Meet Yolanda “Quiet Storm” Gates | Writer, Poet, Spoken Word Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Yolanda “Quiet Storm” Gates and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Yolanda “Quiet Storm”, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I chose an artistic career path because it’s in me. Like through purpose. I began building towards my career when I was just 8 years old. I had an extreme love for writing creatively and it grew as the years of my life went by. I believe God placed that call upon me because there have been moments where I’ve tried to pursue other career paths and I always seem to come right back to writing and performing my writings. Purpose is something placed in you. You won’t be able to escape its festering in your spirit until you fulfill your position. My heart is in it.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
am a lover of words, and I create based on that love. What I’ve found to be the most exciting about what I do is the impact I’ve made on my community by using my voice as a catalyst for change. I live by “When your voice changes the narrative, keep speaking.” I have performed on stages with greats such as Jasmine Mans, Angela Rye, Thomas Ford, etc. I’ve won poetry slams, spoken word awards, and author awards. I appreciate all of this, but honestly, I started this journey out of pure love for how words can heal and mend us as a people.

The road has been smooth, but there are always obstacles that you face as an artist. Some of my personal struggles along my journey were not feeling confident in my work, losing a poetry slam, quitting performing for a while, artist relationships, etc. With each struggle I’ve had came a lesson for myself on growth, intentionality, and never taking anything personal. A book that changed my perspective on my struggles was “The Four Agreements.”

My number one lesson I’ve learned is to BE MYSELF! Even when the world around wants you to be someone else, remain YOU!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I love a good time and the arts! So I’d definitely hit a concert at Marathon Music Works, We must eat… so I’m a huge fan of Nashville Hot Chicken so we’d grab some food at Hattie B’s, catch a late night vibe with some poetry at City Winery with a nice glass of wine. It would be amazing and of course I’d have to find me a bookstore to grab some new books, so I’d hit Alkebu-Lan Images.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d like to give a huge shoutout to the women who poured into me along my journey. I call them my aunts, godmothers, sisters, friends, supporters, etc. The entire village of women I’ve come to know along my journey has embraced me flaws and all and poured words of encouragement and affirmation into me. They have given me opportunities to grow into the woman I am today through my writing, mentoring, and performances. They have shown up at countless shows, read my books, opened their homes to me during my travel, fed me both through food and the spirit, and pushed me to keep going. There are so many of them all over and I am humbled at their embrace of me. It has influenced me to also be apart of a village to my fellow women through my art and my time. Without the women in my life I don’t know where I’d be! I love all of you and of course you know who you are. I can’t say how grateful I am enough.

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Image Credits
Larry Cashmere