Meet Isaiah Smith

We recently connected with Isaiah Smith and have shared our conversation below.

Isaiah, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

I get my resilience from inspiring people who I know through my friendships and family. What keeps me going is knowing that there’s always someone who can be inspired by my story. We all want to know we can do it, and I want my supporters to know they will come back stronger than ever!

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

The Zaya Show has successfully completed seven seasons, building a strong audience with its focus on storytelling, authenticity, and representation. Over time, it has evolved from primarily featuring conversations about gay men’s experiences to encompassing broader topics within the LGBTQ+ community, as well as theatre, creativity, and personal empowerment.

The upcoming Season 8, premiering on November 12, 2024, takes inspiration from Zaya’s passion for theatre and will center around the theme of resilience. Available on all streaming platforms, this season promises to delve deeper into the intersection of creative expression and overcoming adversity.

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?

Looking back, the three most impactful qualities in my journey have been discipline, resilience, and acceptance. These are the cornerstones that have helped me stay focused, push through adversity, and embrace who I am, both creatively and personally.

For those early in their journey, my advice is to continue creating for yourself. It’s easy to get caught up in the pressures of branding, streams, or external validation, but the real growth and fulfillment come from producing content that resonates with you. Stay true to your passion, and the rest will follow.

What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?

My biggest area of growth with The Zaya Show over the past 12 months has been expanding the conversations beyond just LGBTQ+ experiences to cover a broader range of creative expression, theatre, and personal empowerment. This shift has not only allowed me to engage with a wider audience but also to dig deeper into the themes that truly resonate with me, such as storytelling and representation. It’s pushed me to refine my interviewing skills, explore more diverse topics, and bring a deeper level of authenticity to each episode. This evolution has made the show more dynamic and aligned with my personal journey.

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Courtney Floyd

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