Meet Audrey Smith | Event Space Owner & Social Worker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Audrey Smith and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Audrey, any advice for those thinking about whether to keep going or to give up?
When I am choosing whether to keep going or to give up I think of my end goal that I have in mind. So when challenges arise I look at them as only temporary and think of how I can work through those challenges. If you focus on the end goal then you’re focusing on the bigger picture at hand rather than the frustrations and difficult times. You will know you want to continue to push forward when you want it more than the temporary difficult times and you are willing to go through those difficult times to truly pursue what you desire!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
How I got to where I am today is truly all from exposure and being open to something I had never heard of! I truly believe the key to reaching success is first being exposed to what it is for you. The summer I had graduated college I was on a call with Nehemiah Davis and he spoke about owning an event space! I didn’t know much at the time but it intrigued me that this could lead to financial freedom. I invested in his $1000 course by using Paypal credit that was available. It was risk but I believe in wise risks. I think it is so, so important to invest in yourself and life you want to live which is why I chose to invest in the course fresh out of college! I was still applying to jobs so it was not my main focus but it still crossed my mind from time to time. When the pandemic hit I was still blessed to be working my 9-5 and now that I working from home I had more flexibility with my schedule. Owning an event space came to mind again and I looked at my savings and made a list of everything I needed to run an event space. From there I got a second job working Instacart! There were days I would work 10 and 11 hour days doing Instacart and I would be tired, motivated and at times somewhat sad because I hadn’t really ate because I was on the go so much! I kept the end goal in mind of owning a hall at 22 years old and that everything I am doing now would truly be worth it! I overcame those long days by listening to speakers like Les Brown, Will Smith and Denzel Washington. I would have a playlist with songs like One Man Can Change the World by Big Sean and Champion by Dababy. A lot of reaching success for me was about mindset. Which is why it was important for me to listen to certain motivational speakers and “go getter attitude” songs. A lessons that I have learned through my experience is the importance of having tunnel vision. I didn’t tell anyone I was pursing owning a hall until I was about to sign the lease. I did this because I knew I could be easily wavered and because this was such a huge step I knew for myself I needed to do it alone without anyone’s input whether it was positive, unintentionally doubtful or negative. As I mentioned earlier, mindset is key and apart of that is protecting your peace which is why everyone’s opinion is not needed as you are betting on yourself and taking a big leap! What I would like the world to know about my story is that anything is possible if you work towards it. Nehemiah would always say “it has to work or it has to work” so when I faced obstacles that is something I would say to myself and I would continue to push forward. Lastly, I what I want the world to know about my story is that it is okay to do something scared. I didn’t wait until all of the anxiety or doubts left me but instead I pushed through them. So, do it scared if you have to, as long as you’re moving forward is what matters!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I am a huge breakfast person so I would say check out Kuzzo’s Chicken and Waffles! Go downtown Detroit either to the riverwalk for beautiful scenery or Campus Martius the heart of downtown where you can do fun things like rollar skate or ice skate depending on the time of the year!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My shoutout goes to Nehemiah Davis for his mentoring and the life long, event space community he has provided! Thank you, Nehemiah and ESS family for all of the encouragement and support! I would also like to shoutout my parents and sister who accept me for who I am and their unwavering support!

Website: https://tgisevent.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/audrey__smith23/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tgisevents/

Image Credits
Mike Walker Chris Hale Nicole Allen