We had the good fortune of connecting with Tegan Broadwater and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tegan, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Risk is always relative to one’s responsibility for others. But, if your “others” are cool enough to support your tendency for risk, then go for it. Your ultimate happiness becomes contagious to others and it breeds determination within yourself. Once you take the leap, there is no turning back. For me, that has been the key to pushing through crazy difficulties. Don’t have an out. Just hunker down and push through. It will make for an interesting life at the very least.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
To refine all of my creative projects to one simplified business, I recently launched Tee Cad Creative. LLC, a transmedia comany with a collective project focus on creative projects that impact, inspire, and contribute to positive social change. These projects include music, short films, a podcast, books, and more. I began my creative endeavors as a 14-year-old musician touring and recording with multi-cultural groups. I also studied at the world-renowned University of North Texas School of Music.

The main vibe of my music even then was to bring injustices to light. But I would eventually grow tired of living out of an ’87 Suburban on the road and decided to cut off 8-inches of hair and join the Fort Worth Police Department. It was the 180-degree change that my mind needed to experience a new social perspective. I leveraged my relationships in the musician/artist world to become one of the more successful undercover operators. I spent 2 years under deep cover infiltrating the Crip street gang that culminated in 51 arrests. It changed my life in many ways, but importantly, brought more knowledge and experience with the social issues I’d long written about. It allowed me to actually live the experiences of others and appreciate a cultural and economic perspective that most overlook.

That experience, married with my multi-cultural music background, gave me unique insight and a passion for productive solutions to social issues.

The Tee Cad brand is dedicated to impact and inspire people to contribute to positive social change.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If you’re visiting Fort Worth as my guest, we must visit Joe T. Garcia’s restaurant. It is iconic, unique, family-owned for over 50 years, and provides one of the most chill patios you’ll find anywhere… not to mention chill margaritas. One of the more unique things about it is that the line to get to the expansive patio is often 2 blocks long (literally). However, this has become part of the experience. Grab a pitcher of margaritas and visit with a few of the people around you and you will surely meet someone from another state partaking in this much-talked-about eatery. Fort Worth also has a number of areas that feature eating, drinking, entertainment, and shopping for those that can never seem to make up their mind! Hit the Magnolia strip, or Shops at Clearfork to get opposing vibes, drink great wine, catch a live show, unique food, or even a movie.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love, and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My wife deserves more recognition than I will ever be able to reciprocate. She is obviously a rock; a supporter; the one who can talk me off of any ledge. But moreover, she is a force herself. She is smarter and more talented than most people recognize because she doesn’t put herself out there unless it is in a support role for someone else. She is the real hero…and my best friend.

Website: https://www.teganbroadwater.com

Instagram: @teecad @teganbroadwater

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tegan-broadwater-8b9796b/

Facebook: @teganbroadwater @therealteecad

YouTube:

TeeCad (Music): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFQKa6IXa2BGh3xyxsjet4w

TeeCadell (Tegan & Podcast): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsFQxAbrioMB2afARtl7MSg

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutDFW is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.