Debbie Britt paves the new way to age: With attitude!

Don’t let Debbie Britt’s size or age fool you. At five feet tall and 53 years young, this petite, vivacious woman overflows with energy and bubbles with enthusiasm …especially when it comes to her clients at Fayette Senior Services.

Since becoming the Executive Director of the 22,000 square-foot facility in Fayetteville, which opened in its new building in December 2007, she has taken this non-profit organization to new heights.

She is a high-octane woman on a daily mission, walking the halls at a quick clip, checking inside classrooms and the café to make sure all is well.

Ideas of all kinds come flying out of her mouth, and if you’re not careful you could miss a very important thought. (Yes, she has plenty of them!)

But perhaps what makes her story so unusual is the circuitous route she took to become the organization’s leader, leaving behind a lucrative career at an age when most might be thinking of slowing down.

Debbie grew up as the youngest and only girl of four siblings, raised in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. She was one of those lucky youngsters who had a tight bond with her grandmother, a feisty French Canadian affectionately called Mémé.

Their connection wasn’t just about the Sunday dinners or the tourtière (meat pies) they made together each Christmas, but rather the life lessons Debbie garnered at a young age about the importance of living, learning and giving – thoughts that are permanently etched in her mind.

“Aside from being a strong and spirited woman, Mémé was my cheerleader and my mentor. She was always challenging me to pursue my goals with passion but not without taking time along the way to help people in need.” Debbie also attributes much of her outgoing character to her mother, who even now in her late 80s, is still a very active community volunteer. She credits her dad, a retired tool and die engineer, for instilling in her a solid work ethic and paying attention to details.

Debbie attended Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids and then headed to Atlanta to start working in the advertising world as an account executive and later, a print production manager for McCann-Erickson advertising. Along the way, she landed a public relations position with J.P. Stevens & Co. in Greenville, South Carolina.

“I loved working at J.P. Stevens. Here I was in the late seventies, working in a predominantly male environment as a communications liaison between our textile plants and the union. I think that was when I discovered my love for a good challenge.”

She took time off from the corporate world after the birth of her two children. Today, her daughter Sarah, now 27, is an actress living in Santa Monica, CA and her son David, 24, recently completed four years of service in the U.S. Army, including a 13-month tour of duty in Iraq.

During those stay-at-home years, Debbie took full advantage of the time to share the lessons she learned from her grandmother with her own children. “I’d take them to a nursing home to talk with the residents and to read to them. I used the time to point out that these are one of the generations who paved the way for us. I wanted to be sure the lessons Mémé taught me were passed on to them.”

In time, Debbie returned to work and landed a freelance job as a marketing communications consultant for Porex Corporation, a subsidiary of WebMD, headquartered in Fairburn, GA. That job eventually turned into a full-time position as their first Marketing Communications Manager and subsequently, Vice-President of Corporate Marketing Communications. She was the first woman in the then 30-year history of the company to be named as a corporate executive.

During her ten-year stint with Porex, the corporate world was what many think—challenging, exciting and demanding. Debbie’s career was no exception.

“I had to travel often to our plants in Germany, England, Scotland, California and New York. It was tough being on the road so much but it was rewarding to be part of a company that was growing and on the cutting edge of technology.”

In the latter part of her tenure, the company was realigned and streamlined and Debbie was given the additional responsibility of being named the Vice-President of Corporate Human Resources.

“It was a challenging period because during that time we were consolidating and closing manufacturing plants. It was extremely difficult to tell people they would be losing their jobs. I remember going to King’s Lynn, England, and having to tell a delightful way-beyond-retirement-age woman that she was going to be out of work. This lady was a widow who rode her bike to work every day. It devastated me. It was then that I finally had my epiphany. After all those years in the corporate world, the business challenges that I thrived on were no longer the same.”

As is often the case when companies are restructured, Debbie knew that her job would likely be eliminated, too. Eventually that day finally came, but she recognized it as the opportunity it was. “I thought, ‘I’m 40-something, I’ve had a blessed career, but I am simply burned out on the corporate merry-go-round.’ I was ready to sink my teeth into a new challenge.”

Rather than look for another executive position, Debbie made the decision, along with her husband’s support, to leave the comfort of financial success and security to start her own marketing consultancy in 2004. Specializing in strategic planning and business development, she quickly had clients throughout metro Atlanta and in five different states. One of her first clients was the City of Peachtree City. The city’s current logo and tagline “Plan to Stay” were products of her expertise. Fayette Woman magazine also enjoyed being one of Debbie’s clients.

While Debbie was unaware of the new opportunities that would eventually come her way, the seeds of change were being planted. Later that same year, her business reputation came to the attention of the director of Fayette Senior Services and she was asked to write a strategic business plan to better prepare the organization for their future growth.

It didn’t take long for the board members to take note of her business acumen and invite her to join the Fayette Senior Services Board of Directors. Debbie accepted, and during her four years as a board member, she quickly learned that how aging issues are addressed as a community plays an important role in the quality of life. She also learned that it was common for non-profits to become so absorbed in their mission that fundamental business concepts are often lost, putting sustainability at risk.

As Debbie’s passion for Fayette Senior Services was growing, so was her desire to become more involved to ensure the organization’s long-term success. So it was no surprise that when the then – Executive Director announced that he would be retiring, Debbie was asked the inevitable question by a couple of board members: Would you be interested in becoming the new Executive Director for Fayette Senior Services?

“My first answer was ‘no.’ I really enjoyed being part of the organization, and by then I had a successful small business and didn’t want to walk away from something I had built.”

A couple of months later the question still loomed and she gave it more serious thought. The seeds of change were starting to take root and she was beginning to adjust her thinking. At that time, Fayette Senior Services was planning to move their operations from a 1,500 square-foot house to a newly built 22,000 square-foot facility; a daunting task…and right up Debbie’s alley. “I was now 51 years old and thinking, ‘D o I want to start gearing up to retire – or embark on a new journey?’”

This was no small decision for Debbie. “Taking the job meant a huge change for me personally, professionally and financially. I talked it over with my husband, Mike, my rock. He’s the polar opposite of my pinging-off-the-wall personality and a great advisor. I also drew a lot of inspiration from my kids who had both made tough career choices and took many risks along the way.

“Mike’s mantra is ‘Do the next right thing.’ I kept hearing that in my head and finally realized this was a perfect opportunity; I could apply my professional expertise to the non-profit world and give something back to the community at the same time.” Debbie threw her hat in the ring with the other job candidates. “When the formal offer was made, I was thrilled.”

When she accepted her new role, she set out to change the way people think of aging in Fayette County and position the organization for an extreme makeover. “We have the third fastest growing aging population in metro Atlanta but we needed to look at who the faces of seniors are today…they’re not just sitting in rocking chairs! The needs and interests of the aging population are diverse and we needed to develop a platform to attack complacent, conventional attitudes towards aging.”

“One of the first things I did was to challenge the staff to think beyond what was required by standards and raise the bar in everything we do. We looked at what connected people and what inspired them, and I marveled at what our future would hold.”

Under Debbie’s supervision, the Center has grown from 38 members to nearly 3,000 active members who are age 50 and older. No one calls it a “senior center”; it’s the “Life Enrichment Center,” a place bustling with people living, laughing, learning or enjoying a chef-prepared meal at the Center’s Ultimate Café.

“This is definitely not your Grandma’s senior center,” Debbie says.

“I want people to know that you can have the time of your life after age 50 and beyond. We see people of all ages taking line dancing, working out in the fitness center, or taking cooking and art lessons. I know we have changed people’s lives for the better.”

It’s been two years since taking over the reins and now, at age 53, Debbie says that life as the Executive Director for Fayette Senior Services is better than anything she could have ever imagined.

“There is no typical day!” she says with her signature animated laugh.

“Every day I make a point of getting up from behind my desk to go out and meet our members and guests, because it helps me to learn what we can we do better.”

She heads a team of 13 full-time employees and 16 part-timers and oversees the daily operations, including the social services. She answers to a very supportive Board of Directors and her day-to-day includes mountain of reports/audits/surveys and the never-ending fund raising. While they get government funding, it’s not enough to sustain the operations, so Debbie and her team create new revenue streams, host fundraisers and write grants.

“We are the designated aging service provider for Fayette County and, while our Life Enrichment Center is fabulous, we have a large number of seniors throughout Fayette County who need their basic needs met. The demand for our social services has doubled since last year,” says Debbie. “It’s unconscionable to me that a senior citizen may be going hungry in our community. It’s what keeps me up at night and what drives me to succeed in our mission to help older adults thrive throughout the transition of life.”

By the end of each jam-packed day, Debbie – on occasion – can take a deep breath, and reflect on what she has accomplished, what work needs to be done and the daily reminder that life is good.

“As we age we can either go downhill or uphill and I’m into motivating as many people as I can to go uphill, and be here for those who need a helping hand. I want to inspire people to never be afraid to take risks because you never know what’s on the other side. Aging is not something to be dreaded. I personally feel that I’m better in my fifties than I was in my forties. I’m doing things I never dreamed I’d be doing…including completing 20-days of intense fitness boot camp training. Now, I’m showing off my upper arms and obnoxiously gloating about my 6% body fat loss! We’re all aging, so why not do it with gusto?”

“I will probably always keep swimming upstream to shatter traditional assumptions about the sixth and seventh decades of life. I have no intention of growing old gracefully…for me, I’ll be clicking around in my snappy high heels and enjoying a good hearty laugh until I’m 90-something. By the grace of God I will be around for a long time to continue to inspire men and women to age well, and to insure that the quality of life for older adults throughout Fayette County is the very best that it can be.”

“And I’d like to think that Mémé is up in Heaven giving me a big thumbs up.”