Beyond Beauty Project
How It All Began
Raised in the Midwest right outside of Detroit, Michigan, Bridgett spent the majority of her early years dancing competitively. Her mother grew sick with multiple sclerosis and was in a wheelchair by the time Bridgett and her twin brother were seven years old. As a result, their dad worked double shifts at Chrysler to support their family.
Bridgett channeled her father’s work ethic after high school when she began working full time as a secretary to put herself through Community College. People had been telling her for years that she should model but she was never interested until she realized it could give her a world of opportunities. She researched the best photographer in town and shot with him. When she returned to work one Monday morning her boss walked up to her with a smirk, handed her a stack of about 30 faxes from modeling agencies around the world, and said “I guess you won’t be working here much longer.” That day the 19 year old’s life changed forever.
Michelle Pommier Models in Miami and Chic Models in Paris signed her that summer, and her career took off. Before she knew it she was living in Miami, then Paris, and then all around the world. The quick trajectory of her career as a model and the obvious industry focus on — and judgment of — her looks felt unnatural and uncomfortable. She realized quickly that beauty isn’t defined by perfect skin or a waf-like body.
During the beginning of her modeling career, Bridgett struggled with her body image, yo-yo dieting along with other girls going through the same pressures. They were held to a particular industry standard and often told to lose weight, cut their hair, get surgery, etc. These struggles fostered questions about what beauty truly meant, and she grew determined to learn how to fully love and respect herself.
About Bridgett Burrick Brown
Bridgett Burrick Brown is the founder of Beyond Beauty Project,
a movement and multimedia platform that focuses on inspiring confidence and acceptance surrounding beauty, body image, and mental health. Using her two decades of experience in the modeling industry as a model, Brown strives to change the narrative of beauty by redefining its meaning from the inside out, providing education and awareness around feeling our best mentally, physically, and spiritually. By breaking down the barriers to true beauty and self-worth, Bridgett empowers people to ditch the patriarchal standards and shape their own beauty, free from judgment and others’ expectations. She is a dedicated advocate and activist for women, mental health, body diversity and disordered eating recovery, as well as a Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach from NYC’s Institute for Integrative Nutrition, a W.I.T.S Certified Personal Trainer, and is Certified in Ayurveda from Lotus Flow University.
She is also a mother, wife, former dancer and host of Beyond Beauty Project: The Podcast.
The Journey to Redefine Beauty
Bridgett dove into educating herself. She got certified in personal training and holistic nutrition, studied Ayurvedic medicine, and psychology through books, training courses, and therapy. After years of questioning how she felt about herself, she felt strong —- physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Then, during a life-altering two years, Bridgett lost her mom, her dad, her brother, and a best friend. In the midst of that period of personal loss, she married the love of her life and gave birth to her daughter. As she began to rebuild her life with her young family, several miscarriages left her unsure about how to heal her body and spirit. Her pain sparked a desire to further shape her own beauty, free from judgment and others’ expectations. She then paused from the modeling world and decided to make the Beyond Beauty Project her mission to help others love themselves from the inside out.
Each day raising a daughter further ignites her passion for tackling tough conversations surrounding beauty. Realizing that her mother’s own self-image had a lot to do with how she felt about herself continues to inspire Bridgett to pass along healthy messages to her daughter.
Bridgett knows a good hair day can help anyone feel beautiful for a moment, but ardently believes our beauty needs to come from within— our health, minds, emotions, and souls. There is no beauty fix for not loving yourself, and she hopes the Beyond Beauty Project helps shine some light on the things we can all do to feel our best from the inside out.
Let’s start a new narrative about how feeling beautiful on the inside is really what it’s all about.
Let’s expand the conversations of being beautiful at every age and with all kinds of bodies, and all kinds of skin types.
Let’s continue fighting towards equality by building each other up with confidence, strong voices, and self-love.
“I didn’t start my project because I have all the answers or because I am the “end all version” of what I want to feel like. I started it because I am compelled to use the voice I’d muffled for so long in the hope I can reach someone who’s struggling to feel better, stronger, prettier or louder. I started it for my daughter and I started it for all of us.
What I do know for sure is that if I’m not tending to my physical health, my mental health, my emotional health and my spiritual health that it doesn’t matter what I look like on the outside because… Beauty is how we feel.”
Xx, BB