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Welcome back to Spotlight Hustle, where we celebrate Black women making bold moves in life and business.
Today, we’re spotlighting Dr. Tyra Gross — professor, public health leader, and coach for women stepping into their brilliance. Her story is one of faith, family, resilience, and the constant discovery of what it means to define success on her own terms.
Quick One: Your Ticket Is On Us!
Tickets to the Top 100 Most Powerful Women Summit are FREE this year.
This is your chance to connect with powerhouse women, hear stories like Dr. Tyra Gross’s, and walk away with strategies to transform your business and life.
👉 Reserve your free spot now and invite a sister or colleague who needs to be there.
What’s Inside Today’s Newsletter
- Feature Story → From Baton Rouge girlhood to motherhood, academia, and legacy-building
- Wisdom & Advice → Her challenge to imposter syndrome, and the words she’d give her younger self
- Resilience & Becoming → Faith, family, and surviving the hardest year of her lif
- Daily Practices → Praise, prayer, movement, and resets that keep her grounded
- Vision Forward → Sabbatical dreams, books, and bridging the Diaspora
- Rapid-Fire Round → Coffee, mantras, dance, and discipline hacks
- Summit Spotlight → Why we can’t wait to hear Tyra live at the Top 100 Most Powerful Women Summit
Feature Story: Tyra’s Journey
Tyra Gross grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana — the firstborn daughter of Meritha and Auther, big sister to Jami, and surrounded by family and church. She thanks God she never knew poverty, even though her parents had grown up in rural hardship.
From a young age, Tyra excelled academically, curious about people and cultures, eager to learn and make friends. But like many girls, she wrestled with the quiet lies: not smart enough, not Black enough, not pretty enough. Her faith foundation, built in church, became her anchor — the steady ground she would return to again and again.
As a firstborn, Tyra learned responsibility early. Her sister’s developmental challenges and her parents’ marital tensions led her to pour herself into academics. Being labeled “gifted & talented” felt like both a blessing and burden. She carried brilliance and Blackness as if they were identities at war. People-pleasing became her way of coping.
Her path into academia came almost naturally. She earned her doctorate, completed a research fellowship, and stepped into her first faculty role — all while pregnant with her first child. That first semester, she gave birth during Thanksgiving week. With a newborn at home, new classes to teach, and the weight of expectations, she struggled. Birth trauma left her feeling like she had failed at motherhood, so she threw herself into teaching and mentoring instead.
But as her family grew — four children in all — Tyra learned to redefine success. It wasn’t about being everything to everyone. It was about harmony, legacy, and faith. Along the way, she discovered her top strength was coaching. Leaning into it, she began to see how guiding others was not separate from her journey — it was part of her calling.
Today, she thrives at the intersection of public health, academia, and personal development. She is a connector, a communicator, and above all, a woman committed to leaving the world better for her children and for the next generation.
Wisdom & Advice
To her younger self:
“Trust the vision. Be courageous and curious. But leave those trash dudes alone — the right one is worth the wait.”
On imposter syndrome:
“I’m sick of hearing it as an excuse to stay stuck. Feelings aren’t facts. Hard things can be done. You’re not an imposter — you’re you. That’s enough.”
What women in business should know:
“Less is more. Nothing is quick or linear. Build systems that honor harmony, not just hustle.”
Resilience & Becoming
August 2020 nearly broke Tyra. In the same week, her mom suffered a medical crisis, her dad blacked out, and her three-year-old daughter Nia experienced a severe autoimmune attack that left her paraplegic. Tyra had just given birth to her third baby, started a new semester, closed on her first home, and was still navigating a global pandemic.
She survived that season the way she has survived so many others: prayer, faith, and a community of prayer warriors, mentors, and students who stood by her.
Her resilience is not about suppressing pain. It’s about naming her feelings, leaning into her faith, and giving herself permission to rest and reset.
Daily Practices
Tyra’s grounding rhythms:
- Morning praise and prayer before the day begins
- Strength training to recharge her energy
- Massages and social time for resets
- Travel as a way to expand her perspective
She balances her days with structure and grace — four days on campus, Fridays remote, evenings with family, and nights dedicated to reflection and rest.
Vision Forward
Tyra’s mission is rooted in legacy: Happy and healthy women, families, and generations.
Her next chapter includes:
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Taking a sabbatical to cultivate new ideas and write books
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Building a side business that can grow into her main business
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Bridging the Diaspora, bringing communities together across borders for health and wealth
Her dream? To create systems that make it possible for women to thrive without burning out.
Rapid-Fire Round
- Coffee or tea? → Coffee, iced or blended with ice year-round
- Morning or night? → Morning on weekdays, night owl on weekends
- One word for this season → Discovery
- Current favorite read → Imagine Big by Terri Savelle Foy
- Favorite activity → Dance (with nature walks as a close second)
- Mantra → “God is within her, she will not fall.” (Psalm 46:5)
- Discipline hacks → Google Calendar reminders, setting timers, preparing the night before
Over to You
What part of Tyra’s story resonated with you most?
Hit reply and share—I’d love to hear.
And if you know someone who needs this story today, forward it along.
Why We’re Excited
At the Top 100 Most Powerful Women Summit, Dr. Tyra Gross will share her journey of resilience, discovery, and legacy. She will remind us that brilliance and balance are not opposites — they belong together.
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