Palmetto’s Mayor Teresa Thomas-Smith is a native Atlantan and a graduate of Benjamin E. Mays High School. She had been living in Palmetto with her husband and raising her kids for 20 years when she decided to start attending City Council meetings. She had questions and she was going to speak up and ask them. It wasn’t long after that she made the decision to run for a City Council seat. She wasn’t a fan of politics as usual, and it was clear that she would disrupt the status quo.
“Something had to be done, and I was going to be the one to do it!” she said, adding that that’s when she decided to run for City Council.
Thomas-Smith has a strong sense of spirituality and everything she does is spirit-led. There is a Knowing that gives her a sense of calm.
Her time on the City Council gave her the opportunity to use her union background. She was literally going from door-to-door campaigning to get votes, which is unusual in a town where everyone knows each other and almost everyone is related.
“I worked for the AFL-CIO Unions for years and they taught me how to campaign. They knew the tide was turning,” she shared.
Mayor Thomas-Smith was different, and she was very comfortable in her difference. Some who were uncomfortable with change were fearful of that.
“I show up by divine appointment everywhere I go. Sometimes I come to shift things around. Change can be scary,” she noted, adding that it was important to her to make her own way, with her own merit. “But I knew intuitively what I was supposed to be doing.”
Thomas-Smith reflected that everything that has happened provided on-the-job training for her current experience.
“I got comfortable saying I plan on running for mayor,” she said, noting that she trusted the spirit when it said it was time. She doesn’t write speeches, she said, but instead, she has to feel the vibe and then just talk. “Stepping out to do this thing was expanding me in a way that I didn’t know I was capable of. It was a stretching.”
Thomas-Smith believes in transparency. She says she wants people to see her coming and to bring their A game. In campaigning, she utilized every angle to make sure everyone in Palmetto had a chance to get to know her.
“I was the first-ever woman to put my name on the ballot in Palmetto,” she said, noting that they turned out to vote in a way that Palmetto had ever seen.
Throughout the pandemic, people would see Thomas-Smith in the community feeding people for months, so they were familiar with her work. She explained that she goes into businesses to teach leadership skills to female business leaders.
“The human in me is going to connect with the human in you,” said Thomas-Smith. “We made a life for ourselves here in the city. I lead with a compassionate, loving heart. My door is always open.”
Due to renovations at City Hall, Mayor Thomas-Smith’s office is right in the front. She’s basically the first person you see at City Hall, so she gets to greet the constituents, take pictures, and literally kiss babies.
“I won’t lose sight of who I am or let politics change me,” she declared.
SOFU Lifestyle asked Mayor Thomas-Smith about creating balance, as many of our readers are mothers, wives, and caregivers in addition to their career demands.
“Regardless of the roles we find ourselves in, give yourself the grace to pivot,” she advised. “Figure it out organically. Find out who you are and what you really love and that will lead to the balance that you need.
“I lead by example. I truly love this gig,” she said. “It is truly what I was born and ordained to do. I’m grateful for all the people that showed up and allowed me to show up. It’s an amazing journey!”
