Community Connections – Local Legends Episode 40: A Conversation with Blondell Reynolds Brown
Meet the woman who literally changed what you see on every Starbucks and restaurant menu across Philadelphia – and she did it while being the ONLY African American woman at-large on City Council for 16 years, raising a 3-year-old daughter on her hip.
Former Philadelphia City Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds-Brown didn’t just break glass ceilings – she shattered them while walking a tightrope backward in high heels. From starting as a teacher who “got impatient” with the system, to becoming a professional dancer with the legendary Philadelphia Dance Company (Philadanco), to winning political office on her second try after losing by just 1.6 votes per division.
🔥 GAME-CHANGING MOMENTS: • Menu Revolution: That nutritional information you see at Starbucks, Wawa, and every chain restaurant? That was HER bill that took 2 years to convince 12 colleagues to pass • Lead Protection Legacy: The lead safety requirements that now protect Philadelphia children from toxic exposure • Motherhood Trailblazing: Made it acceptable for women in politics to be helicopter moms AND ambitious leaders
💎 GOLDEN LEADERSHIP LESSONS: “Good, better, best – never let it rest until your good is better and your better, best” “Excuses are the tools of incompetence” “If it’s not in writing, it doesn’t exist” “Karma is a patient gangster” The Two Rules of Life: Don’t quit. Remember the first rule.
⚡ THE COMEBACK STORY: After hitting rock bottom during a political scandal, waking up in the fetal position for months, she had a choice: let others write the end of her story OR fight back. She chose to rebuild her team, raise $240,000, and won her FIFTH consecutive term, proving that “nothing good or bad lasts forever.”
📖 HER NEW BOOK: “Walking on a Tight Rope Backward in High Heels” – 300 pages and 4 years in the making, revealing the complicated life of balancing political power, motherhood, and marriage.
You can attend her book launch this Wednesday at the Free Library of Philadelphia at 6pm! BUY THE BOOK HERE:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=blondell+reynolds+brown&ref=nav_bb_sb
🎯 KEY TAKEAWAY: You don’t need a title to be a leader. Every skill she shares – from coalition building to project management to treating people right – can be applied by anyone, anywhere, starting TODAY.