Whit Whitley is an afab non-binary artist, teacher, and entrepreneur.
Current projects include:
- The Artist’s Way Workshop for Ages 50 and Beyond – Whit is currently hosting a 12-week online workshop that started January 29, 2026. The next class starts May 7. Register here!
- Blessed Be The Peacemakers Documentary – Whit is making a documentary for the first time in collaboration with Johnii Barbarino. It’s about Trinh Mai’s art for justice mural being painted on The Vault Warehouse in Long Beach, CA.
- Live Music Performances – Whit is sharing their message of love through music. You can catch their next show on Saturday, March 28 at NK3, The Bluff at Bixby Park, 11am-2pm and Sunday, March 29 at Slow Sunday Supper, The Vault Warehouse, 5pm-8pm.
Whit also runs a East Broad Records, a small indie music label offers guidance, structure, and encouragement for artists returning to their musical pursuites later in life.
Whit is also the founder of Start Smart Now, a digital marketing agency that helps founders grow with clarity, confidence, and balance.
More About Whit
Whit was born on January 7, 1969 in Houston, Texas and grew up in Spring. As a child, Whit took private art lessons at a local art studio and showed lots of promise winning prizes every year in the annual Houston Rodeo art show competitions but soon traded in their paintbrush for a pick after falling in love with the guitar.
In middle school, Whit joined the band on trumpet and quickly garnered attention in high school by winning regional competitions that resulted in a coveted spot in the Houston Youth Symphony and private study with the Principal Trumpet of the Houston Symphony.
Whit attended the University of Houston on music and Honors College scholarships graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in English with Honors and a Minor in Applied Music Performance on Trumpet. For many years, Whit lived a double life as a high school English teacher by day and singer-songwriter troubadour by night.
In 2000, Whit founded Start Smart Now, which began as a side-hustle building websites that quickly grew into a digital marketing agency that Whit still runs today!
On this new journey, Whit earned a Master of Science in HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) at the University of North Texas and completed their doctoral coursework in TC&R (Tech Comm & Rhetoric) at Texas Tech University but stepped away from academia to keep growing their agency.
During the pandemic, Whit moved to Savannah, Georgia for peace and quiet but soon after got divorced. That’s when music came roaring back into Whit’s life as they turned to music for deep healing.
The result is their first solo studio album Love Lost, Love Found. Today, Whit is continuing to perform their music, write new songs, and share the revolutionary power of love with anyone who will listen!