While other eight-year-old girls were playing with Barbie dolls and braiding hair, Connie Drummond was writing. What started as a passion for the arts after a small role in a school play has now catapulted her to an award-winning playwright, producer, director and actress. As a recipient of the 2014 Benevolent Playwright Award, and as a 2015 nominee for the NAACP Image Awards Hometown Champion recognition, Drummond’s work does more than speak for itself—it serves as building blocks to her future.

But in the words of the late Maya Angelou, life for Drummond “ain’t been no crystal stair. While honing her craft through Evelyn Graves Drama Productions as a set designer, costume designer and backdrop artist, Drummond’s life suddenly came to a screeching halt. After enduring a mentally abusive marriage, she decided that this wasn’t just the end for her marriage—it was the end of her writing career. She didn’t pick up her pen again until five years later.

Her latest accomplishment is the opening of ArtzScape, a Black Box Theater and Event Venue in the prestigious neighborhood of LOMA, Wilmington’s creative district. Through ArtzScape Drummond has been able to offer other independent artists the opportunity to produce their work at reasonable prices. She also uplifts, empowers and mentors artists from all areas of the entertainment industry. Every morning that she wakes up, her mission is clear: Carpe’ Diem—to seize the day!