Climber Crush Wednesday featuring Brittany Leavitt
April 8, 2020. Happy Climber Crush Wednesday! #lccxccw — Today we are featuring Brittany Leavitt @bleavitt8! She is a climber, backpacker, photographer, and an educator. You may recognize Brittany from her work and accomplishments with BIPOC communities such as @outdoorafro, @browngirlsclimb, and @colorthecrag!
𝟏. 𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐬? She/hers
𝟐. 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠?
I am an early educator at the Smithsonian in Washington DC. part time outdoor instructor. My climbing story is not too exciting. I was lucky enough to start climbing via 6 years ago due to my friends, who were also climbers. I found to be my space of getting myself out of my comfort zone.
𝟑. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐈𝐏𝐎𝐂 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐨, 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐚𝐠.
First off thanks, It takes more than one person to create a community for these spaces. In general it's an honor to be one of the many powerful voices that are trying to uplift and create space for others. My overall goal in this space is to connect BIPOC to the outdoors, while redefining the term “Outdoorsy” looks like. Whether it's working in your garden, to riding your bike around the neighbor, to Hiking big mountain ranges; the term “Outdoorsy” can be expressed in multiple ways. With my work with Brown Girls Climb I am the Regional Coordinator, I help onboard and support the local leaders in their meetups. It's been awesome to be a part of BGC from the beginning and watching the progress and work as a team when I've been doing. Which is support the BIPOC Women, non-binary, and gender non-conforming folks in support of mentorship, careers, and creating a space for climbers through meetups and events. I was honored and lucky enough to be on the team for Color the Crag for the last 3 years. The goal for this festival was to bring together and support the BIPOC climbing community from pro Athletes to climbers who have never been outdoors. Our goal was to create a space where our community could take time to learn and celebrate climbing in a way they may not get the chance to do so at home. This year I took on a bigger role as the director. Which I can say was a total new experience, lot of work, little sleep haha but it was all worth it!
𝟒. 𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐚𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐑𝐄𝐈! 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬?
One of my many career goals has been to work in outdoor education. I love teaching and especially when it comes to outdoor activities. It is a cool feeling to watch people gain the confidence they need to take on their next adventure. I love teaching the camp/backpacking essentials classes. I get to break down the gear from how to pack your backpack to how to find a proper spot to setup a campsite. I also love teaching the intro to outdoor climbing classes. I try to create a space of comfort and learn. That people feel confident enough to ask the questions. It’s really cool to see someone who has never tied a figure eight or belay before, walk away feeling confident enough to continue learning more about climbing.
𝟓. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐲 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐬, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐩𝐬. 𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤, 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞?
Haha yes. To be honest, It’s not easy. I am always reshaping my schedule. I work full time as an Early Educator so most of my weekdays are spent in the classroom. I tend to spend rest time (for the kids) and my lunch break on calls or answering emails. So I can have the evening time to myself (Kind of). I will admit when big projects or events are coming I am not getting as much sleep. And training goes out the window. My 2020 goal was to make sure that I balance more time for myself and goals that I have.
6. 𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭?
I love: Backpacking, Skating ( Roller skates), Art, Music ( l love going to shows.), Reading, cooking and some other things as well. :)
𝟕. 𝗪𝐞'𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐈𝐏𝐎𝐂 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞?
Learning over the years as a black women in the space that I work in. Raising my thoughts and concerns is important. We often get put in the is box, when we express ourselves as being to bossy or angry. But really we are just trying to express the needs that we see. Even though, I am someone who can be quiet. I am still willing to raise my voice. Sugar coating never helps anyone when it comes to support and action. There is so much to raise concern and conversation that doesn't just focus in the outdoor community but really the everyday life of a BIPOC. From fighting for equal pay to the fight against Police Brutality.
I am also taking the time to raise my voice for others. But also learn about other community spaces like the LGBTQ and the adaptive community.
𝟖. 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐀𝐃𝐘 𝐂𝐑𝐕𝐒𝐇 𝐂𝐑𝐄𝗪 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬?
That is awesome to be a part of this climbing community. Climbing is awesome but also has to recognize what else is going in our communities and the world. We are all working towards supporting and creating a space for so many voices to speak in the outdoors in general.