Brie Bryant

In her role, Bryant is always looking for diverse and extraordinary stories. Enter Oxygen’s “The Prancing Elites,” which follows an all-male competitive dance team in Mobile, Ala. “There is something to be celebrated about an authentic group of folks who never stop celebrating who they are despite the rejection and the hurdles that they have faced,” Bryant tells us. Her gut was right, with it marking the network’s highest-rated series premiere among all key demos since its rebrand. Bryant shared Oxygen’s development meeting mantra, which sounds like it could also be The Prancing Elites’ theme song: “Feel the fear and do it anyway.”

What’s your biggest professional accomplishment in the past 12 months?
Hands down, it is “The Prancing Elites Project.” There is something to be celebrated about an authentic group of folks who never stop celebrating who they are despite the rejection and the hurdles that they have faced. Season One was a hysterical, heartwarming journey. I’m thrilled that we have moved to a Season Two.

Best business advice you’ve received?
We have a mantra that’s on repeat during our development meetings at Oxygen—feel the fear and do it anyway. I think it’s been uber helpful in developing provocative programming that challenges the way you think. As a business practice—especially for creative folks—it ensures that if you are a little scared of it, it’s pretty much worth unpacking to figure out why. In my experience so far, it hasn’t failed yet—knock on wood.

How do you define diversity?
Normalcy. An array of different colors, shapes, sexes, sizes. When I look around, that’s all I see. And, that’s exactly what we should be telling stories about.