We can't get enough of the amazing actress and author, Tina Sloan.
Her daily videos on Instagram lift us all and her warmth and charm shine through during our recent radio interview with Tina.
She was also so generous with her time to allow to us interview her for this featuring you piece. We marvel at her life and all she does to help us all be our best. I love chatting with Tina and admire her amazing collection of photographs, like this favorite.
Our Interview with Tina Sloan:
Please tell us about yourself
Right now, I am eating hot fudge sauce for lunch…. need I say more?
How did you get to be where you are today?
I went out and followed all my dreams - one foot in front of the other to achieve them and I really did get them and I feel very blessed. I became an actress -first in commercials and then on soap operas and in movies. I wrote a book and now another book and also a play and did lots of theater too.
I ran 8 marathons and climbed two 20,000 peaks (in Nepal and Africa) I have a son and now have 2 grandchildren ages 2 and 5 and I have been married for nearly 45 years. All of these things can be taken away in a second so most of all I want to be GRATEFUL to God for where I am today. In this time of corona virus we realize how out of control we are.
Have you ever been fired?
Of course I have! I have dared and therefore failed. But I kept doing what I had to to get back in the game. My first soap opera was SOMERSET and I was the bad girl (which I LOVED) but my character went crazy and so I was put into an insane asylum which meant I was written out of the show. They called me 2 months later to come back but I had gotten another soap so couldn’t sadly as I LOVED that character.
What are your real passions?
Writing, Acting, Family, Friends, Travel, Reading, Helping our Veterans
If you won the lottery what would you do?
Selfish thing is I would get my own plane just for my family and travel that way all the time.
Unselfish thing is I would help the VETS who have PTSD or are badly wounded and help their families
What do you do to help others be their best?
I listen to them to hear what THEY REALLY want. Sometimes people cant hear themselves but an outsider can.
I also wrote a book and a play both called CHANGING SHOES about going from sexy high heels to proverbial black flats. The book and play really help people deal with all the problems they have as they age. Not just problems about ourselves but also our parents and our children and grandchildren. I did it in a fun way with lots of stories about how I made HUGE mistakes. For instance on my first climb to 20,000 feet I wore bright pink and makeup and did my hair but I was climbing with the Board of Outward Bound --they were all in earth tones so of course I was a bit frowned at- Well more than a bit . But I made it (and some of them didn't ) Heres to PINK !! And I ended up going on the Board in pink clothes to remind them who I was….
How do you help yourself be the best you can be?
I think meditating and exercising (and eating hot fudge) all help me I do my best not to get caught up in gossip or drama. (I have been on soap opera for 35 years so I KNOW alot about drama and gossip)
What do you like to do in your personal life?
I like to be alone or with Steve, my husband, and love to be with my son and his wife and my grandchildren so this time is very hard as they are in DC and we are in Florida. Family and friends are important to me. I like to walk and read and write and chat. And I love MOVIES - I have been in many films and when I lend films to people (I have a great collection) I love to put in one that I am in and they don't know I am in it, so they are stunned when I come on the screen!
What do you hope to accomplish in the future?
I was in a movie where I played the mother of a Marine with PTSD who was badly wounded who came home to a VA hospital - he takes his own life at the end of the movie and it is so devastating that so many of our Vets do this. As we went around the country doing film festivals, people couldn't move after seeing this film. And yet we do so little for these men My own son went to Harvard and after 9/11 happened, he joined the Marines after graduating. I want to do something in this realm to wake people up to the fact that these men have fought for us and deserve help. I work with COMMIT which helps men leaving when their tour of duty is up. Seals or Marines or Military meet with CEOs of big companies to get advice and jobs when they are coming out of their military time.
And on a personal level, I want to do another book, a sequel, and I want my latest novel CHASING CLEOPATRA to have success and become a movie and naturally I wrote a great albeit small part for myself.!!
What is a book or two that you recommend ?
For memoir self help I really do recommend my book CHANGING SHOES and for a fantasy novel at this time in life, I really recommend CHASING CLEOPATRA which is a page turner and people love it especially now when we are all home. I put it out on kindle for $4.99 so lots of people could read it. Book is in hardback and paperback but hoping I can do free kindle to give free entertainment
Give us one or two shameless plugs
go to tinasloan.com and see my speaking list - I speak all over and am really funny and good. So shamelessly would love to speak at your next benefit or whatever.
And my books, I shamelessly plugged above.
What are some of your favorite books, websites.
BEST EVER YOU of course, tinasloan.com, love the Irish tenors and Frank Sinatra and books— well I read so much. Love Tan Twan Eng and other Booker prize short or long listed authors and Pulitzer winners. Coln Toibin is a great author and Henry James. I love to watch Pride and Prejudice the 6 hour one with Colin Firth. I love that series.
Why do you do what you do?
I have no option. It is who I am
What are a few of your goals.
be with my family alot, write next book, help Vets, make my book CHASING CLEOPATRA into a movie or a series on Netflix
What do the words “Best Ever You", mean to me
They mean you Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino and all you do to make us all the best we can be.
More about Tina Sloan:
Tina spent 26 years on The Guiding Light, the famous soap opera on CBS, and was featured on 60 Minutes when the show closed after an historic 75 year run. Tina, then in her 60’s, reinvented herself as an author, playwright and speaker. Her first book Changing Shoes describes how she came to terms with growing older: literally changing shoes from gorgeous high heels to the proverbial black flats. Her one-woman play also titled Changing Shoes toured the US. Tina has performed in numerous movies including Black Swan, Changing Lanes, as Ben Affleck’s mother, The Post, several Woody Allen films as well as others with Al Pacino and Jody Foster. She has also appeared on TV shows including Law and Order SVU. Her new book, a romantic thriller, Chasing Cleopatra, is a true page turner and was just released. Tina lives in Florida with her husband of 45 years and in Maryland very near her son and grandchildren. She has run 8 marathons and climbed 20,000 foot peaks in Africa and Nepal. Visit: Tinasloan.com
Great interview.