We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tia Natasha Adams a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Tia Natasha, we are so deeply grateful to you for opening up about your journey with mental health in the hops that it can help someone who might be going through something similar. Can you talk to us about your mental health journey and how you overcame or persisted despite any issues? For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.
I have dealt with mental health issues since elementary school. I had a hard time keeping up with other kids my age up until 2nd grade and then I started to excel, even past the gifted and talented students. I was made aware of how different I was by other students, dealing with bullying all the way up until 11th grade. Having this constant picking and ideation set in front of me that I wasn’t worthy really ate at me. I think when the bullying first started it set a fuel under me that helped me to do better and excel, but continuously hearing that you’re stupid or ugly really weighs down on you even when you have people in your corner telling you that it’s not true. Before I started middle school, my parents got divorced and I blamed myself. My dad had a talk with me and explained that it couldn’t possibly be my fault but I wasn’t hearing any of that. When I started high school I moved with my mom and it was tough at times. I love my mom dearly but we butted heads a lot. There was a point where I felt like nothing would get better but then I started writing poetry. I showed my english teacher one of my poems and even though it was dark she really enjoyed it. She encouraged me to continue to write. From there I wrote not only poems but also short scripts. I had a few teachers that I knew I could really talk to and that helped me see the light at the end of the tunnel. I realized that there were people that really cared about me outside of the people in my family. I realized that although there were days where I didn’t want to wake up, I did and I had another opportunity to do something great. After graduating high school, I started going to therapy and although the first therapist wasn’t that great, I knew there had to be someone that could help me. Two years ago, I found a great therapist that helped me see that I was more than what others saw me as, that I was deserving of truly being happy, and despite the trials that I had been through I still made it out strong and deserved to keep going.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
My latest project is a podcast that I have with my friend Christian called Jaded and Evolving. We speak on the highs and lows of our growth journey and how even though we are two spiritually inclined individuals, we aren’t perfect and we embrace those imperfections. New episodes come out every Wednesday.
I am also a part if the Sarcarrogance Media Group Team. That is where I have recieved most of my media engineering experience. With getting the studio together, understanding lighting for the visual but also working the audio interface and software so that the finished product comes out smooth, this has been a very rewarding journey and I can’t thank George enough for allowing me to join the team.
Lastly, I am working on my own personal comfort brand called Soul Bae Co. I started working on it during the heart of the pandemic with just making designs and logos and trying to figure out what I wanted this brand to be about. Lately I’ve had more support and so I am going to start working on it again. I don’t have an official launch date but I will post updates on my Instagram.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The first quality thats truly important to me is being willing to communicate. In life, there are a lot of people beating around the bush not saying what they mean. It’s so important for everyone to just say what’s on their hearts. If you need help, say that. If you don’t like something, say that. If you really appreciate someone, tell them. There are so many people that wish they would have spoken up about things that meant a lot to them and they regret not opening their mouth.
The second quality is being willing to ask for help. We fear that people are judging us when we don’t know or understand something, but it’s best to just ask for clarification or help. When I don’t understand something, I ask people that I feel safe around for help. It has never ended badly and they see that I trust them.
Lastly but not least, the third quality is patience. We see so many people just popping up with “overnight” success that we may down ourselves and try to figure out why we haven’t gotten the same recognition. A lot of the times, those same people have been working for years to perfect their talent and reach the masses. Some people do have more advantages than others, but patience helps us to keep moving and understand that what is for us will come in time, especially with consistency.
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
The main challenge that I have found myself trying to understand is my ADHD. I received a diagnosis when I was 22 and just received a rediagnosis last year. I’ve always known that my way of processing and thinking was different from others but not knowing why bothered me a lot. With the diagnosis, I started working with my therapist and also did research to get a better understanding of what I might deal with. It’s still pretty hard because everyone with ADHD isn’t the same, but when I see a characteristic that l relate to I do more research and see how others work with that issue as well.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/natashasoul_?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tia-adams
- Other: Jaded and Evolving Instagram: https://instagram.com/jadedandevolving?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Sarcarrogance Media Group Website: https://www.sarcarrogance.com/
