Hi! My name is Britt Reints. I have 20+ years of experience developing integrated marketing campaigns that deepen engagement, expand audiences, and drive growth.
Here’s what you should know if you want to work with me:
- I never miss a deadline.
- If I don’t know how to do something, I will learn.
- I’m confident that between Google and YouTube there is absolutely nothing that can’t be figured out if you are willing to put in the time.
- I laugh loudly and often.
- I love people.
- I become friends with co-workers and clients. Have-over-for-Thanksgiving-dinner kind of friends.
- Seriously, if you ever need a place to go on Thanksgiving, you’re welcome at my house.
- I am almost always the first to raise my hand: to volunteer or offer an answer.
- I love data.
- I am honest, sincere, and loyal. Like a puppy.
Now, the backstory (Or: How I Ended Up with Magazine Layout and Corporate Copywriting Experience)
I started blogging in 2005, which makes me an official OG Blogger. When I started, I was a working mother with a baby and a kindergartner, living in a small town in Iowa, commuting to a job in advertising. Through blogging, I found my voice and my passion for social media. I also found a reader who hired me for a marketing job that moved my family to Central Florida. That would be the first of many professional boosts that the Internet would give me.
I received my first check for blogging in 2008, and I was blown away that I could get paid for doing something I loved. Soon, I picked up my first regular gig at Work It! Mom, where I maintained a weekly column for the next six years. I began writing for multiple online publications and was promoted to editor at two of them.
In the early years, most online publications were startups or test projects of major corporations, and it wasn’t uncommon for writers to be expected to provide photos (sourced or their own) and do the bulk of the social media marketing for their articles. As a result, I adapted my previous marketing experience to the digital media landscape. Basically: I wanted to win traffic bonuses (I’ve never met a competition I didn’t want to win), and I became obsessed with learning everything I could about search engine optimization, effective headline writing, and what it took to “go viral”. (And I won. I always won.)
In addition to editorial content, I started copywriting for businesses. To this day, I do not know how that happened–an old editor needed a favor, perhaps? Before I knew it I was writing manuals for bariatric surgeons, moving guides for the U.S. Postal Service, takeout menus for pizza chains, and hotel descriptions for Priceline. Copywriting isn’t a glamorous answer to “what kind of stuff do you write?”, but it has provided endless opportunities to learn new things in all kinds of industries. I’m pretty sure I could perform a gastric bypass procedure in a pinch, and I kill at Trivia Night.
In 2011, the Internet gave me its best gift yet: the inspiration and means to take an epic family road trip. We sold our suburban mcmansion and everything in it, bought a tiny travel trailer, and set out to see the country. We traveled for 10 months together before deciding to put down new roots in Pittsburgh, a city we’d discovered and fallen in love with on our trip.
Since moving to Pittsburgh, I’ve written a book, given a TEDx talk, spent a year publishing a community magazine, helped launch two signature annual events in the City’s largest neighborhood, and been the Communications Director for a progressive non-profit. I’ve also met the Mayor, served on numerous planning committees, and become one of those people who doesn’t cross rivers.
Unless you are across a river.
I would definitely cross a river for you.
