Meet Brittani Alix of The Makings of B in Spring/The Woodlands

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittani Alix.

Brittani, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
When I was 20 years old, I started at the University of Houston and lived in my own campus apartment. My mother helped me with rent and groceries, but eventually, I began to work and go to school at the same time. Working became a priority just to pay my rent, then I started working two jobs, and was not able to balance school with it. I began to fail my courses because I was not able to study. In the process, I met my daughter’s father, Dominic. We had an extremely great relationship, however, there were some demons he was battling, which ultimately lead to his death. We had normal ups and downs, as every couple does, he was someone I loved right away. He was so caring, so friendly, so nice and so sweet. He never ever met a stranger, that’s how friendly he was. I met him after ending a relationship with a high school sweetheart, so I fell hard and fast. When he passed away, it truly made me numb. February 2019 will make seven years of his passing. What has helped me with dealing with his death, is our daughter, Nyla. I have put all my focus into being a better mother and woman to her.

February 1st, 2012, I got a call that would change my life forever. I got a call saying my boyfriend was in the hospital and it did not look to good. This was not the first time I had gotten this call, but I knew this time it was serious. I was pregnant at the time and only he knew, his sister suspected it but she never shared this until after the fact. I honestly was not sure about keeping my baby. On the day I got the call, I drove all the way to Sulphur Springs, Texas, an hour and a half or so passed Dallas, Texas, which means it took me five hours to get there. I made this trip three-four times before his date of passing February 11, 2012. The day the decision was made to pull him off life support his sister told me, he was officially gone. I was working at the coach store in Willowbrook at the time, and I just sat in the break room and cried. I could not describe the emotion I felt at the time, because I felt so numb. The day before which was February 10, 2012, I sat in the room with him. I had my textbooks, I did my homework, I ate, and I kissed him on the forward and on his cheek. The nurse came in often to check on him, and even me. She told me “you know he is not doing so well right?” Basically meaning “he probably will not make it so why are you here?” I responded, “I know” but this way my way of spending the last moment I could with him. Most of his last moments I have not shared with anyone, until now. Six years later, it still hurts me, that not only is he gone, but he was not able to meet his last and final child, baby girl Nyla Maples.

I had Nyla, August 10, 2012, when really she was due, in September 2012. Before making the decision to keep her, I was undecided. I was scared, nervous, excited, but still undecided. Once he passed, I knew keeping her was an option. I do not believe in abortion, but my thoughts were so cloudy. I was scared I would not be able to raise her with the job I had at the time. Once deciding to keep her, I allowed all of that fear to go away and did what I had to do which was working two jobs up until the very day I had her. I remember it just like yesterday, it was a Thursday, August 9th. I worked one job, left and went to my doctor’s appointment, which was not out of the ordinary, I was about to start my weekly appointments versus every two weeks or every month. Anywho, I went thinking I would just have my normal appointment, and go to my second job right after, well WRONG! My midwife decided to complete an ultrasound to check on baby Nyla since she had not in a while. She kept saying she was glad she had scheduled an ultrasound because my amniotic fluid was low.

Therefore, I had to see if I was dilated and I was not, so she decided to take me to another room and run a few tests on me. I sat in the room with cords monitoring Nyla’s heart rate and mines. After the test was ran, she told me “Well Ms. Brittani, you won’t be making it to September, you will be having that baby tomorrow, and I am going to induce you.” I told her “you’re kidding me; my baby showers are this weekend!” Her response was, “well looks like you will be having your baby showers at the hospital.” I called my sister in law crying and she laughed at me, (lol) I was serious! My Dallas baby shower was that Saturday and my Houston baby shower was that Sunday. I was truly upset, but in the end, my daughter was my hugest blessing. She came and was healthy and super cute. I ended up having a meet and greet in Houston a month after she was born, and all my Dallas family mailed more items. Nyla was truly blessed with so many items I did not have to buy anything unless I truly wanted to. This made me so much more comfortable with raising her and I was back living at home with my mom, which she was a great help, and taught me everything I know about parenting.

Nyla was born in August 2012, and I was still in school. I started working again in February 2013, I was offered a job at a daycare my daughter was going to. The assistant director, at the time, asked me if I was looking for work. It was random, but I was very much so looking for work! I was in school full time, in my last semester to complete my associates at Lone Star College, and wanted something part-time, but did not want to return to one of the jobs I had prior to giving birth to = Nyla, the other I tried to go to as part-time, but they only had full time and at the time that could not work for me, (two years later, I landed back at this job which was Lone Star College) I continued to work at the daycare, and later that year I started working part-time at a local bank. I part time here as well, and any job I have ever had I was an extremely hard worker. I deserved higher pay and more hours when the company refused to do so, I started applying at Lone Star College again and landed a full-time job with higher pay, in October 2014.

In the midst of it all, I was still trying to play catch up with bills, and over the next year, I still struggled to pay bills. I fell behind on rent, lights, and most of the assistance I was receiving was cut off due to my income increasing. I was making more, but I just could not keep up with my bills. A few months before getting the new job at Lone Star College, my mother and I had a huge discrepancy, which leads to me to being kicked out of her house. I always think that if I would have gotten this job while I was still at her house, I would have never struggled for the next few years to come. She never made me pay bills, just a few hundred dollars a month, so I know I would have been okay until I was ready to move.

Over the next few years to come, my mother became my biggest supporter, which she has always been anyway. When I started my new job at Lone Star College, I was extremely grateful to have been offered the opportunity. What I loved the most about Lone Star was the encouragement to further my education. Once, getting a feel of how I could handle working a full-time job and raising my daughter, I decided to take a few classes at Lone Star using the tuition waiver that was offered in March 2015. I applied for the University of Houston – Downtown and was accepted for Fall 2015. I was excited and was able to take classes at both Lone Star and University of Houston – Downtown until I reached my upper-level classes. May 2017 came around, and with the assistance of Lone Star College, I was able to get my bachelor’s in two years!

Over time, I gained support from family, friends, and fellow colleagues; I was even featured in our first Newsletter in the financial aid office. My director felt my story of returning after so much adversity, and pursuing school full-time, working full-time, and being a full-time mother was inspiring. After being recognized amongst my colleagues and peers, it made me realize, I love what I do and want to continue working in Higher Education. I love working in higher education and helping students the same way I have been helped. I am currently in graduate school at Louisiana State University (Online) and will have my Masters in Higher Education Administration, Spring 2019. My ultimate goal is to become a Dean of Student Services. After earning my Masters I plan to obtain my Doctorates in Higher Education Administration and Educational Leadership.

I feel that everything I have encountered, my story, my passion, my goals, and my dedication, makes me versatile at work and outside of work. I love working in Higher education, and I love building my own brand, blog, and business. Being a motivational speaker and influencer has allowed me to be an open book, which is actually therapeutic. I want to be as transparent as possible. I have always been told I have the gift of helping others, and I will continue to do so. No matter what you may be going through, if I can get through it, so can you!

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Absolutely not! And honestly, I would not change a thing, all struggles along the way actually molded the woman I am today. This is why I say I turned my pain into my passion, I turned my test into a testimony. You cannot truly empower women and help them if you never really been through it, that’s just how I see it. I lost my daughter’s father, while I was pregnant at 22 years old. Most people would let these defeat them, I used it as motivation to be the best mother for my daughter. I have gone to school full time, worked full time, just to get where I am now. I have struggled financially to where I was almost evicted so many times, my lights were off, and I had no food. I never expressed these things to anyone because I was ashamed. There was a moment in my life where I knew I wanted more, and ever since then, my life has been amazing! Everything isn’t perfect, but I am doing much better than I was three years ago.

The Makings of B – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I am a Lifestyle and Inspiration Blogger, Motivational Speaker, Image Consultant, Brand Content Creator, and Event Curator. I use my past experiences to help others and motivate them. I do this by blogging past experiences, and sharing how I turned my pain into my passion. I also do this by helping others with advice, image consulting and brand development. Being a Brand Content Creator and Image Consultant consists of the following: resume and cover letter assistance, brand development, image consulting, logo designing, brand flyers & banners, website design, product labels, product launches, etc. My overall goal is to help you build your brand and to also create and critique areas you may need assistance in.

I am most proud of my blog. My friends and family, have been supportive and receptive to my blog. I started blogging at 19 years and stopped over time. Last year, at 27 years old, I decided to return back to blogging, to share my journey. So many people have expressed how much I inspire them because I never gave up, and I want to continue to inspire others.

What sets me apart from others, is my actual passion for helping people. Everything I have gone through has allowed me to push others around me to their fullest potential.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
My proudest moment was of my career would be the launch of My Goal Diggers Brunch this past June. I was only expecting 30-40 women to come out, but my final headcount including guest speakers, vendors, and my guest was 91 women. I am proud I was able to pull off a successful event and to inspire other women. This event was to introduce my business and to share the story of my losses and gains. I walked away feeling relieved of being able to share my story, and grateful that so many were willing to listen and support. I have eight more events I am planning for the next year, and I am thrilled to continue my journey.

Pricing:

• Resume/Cover Letter Services – $50 & up

Contact Info:

• Website: themakingsofb.com
• Email: themakingsofb@gmail.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/themakingsofb
• Facebook: The Makings of B

Image Credit:
Sheneria Jackson (capturewitharj.com), Jazmine Yearby (photosbyjazmine.com), Jasmia Hardeman (@perfectflyposedphotography1)

Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.