Tina Sloan – A true Renaissance woman, mother, grandmother
We had the honor of interviewing Tina Sloan for the cover of our January/February 2013 issue. Click on the cover image to check out that issue. Following is a brief excerpt and link to that issue:
Tina Sloan, who played nurse Lillian Raines for 26 years on the daytime TV soap opera, Guiding Light, is a real guiding light for all of us, especially women “of a certain age” (50+).
Tina grew up in a happy family in Bronxville, New York, and learned early in life that she could do whatever she set her mind to do. Since she was a little girl, Tina knew she wanted to be an actor. Her mother referred to her as “Sarah Bernhardt,” a famous actress of the day, but she wasn’t in favor of her daughter taking this career path. It was the one bone of contention between mother and daughter (lucky girl). Her mother could not have been more proud of Tina’s successful acting career.
The same determination that drove her to “make it” in show business enabled her to accomplish another feat: climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. In 1987, she made it to the summit of that 19,700-foot mountain.
When the plug was pulled on Guiding Light in 2009, Tina was devastated. She had grown very close to her TV family, and to lose them was like losing her real family. At the same time, she was juggling many personal challenges, including her only son being deployed to Iraq while she was being the caregiver for both of her parents.
Tina is, by nature, someone who loves to help others. So, naturally, she took her caregiver experiences and the lessons she learned and turned them into a guidebook for other caregivers.
GRAND recently caught up with Tina who was just back from Paris.
“I grew up in a happy household with a brother, sister, and two parents in Bronxville, NY. I went through school happily and graduated from college with a major in English. Here I am with my mom and dad and my son and husband having Moroccan food in La Mamounia in Marrakesh.
Traveling in Morocco with Steve, our son, and my parents for their 75th birthday.
In 1975, I married Steve. We had one child, and he, in turn, had three, so now I have three wonderful grandchildren. My path in life was to be an actress, and I fulfilled this with lots of commercials and a part in a soap opera for nearly thirty years, twenty-six of those being on Guiding Light.
Guiding Light family, Hayden Panettiere was my granddaughter, who went on to great fame.
My other family, my soap opera family, was wonderful. My soap opera and son-in-law are still two of my closest friends. And my soap opera granddaughter, Hayden Panettiere, went on to great fame.
While I was on the soap, I started running marathons and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and the Annapurna Refuge in Nepal. I ran two in New York, one in London, Paris, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Marine Corps, and Washington, DC.
Editors Note: A marathon is 26.2 miles or 42 kilometers. Although marathons differ in their terrain and degree of difficulty, how far a marathon is has been standard since 1908.
I did some movies with Woody Allen, Celebrity and The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, and movies with Al Pacino, Natalie Portman, Ben Affleck, and many others.
After Guiding Light went off the air, I created my one-woman show called Changing Shoes, about going from sexy high heels to black flats as I aged. I performed it all around the country and in London.
Tina shares an anecdote from a Guiding Light Christmas episode, which begins with diminishment and ends with a surprising kiss…
As I mentioned, my son and his wife had three children, whom I adore. They come to visit us at Christmas. We play croquet and think of ways to sell my books; they’re my best salespeople!
My grandkids love to think of ways to take fun, silly pictures
When I turned 80, my friend threw me a beautiful, glamorous birthday party. That day, I decided what my next steps would be. I would finish my book and go to lots of fun places with my grandchildren and, of course, my husband.
I decided to go with Hazel and her mom to Paris for her 10th birthday. Here we are, frolicking in Paris, trying on dresses at Oscar, at the Palais Royale to see the ballet Giselle, touring 
around Paris in a green car, walking through Montmartre, having souffles at Le Recamier, and shopping at Le Bon Marche with so many clothes for Hazel to try on. We even went to Roland-Garros to see the French Open, and so happened to see Carlos Alcaraz playing. What luck!
Thanks for traveling down memory lane with me.
As Tina reminds us, “We all know how daunting it can be to make big changes in your life.” Tina’s advice is to take it in small bites — one step at a time. If you can walk for only five minutes, start there but start now. The next day, make it seven minutes, then 10 minutes, then 20, and so on. Before long, you might be doing what Tina did after a year: running a full marathon. She went on to run in marathons all over the world.
Her son joined the Marines after the 9-11 terrorist attacks on the United States, and he did two tours in Iraq. Between the stress of caring for her parents and being worried sick about her son, Tina started eating and gained a lot of weight. Rather than continuing on a path to obesity and poor health, Tina took action and made changes.
Tina’s advice is to take it in small bites — one step at a time.
Being self-aware and honest with herself, Tina knew she needed to stop doing the things that were making her fat. She stopped eating white flour and sugar and started going to the gym and getting out and exercising. She is a big advocate of walking.
We all know how daunting it can be to make big changes in your life. Tina’s advice is to take it in small bites — one step at a time. If you can walk for only 5 minutes, start there but start now. The next day, make it 7 minutes, then 10 minutes, then 20, and so on. Before long, you might be doing what Tina did after a year: running a full marathon. She went on to run in marathons all over the world.
“I would love to share my secrets for not just surviving but thriving during the hilarious and, at times, devastating process of aging. Let’s all remain fabulous and frisky by staying in the game of life!” Tina Sloan
Books by Tina
Aging Tips by Tina
One of Tina’s most recent successes is her Aging Tips that she delivers with her usual authentic style. See them here: https://www.instagram.com/p/C3QKw1HOV3X/
If you like this, you can find her daily hashtag#Agingtips on her Instagram @tinasloan
