For Brittany Young, the concept of DIY is more than a hobby—it’s a full-time career.
Young, a WKU alumna, operates a blog called Certified Celebration, streaming platform and virtual crafting classes with her staff of six, posting guides to everything from home décor to seasonally-themed parties for her 121,000 Facebook followers and sizeable website readership.
Young hasn’t always been a Certified Celebrator. Before creating and monetizing her blog, Young worked as a family and consumer agent for the Bowling Green area, selling crafts at fairs and on Etsy in her spare time. She began with porch decorations. Young said she believes the front door is the most important part of a house’s décor because it “just creates a great first impression.”
Selling her door ornaments segued into her social media presence.
“I started sharing [my craft ideas],” Young said. “I realized there were people all over the world that needed inspiration and loved my free content.”
Around that time, Young was teaching craft classes in person. She said it was difficult as a young mom—she has a 5-year-old son—to leave every night for the lessons. One of the services Certified Celebrator currently offers is its virtual classes, through which a customer can purchase a monthly subscription to a kit containing craft materials and access to a step-by-step video tutorial of how to paint the item, a seasonal door decoration.
Along with virtual painting lessons, the Certified Celebrator website, boasts a lengthy archive of posts with detailed instructions on projects, parties and treats. Currently, many of the ideas are related to fall. A s’mores recipe, a fall movie guide and a candy apple basket-making tutorial are featured on the site’s front page today.
Most of the ideas are the brainchildren of the creative director, Jennifer Mowry. Mowry, originally from Miami, has been working with Young on Certified Celebrator since October 2017, and she said her responsibilities include “a lot of planning, a lot of prepping and a lot of shopping.”
According to Mowry, the shooting for each post is done at least a month ahead of the release date, so Certified Celebrator begins to develop its content a season in advance. That means this month, the focus is on Thanksgiving to make sure everything is ready for distribution in time for the holiday.
Before moving to Certified Celebrator, Mowry owned a gift shop in Franklin, Kentucky, where she first met Young at a painting party.
“We just hit it off, and we get along really well,” Mowry said. “I don’t even consider [being the creative director] a job. I feel like I’m partying every day with Brittany.”
Young said the evolution of her company has brought a few challenges alongside its many successes. With the transition from in-person classes and sales to a majority-online platform, some of the opportunities for face-to-face interaction have been reduced, which she sometimes struggles with as an extrovert.
“It was a big thing to get used to,” Young said.
She said the internet has helped her stay connected to her consumer base, and she has a private Facebook group with some of her readers. Her Facebook stream, CCTV, also allows her to form a connection with fans and followers, and her website has a contact page for messages to be sent to the company email. Keeping content accessible is one of the top goals of Certified Celebrator, and Young and her team work hard to ensure that remains at the core of the company.
“We like to share ideas where it all can be done on a realistic budget,” Young said. “Sometimes, things can get so busy and so chaotic that we miss the people we live with, but it’s all about just adding fun back at home.”
According to Young, Certified Celebrator is all about enjoying life with loved ones.
“Here, we say, ‘If it’s not fun, we’re not doing it,’” Young said. “[Certified Celebrator] is a one-stop shop to have fun, create memories and have a joyful home.”
Features reporter Sarah Yaacoub can be reached at 270-745-6291 and [email protected].
