenger hunt. She told her followers about the fun she was having on her virtual ribbon quests, but more importantly, she was guided to places she had never heard of nor frequented before. This, combined with Cornerstone's confidence in her skill set, germinated into a new approach. "I was like, 'I don't want to be stuck in this health and fitness bubble. I want to do this for everybody because I want to share the stories of Evolution Candy in Doylestown.' I couldn't do that on a health and fitness blog," Brittany, who contributes under the "From the Locals" banner for the Visit Bucks County website and writes for The Doylestown Cardinal newspaper and Bucks County Real Producers magazine, said. "I wanted to use my platforms to be like, 'Hey, this is here' and tell their stories."
Like Walt Disney, Brittany sees the sparkle in small towns. Also like Walt Disney in crafting Main Street U.S.A., Brittany wants the world to see that shine, and she especially wants people to see it in the place she calls home. "There's nowhere else like Bucks County that I've ever come across, just to put it that way. We have a form of connection with community I have not seen anywhere else," she said. "That's what I look for—those little old towns with all these mom-and-pop shops, you'll see makers events where a bunch of local artists come together. That's the kind of towns that I love."
Follow Brittany Brown's blog, Britt Around Town, at @brittaroundtown on all social media outlets and on her website, brittaroundtown.com.