Rising Stars: Meet Steven Gayles of Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Steven Gayles.

Hi Steven, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Baltimore City, specifically East Baltimore. My parents graduated from a vocational high school as an electrician and a nurse so they were able to provide a very good life for me and my brother. Although we grew up in the inner city, my parents had homes in good neighborhoods and it allowed for us to have well rounded upbringings. Even as a little boy I knew I wanted to work in the healthcare field. I remember drawing a picture of myself as a doctor when I was in Kindergarten after being asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. My elementary and middle school years were spent in a Catholic private school and then I transitioned to public schools for high school. My high school, Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, is a STEM school and fostered my love for science and healthcare. My undergraduate years were spent at Frostburg State University in Western Maryland and I graduated in 2016 with a B.S. in Exercise Science. After four years of working dead-end jobs I finally decided to go to nursing school and started in Fall of 2020. This was extremely difficult for multiple reasons. The first being that this was smack in the middle of the beginning of the pandemic. I was also working for the federal government during the day taking phone calls for my entire 8 hour shift. So I worked on the phone from 8-4:30 and then had lectures from 6-9pm 2-3x a week and then had to go in person for clinical rotations on Saturday and Sundays. But thankfully I made it through and graduated with an Associates and Bachelor’s in Nursing in Fall 2022 and Spring 2023. My dream was always to move out of Baltimore, I just didn’t know when it would happen. After experiencing the death of my cousin, who was more like my older brother, in early 2023 I knew I needed to leave the city ASAP. A friend of mine who had moved to Atlanta a year or two prior saw that I had been depressed following my cousin’s death and invited me to come to Atlanta and just have a weekend of fun to take my mind off things. That one weekend turned into me visiting almost every month until one night at work I decided to look up jobs in Atlanta and apply just on a whim. That whim turned into a real job offer and I moved in October 2023 and have been here since. Since moving, I have expanded my career vastly from working in ICU to adding aesthetic and pre-operative nursing to my resume as well. Nursing has awarded me the opportunity to not only move out of my hometown, but provide a stable lifestyle for myself and the ability to travel the country and expand upon my nursing education which I am forever grateful for. Growing up as the oldest of four boys, it was important for me to show them there is more than just life in Baltimore. I was the first in my immediate family to graduate college, and Lord willing next year I’ll be the first to obtain my Master’s Degree as well.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No it hasn’t always been a smooth road. My parents split when I was 7 years old so that brought a very interesting family dynamic with my relationship with both of my parents. Growing up as the oldest, I always felt that the expectations for me were much higher to excel and get things right and that resulted in me bringing on some unnecessary stress on myself to be successful in all areas of life. Growing up in Baltimore, there was a fair share of crime around us. Although we did not live directly in the midst of it, my brother and I were aware of our close proximity to it. This fueled me to want to be as successful as humanly possible so that I would not become a product of my environment.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Being a nurse is truly one of my biggest and proudest accomplishments. Knowing that I have literally saved people’s lives and kept them alive while they were on death’s doorstep makes me feel like I’ve done something right in this world. What a lot of people in Atlanta don’t know is that I used to be a photographer back in Baltimore. I primarily did portraits and lifestyle photography, but I also got to shoot a few high profile events such as NYFW and the launch of Serena Williams’ new beauty line on behalf of Ebony Magazine.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I wouldn’t say that luck has played a role in my life or my success. However, I do believe that God has blessed me to be placed into the rooms that I have been placed in and to meet the people I need to meet. I don’t believe in missed opportunities. What God has for me is for me, and no man on this Earth can interfere with that. If something doesn’t work out in my favor, it simply wasn’t meant for me and I’m okay with that.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @steve.christo
• Twitter: @stevechristo_