Local People to Know: Olivia Brown
Current Miss Billings and Local Entrepreneur
#ThisIsBillings with Angie Stiller of Stiller Insurance & Financial Services
We decided to restart this series of articles with local people and programs you should know, so Angie sat down with the current Miss Billings--Olivia Brown! Being the current Miss Billings means that she is highly supportive of the community and connected to many things local; but there is so much more to know!
Immediately after meeting, it was apparent that Angie and Olivia share a huge amount of enthusiasm for their respective work. She mentioned to Olivia how much she was already so impressed with Olivia. Angie said that she could tell how strong and caring Olivia is just by the aura of being in the same room. This is something we all felt the longer we visited and learned more about Olivia. This has been her first year of competing in pageants, and she has a platform for the prevention of child sex abuse and works with the Yellowstone Exchange Club. This is a platform that has great meaning for her, and she is always looking for more ways to partner within the community to help further the available resources and knowledge for how people can help. One of the things Angie and Olivia agreed on is how impressive it is that no matter how big Billings grows, it still feels like a small, tight-knit community full of generous people who desire and are willing to help. The information just needs to be available so that the members of the community know where to give their help when they can.
And--because she doesn't already do so much with her time--Olivia is also a local business owner. She is a woodworker and her business is called Montana Oak & Willow, where she handcrafts all of the tables she sells. She first began making tables when she was 14 and saving up for her first car (and dream car), a Jeep Wrangler. She found that she loved woodworking and creating sustainable and unique custom pieces for people to enjoy. Below we have some photos of the work she has done (which is impressive to say the very least) and a link to find out more or contact Montana Oak & Willow at montanaoakandwillow@gmail.com. The hard work and dedication that she puts into everything she does is truly incredible.
Olivia told us how much she loves and appreciates how the Billings community thrives off each other and especially local & small business. She has found that the biggest encouragement in her life so far has been finding ways to stay positive and the mentorship that she has found and wants to pay forward. As Angie said when we first talked about re-starting these articles: "The really exciting opportunity of the #ThisIsBillings series is in bringing unique corners of Billings to the readers so they can explore more of the less-seen parts and learn more about the variety and purpose-driven parts within our amazing community."
