From “Stupid Girl” to System-Breaker
- Oct 2
- 3 min read
By Britt Bischoff
I didn't grow up believing I was destined for much. Born to a teenage mother and raised around abusive father figures, I spent my early years hearing that I was "stupid" and would never amount to anything. I became quiet, afraid to speak up, and accustomed to shrinking myself so I wouldn't be judged.
My stepfather's words echoed in my mind: "You'll never amount to anything." It was with an "I'll show you" attitude that I put myself through college, self-paid, becoming the first in my family to graduate and earn a college degree. But even then, I was living as half of myself.
A defining moment came on New Year's Eve 2014. I set an intention to become fearless, to create a life I could be proud of, to touch lives, to explore, and to let my humanitarian heart shine without fear. I didn't know the exact path, but I knew I couldn't continue hiding anymore.
In the years that followed, I said "yes" to the unknown. I traveled the country alone with my dog, climbing mountains and finding myself in moments that tested my courage. My car's brakes failed in Yosemite. I stared down a mountain lion. I survived a bullet through my apartment wall. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Life has challenged me. Each challenge proved I was stronger and more capable than I'd been told. More importantly, each experience taught me to trust my own voice, my own instincts.
Fearlessness became my compass. I embraced new careers, new experiences, new opportunities, new locations. I became a nomad, eventually moving across the country. Each struggle taught me about my own resilience. Each risk revealed more of who I really was.
I began listening to myself - my inner thoughts, my own creativity. I learned to sit alone with myself and trust what I heard. This was revolutionary for someone who'd spent years believing others knew better than I did about my own capabilities.
Professionally, this meant walking away from a well-paying leadership role to stand up to toxic bosses and workplace bullies. It meant standing on my own, building my own consulting business from the ground up. It meant taking the risk to create an entirely new AI tool. The struggles that followed forced me to finally recognize how smart I actually am. (Smart enough that several industry & tech leaders have siphoned my work.) I developed award-winning frameworks that help campaigns and organizations disrupt digital manipulation, creating new approaches to political strategy that challenge the status quo.
Today, I lead my own business and have become a recognized voice in this space. My multi-award-winning strategies have helped pass ballot initiatives protecting reproductive rights across multiple states. I've exposed state-based propaganda campaigns, defended vulnerable communities from targeted digital attacks, and trained national networks to fight coordinated narrative attacks. The quiet girl became the loud advocate.
I stand on my own because I know who I am. I face hard challenges because I believe deeply in myself and refuse to let the world tell me what I'm capable of.
The girl who was called "stupid" now leads strategy that disrupts entrenched power and protects freedoms.
I'm no longer the girl who couldn't speak up for herself. I am the badass my younger self needed. I take up space, refuse to accept "that's just the way it is," and create change for those who come after me.
Only time will tell if I've stepped completely into my full power. My life today is unrecognizable from where I began, and I'm just getting started.
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