Jessi Smith is a freelance writer, history geek, and yoga instructor living in the historic Gillespie Park neighborhood of downtown Sarasota. A Florida native, Jessi received her BA in Art History and English Literature from Florida International University in Miami. Today, Jessi channels her passion for the arts, writing, and community placemaking to explore and highlight the culture, quirk, history, and the contemporary urbanism of Florida's Gulf Coast cities. 

Jessi is a feature writer for 83 Degrees Media, focused on solutions journalism in topics including creative and innovative tech, education, entrepreneurship, sustainability and diversity in the Tampa Bay region. she also specializes in arts and cultural content for Visit Sarasota, and served for two seasons as the official blogger for the Ringling International Arts Festival (RIAF). 

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In addition to work with Gulf Coast organizations and publications, Jessi has written travel content for Forbes Travel Guide as well as in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism of Ecuador with TWIS Travel.

When Jessi is not writing or teaching, she enjoys volunteering and community activisim, creating and performing spoken word poetry, hanging out with her deaf rescue pup, thrifting, and indulging in the Bay area’s distinctive culinary and craft brewery scenes.

Find a selection of Jessi's creative writing featured on Medium.