Traci Henderson Smith, THS Luminary visionary, is a multifaceted creative powerhouse whose work spans multiple industries. She creates, advises, expands, elevates, and leads, serving as the words and wisdom behind several brands and successful ventures. The versatile problem solver is also an accomplished author, editor, and multimedia maven with credentials in corporate America, entertainment, education, and community empowerment.
A prolific writer for numerous entertainment sources, the dynamic storyteller’s literary acclaim and media expertise include being a four-time bestselling co-author, an award-winning editor, a celebrity profiler, and a writer and developer for various multimedia outlets. She is the co-founder of influential publications and the creator of impactful campaigns, strategies, and curricula for education, non-profit outreach programs, notable influencers, and NFL mentorship initiatives for collegiate development and rookie transition.
She is an award-winning community outreach advocate who also helped transform a failing historic high school in her hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, initially set for closure, into a B-rated school with a graduation rate of 90-100%. She led efforts to create a healthy educational environment, enhance the experience, and improve the overall well-being of every student, faculty and staff member, and their families by addressing the school’s non-educational needs. Her programs and workshops for students and parents, along with her directorial responsibility to meet the school’s social, environmental, and financial needs, served as a model for developing similar programs in other at-risk schools.
Traci has advised high-profile leaders and critiqued, edited, and guided proposals of state and national importance, including initiatives presented for advisement to the Obama Administration. She has written corporately for giants like L Brands, GAP Inc., and AT&T, where she was appointed as the designated auditor and reporter on the Senate’s landmark passage of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which aimed to demonopolize the telecommunications industry and foster competition. She was privileged to be one of the few allowed to hear the arguments, the vote, and the ruling in real time from the Senate floor.
As an independent corporate consultant, Traci addressed client outsourcing needs by providing contract trainers and facilitators, program and material design and development, and recommendations and accommodations for program improvement methods. Her creative prowess and provision of resources added significant enhancement to customer-focused relationships, public relations, customer satisfaction, financial results, and competitive positioning for industry leaders like AT&T, Precision Response Corporation, Chase Mellon, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and MetLife, Inc. where she led the transition teams, teaching and supporting the company’s year 2000 demutualization from a mutually held insurance company to a publicly traded stock-held company.
A long-time lover of the arts and entertainment, and a forever-passionate writer, these are the industries that have Traci’s attention into the future. As a valued resource and connector, the current talent manager and booker provides talent acquisition services for both corporate and entertainment, including trainers, facilitators, speakers, arts and entertainment event and production teams, celebrity appearances, and talent performances by comedians, vocalists, and musicians.
Traci was a researcher for the HBO Max 2021 Best Documentary, Twenty Pearls: The Story of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and served as a production assistant on The Links, Inc.’s documentary, The Invitation. She is the executive producer and showrunner for A-Train Live! The Experience, the largest and longest-running comedy and variety series in her hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, and the only show the city has granted a residency, during which she has successfully provided premier entertainment for the past ten years. She has also written and produced #1 morning and drivetime radio shows, as well as produced and promoted concerts, comedy shows, and various entertainment events.
A philanthropist, multidisciplinary strategist, leader, and proud board member of the One Million Dreams Foundation for Entrepreneurship, Traci Henderson Smith inspires, motivates, and empowers others through ongoing outreach, creating opportunities, speaking engagements, coaching, mentoring, and helping make others’ dreams come true.
An advocate for the empowerment of women, Traci has been the motivational guest on the talk show The Chat aired on NBC and ABC networks and has been heard on multiple radio shows across the country. Above all else, she inspires, uplifts, and motivates. She dares others to dream and forces them to think, create, and break through to their purpose.
