My Story | L . Michelle Smith

There’s a story that I tell in my latest book, “Yes Please! 7 Ways to Say I’m Entitled to the C-Suite” that chronicles a tense ride down I-30 West with my mother. It was well past the admissions deadline at Texas Christian University, because the college that offered me a full-ride scholarship by mail, took it back when they saw that I was not what they expected–Black.

My mom had begged TCU to at least interview me, and it happened, but I also had to write an essay.

That essay, a first-person account from a piece of bubble gum that a little boy sneaked into his mother’s grocery basket and would ultimately end up stuck to the bottom of a school desk, would not only get me into TCU…it would birth the writer I am today.

I often get asked to tell my story, but typically, it is within the context of what is happening that moment in my career. Most know me as the 25+ year comms and integrated marketing pro, but are surprised to know that it was absolutely NOT my passion.

My passion is and has always been writing, but in college, I had to ask myself a question: how can I make a living at it? Authoring and selling a book is tough to do without the three Cs: credibility, contacts and credentials.

Today, I am proud to say that I reached and exceeded my goal as not only a national media contributor, I am also a bestselling author of three books, hold editing credits on my daughter’s children’s book and am working on my fourth after signing with a Big 5 publisher.

What are the odds? 1% of all published authors can claim that.

So, I decided to share this series with you to thread the needle completely with the help of my new friend, Tim Dahl a Schieffer Associate and student leader from the student-run integrated PR marketing agency Roxo at the TCU Bob Schieffer College of Communication where I sit on the board of visitors.

He is working on an article along with his fellow associates to tell the story of the communications college through the career journeys of board members. So, I used a little AI to capture some snackable content that would tell my story from start to finish.

Here is part one of the series, “How a writer became an exec to become a bestselling author”…because that’s exactly how it happened… not the other way around. This is the part that covers my experience at Schieffer, and it centers on how I landed on public relations as a career choice to make money doing what I love–writing.

I do everything else (even the executive coaching, speaking and facilitating) so that I can write–and everything I write informs everything I do.

Dreams do come true–just keep your eye on the prize.

Thank you, Kristie Bunton for connecting me with Tim. He has a promising future.