We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dr. Tyrha Lindsey-Warren. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dr. Tyrha below.
Dr. Tyrha, 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?
“Sometimes you have to encourage yourself. Sometimes you have to speak victory during the the test. And, no matter how you feel, speak the word and you will be healed. Spoke over yourself, encourage yourself in the Lord.” -Lyrics from the song, “Encourage Yourself” by Donald Lawrence and the Tri-City Singers
Where do I get my resilience from? My Faith.
Whenever I am a going through something and experiencing a set back, I sing the above-mentioned song to “encourage myself” to keep going…keep pressing ahead… and to keep moving forward. By definition, the meaning of “resilience” according to the Oxford dictionary is the “ability to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.” Developing one’s method and style regarding resilience takes time, practice, and PATIENCE. I am finding that you have to have patience with yourself as you are going through difficulties as well as patience with the Universe and your Faith to “be still” and let the situation or experience work itself out, especially if you know that you have done your best and given your all.
Furthermore, I also believe that I get my resilience from my parents and it was simply how they raised my Brother, Rusdyn, and me. My parents were born during segregation. My Mother often told me the story of she and her best friend, Kay, who were young children playing in their neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio and accidentally found themselves on the other side of the railroad tracks. Out of nowhere she said white men in a truck with shot guns angrily shooed them back to the other side of the railroad tracks. That memory stayed with my Mother for the rest of her life. Nevertheless, she had to find resilience within her to keep living and moving forward. That inner strength from my Mom and Dad, who also had similar experiences in his life and career, was passed down to my Brother and me. And, I am thankful for it.
In addition, I also think my self-esteem and self confidence contributes to fueling my resilience. In the mists of a set back, I do find myself saying to myself, “You can DO THIS Tyrha.” “You are talented enough, smart enough, and can get through this…” More importantly, I have to BELIEVE. I have to believe in myself too and that the Universe is working things out for my good.
This powerful combination of my faith, my upbringing, and believing in myself is where my resilience comes from.
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?
Dr. Tyrha M. Lindsey-Warren is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Marketing and the Faculty Director of Industry Relations and Experiential Learning at the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University. At Baylor, Dr. Lindsey-Warren teaches Advertising, Digital Marketing and is the Founder of the Baylor Business Advertising Summit. Dr. Lindsey-Warren also has over fifteen years of experience working in marketing and public relations in the corporate, performing arts, entertainment, and non-profit arenas for such firms as Quincy Jones*David Salzman Entertainment, NBC, Creative Artists Agency, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the United States Tennis Association, and UniWorld Group. She is also the Founder and Lead Producer of the Waco Family & Faith International Film Festival, which will take place February 1-4, 2023 in Waco, Texas.
Dr. Lindsey-Warren speaks nationally on the topics of multicultural marketing and communications, fundraising for arts organizations, effective communications and leadership. Her research streams are rooted in empowered storytelling, media and advertising, “health edu-tainment,” emotional contagion (Word-of-Mouth) and the business of Hollywood. Dr. Lindsey-Warren is a published Consumer Behavior Scholar with academic articles that have appeared in the Journal of Advertising Research, the Journal of Cultural Marketing Strategy, Journal of the Association of Consumer Research, the Journal of Academic Marketing Education, and in the book, “Entertainment Values,” published by Palgrave UK. She has also appeared in numerous national and international media interviews on her research of empowered storytelling, media and advertising, the business of Hollywood and sports.
Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Dr. Lindsey-Warren received her Bachelor of Science in Radio/TV/Film and a certificate in Musical Theater from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She also has a Masters of Business Administration, with a concentration in Marketing, from the Peter F. Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California and a PhD in Marketing from Rutgers University in New Jersey.
In her spare time, Dr. Lindsey-Warren sings jazz professionally and has opened for GRAMMY award-winning jazz musicians, Kirk Whalum, Jonathan Butler, and Pieces of a Dream, to name a few. Nationally, Dr. Lindsey-Warren is the President of the Marketing Ethnic Faculty Association and serves on the Academic Advisory Council for SeeHER, a program of the Association of National Advertisers. Locally, she also serves on the Boards for Art Center Waco and the Waco Symphony Association, along with being an active member of the Waco Central (TX) Links Chapter, a Life Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and an active member of Toliver Chapel Missionary Baptist Church.
Dr. Lindsey-Warren is married to Sidney Warren, a successful entrepreneur. They are expecting their first child in February 2023.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
MY ONE PIECE OF ADVICE THAT I WOULD GIVE AND DO GIVE ESPECIALLY, TO ASPIRING YOUNG OR SEASONED BUSINESSWOMEN IS TO “LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE!”
AS A CONSUMER BEHAVIOR SCHOLAR WHO STUDIES THE EMOTION OF EMPOWERMENT, I AM ALWAYS ENCOURAGING MY STUDENTS, AS WELL AS YOUNG BUSINESSWOMEN TO ALWAYS LET THE ESSENCE OF WHO THEY ARE OR “LIGHTS” SHINE IN ALL THAT THEY DO. WHY? BECAUSE I NEVER WAS TOLD TO LET MY LIGHT SHINE IN A BUSINESS SENSE. SURE, MY PROFESSORS IN SCHOOL WANTED ME TO DO WELL, BUT NO ONE REALLY TOLD ME TO SHOOT FOR THE STARS, SOAR TO NEW HEIGHTS, BE THE BEST, OTHER THAN MY MOTHER! IT WASN’T UNTIL I WAS THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC RELATIONS AT ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER IN NEW YORK CITY, THAT I SAW THIS MANTRA COME TO LIFE FOR ME IN A BUSINESS SENSE. YOU SEE, DURING REHEARSALS WITH THE FIRST COMPANY, I WOULD HEAR MS. JAMISON, THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, EMPHATICALLY PROCLAIM TO HER DANCERS TO “LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE, CHILDREN!” SHE LATER SHARED WITH ME THAT SHE SAID THAT TO HER DANCERS BECAUSE THEY MUST BE EMPOWERED TO LET THEIR PERSONAL EXPERIENCES AND THE ESSENCE OF WHO THEY ARE “SHINE” THROUGH THEIR MOVEMENT. WHEN THEY DO, THAT IS WHEN THE MAGIC RESULTS BETWEEN THEM AND THE AUDIENCE, WHICH ENABLES THE RECEIVER OF THE DANCE THE ABILITY TO FEEL THE MOVEMENT TOO.
THAT MADE SO MUCH SENSE TO ME. SO, AFTER THAT, I STARTED SHINING MY LIGHT AND NOT BEING AFRAID TO DO SO. YOU SEE, SO MANY PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE, EVEN YOUR OWN FAMILY MEMBERS, TRY TO DIM YOUR LIGHT, BLOCK YOUR LIGHT OR TRY TO SHUT OFF YOUR LIGHT COMPLETELY. AND, AS WOMEN, WE TEND TO GIVE PEOPLE THIS POWER. HOWEVER, ONCE YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE, YOUR PURPOSE, AND WHAT YOU WANT IN LIFE, YOU HAVE TO SHINE, SHINE, SHINE YOUR LIGHT! AND, IF OTHERS CAN’T HANDLE YOUR LIGHT, THEN GIVE THEM A PAIR OF SUNGLASSES!
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
As the Founder and Lead Producer of the Waco Family & Faith International Film Festival and our sister festivals, the – Florida Family & Faith International Film Festival, Nigeria Family & Faith International Film Festival, and the HCBU Family & Faith International Film Festival, I am ALWAYS looking for collaborators and partners to help grow the current festivals as well as to expand the brand. Moreover, since our Waco festival is quickly becoming the “Sundance of the Faith and Family Space,” I am also always looking for collaborators to help our very talented filmmakers additional resources to help them, whether capital resources, film distribution opportunities, marketing, etc. that can assist them in bringing their films to a bigger audience.
I can easily be reached through our Waco Family & Faith International Film Festival social media channels and/or by email at info@laicommuincations.com.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wacofamilyandfaithfilmfestival.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tyrhamlindsey/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tyrha.lindsey/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyrhalindsey
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/tyrhamarie?lang=en
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYHm4bjIQPKNjPWwBNdAXcw
- Other: My podcast: “Reel Values. Real News.” https://open.spotify.com/show/6fxwMCb8qm54F7Gq9XePZV
