taneasmith

Beginning Again, On Purpose

Mar 5, 2026 | Reflection

March is Women’s History Month.

And while we’ll spend the next few weeks celebrating women who changed the world, I’ve been thinking about a different kind of history.

The many women I know who changed their own lives.

Not publicly. Not packaged for Instagram. Not dramatically written up in a 600-word Substack post.

Just with a decision.

The kind of history I’m thinking about is private.

Sometimes it happens at a kitchen table after a long day of, well, everything. Or in a journal named Gloria sitting in a private pool at the Royalton in St. Lucia while celebrating your 50^th birthday. What a time I had!

It happens in the moment a woman decides she will not live the next decade the way she lived the last one.

Beginning again isn’t impulsive. It’s intentional. It’s what happens when you’ve lived enough to know what no longer fits. And you make the decision to do something different.

Years ago, I designed a piece for She’s Got Papers that reads:

I’m Still Standing.

Inside I printed: I’m stronger. I’m wiser. I’m grateful. And I’m here.

if that message resonates with you, the “I’m Still Standing” card is available in the She’s Got Papers shop. Click here.

At the time, I thought it was about resilience. Now I understand it differently.

You’re not lost. You’re reassessing.

Mar 5, 2026 | Reflection

You’re not lost. You’re reassessing. There’s a difference and don’t let anybody tell you otherwise.

Lost feels frantic. Disconnected. Like you’re in a rush with no clear direction.

Reassessing is quieter. It has a rhythm to it.

It’s what happens after you’ve lived enough to know that not every next step needs to be rushed.

You’re taking a beat. And beats are necessary.

A lot of women I know reach this point after years of doing what needed to be done.

Building careers. Holding families together. Being the dependable one. The capable one. The good Sister. The reliable Auntie. The one who couldn’t buy a break on sale at a discount store. It’s been a lot.

Nod your head if you know what I’m talking about.

And then one day, the questions change. You go from can I do this? to Do I still want to?

That doesn’t mean anything is wrong. It means you’re paying attention.

To the signs. To your body. To the sound of your voice that you learned to silence just to get through.

Reassessing is a season that asks for honesty more than action. For space instead of pressure. Pushing through pressure impairs your judgment.

Believe me, I’ve tried it. That’s a newsletter for another month.

I’ve learned to treat every season with respect. To give it time. To let clarity arrive instead of chasing it. The pause that putting pen to paper provides is like no other tool.

You don’t have to name the next chapter yet. You just have to tell the truth about the one you’re in.

That’s usually where everything begins to shift.

Before you make a move, pick up the pen

Feb 3, 2026 | The Practice

When I left my corporate career in December, I didn’t walk away with a perfectly mapped out next chapter. There was no five year plan tucked neatly inside my handbag. No fully thought out answer to the question all my colleagues asked:

So, what’s next?

What I walked away with was quieter and far more powerful than that.

I walked away with peace. And I walked away with a practice.

For too many years, corporate life trained me to move fast.

Find an answer. Have a plan. Work the plan. Meet the deadlines. Manage the demand. Have the next step ready before the question is even finished being asked. read more…

3 minutes. One page. Daily.

Feb 3, 2026 |

I officially stepped away from my corporate career in 2025. What you may not know is that this next chapter has been quietly building for decades.

Dear Gloria is a guided journaling practice designed to help women slow down, get clear, and choose their next best step, one page at a time.

My love affair with journaling began in 1994, when I was a pregnant teen trying to make sense of a life that felt overwhelming. I wrote one sentence in my journal day after day:

“This is not my reality.”

For over 30 years, my journal has been the place I’ve gone to reset, regroup, and rebuild. It’s been my best friend, confidant, therapist and my compass in seasons of change.

Today, I’m proud to share the first digital offering from the Dear Gloria system — the 3-Minute Reset. read more…

After I said Good Morning to America

Jul 30, 2024 |

If you’re going through hell this is what you should do.

Many of you saw me on your television in April of 2021 featured on GMA3. I left my corporate job in 2016 to run She’s Got Papers full time and in the last 8 years I have taken a trip that Shonda Rhimes herself could not have written. There were family health challenges, a separation from my life partner of 17 years, a return to Corporate America and now, the birth of She’s Got Papers & Home. Mama has been busy!

My grandmother used to say God doesn’t close one door without opening another. I say, true. But sometimes it’s hell up in the hallway. The hallway is where the pivot begins. Where that setback meets the comeback. Where you get up off the floor and get back to business. If you’re in the hallway, let me tell you what I know works because I’ve lived it.

But before I do, let me say this. Joy cometh in the morning.It always does. read more…

I Dare You

Jun 30, 2024 |

A bird in the hand beats two in the bush. I hate that saying. The bird in the hand signifies security, except the longer you live you’re forced to realize that there is none. Not a single thing is certain in life.

Jobs go away, friendships fade, relationships fail, rifts develop in seemingly tight-knit families and children grow up and get on with their lives.

Things do and inevitably will change.

Then suddenly you’re left without the things you thought were sure.

For instance, the work that you’ve loved since college ends with a job suddenly lost in a restructuring. Your good friend Sheila becomes a person you barely recognize.

And last but definitely not least, your children. Well . . . they’re grown now. With grown lives. I’ll just leave that there.

In the midst of this hail storm you start thinking, what now? What about the business I dreamed of starting all those years ago, the hobbies I put down because life and my to-do list got the better of me, the social functions I used to attend, or the Pilates classes I once enjoyed so much. And what in the world happened to me and Sheila?

Trying to find peace in a storm? Look for the rainbow.

Jun 1, 2024 |

“When it looks like the sun wouldn’t shine anymore, God put a rainbow in the clouds”. – Allyson Williams

Dr. Maya Angelou passed away in 2014 at the age of 86, but what a gift she gave to this world, through not only her poetry, but her books and the amazing life she lived. With such titles as I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, The Heart of a Woman, and my personal favorite, Mom & Me & Mom. That last title gave readers a very up close and personal glimpse of her sometimes complicated relationship with her mother, but also spoke to how everything came together to shape and form the remarkable woman she was. read more…

It’s never too late to rebuild your life

May 30, 2024 |

Everyone can start over. It’s just a matter of deciding to do so. Several years ago, my aunt was divorced after almost 25 years of marriage. As a child, my earliest memories of her were as someone who was carefree and lots of fun. One of my favorite things to do was watch her as she dressed to go out dancing. Her black leather pants, spiked belt, and fierce shoe game were her signatures. She has always been a character of sorts, and as I grew older, I watched that spirit become a bit more subdued. And for me her light seemed to dim a bit.

I think marriage is a beautiful institution, and I was saddened to hear that she and her husband had decided to part ways. What I have seen emerge in the years that followed can only be described like a butterfly coming out of its cocoon. That light came back in a major way. With her children grown, at the ripe young age of 50, my aunt got her groove back. I designed “A Brand New Beautiful You” in honor of Renee, who lovingly bills herself as “Thee Aunt.” read more…

Some things are better left unsaid

Apr 30, 2024 |

But not everything.

As children we were taught, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. It’s another one of those old fashioned rules that if we really adhered to it would prevent a lot of hurt feelings. That’s for sure.

But what about the things that really do need to be said and you never get around to it? Words like I love you,I apologize, I’m here for you and don’t give up.

Or how about the two that we carelessly forget as we run about our days. Doing this, tending to that, earning, spending, gossiping and over sharing on Facebook.

The two words that could reverse an otherwise terrible day for someone, that can turn misery to lightness and turn a smile to a frown in a matter of seconds.