We were lucky to catch up with Tracey Smith recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Tracey, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
The story behind my mission started with an unforeseeable tragedy that occurred in my life. I decided to go on a mission and crusade to inspire and encourage others, through books, to realize there can be new beginnings, to embrace their self-worth and to go after their dreams. I truly believe God allows us to experience and overcome challenging situations so that we can gently minister to others and help them overcome theirs.
Tracey, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m an inspirational author whose life story is based on discovering God at a young age and persevered and survived through some of the most difficult times in life. I decided to use the tragic episode of losing my 4-year-old child into a triumph of new beginnings for my life. I firmly believe when we’re faced with such tragic incidents in life, we must make immediate and critical decisions on how we’re going to handle and persevere through them.
During the summer of 1996, my beloved 4-year-old daughter, Trezoree, died from the cancerous disease Leukemia. Trezoree was my entire world and after losing her, I had to figure out how to continue my life without her.
Right before my daughter breathed her last breath in the hospital, God spoke to me in my heart and told me she was about to transition to Heaven to be with Him. I can’t quite explain it, but at the time I knew death was not the end of her story. It was at that moment when I decided to learn more about God, Heaven, and how to secure my spot there in order to see my daughter again. Approximately 20 years after my daughter’s passing, I wrote, published, and released my first inspirational book titled Heaven’s Playground: New Beginnings Can Sometimes Be Disguised As Painful Endings.
I want to encourage others who may have encountered the tragic loss of a loved one how to continue living their lives and search for their very own new beginnings in life. I also want to share with others my heavenly encounter with God and assure them that Heaven is real and their saved loved ones are in a safe and secure place.
I soon realized it was my mission and calling in life to connect with and encourage others who were going through similar grieving situations.
I also wrote, published, and released two other inspirational books: Be Cute for You: Aspire to Be the Best Version of Yourself for Yourself and The Inspirational Hustle: Seeing, Believing, and Executing God’s Plan for Your Life. I’m always on a mission to encourage others, inspire them to discover their inner beauty and fulfill their dreams and purpose in life. We all have special gifts, talents, and a major purpose in life. With God’s guidance, we can discover who we were fully created to be.
I use my books as ministry tools to encourage others to look to God for guidance, support, and encouragement during challenging times. My books are just like my personality—enthusiastic, encouraging, and very easy to connect with.
One of the most proud moments in my life is establishing a relationship with God. Through that relationship God completely directed me through the toughest times in my life and gave me a new beginning. Not only has He blessed my ministry of writing inspirational books, He’s also blessed me to have a successful and lucrative career in the United States federal government.
What sets me apart from others is that I have two major success stories going on in my life simultaneously. Not only have I evolved successfully in my federal career, I’ve successfully written and self-published three inspirational books that continue to encourage and bless many people worldwide.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
What drives my creative journey the most is seeing people believe in themselves and pursue their dreams and goals in life. We’re all faced with tough and challenging episodes—and if my books and words of encouragement help get people through difficult times and lead them to press forward in life, that’s my reward.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
During the spring of 2021, I was diagnosed with stage one breast cancer. Just three months earlier, I completed writing the manuscript for my third book, The Inspirational Hustle. I had to immediately shift my focus from getting my book published to healing and completely recovering from the breast cancer diagnosis. Thankfully the cancerous tumor was found early, didn’t spread, and I only had to undergo seven weeks of radiation treatment.
Shortly after I completed the radiation treatment, I returned to work and was promoted into a high level leadership position. The thought of beating breast cancer and getting promoted soon afterward into an amazing career position was the ultimate high for me. I felt so fortunate to receive such great health news and a tremendous job opportunity simultaneously.
I never lost sight of what God placed in my heart about releasing my third book, so I decided to return to my book project in the spring of 2022 and have it ready for publishing by the fall of 2022. There is a tremendous amount of work involved in preparing a book for publishing, including personal photo shoots, video interviews for marketing the book’s trailer, and putting together a book-signing event.
I was very determined to work hard on the success of my book release while successfully performing and excelling in my federal career. Because of my resilience and determination, I was able to successfully do both. There are times when we are blessed to take on and work on multiple blessings concurrently. It is during these times when we must show gratitude, resilience, and complete our godly assignments with excellence.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.traceysmithinspirations.com
- Instagram: @traceysmithinspirations
- Facebook: https://www.Facebook.com/traceysmithinspirations
- Linkedin: @traceysmith
- Twitter: @BeCuteForYou
- Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@traceysmithinspirations809