Turning passion into action: Brittany Smith’s community impact

Giving back to one’s community can take many forms.

Some give back to their community professionally, while others may choose to give time or money to improve their community. For time and money to be effective, there must exist a medium in which to channel them; the creation of these mediums often necessitates the genesis of novel ideas. 

Brittany Smith has begun exerting her influence on the Mt. Pleasant community in this way, using her passion for improvement and nascent leadership to create new pathways for community improvement. 

Growing up in the surrounding area, Smith moved to Mt. Pleasant 20 years ago to find work. After a short stint waiting tables, Smith has worked in the water and fire damage restoration field since 2006, and now works for ServPro as their community engagement manager.

While she admits that she was skeptical of the restoration field at first, Smith now feels as if she has found her niche.

“[My first day] was the longest day of my life,” Smith shares of her initial role at ServPro as their operations manager. “I was literally washing walls all day and they were not coming clean. It was so disheartening, and I thought, ‘I never want to do this again.’”

And yet, nearly two decades later, Smith is still in the restoration industry. Her resilience and ability to work through hardship have allowed Smith to turn a difficult first day into a career where she finds a purpose in helping members of her community through difficult times.

“It really is a rewarding job, because you’re taking someone’s worst day and you’re fixing it for them,” she says. “It can be a very painstaking process to [get to the end result], but we get there and usually people are happy.”

While Smith’s role at ServPro has looked somewhat different after transitioning from the operations manager to the community engagement manager position, she finds just as much fulfillment as within her previous role. 

“It’s my job to make sure that people know what we do at ServPro, and that we are here in the community, supporting the community,” Smith explains. “That’s why I have become involved in so many things; it’s always been a passion of mine to volunteer and help in different ways, but now in this role that I’m in, I’m able to do it more.”

Like many others, as Smith’s professional involvement with the community has increased, her personal involvement has been positively correlated. 

This increase is perhaps most notable with Smith’s leading role in organizing the Mt. Pleasant First Responder 5K, in which all the proceeds went towards the Isabella County First Responders Fund. The race was such a success that Smith is turning it into an annual event in October of each year. 

“Seeing everyone come together like they did was amazing,” says Smith. “The spectators were great, the police were there [as a part of it], we had three firetrucks there, and we had a food truck. It was a great day.”

After forging her own path of community influence, Smith is now in a position where she feels as if her purpose has aligned with her passions. This alignment can be elusive, yet Smith’s patience and intentionality have made it her reality. For people seeking the same reality, Smith’s advice is to “explore your options. Really explore your community and get involved. That’s one thing I wish I would have done sooner, now that I’m involved with the Jaycees and Rotary. So, I would say get out and meet new people, because they’re the pivotal piece to keep you here.”

Just as Smith met people who kept her in the Mt. Pleasant community when she was in the early phases of her career, she now acts as the same force to keep people within the Mt. Pleasant community. 

Whether it is helping community members through a difficult time via her professional life, planning events that benefit local charity funds, or simply being an ambassador for the area, Smith has positively changed the community around her—which she does not take for granted. 

“I think of future generations; I want them to want to stay here too,” she concludes. “I just love this community, and if I can do one little thing to make it better, then I’m going to do it. I think any improvement that you can make, just do it, because somebody somewhere is going to benefit from it.”