Shantell Thomas, GRITSyall

A woman transparent enough to share the celebrations and pitfalls as a mother, wife and minority in a world that may not have the same reflection. Musings about my experience as a technology marketer. My story is most compelling to an audience of women , parents with culture-based messaging.

I am indeed a Southern girl. I was born in South Carolina and currently reside in North Carolina - exactly a four hour drive door to door. I still visit the same home I grew up in, on the same land my great-grandfather secured for his heirs, whose own mother escaped from slavery - my roots go deep in the South.

When I hear the saying, “I am the hope and the dream of the slave,” it gives me chills because I embrace that reality. So everyday is the/a PRESENT (gift) and I know it comes to me from those that survived and toiled in conditions that did not resemble my own comforts.

I appreciate all the people, places and things that have made me who I am - really! Maybe it’s the result of being an only child. If I’ve had the pleasure of developing a relationship with you, then you are probably family. Family is a central part of my life - immediate family and my self-created family.

Officially, I am a forty-six year old college graduate, wife to one, mom of three boys, daughter, sorority sister and friend.