Today we’d like to introduce you to Bria Woods.
Hi Bria, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My story begins in the nation’s capital where my formative years were spent steeped in history, art, jazz, and multi-cultural social settings. I thought it was normal to be surrounded by people who all looked different from each other and spoke different languages. Eventually, we moved to my mother’s hometown, San Antonio, settling in Stone Oak. The cost of exemplary schools came at the price of the diversity that I took for granted in D.C. My mom, my best friend, worked hard to make things feel natural and normal. In this strange land she brought comfort, balance, and through it all she gave the constant gift of her presence.
It wasn’t until I arrived to Trinity University in 2012 that I found my people and started the process of chiseling the sculpture of the real me out of the marble of outside influences. Trinity presented a growing buffet of options: how to live, how to work, how to think, how to connect, how to learn, and what I could do with it all. Those were four of the best consecutive years of my life.
Moving to London in 2016 for my Master’s was another exciting turning point in my story. Those days were characterized by boundless joy and freedom, endless discovery of self and of the large and vast world we call home. Meaningful relationships that I still call home today were constructed with bricks of core memories and sparkling moments. I was about to turn the knob to open a door to a new expat life when I was pulled back to life in Texas, eventually getting my first full-time position in Victoria, Texas, in 2019.
I found myself at the bottom of the deepest valley. My identity, relationships, and career trajectory were all challenged, and my expectations were challenged like never before. Who am I? Where am I really going? How will I get there? What am I supposed to be doing? What happened to my London dream? “A dream delayed is not a dream denied.” My father’s wisdom gave me the strength to get up and take a step forward.
Months of grieving old desires and expectations gave way to navigating the jungle of external noise to find the steady signal of who I really am…who I’ve always been. Distractions abound, and unfortunately, I continued to lose the signal for years. In 2021 I moved back to San Antonio, got a much better job and embarked on the real journey of getting to the true core of Bria. Along the journey, I found purpose in photojournalism, I expressed myself through public speaking engagements, I belly laughed and galloped with friends through precious adventures. I gained love, lost it, gained friends, lost more, found attention, lost it again…lost myself more. My signal was choked by loud static.
Between 2022-2024, I learned perhaps my most difficult life lesson. I survived an abusive relationship where I experienced sexual assault and emotional abuse. The signal was unbelievably faint; I had minimized my mind, my voice, my needs. I was a shell of myself.
But God.
The Lord delivered me from the darkest depths of the hell I was living in. I left Texas and went home to D.C. By the water, I healed, in the cool air, I healed, one small bite of food at a time, I healed, between tear-stained sheets, I healed, one measured breath at a time, I healed. The edifying words of friends and family reconstructed my fractured psyche and soul. My signal is restored.
With my chin up and my shoulders back I came back to Texas in January 2024 and got on with the rest of my big full life.
Deliverance is the title of this chapter. Though life is full of mountains and valleys, sunsets and sunrises… I am grateful to be standing on a new peak, bathing in the high noon light.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It won’t let me submit without answering this question. Yes, there are always struggles in life, we are not promised a smooth road. If we knew God’s plans, we wouldn’t need faith. Everyone chooses to use their free will differently. I aim to use mine stewarding the people, places and things I get to encounter.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
The work I get to do is primarily in the area of media and storytelling. Most recently, I worked in local news for six years, two years in TV news broadcast, and four years as a photojournalist for an online nonprofit publication. The stories I had the privilege to work on afforded me a first place photojournalism award from the Texas Managing Editors awards, and my first photo essay became the subject of my first TEDx talk.
And now, I work as the Content Director at KRTU 91.7 FM, where I have been a volunteer radio host for eleven years. I went live for my first show when I was a sophomore at Trinity, shortly after changing my major from Neuroscience to Communication. Fun fact: I was admitted to Trinity University on an academic scholarship from the Nueroscience Department after doing original biomedical research in high school at the UT Health and Science Center through the Voelcker Biomedical Research Academy. From the ages of 14-17 I was conducting Schizophrenia research on a rodent model in the lab of Dr. Daniel J. Lodge. Somehow, I went from performing brain surgeries on rats during my high school summers to running a budding tech startup after being a semifinalist in the Stumberg venture competition at Trinity during my senior year. And now I am helping to run and strategically tell the story of a 50-year-old jazz station. Life is full of twists and turns. “Insert the metal tip into the buckle and pull it low and tight across your lap.”
Outside of my W-2 work, I am also an artist, primarily making photographic works that I’ve been able to exhibit in group and solo shows. My work has been published on BBC.com, The Washington Post, Edible SA magazine. I was awarded two grants from the City of San Antonio to continue The Herstory Project, an ongoing multi-media series documenting women leaders in San Antonio through portraits, and audio recordings. The newest chapter of the Herstory Project, Chapter 4: City of Gastronomy, was curated to be part of a group show which celebrates the City’s of San Antonio UNESCO World Heritage Site and UNESCO City of Gastronomy designations. I photographed and interviewed seven women culinary leaders in San Antonio who undoubtedly paved the way for us to attain this prestigious global recognition. The work is on view for a year until January 2026.
What a gift it is to create and imagine what could be. Art heals.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Lil’ Bria was simply foreshadowing my future as a public speaker, performer, storyteller and artist:
-Loud! “Her voice really carries.”
-I read “Talks too much” on many report cards.
-”Bubbly,” “rambunctious,” “theatrical,” “animated”
-I was always involved in extracurricular activities throughout every grade level.
-high achieving
-surprisingly risk-averse (I never broke a bone or had to go to the ER as a kid. I was not jumping from the monkey bars).
-Dancing and singing in my room like I’m performing at a sold-out concert!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @_briawoods
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bria-woods-0142085a/
