01:15
Tia Smedley Highlight
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!’
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ReroutingAbout Tia
- Grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and later moved to Nashville, Tennessee.
- I was a track and field athlete for most of my adolescence and planned the majority of my young life around my athletics.
- 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.
- 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.
- I got a job working as a customer care representative at CVS Caremark and had two more children over the following three years.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
