30 Under 30 San Diego County Leader No. 11: Tara Smith

Every day, 29-year-old Tara Smith wakes up knowing she's living the life she loves.

Smith, who discovered her love for art when she began attending classes at 6, said she never doubted a career in the art industry would suit her best. She earned her bachelor's in fine arts at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago and eventually earned her master's in fine arts at Goldsmith's University of London.

Since graduating, Smith has worked for Escondido's California Center for the Arts Museum and now works as a manager for the Oceanside Museum of Art where she curates exhibitions. Though she's come a long way, Smith said her biggest accomplishment was one of her first shows.

"My largest professional accomplishment was curating Leveled: An Interactive Experiment in Art at the Center Museum in Escondido," she said. "It was the first show I completely conceptualized and saw through from beginning to end. During the planning and realization of this show we took amazing risks with the end result being a cutting edge interactive exhibition [thanks to the museum director and the artists]."

Smith, who is inspired by fellow artists Ed Ruscha and Wayne Thiebaud, said she hopes to continue her career in the industry and return to school for a Ph.D. in art history or museum studies.

Advice for young people:

"Mix your educational time with job experience in your field whenever you can. Hard work is instrumental in reaching your goals, but so is knowing the right people or being 'there' at the right time. Networking via internships and volunteer programs is a wonderful way to gain experience and meet people that will help further your career. Always keep a positive attitude because you are in control of your own life and are the one that has to look back on it and be happy with how you lived it."