My name is Tamaira. I am 33 years old, born and raised in Pittsburgh. I work at my Alma Mater, Robert Morris University as the Assistant to the VP for Public Relations/Marketing & Alumni Relations. In addition I work with my cousin as a Event Coordinator for Wright Platinum Occasions. In my free time I love to paint, read and shop!
A few things that I have always struggled with is my voice/speech and my young appearance. All of my life I have been told that I sound like a white girl or valley girl. This has been said to me jokingly from family members, friends and even colleagues. I've never really taken it offensive, but as I got older I started to question it. Also as an adult I think that I can honestly say that it may have affected me more than I realized, making me a little self conscious and feeding my fear of public speaking. Why do I sound white? Is my voice too soft, too high pitched, because I pronounce my words and use full sentences? Through work I speak to so many people and I've noticed on numerous occasions that when I meet them face to face a surprised look passes across their face. I always want to ask... does my face not match my voice? I've also been told that I look young for my age. I always say thank you and chock it up as good genes. But I must say being black it can already be a challenge to be taken seriously, let alone looking young. I have been in situations where I have been mistaken for a student and talked down to, talked over and/or disregarded like I am a child. Even with all of this, I try to always smile and remain polite. I know that these things may seem small and unimportant to some, but when you are young small things like this can have a huge impact on a girls self esteem and spirit. I thank god that I have been raised to love my dark skin, voice and to overall love myself. So I try everyday to spread love and positive energy to everyone around me.
