PASSIONATE. AUTHENTIC. MOTIVATING.
Brittnei Washington is a finance whiz who values family and community and uses every challenge as an opportunity to grow, including our pandemic situation. She approaches everything with zest and where others see setbacks Washington finds opportunities. While the pandemic has challenged our ability to connect, she has used the time to focus on the health of her “inner life and her family”. She culls and values all of her experiences and files them away in her “Experiences Learned Folder” and with a wisdom that seems beyond her years, she embraces the idea that there is indeed “a season for everything.”
Current Business & Job Title: TD Bank, N.A., Financial Services Representative
Hometown: Long Branch, New Jersey
Age: 33
Education: Current MBA Candidate at Fitchburg State University, Bachelor’s Degree in Spanish Language & Literature
Community Involvement: Unitarian Universalist Fellowship: leader in social justice and now finance committee, Plattsburgh Noon Kiwanis member
What’s the single most important characteristic for success?
Find what you love to do and be patient and curious as your journey helps you encounter it. Some of us know at a very young age what we want our careers to be, but for many of us it is a journey. We may even find that we love something for a time but that we need to expand or evolve into something else later. I think staying true to what makes you happy is success.
What important lesson have you learned in your career?
Building relationships is everything, including the one that you have with yourself.
What can the North Country do to make this region more appealing to a younger generation?
Invest in the ones who come here. Create a bridge between businesses, recruitment and networking at colleges and universities. Find a space (virtually, physically, etc.) that will not only target younger people but make it easy to market all that the North Country has to offer them (the groups, the organizations, the firms, the support systems). During the events I have had with college students, they have expressed that it is very easy for them to get lost in the university bubble, not realizing that there is a whole community out here where they can start a career and a family.
How do you contribute to the culture of your company?
By being my bright, passionate self. Also, by being adaptable and team-focused.
How has COVID-19 impacted you professionally and personally? What are you doing differently?
The pandemic has helped me to focus more on family and my inner life. Although I value in-person meetings and gatherings, I have found staying connected to groups online to be very fruitful and satisfying to our community development and my personal development as well.
Write a note to your younger self…
I know this moment seems tough right now, but this experience is going to eventually make you, not break you. Just take a few moments and breath. And try to take in this one thought because it is the truth: You, my love, are destined for greatness.