Smile Stories leans into moments of happiness, inspires others to join the movement

Brielle Neumann is hard to miss. For starters, she is everywhere. 

As a street outreach worker for Youth Directions and Alternative, she’s in Northport-East Northport district schools, and at YDA’s Main Street headquarters in Northport Village, for dozens of hours each week. She’s constantly sharing an upbeat energy at community events and food drives, on basketball courts and sports fields. For such a young person (she’s 25), she knows a lot of people, of all ages, in a lot of places.

Neumann also has a strong physical presence. When the Northport Journal met up with her, back in April of this year, she commanded attention. She’s tall, with short, cropped hair. Her nails were painted a range of pastel colors and iridescent sunglasses hung from the neck of her tee shirt. Her stud earrings featured the iconic yellow smiley face made popular in the ’60s. 

She was confident, happy and eager to share her story. She smiled a lot – a perfectly fitting trait for someone leading a movement designed to spread happiness. 

Ripple effect of positivity 
Born and raised in Northport, Neumann is a graduate of Northport High School. After getting a degree in human development with a minor in education from Binghamton University, she found herself working at ADP, a payroll company where employees often have to meet quotas. 

“I sell smiles and solutions” became Neumann’s catchphrase. The words may have reflected Neumann’s personality, but corporate life didn’t exactly suit her. In an effort to connect with people both in and out of the office, she began asking her co-workers, the gas station attendant, anyone who would answer: “What’s been making you smile recently?” 

“I would write their answer on a Post-it and stick it on my wall,” she said. Neumann’s first smile wall was born. 

People soon began contributing to the wall themselves, sharing what had been making them happy at the time. “Little did they realize that the more they were coming to add to my wall – because now they’re thinking more about what makes them smile – the more they were focusing on the good,” Neumann said. “So now it’s going to come back tenfold. Not only is it making me happy, but it’s making everyone around me happy. It’s creating this ripple effect of positivity.” 

Wanting to bring this energy, this happiness, to a bigger stage, Neumann collaborated with a friend and installed a smile wall in a New York City subway station. There, she talked to people from around the world: adults, kids and strangers who opened up about what brought them joy. 

“It was just an idea, let’s make people smile – make people happy,” Neumann said. That idea has turned into a movement and is gaining momentum, quickly. 

What do you want your mark to be? 
“I’ve always loved giving back to people,” Neumann told the Journal. Diagnosed with scoliosis at just five years old, she became part of Curvy Girls, an international nonprofit scoliosis support group and network founded in Smithtown. “That really charged up my love for nonprofits and helping people,” she said.  

Neumann wore a back brace for eight years and, at 13 years old, had spinal fusion surgery. Shortly after surgery, Neumann became a co-leader of Curvy Girls’ founding chapter. She visited hospitals to help, encourage and bring cheer to girls recovering from their own surgeries. 

“I just loved paying it forward to the next person,” she said. 

Remarkably, the spinal fusion isn’t Neumann’s only surgery. At two months old, she underwent her first open heart surgery (she was born with Tetralogy of Fallot or, more simply, a hole in her heart). Her next surgery was the spinal fusion. At 15 years old, she had her second open heart surgery to replace a leaky valve. Neumann calls this trifecta her “heart surgery sandwich,” and doesn’t miss the opportunity to, as the proud owner of a bovine valve, joke about being “part cow.” 

“I’ve been good ever since,” she says, laughing. But the intensity of having three major surgeries all before high school graduation is not lost on Neumann. 

“Life is short and could be gone in an instant,” she said. “And you’re always one decision away from a different life. If we’re all here and put on this earth for a reason, what do you want your mark to be?”

Neumann acknowledges the people who helped her during her most challenging times: her parents, first and foremost, her friends, teachers, role models and mentors. She’s grateful for all the support she received back then and wants to keep that bond of encouragement and aid alive. 

“Human connection runs so deep, and I think it genuinely saves lives,” she said. 

Your smile looks great on you 
When Neumann first met with the Journal, she had plans. She had been handing out smile stickers, purple circles with that familiar yellow smiley face and the words “Your smile looks great on you,” to people wherever she went. Her goal was simple and on brand: share more smiles than ever before. 

“Your smile is your superpower,” Neumann said. “You don’t know how much someone walking down the street might need it.”

Fast forward two months and Smile Stories is making huge strides. 

“The movement is living up to its name,” Neumann told the Journal. She’s been invited to a few local elementary schools to help build smile wall bulletin boards that ask students “What made you smile today?” Her first run of Smile Stories shirts sold out in six days. She partnered with local business Art Pop at Northport Pridefest and is collaborating with popular Northport restaurant Mama Chan’s for an event in August. Another smile wall went up (on National Smile Day) at Cafe Portofino in Northport Village, and will remain there for the rest of the month. 

Smile bags have made their rounds at Ronald McDonald House and Cohen Children’s Medical Center (a full circle moment for Neumann, who had two of her surgeries at Cohen’s and whose parents stayed at Ronald McDonald House), and smile canvasses – small squares donated by Tiffany Asadourian from Art Pop and painted by volunteers – were hidden in locations throughout Northport Village, waiting to be found. 

Smile Stories stickers are, like Neumann, still popping up everywhere. They’re available in community businesses, with some proceeds benefitting local causes, including the Ronald McDonald House.

A lot has happened in a short amount of time. 

“It’s amazing to see,” Neumann said. “I’m just one person who decided one day that I wanted to leave my mark on the world. Life is too precious to not create more human connection and spread more love and smiles.”

Neumann plans on launching a website soon and envisions getting more involved with the schools and taking part in other public speaking opportunities. 

“The hope is that we continue to grow as a movement and as a community and keep reaching more people and touching more lives,” she said. “I want to inspire people to think about what makes them smile and lean into moments of happiness so that they can create even more happiness for themselves – and other people, too.” 

Follow Neumann and her movement on Instagram: @smilestories.themovement.