RTDM: Brittany Clayborne
Brittany Clayborne
Motivational Speaker & Inspirer
Dallas, Tx
We want to get to know you! Where you came from, where you've been and how you're living your dream?
My name is Brittany Clayborne. I was born and raised in New Orleans, LA. My family moved to a small town south of Dallas during my teen years. I was lucky enough to get a job with a great company that allowed me to travel in my 20s so I've been to every continent except Australia and Antartica. I had a heart attack during labor and throughout my journey I have died 7 times, lived in the hospital away from my family for 9 months, and lived for 2 years on a mechanical heart. After receiving my heart transplant in Jan 2018 I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in Nov 2018. I am living my dream by still actively telling my story and encouraging others to not yield to the idea of defeat but to live through it.
How do you define success?
I define success as the ability to wake up everyday and do something that you love in a way that is purposeful, passionate, and gives an unrelenting feeling of your soul's thirst being quenched.
What are you most proud of? Go ahead, boast a little!
While I was in the hospital for 9 months awaiting my heart transplant I played "Beat the clock" with a Master's Degree and was able to start and finish my master's degree during that time.
What was your biggest obstacle/fear and what was your turning point?
Being told that I needed a heart transplant was my biggest obstacle. It was the shattering of that invincibility that we all carry and being told that I was human and that my humanity was failing, that I had failed. My turning point, I asked my doctor what do I do while I wait for a heart transplant and he simply said "Do Something Amazing." That was my challenge and off I went.
What’s the best advice you’d give to a younger you?
The battle starts and ends with your ability to control your mind.
How do you stay motivated and purposeful when you feel overwhelmed?
Listen to music, look at photos of my family/friends, pray
Tell us a time when a perceived failure was actually a blessing in disguise or served you in a surprising way.
Heart failure was a blessing in disguise. It totally altered my life path and sent amazing, unspeakable blessings into my life that I would not have encountered otherwise.
What is your favorite vice/guilty pleasure/strange habit? Come on now, we all have them!
Watching New Orleans Saints football. It's something my dad got me hooked on and I can watch reruns of old games for hours!
What's the smartest investment you’ve made for yourself?
Time into my family and friends. Loving them, helping them to grow, and enjoying watching them flourish is a constant reminder for me to keep fighting and healing for the future.
What’s MOST important to you right now?
Watching my son grow, sharing my journey, and not wasting the time that I have.
Share 1-2 books you've given as gifts:
Shadowboxer (My book) and The Art of War
What have you learned to say no to?
Relationships that are toxic.
What's something most people would never guess about you?
I'm quiet by nature, and would prefer to be listening as opposed to talking.
Follow Brittany:
@sectarisbrittany (Insta)
The Voice Of Sectaris (FB Page)
