21 Things You Might Not Know About Me: Brittny Olson

This week's 21 Things You Might Not Know About Me features Brittny Olson.  

1. I grew up in Rice Lake, and have never really left the area. A lot of people like to get away from their hometown as fast as they can after high school, but that wasn't me. I'm very close with my family, so I wanted to stay near them.

2. I attended WITC in Rice Lake, where I obtained an Associate's Degree in Business Management.

3. I met my husband, Bryan, when I was 20. We had only been dating for 3 months when he proposed, and we got married one year later! Everyone thought we were nuts, but we knew we were right for each other. We've been together for almost 10 years, and will celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary in August.

4. Bryan and I have two amazing children: Caydence who is 5 (going on 15), and Ryder who is 3. My kids are my world, and are truly my greatest accomplishments! 

5. I worked in a variety of jobs and positions before finding my passion in domestic and sexual violence work. I was a secretary for a general contractor, a receptionist at a medical clinic and a hair salon (shout out to DeJa You in RL!), a server, and a customer service rep at Rice Lake Weighing Systems (miss you all!). 

6. I started my career with Embrace (then TimeOut) as the office coordinator at our shelter in Ladysmith. I left for a short time while the organization was in a transitional period, and then came back to fill the Domestic Violence Program Coordinator position in Washburn county in 2015.  

7. My husband and I became home owners for the first time in May 2017 when we purchased our dream home in Birchwood!

8. I was a cheerleader in high school.

9. I figure skated for 7 years in my childhood. I'm not sure if I could even stand on the ice with skates now! :)

10. My husband and I have always been in a long distance relationship. In our nearly 10 years together, he's only worked locally for about 1 year. He works for Michel's Corporation, and has worked in several states during his time with them. The kids and I look forward to our face-time call from him every week night! 

11. The big scar on the front of my neck is from having my thyroid removed last year. After a year of struggling with thyroid disease and medications that weren't working, I decided to have it removed. It's a good thing I did, because it turned out I had cancer (even after a biopsy showed a benign result). After that, I had a radioactive iodine treatment, and since then tests have shown no signs of re-occurrence, so fingers crossed that it stays this way! 

12. I love, love, love my job and the amazing co-workers I'm so privileged to work with! Our team is truly like no other. We support and compliment each other so well, even though some of us are two counties apart! 

13. My husband and I are huge Duke basketball fans. Our dream is to someday attend a Duke vs NC game at Cameron Indoor Stadium and see Coach Krzyzewski in person! 

14. What is a Domestic Violence Program Coordinator? Simply put, I'm a victim advocate. I provide services and support to survivors of domestic and sexual violence. I don't judge and I don't tell people what to do. I present options and ideas, and I support individuals in whatever way they need me. This can include (but is not limited to) medical advocacy, legal advocacy, court accompaniment, crisis counseling, goal planning, teaching and providing healthy coping mechanisms, 

15. My family LOVES the Packers. It's pretty much the cutest thing ever when they score a touchdown and I hear my little guy yell "TOUCHDOWN PACKERS!", and then watch him fist bump with his dad ;) 

16. I'm a trained trainer in Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE), Trauma Informed Care (TIC), and the Lethality Assessment Program (LAP). LAP is a domestic violence homicide prevention program that Embrace and local Law Enforcement collaborate on. I've also been certified in Trauma Counseling. 

17. How about the "Program Coordination" part of my job? Well, I don't spend all of my time working one-on-one with survivors. Another huge part of my role with Embrace is providing prevention education to the community as well as youth in the schools throughout the county, doing outreach and spreading awareness in our communities, and coordinating programs to better serve survivors in systems they may encounter. I get to collaborate with many of the wonderful schools, organizations, government agencies, service providers, and law enforcement agencies in the county, and am grateful for the wonderful support and feedback we receive from all of them!  

18. I hate any kind of fish or seafood. When my family went to Canada to fish in my childhood, my mom would have to pack hot dogs for me to eat on the days they planned on eating the fish they caught. You'll never find me eating sushi!

19. Besides my husband, my mom is my best friend. 

20. I absolutely hate winter. My ideal winter would be a little bit of snow for Christmas and then fall-like weather for rest of the season!

21. My co-workers and I were able to hike to and relax in a beautiful, natural hot spring outside of Elk City, Idaho when we were attending a training in Missoula, Montana last Spring!

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