Tequila Smith is Georgia Power’s vice president of sustainability and is responsible for implementing, communicating and leading the efforts to monitor the success of the company’s vision for a sustainable and clean future in energy. She received her bachelor’s in mechanical engineering and MBA from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
What has being a Black woman in engineering empowered you to be able to do in ways that you never imagined?
Back in the day, when I was taking undergraduate courses in engineering, there weren’t a lot of sisters. When you received that test score, and it’s not quite the score you expected, and you studied all night until the wee hours of the morning, it’s disappointing. So, one of the things that we share is that we have to learn to be resilient. We have to learn to be our own cheerleader sometimes, because you can look to the left and you can look to the right, and nobody looks like you. It’s discouraging. At that time, you have to figure it out. It’s just you girl, you’ve got to shake it off and do better. I will tell you that oftentimes, I had to retake tests and courses. It was different because I was a really good student in high school, but college was all new, it was a brand new ballgame. I encourage young ladies to get back up if they fall down.
Why is it so important to keep going?
You have to know that it’s not going to be easy. If there was an easy path to mechanical engineering, I feel like a lot more people would conquer it. A lot of us just skip through high school and our standardized tests. Life is great, we get to college, we’re ready to party, and I think the wake up call for me was I had to buckle down. Even in that month, when I buckled down, and I still didn’t make the grade that I wanted, it was a reality check.
First of all, I think you have to acknowledge that you might have to do things differently. Secondly, you’ve got to make your priorities straight. You got to prioritize studying and making sure that you are giving yourself time to be your best. Third, I asked for help. I never had to do that before. I got to college, I had to go to tutoring, I had to raise my hand and say, “I don’t understand that,” and I had to visit with my professors outside of the course and it was difficult for me because again, I thought I can handle it myself. I think the takeaway for sisters out there is don’t be afraid to ask for help.
