Growing up in Murfreesboro, M. Tara Crowl could be described as curious.

That curiosity led the 2004 graduate of Blackman High School to Los Angeles, where she majored in cinematic arts at the University of Southern California and then briefly worked in the entertainment industry, before graduate school in Australia.

She earned a master of arts degree, met her future husband, and after a year Down Under, relocated to New York City.

Crowl has since written two middle grade books -- "Eden's Wish" and "Eden's Escape" -- and started work on a young adult novel.

But her curiosity was recently piqued when she was chosen by Steve Madden to participate in his new Self Made campaign.

Madden is self-made entrepreneur who, in 1990, according to his bio, developed one of the most iconic brands of footwear with only a $1,000 investment. With an unparalleled drive, he transformed his authentic brand of shoes into a multi-billion-dollar company.

He is the self-described definition of Self Made.

He shared the details of his own personal journey in a Netflix documentary, "Maddman: The Steve Madden Story," and now he and his team have created a social media campaign, Self Made, in an effort to share the stories of others.

"The men and women of Self Made have proven their entrepreneurship - just like Steve himself - through ambition, fearlessness and relentless dedication. By celebrating these self-starters, we hope to inspire you to believe in yourself and be Self Made," according to an online description of the campaign.

Being an author is isolating, so Crowl said it has been an "enjoyable change" of pace interacting with a collection of young professionals who all come from various backgrounds. There's a startup founder and a personal trainer along with partners in a private jet company and a Miami nightclub as well as the owner of a swimwear company.

Crowl's husband and his business partner, Henry Roberts and Giles Russell, were part of the program as well. They own a pair of restaurants, Two Hands NYC, in Manhattan.

"I see that industry a little bit," Crowl said, "but lots of other things, I don't ever really get to meet people."

Not a bad turn-of-events for someone who never even thought about moving to New York until her curiosity led her to "try something new."

Even writing had been mistakenly dismissed as unrealistic.

"I wanted to write books when I was a kid," concluded Crowl, whose journey from her hometown and Los Angeles to Australia and back to New York led her to realize "that deep down it's still what I wanted to do."

The day after the Madden hosted a roundtable event with all the entrepreneurs, Crowl spoke with Rutherford County Schools about her experience.