Tia Smedley
Southern Word
Nashville, TN USA
"Something’s always there telling you, ‘You can’t. You’re not enough.’ What will you choose? Will you choose to give ear to that, or to say, ‘No, that does not have to be my narrative!’"
Career Roadmap
Tia's work combines: Writing, Art, and Communicating / Sharing Stories
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
When I first found out I was pregnant, I was disappointed in myself and felt a lot of shame that was rooted in the expectations my family and community had for me. I thought that I had ruined my life. I ended up dropping out of school and getting married in order to satisfy those expectations. I was never fulfilled in what I was doing and had to learn to make myself happy before I could help others. Quitting my 9-to-5 job and focusing on my poetry gave me the purpose I had been looking for.
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Tennessee State University
Bachelor's Degree
Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General
Belmont University
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life took a while to figure out
1.
Grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and later moved to Nashville, Tennessee.
2.
I was a track and field athlete for most of my adolescence and planned the majority of my young life around my athletics.
3.
As I got older, I began to realize I was no longer passionate about sports and had to make a drastic change—I followed my other interests in writing and performing and changed my major to theater.
4.
While still in college, I found out I was pregnant, which made me stand out in my conservative religious community—I withdrew from college and got married so as to not embarrass my family.
5.
I got a job working as a customer care representative at CVS Caremark and had two more children over the following three years.
6.
I continued performing my poetry along with a friend as part of our duo group Gravaty, and was named the 2007 Southern Entertainment Artist of the Year.
7.
Eventually, I got fed up with my 9-to-5 job and the path I was on, so I quit my job and decided to pursue poetry and performing full time.
8.
I’m now a teaching artist and poet mentor at Southern Word and I also direct, write, and act in stage performances in my community in the hopes of empowering others with my words.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Myself:
What have I done? I've ruined my life. I'm not going to be everything that I was supposed to be.
How I responded:
When I first found out I was pregnant, I was disappointed in myself and felt a lot of shame that was rooted in the expectations my family and community had for me. I thought that I had ruined my life. I ended up dropping out of school and getting married in order to satisfy those expectations. I was never fulfilled in what I was doing and had to learn to make myself happy before I could help others. Quitting my 9-to-5 job and focusing on my poetry gave me the purpose I had been looking for.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
I had always been an athlete and was planning my life around that. I had a crisis when I realized I was no longer passionate about it. I ended up switching my major to theater and I discovered that I came alive on stage.
I found out I was pregnant with my first child while still in college. I stood out in my conservative religious community and felt like there were unrealistic expectations being put on me. I got married to satisfy others.
Child care costs for children are immense. I struggled not only with actually paying the bills, but also feeling like I had to work in order to pay the bills, meanwhile sacrificing valuable time with my kids.
When I found out I was pregnant, I made the decision to withdraw from college in order to focus more on my family and the expectations that were being placed on me. I had always been a good student and felt like I had failed myself.