Leslie Tom

You all know me by Leslie Tom but my Momma knows me by Leslie Dawn Alexander...whatever you want to call me I’m happy to say, “I'm finally chasing my dream”! I did it! I made the big move from little 'ole South Texas to the big city of NashVegas, TN! I've lived my entire life pleasing others...a husband once, parents, my friends, my family, etc...I've lived the status quo and done what society says a responsible woman should do and I decided that is what I was giving up for Lent this year...so I'm here and I'm staying! I know its hard and I know there are people that have more talent in their left pinky toe than I will ever have and that's ok! I also know it's not all about talent...I am me and most days that's a great thing to be! It's taken me a long time to be OK with myself and know I have what it takes to make it in the music business....as a writer or performer or God-Willing, BOTH! I love so many things about my life...the good and the bad! I love that I’ve had two or three really crappy corporate jobs that I completely hated...those jobs have given me the ability to appreciate the art of waiting tables and the freedom involved with not having to report to a man in a suit sitting in an ivory tower that has no clue what goes on in the real world! I love that where I’m from people have really cool names like “Jim Bob” and “Mary Kay” and “Bubba” and that’s normal. I love when I was growing up I got to work for a grain elevator in Bishop, TX, probing grain trucks and performing aflatoxin testing on corn...you see I got to see what it was my grandfather did to earn a living...he was a farmer and in my world, a farmer is one of the most respectable jobs a man can have! I love it that I was in the FFA and 4-H and raised sheep for our county stock show! I love that my first vehicle was a 1985 Ford F-150 single cab pick-up with a four-speed on the floor, custom blue and silver paint job, a headache rack with my initials on it and a grill guard, that it was December of 1993 when I got it and January of 1994 when I totaled it three blocks from my house! I love it that I’ve had the same five girlfriends, with the exception of three gals I’ve met in the past five years, for close to twenty years and we love each other as much today as we did when we were in elementary school even though we live thousands of miles away and are in very different life stages! I love it that I had the guts to move from comfort to scared-to-death in 1.2 seconds and just so happened to live through it! I love to bake, talk on the phone, buy make-up and clothes! I am ok with admitting I’m technologically challenged...that I only found out about text messaging four years ago and it has taken me until about a month ago to know what in the world “IM ing” meant...I love that I’ve never met a stranger which leads to...I love meeting new people, especially those that are different from me, because they are the ones that open my eyes to the beauty of diversity!! I am humbled by the fact I live in a country where a man or woman nearly half my age willingly volunteers their life to go into hell to fight for my right and the right of my neighbors to say we love or hate the President, the war or anyone who believes in a view different from our own! I love being challenged by life and realizing that much of the pain I'm enduring on a daily basis is making me stronger and for that, I'm thankful! I love it that I learned what a great thing called “Weight Watchers” is! I love it that I was scared to sing in front of anyone (including my parents and siblings) until I was in my mid-twenties and that my first solo performance, after I decided I wasn't going to let fear get the best of me, was in front of 10,000 people! I love that I'm super girlie and high maintenance but that doesn't mean I'm a bitch...it means I know what I want and I'm going to work to get it! I love that everything I have in this life is mine because I worked hard to get it and yes, that includes my debt! I love that my Dad owns a Ford and Chevrolet Dealership but never gave me or my two sisters vehicles completely for free....it made us realize the value of the dollar and the value for working for what you have and that there is no such thing as a “free lunch” in his household! I love that I was blessed enough to be married to a wonderful man for almost 7 years and know I'm a better person because I was able to love him even though we both willingly went our separate ways...I will always respect him for the person he was, the value he brought to my life and the person, I presume, he still is to this day! I love it that after making it through the incredible heartache and pain of that divorce I'm at a place that I can say the aforementioned sentence! I love that I was blessed enough to go to one of the finest Universities in the world, Texas A&M University, and proudly graduate with a 2.5 in 3.5 years! I love that I'm one of the lucky ones in this world that was blessed with two sets of parents...a Mom and Step-Father and Dad and Step-Mother! I love it that I put out an album in 2006 that I paid for completely on my own, without backers and had a single that was on the Texas Charts for 10 weeks...though some would argue this is only marginal regional success, it's more than most will ever have and I’m DAMN proud of it! I love that I'm a Texan and no matter where I live in this world I will always be a Texan and there aren't many people on this earth that are blessed enough to know what it means to say, we are a whole other country! I love my parents taught me the beauty of giving back to society, especially those less fortunate than me, as that is the true gift of life! I love that I’m a Christian and that means there are many times, especially of late, that I can shake my fist at God and know that he still loves me and if I release my need to control everything that happens to me he will reveal the plan for my life in his time...not mine! I love that the good Lord put two important men in my life that both have cancer...though the daily struggles are enough to kill me, I know that I can talk eloquently about the risks associated with the disease and encourage everyone I meet to take control of their health by getting screened! If my voice saves one life then I'll consider myself, with or without music, a success!p