Tala Shatara

Tala Shatara is #MadeForKnoxville.

Writer, community advocate, and self-starter, Tala Shatara wears many hats and walks a nonlinear path. In her young adulthood, she found purpose in the pivot and wrote a book about it.

It can take a lifetime to fully embrace the pivots that arise in the human journey. At the age of 25, Tala wrote her first book on how she worked through her own pivots, trauma, and life changes. In Finding Plan B: A Step-by-Step Guide to Picking Up the Pieces when Life Falls Apart, she shares how trusting in God’s plan for her life helped her through difficult times. In light of the unpredictability experienced during the pandemic, Tala hopes her book can serve as a guide to help others dealing with hard changes. Listen to this 2021 interview to hear Tala share about her book!

Aside from her writing endeavors, Tala founded Trend Fest in 2018 and currently works as a local TV show host for WATE Living East Tennessee. She fills her free time with volunteering and advocating for people in her community.

“Plan B was created by the man who created your Plan B before your Plan A.”

In Their Own Words…

I love Knoxville! I was born and raised here and went to school here! I bleed orange and love my hometown. So many amazing people come from this great city and I love being able to meet them and strive to become that way myself! I spend my time doing what I love–showcasing this beautiful region! As the co-host of Living East Tennessee on WATE Six on Your Side, I am able to give a voice and platform to those who are determined to put a smile on other people’s faces. From music, to food, to art, to literature, we encompass it all. Living East Tennessee caters to the community like no other. We are on everyday to capture our East Tennessee communities’ story’s, passions, businesses, and more. Our whole mission and passion to showcase the wonderful things our community is doing. We are on a news station sharing a wall with news, and with that, it can get pretty depressing. Our show was created to put smiles and laughs on people’s faces.

In my spare time, I take what I learn in the station and act on it beyond the station doors. I enjoy volunteering with non-profits that speak close to my passions and interests. I regularly work alongside Interfaith Health Clinic, The Wesley House, and Girl Talk.

One of my biggest accomplishments has to be my recently published book, Finding Plan B. My book was created to help women who have experienced a change of plans in some capacity. Life can be derailing at times and I have taken my own personal experiences of feeling “empty-handed”, and used my trauma and pain to help others navigate through it too.

I cannot wait to see where else life takes me, but I know it will be fab!

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