Amazon Best-Selling Author Carrington Smith was born into a high society family scrambling to maintain social status after the bulk of their wealth was gone. Born on the Main Line equipped with a monogrammed sterling silver baby spoon and cup from Tiffany & Co., she spent her early years in Oxford, Maryland before her father uprooted the family under mysterious circumstances and a cross-country journey ensued. Her family settled in Everett, Washington, a small, industrial, seaside town where her father set up his medical practice and ran the ICU of a local hospital. Her preppy, formal family stood in stark contrast to the casual, working-class culture in their new hometown.
Carrington’s mother greatly missed her family and friends, and the lifestyle and traditions that she left behind on the East Coast. She insisted on maintaining her East Coast fashion – wearing wrap-around skirts, monogrammed blouses and sweaters, Papagallos shoes, and carrying a Nantucket basket.
Carrington and her two older siblings were schooled in proper etiquette, her mother often quoting Letitia Baldridge and Emily Post, correcting their table manners, and overseeing “Thank You” notes. While her mother clung to her past, her father adjusted to their new setting by turning to religion. As a born-again Christian, he used the Bible as a weapon to control his family and others through his selective and creative interpretations of scripture. His religious demagoguery, homophobia, extreme political views, abusive behavior, and toxic personality alienated family and friends and isolated the family from mainstream society.
In this rigid, disjointed, nonsensical environment, Carrington walked on eggshells and hid in the shadows to avoid the wrath and criticism of her family. Eventually, she escaped to Washington State University. Living away from the controlled domain of her parents for the first time, Carrington was easy prey for a rapist. Forced to keep the rape a secret or be rejected by family and friends, Carrington transferred to The University of Texas at Austin and then attended Tulane Law School.
Never able to have a normal relationship, Carrington eventually married and divorced twice. She spent much of her life trying to “fit-in” and conform to the standards and wishes of others. She battled years of depression, criticism, and self-loathing. As she fought to survive, she came to realize that her path to happiness was not about fitting-in but letting go and standing out.
“I had been told to shut up and not tell my story. It makes people feel uncomfortable. But the truth is that my power, my secret weapons, my gifts are IN my stories; that is where I discovered the authentic me—where I discovered the gifts, the buried treasure, in all the shit. It is in the debris of life, in the fire, that I found out who I was and what I was made of.”
READY TO SHARE HER STORY WITH THE WORLD
“Stepping out of the shadows and into the light. Learning to love my body and embrace my curves. No longer ashamed to be me. Standing out, instead of fitting in.”
Then
Now
Blooming tells the story of Carrington’s journey through the shit of life - her struggles, failures, trauma, and challenges – experiences universal to every human from every walk of life – to finding happiness, belonging, purpose, and joy by shifting her mindset and embracing gratitude. Carrington is not a celebrity, athlete, Holocaust survivor, business titan, or recovering addict – she’s just an ordinary girl.
As she wrote short stories over the years, she wondered why anyone would care. When Covid hit – a shit-storm that was impacting everyone, Carrington realized that it was her very ordinariness that made her stories relatable. Carrington recognized that as part of her journey, it was time to step out of the shadows into the light and share them.
To find her gifts in the shit of life, she had to first acknowledge the shit, claim it, and make it her own. Instead of crying about things that had been “done” to her, she had to take ownership of these experiences, examine them, work through them, and turn them into experiences that serve her now. By claiming them and acknowledging how these experiences have shaped her in positive ways, they have become her superpowers and are now used to propel her through life.
Then
Now
Carrington worked as a trial lawyer for seven years and then left the practice of law to pursue her passion for connecting people, businesses, and ideas. Today, as the owner of an executive search firm, a keynote speaker, and a Forbes Human Resources Council Member, she finds joy in helping companies and executives make authentic, value-based connections, that align with their long-term goals. She created Blooming Foundation to help the disadvantaged, women, and especially single moms get a hand up. She resides in Austin, Texas with her two teenage boys – the greatest source of love and joy in her life. She continues to write. Recent articles have been featured in Fast Company and Forbes. She values people over possessions. She loves dogs, shoes, books, stimulating conversation, deep friendships, college sports, great hotels, new adventures, world travel, fitness, great design, and constantly learning, growing, and improving.