JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground

HTML

<div class="items">
67 small businesses has worked with us since the beginning of time
<br>
<br>3:1 ratio of apple products to humans
<br>
<br>2400 hours clocked in 2012
<br>
<br>13.7 number of times “So what exactly do you do?” is asked weekly
<br>
<br>1628 number of Starbucks K Cups consumed
<br>
<br>32 collective years of creative experience<br></div>

CSS

.red {color: red;}

JavaScript

$('.items').html(function(_,html) {
     var lines = html.split(/<br\s*[\/]?>/gi);
    for (var i=lines.length; i--;) {
        console.log(lines[i])
        lines[i] = $.trim(lines[i]).replace(/^(\w+)/, '<span class="red">$1</span>')
    }
    return lines.join('<br>');
});