We recently connected with GB Gadd and have shared our conversation below.

GB, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I think my most meaningful project would have to be what I’m working on now. I know that sounds hokey in the way where a pretentious, Matty Healy type would say that their most recent work is always their most important because it’s happening in the present but that’s not how I mean it. For decades, I’ve known that I’m supposed to write. It’s been a gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach that would sneak up whenever I would try to just do a job and forget about it. I’d respond to that feeling with “but what am I supposed to write about? I’ll write when I have a story worth writing.” Recently, I had the idea to write about my upbringing in the evangelical movement I’ve since left behind and had suffered a good bit of emotional trauma at the hands of. When I had that idea, I felt a literal click inside me. The story that I’m meant to write had finally found it’s way to me and while I’m deeply frightened as to where it’s going to take me, I’m excited to see where it ends up.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I grew up in the deep, super Baptist parts of Georgia, a really terrible place to decide you want to be an actor but what can you do? I went to theatre school and received my Bachelors in Theatre Arts, starred in lots of local productions, won a few awards, did a few commercials but there was always a part of me that wanted to be in the drivers seat. I had been writing since I was nine years old and continued to do so all through college but I grew tired of the industry so I took some administrative and education- geared jobs. After several things in my life fell apart in my late twenties, I returned to the creative world as writing was the best way I could express my grief at the time. I wrote my first short novel last year, entitled Dedicated to the One I Love, available for paperback or download from Amazon Kindle. I’m also the co-creator of the We’re All Just Doing Our Best Here podcast available on Spotify & Apple Podcasts. My works have participated in the SheATL arts festival and Ron Howard’s Imagine x Impact campaign as well as having my work featured on the BlackList. I currently work as the Director of Auxiliary Programs for a private school in Chattanooga, TN.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Whether it’s been acting, writing or my education background, the best and most rewarding aspect has always been making people feel seen. We live in a world especially in the last few years where it’s easy to feel very alone. Growing up, I was a kid who felt very alone but the times I went to the movies or saw a play…the times where I felt myself represented by a character in a book, I never felt alone in those moments. The stories we tell do impact others and it’s a joy to be a part of that.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

After I finished college and had worked in the arts for a few years, I got very burnt out and felt like that industry just wasn’t for me. I was also still apart of an evangel fundamentalist church at the time where the pastor of that church had nudged me for years to give it up and work for his new school that he was starting via the church. After a lot of pressure on all sides, I gave up the arts. In 2019, my life crumbled at my feet when several of my family members became gravely ill. In the midst of great heartbreak, I turned back to the arts as it had always been an emotional outlet for me and in doing so, I was guided out of the toxic environments I had been in for many years and towards a path that led me to a healthier relationship with those around me and my own mental health.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://msha.ke/gbgadd
• Instagram: @gbgadd
• Other: Tiktok: @gbgadd Podcast Website: doingourbesthere.com

Image Credits
Personal photo 1 & Podcast Promo Image taken by Absentia Creations. Personal Photo 2 taken by Joy Joo Photography.