Angela Birdsong is host of the podcast, “Tampa Bay Politics,” a former candidate for the Hillsborough County Board of County Commission and a board member of the Hillsborough League of Woman Voters. She is also a health and life agent with the Tampa Branch of Bankers Life & Colonial Penn, helping baby boomers, retirees and the disabled successfully navigate Medicare. Angela Birdsong is also an instructor at the Osher Life Long Learning Institute.
Why Greater Tampa Bay?
I relocated to Tampa in 1989 from New York City, where I was born and raised. My family immigrated from the Caribbean and South America. While my father was born on the island of Barbados, my mother’s side of the family came from Guyana.
After graduating from Ithaca College with a bachelor of science in communications and music, I worked at “Black Enterprise” magazine by day as an account executive while pursuing a recording career at night. At a recording a demo, I met my future husband Edwin Birdsong, whose cousin Cindy Birdsong is an original Supremes singer and his best friend was Stevie Wonder. After being a showbiz wife in my 20s, I became qualified to teach a class on Motown. After my son Sterling was born, I followed my parents to Florida, when my father retired from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
When I started visiting my parents in Florida, coming from New York City, it seemed like the sun shined brighter and longer in Florida. I couldn’t believe people lived like this, especially in December. New York was either cold, wet or the color grey most of the year. Real estate in New York was already financially out of reach, so I decided to join my parents, bought a house and came down with a three-month-old baby boy and a husband.
It was a big transition to the Tampa area 30 years ago, but I slowly found my way selling media at the Tampa Tribune and then News Talk Radio. I transitioned into a commercial real estate agent at Marcus & Millichap, selling multi-family properties.
After, I made the decision to make a huge change in life and went into a profession helping others in their time of need. I became a pre-need counselor at a funeral home and went back to college for a funeral directing degree. While I never got past the internship process, I knew a helping profession was in my blood. That’s when I found a company called Bankers Life/Colonial Penn that helped seniors, and seven years later, that’s where I remain.
This is a great place to retire, with beaches and sightseeing only a short drive away. The weather is fine, we are rich in culture, there are more new restaurants to try every day, and hey, we’re Champa Bay!
