Welcome to Creators on the Rise, where we find and profile breakout creators who are in the midst of extraordinary growth. You can check out previous installments here.
When Brittany‘s friends started telling her about fashion and lifestyle influencers getting big on Instagram, she quietly thought to herself, I think I could do something like this.
“[B]ut I didn’t want to tell anybody,” she says. “I was embarrassed about it.”
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At the time, she was working a corporate job in marketing. Then her family started a business, so she changed course to work on that. But as much as she loved her family, she was feeling isolated. She’d gone from busy corporate culture to not having much time for friends and community outside of the business, and it was wearing on her.
“I missed the camaraderie that I had at work,” she says. So, thinking about those Instagram influencers, but without much more of a plan in mind, she started an account. “I was like, ‘What should I start about?’ I was like, ‘I’m very short. I’m five foot and I’ve always struggled with finding clothing that fit.’ I was like, ‘I’ll just name my blog FiveFootFeminine because I always loved very girly, very feminine things. I’m going to share dresses that fit petite women.'”
That was in 2018. Little did Brittany know, two years later COVID would hit, and she would find a lot more people desperate for the kind of connection and community she had been. Petite fashion is still a major part of her Instagram account (she has a popular series where she compares how an item of clothing looks on a tall model compared to her), she’s expanded to lifestyle, food, and more.
Now that she’s been doing this a few years–and has over half a million followers on Instagram and another 320,000+ on TikTok to show for it–Brittany is hoping to do a little more expanding in 2024. She’s recently gotten a management team, and wants to make sure that as her digital presence grows, she keeps a healthy work-life balance, with free time and, most importantly, evenings to spend with family.
Check out our chat with her below.
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This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Tubefilter: Nice to meet you! I’d like to start with some background about you. Where are you from and what did you get up to before social media?
Brittany: I’m actually born and raised in Iowa, to start from the very beginning. I love Iowa, but I always want it to live in a bigger city. When my husband and I got engaged, we decided we wanted to move here to Scottsdale, Arizona, because it’s just always warm and sunny. Honestly, the complete opposite of Iowa where it’s always snowing, basically. Actually, before we even moved here to Phoenix right out of college, I lived in Dallas and I worked in marketing and it was trying to climb the corporate ladder.
Moved here, worked at a marketing agency, and helped a lot of companies with developing their websites and their social media presence. I think that’s when really influencers started to become a thing. I actually didn’t really know much about them until a few of my friends in my group, where it’s telling me, “Oh my gosh, Brittany, I think you would like this girl on Instagram. She’s sharing all of these outfits. They’re so similar to you. You should start following these influencers on Instagram.”
I started following them and deep down inside me, I was like, “I think I could do something like this,” but I didn’t want to tell anybody. I was embarrassed about it. Long story short, I ended up quitting my job at the marketing agency because my family started a business and they wanted me to help them with that. After I helped my family get their business up and running, I had a lot of free time on my hands. I also wanted to be connected with the community because working with your family is amazing, but I felt a little isolated, to be honest.
I missed the camaraderie that I had at work. I started my blog and I was like, “What should I start about?” I was like, “I’m very short. I’m five foot and I’ve always struggled with finding clothing that fit.” I was like, “I’ll just name my blog FiveFootFeminine because I always loved very girly, very feminine things. I’m going to share dresses that fit petite women.” That was really the first two years of my blog is I just shared petite-friendly dresses.
I didn’t really want anyone to know much about my home or where I lived or anything because it was a little bit scary, honestly, putting yourself out there. Then the pandemic hit and no one was really buying dresses. No one really had an interest in dressing up at home. Everybody’s in their PJs at home. I shared a floral arrangement, just so random in my kitchen and it just completely took off. I thought, “Maybe this is a sign that I need to go in another direction and maybe start sharing more of my home, letting people inside little corners of my home and sharing entertaining tips and tricks.”
I’ve always loved Martha Stewart and finding easy DIY ideas on how to entertain with ease. I started sharing more and more of that and people were really interested in it. Honestly don’t think a lot of people on Instagram were sharing that kind of content during that time. People were still pushing a lot of fashion and things like that. I think it maybe set me apart a little bit and it just took off. Ever since then it really started taking off a couple of years ago. Thankfully I’ve gained a community of women who love seeing those easy DIY ideas that don’t look necessarily DIY because I try to make them easy but I also want them to look elevated because sometimes DIY things, you do them and then you’re like, “I probably should have just bought that at the store.” My goal is to share DIY ideas that actually look good and you’re proud of them.
Tubefilter: Very cool. Did you have a blog and an Instagram at the same time, or when did Instagram come into things?
Brittany: Honestly, it was moreso Instagram. I call it “the blog” because my family is like, “What are you doing?” They didn’t know much about Instagram, so I was like, “I’ll just call it a blog.” I do have a website and I would share stuff on that website, but it’s always been mainly Instagram. Then when TikTok came into the mix, I started resharing all of my stuff on TikTok, and I grew a community there as well. I’ve grown a community on Pinterest. I just reshare everything on across all social media platforms to try to reach as many people as I can. It’s mainly Instagram and TikTok now.
Tubefilter: Do you feel like Instagram has been the most stable for you so far?
Brittany: So far, yes. I do think it’s transitioning into TikTok.
Tubefilter: When did you start doing video?
Brittany: Really when Reels came out on Instagram. Honestly, I dug my heels in the ground because I was like, “I just got this really nice camera and I finally figured out how to take all these beautiful photos that I’ve always needed to take. Now I have to transition into doing video?” It took me weeks to figure out how to edit videos like a 15-second clip. I’m so glad because it really has video. Everyone loves watching the videos. That’s where it’s at right now.
Tubefilter: I speak to a lot of creators who did really well with photos on Instagram and then couldn’t transition into video, or couldn’t carry their audience over. Then there’s people who got popular on TikTok first or got popular on YouTube first and are really struggling to put their videos on Instagram. Instagram is a very difficult one for people to do well on. I’m curious if you have any idea how you’ve been able to be so successful with it.
Brittany: When my videos started taking off, I think I only, I shouldn’t say only had, but I had 20,000 probably followers at the time so it was a much smaller following than I have now. I really built my community off of videos going viral on Instagram. I don’t know. I think the key to having any type of content doing well anywhere on any platform is making sure that the content is shareable and saveable. I’m sharing a lot of ideas, things that people could– My goal for my page is I want my Instagram to look almost as if it’s a magazine or almost as a Pinterest board of things that you’ve saved and their ideas that you want for later.
Like, “Oh, this is an idea for a birthday party that I have next month or a bridal shower or whatever.” People are saving and they’re sharing those ideas with their friends and family. Same thing though goes for people who share fashion. Some people are just so talented at taking a beautiful photo and they’re beautiful people and they look amazing in an outfit and people are going to save those. I think it’s finding what your talent is and then making sure that that piece of content is saveable and shareable. It’s Pinterest-worthy, I guess you could say.
Tubefilter: What was the learning curve for you to get into video? I know you said you dug your heels in a little bit.
Brittany: I really did. The first couple of months I was like, “Oh gosh, I can’t do video. Are you kidding me?” The learning curve was just, it got to a point where I was like, “If I don’t do this, if I don’t do the videos, I’m going to regret not trying it.” It took a few weeks and then obviously I was probably doing video for about a year before anything really took off.
Tubefilter: Do you remember what the first video that took off was?
Brittany: Taking off for me, video, it’s a wide range. I remember the first– For me, when I was at 20,000 followers, if a video got 50,000 views I was just over the moon, and that was one of the floral arrangement videos. But now my videos, some of them are getting 20 million views, which is just insane to me. The first one that got a significant amount I was like, “Oh, wow.” It was a fall floral arrangement in my kitchen and then the one that I think really took off above a million where I was like, “Oh wow, there’s actually something to this,” it was a 4th of July cookie pizza, which is so silly and funny, but I think that made me realize that people really enjoy celebrating holidays
Tubefilter: I was just looking on your page this morning, I know you’re doing a lot of Halloween content right now. Do you center around holidays and what people would be decorating their homes for?
Brittany: I really try to. Again, that’s my personal brand. I want to be the millennial Martha Stewart, so I like to share seasonal items and holiday-related content.
Tubefilter: Then I know you do a lot of spotlighting products, and some of those are sponsored. I know that can be difficult to build a sense of trust with your audience where you’re like, “Hey, I’m using this thing because I genuinely like it and I really think you’d like it too.” I’m wondering about how you’ve been able to build that trust with your audience.
Brittany: I think it’s just being very selective. Unfortunately, sometimes I think the dollar amount can sway people, and I totally get it. One month you might want to share this shampoo, and then the next month you might want to share another shampoo. Sometimes we do change things up. I think I’ve just been really selective and intentional on what brands and items I’m sharing and even if it’s a sponsorship that’s coming up to me and it does not– If I wouldn’t personally buy it, at the end of the day the question to myself is, if I wouldn’t go to the store and personally buy this item, I’m not sharing it. I think people can really tell. They can really tell if you’re passionate and if you genuinely like something and it shows through.
Tubefilter: Absolutely true. I’m assuming you probably get a lot of sponsorship offers. What’s your selection process with that, with which companies you decide to work with?
Brittany: Again it’s really, would I buy this on my own? Would I actually use this in a drink recipe? Would I actually buy and wear this dress? That honestly is what it comes down to.
Tubefilter: I’d like to hear a little bit about your production schedule right now. Do you have a set production schedule? Do you aim to put up a certain amount of content across certain platforms each week, or how do things work for you?
Brittany: Yes, I try to post at least three videos a week.
Tubefilter: Do you cross-post?
Brittany: Yes, and that’s on Instagram and Tik-Tok. I mostly focus on Instagram and if things fall through the cracks on the other cross-promotions then that’s– I’m a one-woman show, and then I recently have this management team helping me, but for production, I really try to post three times a week. I film all the video on my own. I have a tripod. I take all of my own photos. The first couple of years, I’d have my husband drive around with me and take photos of me in dresses and stuff, but he doesn’t really do that anymore, and I figured out how to do it myself, so it’s almost easier to do it myself, to be honest. I film everything myself, I edit everything myself, write everything, I’m posting everything and then I have my management team that helps me a lot with email.
Tubefilter: Email also crucial part of the business. It’s a lot that you’re doing everything yourself.
Brittany: It’s probably not healthy, to be honest. I’ve had moments where I’m like, “It really would be nice to have an assistant or someone to help me,” and hopefully that is something maybe I can find. It’s just trying to find the right person, and also just, I feel like I’m still figuring things out. This industry, it moves so quickly, and there’s no real roadmap, so it’s not like you know where you’re going to. A corporate job, there’s a manager level, and there’s a director level, and then there’s the CEO level, and here’s the things I need to do to get there and when you get to this level you get two assistants and then you get three assistants.
You can see and model what somebody else is doing, really. You don’t know what any of these influencers have behind closed doors. Some of them have tons of assistants and some of them don’t have any and so it’s hard to know. How does it work for them and how do they find that person? I’m actually in that phase right now where I’m still trying to figure out how am I going to get all the wheels working while still having some me time.
Tubefilter: Absolutely. That’s one of my favorite questions to ask during interviews with creators of all experience level and following size, because it’s such a difficult thing to, A, to give up that level of control where you have a team help you out and then, B, it’s difficult to find people. I feel like there’s two opposite ends of the spectrum. People see MrBeast and they’re like, “He’s got dozens of people helping him.” Which he does. But then they see these seemingly small solo creators and they’re like, “Oh, they’re doing it all themselves,” and it’s like, “No those people have help too.” I like to destigmatize the idea that people should be doing content creation any one certain way, but I do in general feel like most people should have some sort of support. It does seem like you’re hitting that point where you need just someone around–but hopefully, management will help you out.
Brittany: Definitely, yes. They’ve been a huge help for sure.
Tubefilter: What has been your favorite thing about this whole being online journey?
Brittany: I think connecting with like-minded people truly because at the end of the day, that’s what I started it for is I felt a little isolated and I wanted to connect with other women who enjoyed the same things as I did. It’s nice to know that even though a flower arrangement or something is just so small it does make someone’s day brighter and if I can bring a little bit of light to social media and the world that makes me feel good and to know that– I remember I said at the beginning my friends were like, when I didn’t even know what influencing was they were like, “You need to follow these girls on Instagram because they’re just like you, Brittany.” I’m like, “Oh my gosh.” I start following, it almost feels like you feel connected but you don’t even know the person and so if I can somehow connect with somebody that’s one of my followers, I don’t really know them in real life but it’s nice to– Hopefully I bring some light in their life.
Tubefilter: Especially during the pandemic, that longing for connection was something a lot of us felt.
Brittany: It’s funny too because I experienced that before the pandemic hit, and I know it sounds so crazy. I don’t mean to sound dramatic about it, but I went from this corporate job where I’m around all these people all the time. Then I was working from the kitchen counter with my brother next to me. I love my brother, but I was like, “I need friends.” I’m dealing with this a couple of years because I started in 2018. I’m dealing with this a couple of years before the pandemic hit. I’m like, “I feel like I need to feel connected.” A lot of my friends still live in Iowa. I need to make friends here in Scottsdale and Phoenix area.
I was like, “I think this will be a good idea for me to connect with like-minded people and connect with other women in the industry.” Thankfully I’ve been able to do that. Then the pandemic hit and then everybody started to complain about– At first it was like, “Yes, I don’t have to go to work.” Then it was like everybody started to complain about feeling lonely. I was like, “Oh my gosh, this is literally how I felt in 2018.”
Tubefilter: Then you were able to build this community.
Brittany: Yes.
Tubefilter: Very cool. Any plans or goals that you’re looking forward to over the next year or so?
Brittany: I think honestly, it’s always evolving with me. I’m always thinking of the next thing, but I just want to continue to share what I’m currently sharing and see where it goes.
Tubefilter: Perfect. Anything else you want readers to know about you?
Brittany: Gosh, I don’t know. I think deep down I wish that I could– I don’t know if this is really an answer, but I’m a really private person, to be honest. I think that that shows on the internet because I don’t share a lot of my day-to-day life. People are only seeing a small 15-second clip of what happened during the day. There’s so much more that goes on behind it. This type of work takes a lot– You have to have so much passion for it. It takes a lot of time, a lot of work, a lot of sacrifice. I’ve had to sacrifice time with family and friends that I don’t want to.
I think also, actually, to answer your last question, one thing that I’m looking forward to is hopefully with getting management and a team behind me, I can have more free time, which I’m definitely working on. I hope that happens in the next year.
Tubefilter: I also hope that happens.
Brittany: I think sometimes it is a dream job, but if you dream, if it’s what you want. It’s not for everyone. I think what I would want people to know is– I don’t know. They’re only seeing a small bit of my life and there’s so much more to me that I wish I could share, but I just don’t have time to share it all, honestly.
Tubefilter: Hopefully a team will help, and you’ll be able to share more to whatever level you’re comfortable with.
Brittany: There’s so much. I have a long list of things that I want to do and I want to share, but at the end of the day, if it comes down to me watching a TV show with my husband at night or getting on and sharing something, I’m going to watch the show with him, but I’m not going to record that and share it with everybody in the world. I’m a real private person.
