Today we’d like to introduce you to Sharonda Scott.
Hi Sharonda, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My story starts in Miami, Florida where I moved in 2007 to study at the University of Miami and pursue a career in medicine. As life would have it, and although I had made plans to study medicine as time went on my heart and passions begin to change. Instead of sticking to the careerist track which would have me to pick one profession and do that for the next 40+ years.
I started to sing in a music group and would eventually launch me into international stages, including Brazil, Europe, and Mexico, Television, writing and recording music… My life would drastically change as doors to the entertainment industry and a career in performing arts opened. I had hit a plateau in Miami, although things were going well, I needed more room to grow. I needed to spread my wings and pursue a solo career. As scary as that sounded, I knew it was the right thing to do, as I had been having dreams about moving cross country to California. You see, I am a vivid dreamers, and I keep several dream journals. Most people ignore their dreams (the ones that have while sleeping and those they have while they are awake). But as a person of faith and I truly believe that God speaks to me through my dreams. I had been dreaming about California for four years and all the signs were pointing west. When I left Miami, I left the music group I was a part of and the fashion brand “Royal Culture” that I had launched, thinking that I would pursue fashion full time. However, God had other plans for me, and as soon as I landed in California, I could sense the shift.
Within six months of being in California (including the one and a half months I took off to do voluntary missionary work in Rio de Janiero, Brazil), I had not only qualified to join SAG-AFTRA actors union but I been casted on a Netflix Show called “Family Reunion” as a guest star singing in the “Gee club.” I never imagined the wonderful things God had prepared for me here in California, I just knew with all my heart that I was destined to be here. See I’ve always had a taste for adventure and taking risks. I had moved alone to Paraguay, a small South American country when I was just 17 to discover what the world had to offer and again in 2009 to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and since then traveled to over 30 countries. I’ve been here in California for two years and as I learned more about the opportunities here, one opportunity that really sparked my interest was becoming a stunt woman. So I began training about a year ago, martial arts, wire work, falls, stunt driving, etc. Finally, that phone call came in that I wasn’t expected I had been contacted to perform my first stunt job on none other than the network series 16 seasons and running Grey’s Anatomy as a stunt body double for Chandra Wilson (Dr. Bailey). I can honestly tell you all the details about my journey, but how I got here I am baffled; it has been a little bit of prayer and perseverance and a whole lot of divine intervention!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has had many challenges and darks days, and as a person who has battled depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation I can say I have had a lot of sleepless nights, heartaches, and cried my fair share of tears. I had seen two failed engagements, I had lived through the recession of 2008, which occurred right before I graduated college and basically rendered my college degree useless. I had left a successful music group in order to do some deep soul healing. I am a firm believer that there is no good in gaining all the world has to offer if it cost me the health and wealth of my soul. I reached a point where I felt so hopeless I went from asking myself “when will the sun ever shine again” to “does the sun even exist anymore?” Although from the outside, my life seemed glorious, as you would often see me hopping from country to country and smiling in photos, I was secretly depressed. I even started dressing in all black, I knew that I was wearing a mask, I was living in public victory and private shame.
Oddly enough, I found that there was a relief for my pain and emotions through my art. When I designed clothing and fabrics, I found everything I designed was as colorful as a rainbow. I began to push all my emotions into my design, painting, singing, writing, poetry, acting, and dancing. I found that there was a melody in my pain. Freedom from depression and despair came through releasing those things into my art. I believe all of the struggle and pain I faced awakened greatness inside of me. One day I received devastating news that I had tumors growing inside my body, and that day I picked up a paintbrush and put it to canvas for the very first time. I found my art has literally saved me from drowning. And I learned that after every dark season, the sun does shine again.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My friends and family refer to me as the Purple Unicorn. Why? Because purple is my signature color, and I am as rare and unique as a unicorn. For this reason, I would consider myself to be a portfolioist, instead of a careerist, an artist and performer, an actor and stunt performer, a designer (of fashion and textiles), a singer/songwriter, a painter, and a poet. I am not the one who coined the term, but it basically means someone who has a portfolio of different skills, and when the day calls for one particular skill set, I use it and pivot when necessary. Currently, I am using my acting and stunt performance skills. I have been featured singing in a Netflix Show called “Family Reunion.” I also can be seen as Chandra Wilson’s (Dr. Bailey) Stunt Double in “Grey’s Anatomy,” and also upcoming I’ll be featured in an episode of Nickelodeon’s “Danger Force.” I am particularly proud of my role on Grey’s Anatomy because Chandra Wilson has changed the face of what practicing medical doctors look like as a Black female in a prominent role.
Although I didn’t become a medical doctor, My oldest Sister Dr. Shekyla Scott is an emergency medical doctor in real life. I understand that television portrayals are so important in shaping the social climate and changing culture. Seeing Doctor Bailey on television has literally made my sister’s job easier as a medical doctor. And this encourages and inspires young black girls to pursue excellence whether in medicine or in stunt performing. I am most proud of my stunt work because it is still largely a white male-dominated industry, but as content becomes more diversified with more people of color leading roles, like Lupita Nyong’o in the “Black Panther,” Regina King in “The Watchmen,” KiKi Layne in “The Old Guard,” that means more opportunities for a stunt woman like myself to perform. We still live in an age where stuntmen dress up as women, and white stunt performers paint their skin to portray other races. But we are here, there’s more of us coming, and I am here to say “make room.” I think what sets me apart the most has been my life’s trajectory, growing up as a youngest child of a single mother on the eastside of Detroit to the stages of Hollywood. My unique journey of being an exchange student, living in different countries, cultures, speaking different languages (I’m fluent in Spanish and Portuguese), and learning everything from biochemistry to martial arts, creating, designing, and performing, singing all these parts have made me into the person I am today.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Dreaming BIG. It may sound simple, but our ability to imagine the possibilities or see beyond the impossibilities removes the boundaries that our life’s circumstances or upbringing have dictated for us. If I can see it, I can achieve it. If I can dream it, I can become it. I truly believe you can become anything you want to be. My ability to dream is divine. I get to hear and see my creator’s perspective about the dreams that He’s been dreaming for me, and together we can co-creator that dream into a reality. Secondly, what matters most to me is the ability to inspire others to dream. When others see me accomplish my dreams, it inspires them to dream BIG, WILD, and crazy dreams. I am just a little girl living in a big world, I come from humble beginnings, and I’m just in the beginning stages of my career but I already see such grand things for my life not for my own vanity, but to inspire passion in others, and to say anything is possible for those who believe.
Pricing:
- $1.25 Stickers
- $8.00 Face Mask
- $20.73 Classic T-shirt
- $43.23 Hoodie
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://sharondascott.wixsite.com/design-copy1
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/purpleunicornchronicles
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RoyalCultureBrand
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAWYK4ndUuX3xNvwsSvLo_g
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/butterflysong-1?fbclid=IwAR3rGF3RYRMj7dbHJMabitFEg07s4ikO7RPoKiWrDtYjpQclRT_EVxose0U
- Other: https://www.redbubble.com/people/sscott13/shop?artistUserName=Sscott13&asc=u&iaCode=all-departments&priceFilter=price-low&sortOrder=relevant
Image Credits
Elizabeth Bazan Gabrielle Heslop Juan Salgado
