Meet Brigette Young | Founder & CEO, The Modern Muse Company

We had the good fortune of connecting with Brigette Young and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brigette, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I was born and raised in Silicon Valley and moved to Los Angeles to attend USC when I was 17. For a long time, my hometown was predominately inhabited by retirees, so it wasn’t exactly a stimulating place to grow up. I did appreciate the value of education there, though. I was lucky enough to attend really good public schools. My parents were invested in my education and good grades were always expected. Because I was perpetually bored, and as it turns out, a better hands-on learner than a “sit and let someone lecture at you for 8 hours day” learner, I couldn’t wait to get to a bigger city that would allow me to explore my passions in a much more robust way – and Los Angeles certainly did that. USC was a great school (recent situations notwithstanding) and I had a lot of amazing teachers who taught me the kinds of things my mind had been craving for years. I should really step it back, though. I come from a family of immigrants, hard workers and entrepreneurs. My mother moved to the U.S. from France when she was a little girl. She was raised by my aunt, who was barely an adult herself at the time. Both worked hard with no outside support or partners for years – my aunt establishing herself as an elite beautician and my mother getting herself through school and working hard to establish her own career. My mom is probably the hardest worker I know. My paternal grandmother grew up in Chicago and gave up her chance to go to college in order to help her parents financially survive the Great Depression. She became chronically ill with respiratory issues and doctors told her to move to the desert – so she did. In Arizona, she met and married a Mormon cowboy who had figured out a way to irrigate the Four Corners region. My dad was born, but the marriage didn’t last. My grandmother ended up a single mother who also had to figure out how to support her OWN mother. For a time, she walked door to door selling encyclopedias. She also wrote articles for the local newspaper to make ends meet. Eventually, she moved her family to Fresno, where she remained most of her life. She got her real estate license in her 80s. That’s the kind of woman my grandmother was. Not to be outdone, my father had been a company guy most of his life. But at some point, the politics got to him and he wanted something more. He ended up starting 3 different tech-based companies before the dot com bust. I remember seeing how hard he worked – all the investor meetings, the ups and downs, the stress. I couldn’t possibly have imagined what it felt like until now, when I have my own company. After that, he set up his own insurance agency, and has continued to dabble in side businesses from time to time. In retrospect, I guess the real question is how could I NOT have started a business with my background? I come from a plucky, hard-working couple of family lines that live and die by the word “resilience.” None of us ever give up.

What should our readers know about your business?
The Modern Muse Company is a full-service marketing agency specializing in consumer-facing marketing strategy, developing key brand partnerships, and event marketing. We can help launch (or optimize) your e-commerce brand, create contests or sweepstakes that bolster your customer database, handle your day-to-day digital marketing needs, all while boosting your profile with publications and influencers. What makes us different is that we’re not a factory. We consider each client’s unique situation and product or service, and develop each marketing plan accordingly. We’re responsive, we care, and we do things right. No gimmicks or magic pills. We also try to be as affordable as possible, while still providing the best service possible for our clients. Building this company has been amazing, but it was certainly NOT easy. My hair fell out from stress the first year. I thought it would never take off, but over time, it did. It’s been an exercise in patience and the ability to bounce back after a lot of big hits over the years. When you start a business, your learning curve intensifies dramatically. You learn a WHOLE bunch of stuff you never knew very, very quickly. I think I’ve grown more in the 4 years of having this company than in the 10 years before it, working for other people. What I’ve learned from the experience so far is that I love helping other people get closer to their entrepreneurial dreams. I can’t fix a bad product or idea, but I can help share the really good ones with the world in a positive way. It’s part do-gooder, part creativity, part data-driven strategy. And that happens to be a combination I find particularly alluring. As I move my business forward, I’ve become much more interested in working with companies who are making positive changes in the world.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Of course this all depends on the friend, but one of my favorite places to take visitors to eat is Gracias Madre. It’s the perfect little microcosm of L.A.! It’s beautiful and highly-designed, the (AMAZING) food is Mexican AND plant-based, and the people eating there are…well, very L.A. For a time, they even had CBD drinks. It’s all things L.A. wrapped up in one. I’ve never had a single complaint. I would definitely try to take someone to see a concert at the Hollywood Bowl or Greek Theater. And for that matter, get in lots of rooftop or beachside cocktails. The weather is the number one feature in L.A., in my opinion. I think the canals in Venice are one of the most fascinating features of our city. I learned a bit about their history in my last year at USC and it’s pretty mind-blowing. Pre-COVID, and when I lived in Santa Monica, I’d also spend the better part of every Sunday playing flag football on the beach. Again, not something you can do just anywhere. There’s also volleyball, dodgeball, and of course, surfing. The beach would definitely be a part of my game plan.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My entire family, and especially my parents. But if I could choose ONE person to dedicate a shoutout to, it’d be my grandmother, Lucile Young. She passed away some time ago, but I often find myself thinking about her in moments where I need encouragement. I know she’d tell me to work harder and keep going.

Website: www.modernmuseco.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themodernmuseco
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brigetteyoung
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/themodernmuseco

Image Credits
ONLY for my portrait – Paige Ray (https://paigeray.com/)