Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittany Stephens.
Hi Brittany, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have always been someone who is passionate about communication, connection, creativity, and bringing people together. I studied Communications and Public Relations at Oral Roberts University, and throughout my career I have had the opportunity to work across marketing, communications, operations, training, and strategy. My professional experience has allowed me to work with major brands and organizations, manage complex projects, develop marketing strategies, strengthen client relationships, and even identify more than $1.2 million in optimization savings in one of my previous roles.
At the same time, entrepreneurship and community building have always been a major part of my story. In 2017, I founded Chat It Up, a community created to bring women together for meaningful conversations, connections, collaboration, and opportunities. What started as an idea has grown into years of events, partnerships, networking experiences, and community building in Tulsa and Miami. Through Chat It Up, I have learned firsthand how powerful it can be when women are given intentional spaces to connect beyond simply exchanging business cards.
Over time, I realized that my strongest skill is being able to see the bigger picture and then figure out how to bring it to life. Whether I am developing a marketing strategy, creating an event, building a brand, helping a business communicate its story, or developing a new idea, I naturally think about the strategy, the audience, the experience, and the execution.
More recently, I have also been building my own marketing and creative work through BPR Creations and developing Your Next Move, a platform designed to help entrepreneurs, creatives, and professionals turn ideas into clear strategies and actionable next steps. Building these projects has pushed me to combine everything I have learned throughout my career into work that feels both creative and purposeful.
My life has also changed significantly over the last few years. I became a mother, got engaged, continued pursuing my education and career goals, and began becoming much more intentional about the kind of life and work I want to build. Motherhood especially has strengthened my sense of purpose, discipline, and desire to create opportunities that give me both professional growth and the ability to be present for my family.
Today, I see myself as a marketer, strategist, communicator, entrepreneur, and community builder. My journey has not been one straight line, but every experience has helped me become someone who knows how to connect people, communicate ideas, build strategies, and turn concepts into something tangible. I am now looking for opportunities where I can bring that combination of creativity, strategy, leadership, and relationship building to an organization while continuing to grow professionally.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely has not been a smooth road. One of the biggest challenges has been learning how to keep moving forward when life does not happen in a straight line.
I have had seasons where I was building my career while also trying to grow Chat It Up, finish my degree, develop new business ideas, and figure out what I ultimately wanted my professional life to look like. There have been moments when I had great ideas but not always the funding, resources, team, or visibility to execute them at the level I envisioned.
Building Chat It Up has taught me a lot about consistency and resilience. When you are building a community, there are seasons when events are full and engagement is high, and other seasons when you have to rethink the strategy, rebuild momentum, and remind yourself why you started in the first place. I have had to learn how to create opportunities instead of always waiting for them to come to me.
My career journey has also come with pivots. I have worked in corporate environments, consulting, training, marketing, and entrepreneurship, and there were times when I questioned how all of those experiences connected. Eventually I realized that they were all strengthening the same core skills in me: communication, strategy, relationship building, leadership, and execution.
Becoming a mother added another layer to that journey. I have had to learn how to pursue ambitious goals while also being present for my family. It has made me much more intentional with my time and much clearer about the kind of opportunities I want to pursue.
One of the biggest lessons I have learned is that a setback does not always mean you are going in the wrong direction. Sometimes it forces you to become more resourceful, more disciplined, and more creative. I am still building, still learning, and still figuring some things out, but I am much more confident now in who I am, what I bring to the table, and the kind of impact I want to make.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Chat It Up?
Chat It Up is a women focused community I founded in 2017 to create intentional spaces for conversation, connection, community, collaboration, confidence, and opportunity. What began as a passion for bringing women together has grown into a platform that connects entrepreneurs, creatives, professionals, and community leaders through curated events, networking experiences, conversations, partnerships, and community building.
At the heart of Chat It Up is the belief that networking should feel deeper than simply exchanging business cards. I want women to leave our experiences feeling like they met someone they can build with, learn from, collaborate with, support, or call on later. We create spaces where genuine relationships can develop naturally.
Over the years, Chat It Up has hosted events and experiences in Tulsa and Miami, partnered with local businesses and organizations, and continued evolving based on what women in our community actually need. Our events range from intimate brunches and networking happy hours to wellness experiences, coworking nights, business spotlights, and other opportunities designed to help women connect both personally and professionally.
What sets Chat It Up apart is the intention behind the experience. I am very focused on who is in the room, why they are there, how people connect, and what happens after the event is over. I do not want women to simply attend an event. I want them to become part of a community where meaningful relationships and opportunities continue beyond that one moment.
One of the things I am most proud of is that Chat It Up has continued to grow and evolve for nearly a decade. It has taught me that community is not built overnight. It is built through consistency, trust, listening, and creating experiences that make people want to come back.
As Chat It Up enters its next chapter, I am focused on expanding the community beyond events and creating more ways for women to discover one another, connect across cities, share resources, collaborate, and create opportunities together. My ultimate goal is for Chat It Up to become a trusted community where women know they can find both meaningful connection and their next opp
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
The most important lesson I have learned is that consistency matters more than perfection.
There have been so many moments in my journey when I did not have everything figured out. I did not always have the perfect plan, the biggest budget, the largest audience, or every resource I thought I needed. What I did have was the willingness to keep showing up, keep learning, keep adjusting, and keep building.
That lesson has shaped everything from my career to Chat It Up to the businesses and ideas I am developing now. I have learned that opportunities are often created through consistency, relationships, preparation, and being willing to move before everything feels perfect.
I have also learned not to underestimate the value of my own experiences. For a long time, I looked at the different parts of my journey as separate pieces. Corporate work, marketing, communications, entrepreneurship, community building, motherhood, creativity, and strategy all felt like different chapters. Now I understand that they are all connected. Each experience has strengthened how I lead, communicate, solve problems, and create.
Another major lesson has been that your path does not have to look like anyone else’s to be valuable. I have had to pivot, start again, rethink ideas, and take some unconventional routes. Instead of seeing that as a weakness, I now see it as part of what makes me resourceful.
More than anything, I have learned to trust the process while still doing the work. I believe faith is a major part of my life, but I also believe faith requires action. I can pray about the vision, but I still have to send the email, make the call, build the idea, walk into the room, and be prepared when the opportunity comes.
Today, I am much less concerned with having everything perfectly figured out. I am focused on continuing to grow, staying consistent, building meaningful relationships, and being willing to take the next step even when I cannot see the entire staircase yet.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_chatitup?stkn=eWN3Z3Z0c3EyOGt1&utm_source=qr
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittany-stephens-37ab07160?utm_source=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=member_ios
