Today we’d like to introduce you to Taylar Smith.
Taylar, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I graduated from the University of Iowa in December 2016. About a week after I graduated, I landed an internship with CNN. I immediately moved from Iowa out to Atlanta, with not too many family or friends here. I remember sleeping on my cousins couch for a couple months and living with my ex boyfriend for a couple months before I finally got my own place. During that time, I didn’t even have a car out here, but I made no excuses. I made it work. I can remember taking the Gwinette County Transit to the Marta downtown, which then took me to the CNN building. I did that everyday for 6 months. After my internship ended, I applied for about 5 different positions in different departments within the company, but I wasn’t hired on, which at first was super discouraging, because I felt like my journalism career was over. I’m pretty sure, from June to August, I suffered from post-graduation depression. But I couldn’t dwell, because I knew I needed to make some money. So I started working a 9-5 for about two years. Still, during that time I was getting my life together bought a car, got my place and finally felt like I was moving forward in life… but even then, I wasn’t happy.. because I knew I didn’t come from Davenport, Iowa to Atlanta to do something that wasn’t satisfying me. So, I quit but me being me, I went with my heart. I ended up getting another 9-5 that allowed me to have more of a work-life balance, which was great because that was when TLTV was born.
TLTV is my first name and middle name. I liked the way it sounds it was catchy, it was cool. But even jumping into it, in the beginning I focused so much on perfection.. I wanted everything to be perfect, which eventually stressed me out. It got to the point where I was more focused on the logo and the brand and the way things looked, that I wasn’t even producing content. So I buckled down and finally scheduled my first interview everything was great. My interviewee was on board for myself and my videographer to come in and shoot. I was so excited and nervous at the same time, but I was ready. It’s the day of my first interview under my brand, and what happens, my interviewee cancels on me about an hour before the interview.. with no real reason why, but just decided she didn’t have the time to anymore.
So here I am, back at square one, I was discouraged all over again and because of that. Here I was with a brand, a mic flag, a logo and NO CONTENT. It took me a while (about 3-6 months) to jump back into the swing of things, and until this day, I Thank God that I did because the faith in me told me to try to get media coverage during super bowl weekend and I got it. I remember my first REAL interview with any celebrity was with Zaytoven (producer) and Alvin Kamara (New Orleans Saints Running Back), and from there, I took off. During Super Bowl weekend, I had the opportunity to interview Dj Envy, Kenny Burns and many more. This one weekend led me to my next event, which was All-Star weekend (2019), where I had the chance to interview Gabrielle Union, and since then I’ve been fortunate enough the grace the red carpet a lot more.
I think it’s important for people to know your story and where you come from, and to know that I took a lot of L’s with this. I’m only s year and a half deep into TLTV, and I still work a 9-5 while pursuing a dream that I don’t even know what I want the end goal of it to be. But, I can say that I am happy ow everything happened and I don’t regret anything, because I’ve learned a lot about myself during the 3 years that I’ve been in Atlanta. I want people to know that it’s okay to fail, but fail forward.. and never stop believing in yourself STAY DOWN UNTIL YOU COME UP! Nipsey said it best when he said “it’s a marathon, not a race”. If you have a dream, never stop pursuing it… I told myself that I would rather live knowing that I tried, then live in regret wondering “what if”. I’m still learning and TLTV is still growing, I can’t wait to see what this year has in store for me.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Not at all, I took so many losses at the beginning of my career. One being, not having reliable transportation in the beginning, There were times when I wanted to schedule an interview with people and no one would ever reach back to me or would cancel on me last minute.
TaylarLeigh TV (TLTV) – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
TaylarLeigh TV is an entertainment news outlet. I am a media correspondent. I shoot write and edit my work. A lot of people tell me that I’m known for my personality and my down to earth conversations that I have with the people that I interview. I’m proud that TLTV has made a name for itself, to the point where some people remember my news outlet from other events (TLTV was invited to National Basketball Wives Association Summit for the 2nd year in a row during All-Star weekend). I believe what sets me apart from other is that I’m not like your typical reporter reading off of a teleprompter, I’m myself on the red carpets.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I believe success is tied to purpose, so when you’re doing what you’re supposed to do and what makes you happy, then, in my opinion, you’re successful.
Contact Info:
- Email: taylarleigh22@gmail.com
- Instagram: @taylarleightv
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