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Meet The Tia Bolden of Aspire To Fire Investing, TIA Graphics in Decatur (East)

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Today we’d like to introduce you to The Tia Bolden.

A native of Decatur, GA; Tia Bolden was 2013, Magna Cum Laude graduate of Arabia Mountain High School, where she excelled through the Engineering and Technology Pathway. Tia’s initial exposure to engineering was in high school and she credits Arabia Mountain to the foundation or her academic access.

Academically, Tia was honored with the Physics Award, Honor Roll and Math Award.
Athletically, Tia was a four-year Softball Star who represented Arabia Mountain as the Catcher and number one player in Dekalb County two times throughout her career. In Extra-Curriculars, Tia held Leadership positions in Beta Club, Student Government Association and the Technology Student Association.

During her senior year of high school, Tia represented Arabia Mountain on the state level as a State Officer and representative for an organization of over 50,000 students.

Tia believes that the only place hard work comes before success is in the dictionary.

After graduation from Arabia Mountain, Tia completed her Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering at Savannah State University, in four years. Throughout her undergraduate career, Bolden was a Presidential scholar, four-year student-athlete, Resident Assistant and became a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated, all while maintaining a 3.5 GPA. Upon graduation, Tia was Savannah State Universities first Student-Athlete To Graduate In Four Years as an Engineering Major – Seriously Impressive.

Matriculating into the professional realm, Tia Bolden began her first job as an intern with CNN for the Turner Broadcasting System at 17 years old, after graduating from Arabia Mountain.

Skillwise, Tia is certified in AutoCAD 3D Drafting, Six Sigma Production, MatLab and Adobe CS4, along with other Design and drafting softwares.

Service-wise, Tia is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She is also a past recipient of the Barack Obama Presidential Service Award. Outside of her studies, she enjoys entrepreneurship, graphic design, motivational speaking, and networking.

Academically, Tia completed her Master’s Degree in Engineering in May 2019.

Entrepreneurially, Tia successfully withholds 5-6 streams of income. She owns two businesses: (Both based out of the Atlanta Area)
– Aspire To FIRE Investing, Financial Literacy & Awareness (aspire2fire.com)
– TIA Graphics, Graphic Design & Composition (tiagraphics.myportfolio.com)

Tia’s other income streams come from passive income through bonds, stocks, shares, and real estate investment properties.

Tia credits her entrepreneurial mindset and endeavors to her parents; who are both entrepreneurs and inspire her to work for her dreams, not someone else’s. Tia’s experience with organizational leadership, business ownership, economics, athletics, intrapersonal relationships, networking, media, and graphics build her repertoire to deem her a well-rounded individual.

Today, Tia works as an Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering for The Boeing Company, in New Orleans at the NASA Defense Assembly Facility. Her current task includes processing and implementation for NASA’s next rocket, headed to MARS.

With the utmost humility and respect, Tia was given the name by her peers: “The Tia Bolden” and upholds it by . continuing to beat the odds and exceed her potential.

Tia credits her adolescent upbringing, exposure to leadership and business expertise to the foundation of her upbringing and exposure at a young age. Tia is honored to be interviewed by Voyage ATL because without the City of Atlanta and its immense roots throughout her childhood, she wouldn’t be the individual she is today.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road has not been entirely smooth. A few struggles Tia faced include racism, individualism, and sexism.

Examples are:

1. Engineering doesn’t want to see Blacks succeed. Engineering doesn’t want to see women succeed. Imagine falling into both categories. During my undergraduate experience, I realized that being a Woman of Color in a male dominant field, I would have to work twice as hard to receive half of what I deserve. My HBCU experience also equipped me with internship experience and valuable Engineering knowledge so that I would be able to prosper in the Engineering workforce outside of college.

2. In 2013, my senior year of high school, I was accepted into Georgia Tech. As an engineer, this was an exciting and rare accomplishment. From my elementary days, I had always dreamed of playing softball in college on my way to becoming an engineer. In High School, I was honored as Top Player in DeKalb county two years in a row, MVP and Top 80 in the state of Georgia; so I thought sure at the college level, this will be an opportunity to continue the milestones.

When I took a tour visit to Georgia Tech and met with the Softball coaches to discuss my major and ambitions, I was immediately told: “Oh, you can’t major in engineering and play softball.” My father then pulled up the softball roster to display players on the team who were engineering majors. (They were all Asian or White.) The coached looked at us and said “Yes, I understand but I don’t think you’ll be able to maintain the softball schedule and compete while majoring in Engineering. It can get very tough.” After the visit, my father told me not to become discouraged, because there will always be someone who doubts you when they fear your potential.

A few months later, I ventured to tour Savannah State University where the softball team welcomed me with open arms, excited to see an ambitious new player. During this visit, we went to meet with the Dean of the College of Sciences and Technology, Dr. Jonathan Lambright. Upon meeting with Dr. Lambright, I shared with him my same ambitions and he responded: “Now, it won’t be easy playing a sport and majoring in Engineering, I’ve never seen it completed in four years… but nothing is impossible!” This assurance showed me I was right where I belonged and this University is where God has chosen for me to be.

Please tell us more about what you do, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
The Tia Bolden is a Double Entrepreneur.

My two personal businesses include:
1. TIA Graphics (tiagraphics.myportfolio.com)
2. Aspire 2 Fire Investing (aspire2fire.com)

TIA Graphics – TIA Graphics stands for Technology In Action. My graphic design business has been running since 2012, and it is dear to my heart because it truly “came from nothing”. Graphic design has given me the opportunity to bring others’ ideas to life and express my artistic side. In school, as an engineer, I was required to learn Adobe software for my major. I had friends ask me to make flyers for their organization’s events and became more and more experienced with graphic design and composition. Today, TIA Graphics has netted over $8.2k in sales and holds partnerships with 4 corporations.

FIRE Investing – FIRE Investing holds a special place in my heart because it truly pushed me to work harder for those around me than myself. F.I.R.E. stands for Financially Independent Retire Early and stands as a financial investment group, pushing individuals towards generational wealth and financial freedom. The growth behind FIRE truly came from friends noticing my passion for impacting the lives of others and seeing the need in our community. A close friend of mine told me, “when you’re this good at something, you don’t need to be doing it for free.” I took that as, this calling that God has given to me, I want to pass it along to others. The biggest impact FIRE has, is showing others that their “why” and reasoning behind financial independence is bigger than money itself, and once you have tapped into your why and how to get there, nothing will stop you from achieving your goals.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Truthfully, I don’t believe in luck.

I credit my prosperity and growth to God’s favor in my life.

Every single individual God has placed or removed from my life has a special impact on me and my businesses. With strong faith in God, I know that none of my plans with flourish unless they are blessed by God. I pray for my businesses every day and the lives they impact.

The favor of God has shown me this point, and it’s the only thing that will propel me into the future God holds for my life.

Contact Info:


Image Credit:
@Noir.Lens, Instagram, @Abold30, Instagram

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