Why Did You Stay Here? - Tiana Maclin

Tiana Maclin, Strategic Marketing Manager, Living Fort Wayne

Growing up, my goal was to leave Indiana. “Anywhere else!”, I’d always say. The flat cornfields never appealed to my teenage self. As I aged, I decided to stay close to home for college. I was indifferent about my home state. At least I was away from my home town. This was a plus. Removing myself away from the similarity of it all opened my eyes a little wider and I looked around a little harder.

I attended college at Manchester University. It is nestled in a small town of North Manchester, Indiana about 45 minutes from Fort Wayne. If we wanted to do anything at all in terms of quality entertainment outside of the campus, Fort Wayne was one of the cities we traveled to for the fun fix. This is where my heart started to soften for Indiana, and even more so for Fort Wayne. I didn’t fall in love with what Fort Wayne was but what it could become. It had this gleaming potential to become even greater, if only it had some people here to nourish it.

I started to become more involved in Fort Wayne little by little from enjoying the activities to working here. I wanted to make a difference in the community. I am a firm believer that if you complain about it, you better do something about it to create change. This can be a simple vote in the direction you think will make a difference to joining boards of organizations.

Why did I move here? I wanted to make a difference, grow the community, build pride in our region. I came here because of the opportunities. Fort Wayne will not drown out your voice. I came here for the people and their generosity. I am here to show young people that there is a future here. This is a place to set roots.