25 Things That Might Surprise You About Britany Williams

Brit Williams launched Sweat’s first barre program back in 2019, and since then she has quite literally gone from strength to strength. 

With her brand-new Ignite Strength program now available in the Sweat app, we thought there was no better time for you to get to know Brit a little better. On more of a personal level, you could say. 

We fired 25 questions at her, covering everything from first jobs and aliens to fantasy dinner parties, star signs and lucid dreaming, and this is what she had to say. She’s full of cheek, sass and isn’t afraid to laugh at herself, so if her contagious energy makes you want to be besties with her, well… join the queue.

If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

It would most likely be chocolate ice cream. No, I take that back. It’s going to be chocolate chip cookies, but they would be really specific cookies. My husband makes these chocolate chip cookies with oatmeal, pecans or walnuts, cinnamon, really big chocolate chunks and some sea salt on top. This restaurant down the street from where I live put rosemary in their chocolate chip cookies so let’s add that, too.

What’s your most embarrassing gym moment? 

I don’t know if this is the most embarrassing moment but I often wear my clothes inside out. I get dressed in pitch black at 4:30 am before I teach classes at 6 am because my husband is still asleep, and the number of times I’m at the gym either with my tag sticking out or the insides of the bra facing out is more than 10.

If you only had to do one exercise for the rest of your life, what would it be? 

Savasana, which is just lying straight out on the mat. Just kidding. It would probably be a thruster - a squat and press with dumbbells in my hands. It’s full-body, it gets your heart rate up… Wait, scratch that as well. If I could only do one exercise I would definitely run. My knees would hate me, but so be it. 

What was your first job?

A child model. I have been working in some capacity since I was about five. I did things like TV commercials and print ads when I was pretty young. I really need to dig up some of those photos!

What’s your favourite thing about yourself? 

My tenacity. I think I’m very resilient, I’m a go-getter, I don’t take no for an answer, and I always think there’s a way. Now, that is a bad thing sometimes because I’m very go-go-go, push-push-push, but my tenacity is easily my favourite thing about myself. 

Do you believe in aliens? 

I definitely believe in aliens, are you kidding?! I don’t believe in green goblins living in spaceships but of all the planets out there, there are definitely more that have some sort of organism. Are they out there working as hard as we are and lining up by the thousands to run marathons? Probably not. But they’re out there. 

Do you have a favourite mantra or saying? 

I’m not sure who said it but I love it - “there’s no force greater than a woman determined to rise.” 

With health and fitness, what’s your why?

My why is two-fold and probably a little bit different than most people. One, I have rheumatoid arthritis, so it’s really important for me to stay healthy to have the best chance at fighting this disease. 

My second why is a lot more fun. I just want to be able to boogie on the dancefloor at my grandkids’ wedding. I do not want to have to be rolled up in a wheelchair. I want to be in the centre of the dance floor in my eighties.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? 

To be yourself. As someone who is in the social media space, it’s really easy to want to fall into line with other people. It was the same thing when I had a corporate job - it was really easy to do what I thought was wanted of me or what was going to get me a promotion. But I’ve always found that results are much better when you just show up as you. 

Who are the five people you’d invite to a fantasy dinner party? 

1. Oprah, so that she can ask all the good questions because I would be bad at that. 

2. Prince, because it’s Prince and he’s the best musician of all time. 

3. This one is going to make me sound a little out there, but I’m really intrigued by psychoanalysing people, so I’d really like someone who has done something horrendous like Charles Manson or something, but I would give them a truth serum so they have to tell me the truth. Because I’d love to know the ins and outs of what makes them tick. 

4. Probably my husband. I mean, he’s my favourite person and I’d need someone to talk to and I’d feel obligated to invite him. 

5. And… Brad Pitt. 

What movie have you watched the most?

Inception. It’s easily my favourite movie because I have recurring dreams and I’m a lucid dreamer so I can control my dreams so it really speaks to me. Leo, call me. 

Wait, what? You’re a lucid dreamer? 

Yeah! When I was a kid I was obsessed with dreams in general and I started writing them down. I think after years of writing down my dreams, that started it. 

My dreams now are insane - they’re movie level character development and I often dream in third person so I’m watching myself and can control it. I’m constantly dreaming about missing flights, but it’s my airport and I know in the dream that it’s my airport, so sometimes I’ll just conjure up a terminal or a door or an elevator because I know that I can control it even though it’s a dream.

I probably should go to therapy and be hooked up to wires to figure that out. It’s cool and it’s not cool at the same time. I wear sleep trackers and they always tell me I don’t have REM sleep, which I clearly do because I’m dreaming so much, but I’m convinced it’s because everything is so vivid, that maybe it thinks I’m awake? And every dream I have, I can tell you exactly why I had it. It will make exact sense and have some kind of pattern. 

Favourite TV show of all time? 

Golden Girls. Do not fight me on this. There’s no better show. 

What was your first email address?

Runnergirl232@hotmail.com! It doesn’t work anymore so don’t try it, but I was a track runner and 2:32 was my personal record at the time in the 800m.

What do you do to relax after a long day?

What is relaxing? That’s my answer. Someone, please let me know.

What would surprise people about your life outside of fitness? 

I think people would be surprised how much of a homebody I am. I’m really outgoing and I’m an extrovert, but I really love hanging out at home. I’m all for a house party. I do love going out, but if everyone can be at my house that’s even better. Well actually, not my house because I don’t want to clean up, so how about your house? That sounds fun. 

What made you want to get into the fitness industry? 

I had an itch to get into the fitness industry the moment I was in my first barre class because I wanted to share barre with as many people and that’s what I did. I feel like barre changed my life and I just had this fire inside me. I knew more people could benefit from doing barre.

What’s your biggest vice or guilty pleasure?

My favourite guilty pleasure easily is bingeing TikTok. Just rabbit holes for hours at a time. 

What’s a book you wish you could read again for the first time?

Atomic Habits by James Clear. Easily my favourite book, and I’ve got lots of recommendations, but I’ve read it three times so I do re-read it a lot.

What’s your least favourite household chore?

This is a tie. I refuse to and do not dry dishes. Unless it’s something that I need right now, today, I will not dry it. Nope. Not happening. Absolutely not. And then folding laundry. I’ll wash the laundry, but it’s going to sit in the basket or on the floor for at least 48 hours. 

What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received?

I think when someone compliments your smartness or your capacity to think outside the box. A compliment about how smart I am definitely means more than compliments on how I look. 

What weird quirks do you have? 

I chew my tongue a lot and I’ve done it since I was a kid. I recently mentioned this to my husband and we’ve been together for nine years and he had no idea that I did it because you never see it.

Who would play you in a movie about your life?

Can we do three people for each stage of my life? A young Zendaya, older Halle Berry, and for my current age, maybe Kerry Washington? Those three actors don’t look alike but that’s the vibe.

What is your star sign?

I’m an Aries through and through. I’m fierce, bossy, a motivator, a go-getter and I know what I want.

What’s a lesson you had to learn the hard way? 

Oh my god. Everything? Life? 

Brit isn’t just a superstar trainer, she’s a superstar human. Can’t get enough of her? Brit’s barre and strength programs are available in the Sweat app now. She also teaches her live “lazy Sunday barre” sessions every week on her Instagram if you want a taste of her training style and personality, or you can even join her in person for a class if you’re ever in Portland!