Today we’d like to introduce you to Tristia Wilkerson.
Hi Tristia, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hi there! Thank you for having me! A little bit about me: I’m a wife, mother, and proud Georgia peach. When I graduated high school (some odd years ago), I attended college out of state to pursue what I thought would be my now profession – Mass Communication/Broadcasting Journalism. I thought for sure I was going to be the most animated news anchor or at least on somebody’s red carpet as a celebrity host. My sophomore year in college, I had a change in direction and decided to study Social Work. While I loved the idea of mass comm & journalism, my heart desired to impact the community around me. Part of this influence came from my own childhood experiences and the encounters I had with social workers throughout my life that I had considered to be angels.
As a first-generation college student and grad, I’m sure you could imagine the feedback from this decision and the thought that I was not going to make any money with my chosen area of study and profession. While making an honest & comfortable living is always the goal, you don’t go into social work for the money. Now, this is not to say that you can’t achieve great things within the profession or secure the bag, you just have to work hard and achieve great success just like you would in any other profession. For me, pursuing social work meant being that angel for someone just as the social workers I encountered throughout my life were for me. It meant meeting people where they were and being that resource to provide services, advocacy & outreach. Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to work in various mental health settings and greatly impact the lives of many. This work has been so incredibly rewarding and I’m so grateful that God would use me to be the light in the midst of the darkness that is often witnessed in this field.
Fast forward to today, I never thought my desire for mass communication & journalism would come back full circle through content creation. In a sense, I guess you could say that creating content as a lifestyle & motherhood influencer has allowed me to tap into my mass comm skills in a creative, fun way. It’s truly been a joy intertwining my various skill sets and background to form a flourishing platform that impacts + inspires people, women & moms all over.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
To be honest, I am still on the journey, and let’s just say… the journey has been journeying lol. After transitioning into full-time motherhood this past year while also balancing a full-time job, I recently took a courageous leap of faith of leaving my 9-5 to exclusively pursue influencing and building my brand as a content creator (while simultaneously working towards professional goals to elevate my social work career). I emphasize courageous because even though I graduated with a master’s degree at the age of 23, It seems as if I let doubt hold me back in the past and as a result, I have played small with decisions around my career, my skills, and abilities. I have to say, solely focusing on content creation in this season of my life is truly filling my cup back up and allowing me to shine unapologetically while tapping into my creative side + boldness even more and I love that for me. It’s so easy to get lost in motherhood and everyday life, so to be able to do at least one thing for myself and make an earning from it, makes me happy. So, with that being said, this season not only am I reclaiming my time, but I’m betting on myself and fearlessly going after everything God has for me. Period.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a content creator/lifestyle influencer with a platform that highlights faith, fashion, motherhood, and fun. I’m big on authenticity as I believe it’s so important for us to be comfortable in our skin and show up as our true selves both online and offline. In doing this, I share real, honest content that’s transparent, relatable, and sometimes even humorous (because I’m pretty funny to be honest). I like to keep things sweet and all, but absolutely no fluff around here.
If I had to choose one thing, I’d have to say that I am most proud of the generational cycles I am breaking through overcoming barriers and being a trailblazer. When I look at my growth, achievements, and my sweet little family, I am in awe of what God is doing through us and the example he is allowing us to be for those around us as well as the generations that will come after us. I have been called a life coach before and while I think that is so admirable, I’m just Tristia lol. I show up as myself, I inspire, share my life experiences, and root people on…. a personal cheerleader without the cute little uniform (I got the pom poms though). Some would even say that my personal testimony is inspiring, and my response is usually: never judge a book by its cover or even form assumptions or false narratives of people that you don’t know…but unfortunately, with the world that we live in, I guess that’s easier said than done, huh? Anywho, while I may be all of these nice things for some, I also know that I am not everyone’s cup of tea and that’s okay. My platform isn’t to seek personal validation because 1. I know who I am and my validation comes from God – not this crazy world. And 2, I will choose my calling over popularity every time and I believe those who are attracted to my platform, are the ones tied to my calling. Not being liked by all can be a harsh reality for some (especially when you know you poppin’), but I am reminded that we all are human with preferences and different tastes so I have learned to not take those small things personally because I’m going to be me regardless *flips hair*.
I believe that we are all set apart in a very unique and special way and we all carry a light inside of us. How we shine our individual light in this world is ultimately up to us.
Any big plans?
While I can’t divulge a whole lot at the moment (because you know… ya girl is working A LOT behind the scenes right now). I will say this: I pray that my plans (really God’s plans) for the future is to continue using my platform to be an inspiration to others by me simply showing up as my true, authentic self and being that light for so many. I hope that my platform will continue to uplift and encourage anyone who visits my website and/or social media pages and choose to follow along and keep up with my wild little life. I also look forward to combining my skills as a mental health professional with my love for event planning to continue creating spaces for women & mothers where they too can show up as their whole selves and live their life authentically. <3
Contact Info:
- Website: https://msha.ke/tristia
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_tristiaw
Image Credits
Featured photo: Clever Visuals (Evan Thomas)
