Today we’d like to introduce you to Tanya White.
It’s an honor to speak with you today. Why don’t you give us some details about you and your story. How did you get to where you are today?
I am a native of Louisville, Kentucky, a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, and a super fan of the group New Edition. I have earned a bachelor’s in business management, a master’s in special education, a master’s in k-12 school counseling, and a specialist degree in educational leadership/principal certification, all from the University of Louisville.
Pursuing a career in education was not my first choice. I had begun a master’s program in Human Resource Training and Development, hoping to land a job as a corporate trainer. I became a substitute teacher to earn a paycheck while in school. In 2000, I accepted an assignment at one of the toughest and lowest-performing schools in the district. When it was completed, I told the secretary I loved the assignment. She was shocked that I wanted to return and asked me to wait to talk to the principal. The principal offered me a teaching position, and so began my twenty-year career in education.
In 2005, I launched a blog after my mother died of lung cancer. Writing became my therapy. The blog encouraged my confidence to write and self-publish books in 2007. To expand my platform, in 2008, I launched a Blog Talk Radio show called Real Talk With Tanya White.
To date, I have published ten books, my internet radio show is now on one of the premier gospel stations in my city, and I have a podcast, Go Get It With Tanya White on an internet radio station.
I’m sure your success has not come easily. What challenges have you had to overcome along the way?
The biggest challenges are coping with the untimely deaths of my father when I was 25, my mother, when I was 34, and the love of my love, Stefon, when I was 50. I dealt with all three losses differently, but the pain was the same. However, the death of Stefon awakened me to cherish myself, people, and life from a deeper perspective.
Stefon and I met via a dating site 1 month before the Covid-19 pandemic shut the world down in 2020. It was a long-distance relationship. Our courtship was God sent. He was the man I prayed for 49 years to have in my life. He said that he was his blessing. After dating for fourteen months, we decided to take our relationship to the next level of relocation and then marriage. The week I officially moved, the doctors informed us that his prostate cancer had returned aggressively and was inoperable.
They gave Stefon six months to a year to live, but he died within six weeks of the news. Two months after leaving my hometown with a giddy hope of marrying the love of my life, I returned brokenhearted, numb, and honestly angry with God.
Two years later, I am still grieving in a healthy manner but learned a very important lesson. Grief is inevitable, and it is gut-wrenching. But it is a natural part of the life cycle. God will birth more out of you while you are grieving than you ever imagined.
Let’s talk about the work you do. What do you specialize in and why should someone work with you over the competition?
I have been writing and self-publishing professionally since 2005. I specialize in coaching/consulting authors to write and self-publish their books of quality from cover, manuscript development, and creating a branding/marketing plan beyond just celebrating releasing the book. I also help clients to develop a magnetic media presence. I am truthful, transparent, and timely to ensure tangible results.
What’s your best piece of advice for readers who desire to find success in their life?
When others try to ignore, dismiss, and diminish your skills and talents, you will ask yourself, “Am I Enough”? Always, always respond emphatically, “YES, I AM ENOUGH!”
Speaking of success, what does the word mean to you?
Living your life without shame, blame, or apology, according to your purpose, peace, and God’s plans.
What’s next for you?
On July 4, 2023, I am releasing my 10th book, Professionally Lynched: Revealing Systemwide Workplace Injustices and Healing From the Lifelong Trauma It Causes Everyone, which will be available everywhere books are sold. The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) departments aim to offer support and programs to combat unbiased actions and establish equitable opportunities to create an inclusive workplace. However, organizations are talking the talk of DEI but are not walking the walk, particularly when it pertains to Black women obtaining seats at the decision-making table. My workplace injustices did not metastasize until I became a school administrator and began to advocate and create change on a broader organizational scale.
Professionally Lynched is not a “tell-all” book of what I endured. However, it is a “tell-the-truth” project of what is occurring throughout organizations everywhere, particularly in my industry, public school education. Being a native of Louisville, Kentucky, I was not shocked at what the Department of Justice uncovered regarding the tragic killing of Breonna Taylor in 2020. The Louisville Metro Police Department is not the only system in our city that operates in an unethical, unconstitutional, and discriminatory manner. My book not only discusses my journey and the other accounts of professional lynching, but it exposes the policies, procedures, and accountability structures that are in place that allow workplace injustices to be acceptable behavior.
Professionally Lynched is a social justice manifesto for an organizational revolution to end systemwide workplace injustices and to heal the lifelong trauma it causes everyone.
Finally, how can people connect with you if they want to learn more?
To listen to some high energy, fun and information-focused radio, people can listen to my live Real Talk With Tanya White show Tuesday mornings from 9am-10am EST in the Louisville, Kentucky area on 101.9 FM, 1240 AM or online at https://www.wllvonline.com Then people can listen to my podcast Go Get It With Tanya White can be listened to via Go Get It With Tanya White – Podcast.co . I have had the pleasure of interviewing some amazing guests such as Dr. Steve Perry, Kimmi Scott from Love & Marriage Huntsville, Actress Brely Evans from the hit BET show Family Business, TikTok sensation & Blackronyms skit creator, DaSan Onyx Frazier, and many more phenomenal people.
Visit my websites – https://www.tanyawhite.com , https://professionallynched.com , https://www.sntpublishing.com
I am on social media – FB – realtalkwithtanyawhite, IG – @realtalkwithtanyawhite , Twitter – @TanyaWhite1913, TikTok @tanyawhite1913, LinkedIn – tanyawhitekentucky
I have some powerful workshops surrounding the book Professionally Lynched, such as “Wounded While Working: The Barriers Black Women Face After Getting A Seat At the Table”, “The Delusion of Diversity: There’s Nothing Affirmative About Today’s Workplace”, “Allowing America To Lynch Us Again: How Workplace Injustices Are Killing Amazing Employees & the Organization’s Bottom Line,” and more.
For media inquiries or speaking engagement bookings, email professionallynched@gmail.com or call 502-509-6498.
