William Smith

Growing up in the inner-city neighborhoods of Miami, Florida, Will A. Smith was exposed to instability, violence and poor educational systems. However, the rich diversity of his surroundings and strong familial foundation allowed him to embrace his circumstances as a young black kid born and raised in the “ghetto”. A self-proclaimed street-smart nerd, Will, at a young age fought against the plights of growing up in the inner-city using academia, literature and television shows to escape his reality.

Will’s passion for storytelling first manifested itself with the many adventures he took with his good friend, Tommy Pickles, from the critically acclaimed Nickelodeon 90’s hit, Rugrats. Each day after school Will would draw characters from the show and create alternate stories for them and tell them to his mother and any other family member willing to listen. Not known at the time, inspirations like this would lead Will on a pursuit of an alternate story of his own. Will fell in love with the world of entertainment at an early age because it was part of his upbringing. He learned and saw things on television that a single mother couldn’t teach him.

From winning his fifth grade D.A.R.E. essay writing competition, to being chosen to write the commencement speech for his high school graduating class, Will, unknowingly was on a pursuit to rewrite his own destiny. Being a first-generation college student, Will attended and graduated from the University of Florida with BA in Tourism, Recreation and Event Management and MA in Mass Communications after spending six years in Gainesville completing his studies. Taking a gap year, Will worked full-time and got accepted to Loyola Marymount University's Law School in pursuit of a career he thought would make his family proud. Will packed up his car and drove to California in pursuit of his dreams. After spending one semester in Law School, on Feb. 11t​ h​, 2019 (his 26t​ h​ birthday) he decided that Law School wasn’t the dream he wanted to chase.

Disconnecting from his safetynet of academia took some soul-searching and lots of therapy. Using the stories of his past and reconnecting with his inner-child revealed a passion for storytelling that seemed to have diminished through the many trials of his life. After “doing the work” Will is ready to introduce his voice to the world, using the joys and pains of his past to inspire the next generation of storytellers.