We recently connected with Micaa Thomas and have shared our conversation below.
Micaa, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
In my last year at SCAD in 2020, I directed, produced, and worked as the Lighter and Compositor for my six-time award-winning short computer-generated imagery film, “Our House is On Fire,” all while solely managing a team of 26 amazingly talented artists at SCAD. At the time, this film was by far my most meaningful project because, over a course of 10 weeks, my production team came together to educate the world on the damaging and harmful effects of climate change. My motivation as the Director of “Our House is On Fire,” was to create a fact-based short documentary on the harmful effects of climate change and its contributing factors. The film has won 5 awards domestically and 1 international award in India in a course of just 4 months.
My most current project that I believe to be meaningful is my children’s book, “Penny and the Peanut.” The book is endorsed by Texas Children’s Hospital’s Top Allergy Doctor, Dr. Sara Anvari. Dr. Sara Anvari believes the book is a fantastic way to convey a potentially life-saving message to children with and without food allergies and their families. I first wrote this book back when I was a Junior in high school when it was originally named, “Jerry and the Peanut.” As a toddler, my Cousin Ty was diagnosed with a severe nut allergy. I was compelled to write this book following a medical emergency involving Ty’s diagnosis.
As a result, I wrote “Penny and the Peanut” as a vehicle to tell Ty’s story and to bring awareness to the serious effects of food allergies. Ty loved the book so much that I decided it would be wonderful for all kids and parents to read it together. A year after graduating college, I decided to rewrite the whole book and have one of my classmates, Shravani Kulkarni from SCAD illustrate it. Shravani and I worked closely together remotely to strategize every detail of the book to include, but not limited to the character’s personality, clothes, color scheme, and body language. We were able to work around each other’s schedules to create an imperative message that illustrates to children how to avoid accidents, remain calm, and immediately alert an adult when a medical emergency occurs. The goal is to circulate the book to schools, daycare centers, allergy clinics, and broadcasting shows, like the Today Show.
“Penny and the Peanut” was selected as Book Authority’s “14th Best New Allergy Books to Read In 2022.” As featured on CNN, Forbes, and INC Book Authority identifies and rates the best books in the world based on recommendations by thought leaders and experts. The book was also awarded an Honorable Mention from Purple Dragonfly Book Awards, a global competition that was created to celebrate excellence in children’s books.
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 background and context?
As a professional golfer during the day and an author and artist by night, I have been quite busy branding my name in the creative art community and honing my skills in professional golf. Throughout my journey in both careers, my motivation stems from curiosity which has enabled me to be a storyteller and high-level competitive golf professional. While my mother was pregnant, I was first introduced to art and golf in her womb. She would collect priceless artworks with my father, play golf as a hobby, and visit African American art museums that catapulted her own art framing business.
I recalled my love for art and storytelling dating back in high school at Archbishop Spalding by Ms. Renee Tobin, my Art Teacher. She involved me in several creative drawings and painting projects that awarded me a Gold Key in the Art and Writing Contest for an acrylic painting of PGA National Golf Course and Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, to include many certificates honoring my other paintings. My school identified that I was the only student from Spalding who had received recognition from this major art contest that had over 500 submissions. Furthermore, due to my innate curiosity, my love for storytelling sparked after watching “How to Train Your Dragon” by DreamWorks Animation Studios. The film encouraged me to carve my own path in storytelling whether that was through film, children’s books, or painting to catch the eyes of world-renowned animation studios.
In 2020, at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Visual Effects (VFX), Animation, and Drawing with a concentration in Film Production. I attended SCAD so I could pursue both of my passions, VFX (Lighting & Compositing) and golf. In collegiate golf at SCAD, I won two golf tournaments and helped my team to place fourth in the national championship, SCAD’s first milestone, and competed in four consecutive national championships. During my senior year, I worked as the Lighter, and Compositor for two award-winning short films, “Bearly” and “Monkey Thief,” and worked as the Director, Producer, Lighter, and Compositor for my award-winning short film, “Our House is On Fire.” Furthermore, I recently became a self-publishing author of my first book, “Penny and the Peanut.”
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I like to believe that my pursuits of a dual career in visual effects and professional golf are not only challenging, but they present obstacles I have to navigate around in performance, time management, competing priorities, and accounting for available resources and a limited budget. One example is stealing time to write my book, “Penny and the Peanut.” My busy schedule requires many hours of practice, training, and travel. However, while in the car or on a flight, I scripted the concept of my book, its characters, and worked with my illustrator, Shravani Kulkarni to highlight my overall message. Other challenges I encountered in writing my book was learning the process of self-publishing, printing on a limited budget, and obtaining an endorsement by a medical professional. My resilience was realized when I overcame each challenge to producing a quality children’s book by seeking help from family and friends which in turn has resulted in numerous positive reviews of its content and life-saving message.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
A lesson I had to unlearn was to avoid limiting myself and conforming to society’s views, standards, and following scripted protocols. Once I graduated from college, I had planned to submit my resume to a variety of animation and visual effect studios across the nation. I found myself content in giving up my lifelong dream of becoming a professional golfer due to my love for film. In being steadfast in pursuing my passion in creative art, I was rewarded with three award-winning films on my resume and was ecstatic to launch a career in animation and visual effects. One week, I kept having the same recurring dream of earning a huge check and kissing a beautiful trophy after winning a major golf tournament. My dreams were so vivid that I believed they were a direct message from God. However, I felt conflicted about how I could work for an animation studio like DreamWorks or Pixar while traveling and competing in four-day tournaments. My dual-career pursuits are quite challenging, but they are my true passions. More importantly, I have learned that my tenacity and strong work-ethic will always help me to overcome obstacles and find a way to reach greater heights. In my relentless pursuit of following my dreams, I have learned to never say no to myself, channel my energy towards networking to establish connections with other professionals, and capitalize on all opportunities to fulfill my journey.
Contact Info:
- Website: themicaathomas.com
- Instagram: micaathomas_golf
- Linkedin: Micaa Thomas
- Other: Email: themicaathomas@gmail.com
Image Credits
Cheryl Thomas Jesse Aguero