by Megan Venable

Hey y’all, meet Tala Shatara. She’s an author, a lifestyle influencer, former host of WATE’s “Living East Tennessee” and an expert in bringing a lot of beauty.

Shatara is an East Tennessee native. She grew up in Alcoa, a fervent fan of her high school’s Tornadoes. This eventually led to the University of Tennessee. She is a proud VFL and 2018 alumna of the Journalism and Electronic Media program. After graduation and without a lot of fanfare – not to mention the bewilderment of her parents – she decided to move to Nashville without a job and not knowing a soul there. After lucking into a job on Music Row, Shatara worked for a couple of years in music licensing with some of the top songwriters in the business. Additionally, her personal life was going well. She met a man, and they built a house for their future together. 

Then, as happened to so many during the Covid pandemic, her world abruptly shut down. She lost her job when the music industry shuttered. That’s when she began to take stock of her life. Shatara realized she was in an abusive relationship and refused to settle for less than she was worth.

When her mother called on her way to Nashville for a scheduled visit, Shatara asked her to
hurry and get there and take her home to Alcoa. Summing up the end of her relationship, Shatara says, “I went through too many frogs in my life to settle for that one frog.”

Her father, mother and younger sister welcomed her back to their home and supported her emotionally as she began her healing journey. As time passed and the world slowly started opening up post-lockdown, Shatara realized she had a story to tell. Using her second stimulus check to buy a computer, she started to write.

Once she started, there was no stopping. At times eschewing opportunities to visit with friends, she found a waterfall of words as the world re-awakened. She wrote and self-published her first book, “Finding Plan B,”about her experiences in starting life over from scratch. She dedicated the book to those going through a similar experience or who don’t yet know they eventually will end up in the same situation. 

Once the book was published, Shatara found herself wearing many hats in the publishing industry. She did her own press releases, held her own signings and met a whole crowd of eager supporters. As Shatara says, “Finding Plan B is the ‘Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.’ It means something to everyone, but always in a different way.”

And now, Shatara seeks to reinvent herself yet again. Laughing, she says she’s currently working on finding Plan C. She wants to stay in television, but at a higher level. She wants to keep telling stories about great people, ideas and places, but to bigger audiences and in larger markets. Although it’s hard for her not to know exactly what’s next, she’s confident in her ability to persevere.

Currently she spends her time featuring her Arab-American heritage. Her proudest moments are when she can showcase Middle Eastern culture in East Tennessee. She works with the Arab-American Club of Knoxville and can be found at the Arab Fest each April. Additionally, she volunteers at InterFaith Health Center and will emcee their “Hallowingo” fundraiser this month. She is working with her second mentee through the nonprofit Girl Talk after her first mentee agedout of the program. Shatara spends time with her protégé playing games, going to movies, talking on the phone with her and supporting her with her knowledge and experience.

Shatara acknowledges that life is unexpected and certainly isn’t linear. She’s willing to be down one day because she knows she’ll be up again real soon. East Tennessee is a better community because she’s one of us.