Overcoming

HAYLEY POWER
Carol Chisolm has learned to create beauty from struggle

Carol Chisolm’s smile shines bright among twinkling holiday lights after being named the Florida Gospel Music Awards Female Artist of the Year. STEVEN R. HICKS
It is not uncommon for Carol Chisolm to be stopped and complimented by strangers. She exudes a magnetic charisma and her presence is captivating. Her beaming smile radiates unmistakable genuineness. This ability to show her authentic self was not always second nature — and, yet, it happens to be one of the many ways in which she shines.
Professionally, Chisolm is an acclaimed singer, songwriter, award-winning author, speaker and teacher.
Academically, she is a student at Eastern Florida State College, pursuing a graphic design certificate to add to her bachelor’s degree in human resources and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Central Oklahoma.
She is a mother, grandmother, wife, sister, and aunt — roles in which she feels most like herself. But to define Chisolm by the titles she holds barely scratches the surface of her journey, which began in Oklahoma City.
The youngest of the Rev. Dr. Eric Mayes and Bernice Mayes’ six children, Chisolm began singing solos in her father’s church at 4 years old. “I could sing before I could speak well,” she recalled. “As a kid, I was very shy and didn’t want to speak in front of people, but I would sing in front of anybody.”
She struggled to see a future in the music industry, so Chisolm pursued a business degree with goals of becoming a Fortune 500 CEO. “I didn’t go into music because all I could see was being a music teacher,” she said. “But my love for music never died, even though I didn’t follow that path.”
Her path led to living in Germany for six years with her husband, Kim Chisolm, who was an active-duty airman. During this drastic change, she rediscovered her faith. “I thought that I would just skirt in on my dad’s coattail because he was a pastor,” she said.
Chisolm joined a community of believers, which allowed her to explore her musical talents further. She led the worship team which was responsible for guiding the congregation musically. She met Dr. Crystal J. Lucky, and they bonded over music and having similar church backgrounds. “When you’re in a new community and environment, it means a lot to have somebody that makes you feel like you belong,” Lucky said.
After 35 years of friendship, Dr. Lucky recalls Chisolm’s steadfast faith.
“Being able to lead others into worship, but also to be a songwriter, shows a certain kind of intimate connection that she has with God that allows her to let other people into that intimacy,” Lucky said. “I think that’s also what makes her such a beautiful singer as well.”
SUFFERING IN SILENCE
While outwardly Chisolm experienced transformative enrichment through religion, she hid a deep internal suffering and hateful relationship with herself. Upon moving to Europe, Chisolm experienced the onset of alopecia, an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss. Her hair thinned and became patchy, which she disguised by wearing wigs.
“I was so ashamed and humiliated,” she said. “I went through many years where I didn’t even want my husband to be around me. I felt like our vows were for better and worse, but not for bald.”
The isolation Chisolm felt from moving across the world only intensified as she kept her condition a secret from everyone, leading her to severe depression. In 2018, during prayer, Chisolm had the thought, “Just take your wig off.” She found the idea inconceivable, but spent the next year contemplating its meaning and implications. Through further prayer, she reached the realization that she could not fulfill her mission to glorify God if she hid her struggle from others.
“A lot of times we allow the things in our life that we’ve gone through — the trauma, the disappointments, the heartbreaks — to cause us to back up into the shadows and not be all that we can be,” she said.
Chisolm slowly began to live her truth by revealing her baldness, starting with family and eventually the public. The first time she ventured out with no wig, she remembers being paralyzed by fear when she saw a woman staring at her intensely. When the woman approached her, she complimented Chisolm’s shirt.
“What I realized that day is that people don’t care. They have their own problems. They have their own insecurities, imperfections, flaws,” she said.
In May 2019, Chisolm made a post on Facebook fully exposing her head and informing the world of her condition. She was shocked by the reactions she received, which were overwhelmingly encouraging. Chisolm calls this day her “baldiversary.”
“I had a shirt made that day, saying, ‘I have alopecia, but it doesn’t have me,’” she said.
PROUD LEGACY
Chisolm and her family relocated to Cape Canaveral, where she began to minister. She also became a teacher.
Heather Price, principal of Brevard Virtual School, knows Chisolm from her work as a career technical education teacher. Price notes that, professionally, Carol is soft spoken and a “team player.”
“There’s two parts to a person and you can have a difficult time or don’t naturally combine them,” she said. “I’ve always known she is a really good singer and a really good teacher, but I never thought about the two of them coinciding.”
While performing, Chisolm holds a powerful and commanding presence. She describes herself as confident and bold, but otherwise resonates most with her introversion. Through music, Carol expresses her courageousness with songs titled Warrior and Conqueror.
“It’s not just talent. Her poise and strength exude in her singing,” Price said.
Chisolm has also developed her careers as a musician, author, and speaker, receiving numerous accolades. This year, the Florida Gospel Music Awards named Chisolm its Female Artist of the Year and in December, she held her first solo concert: a Christmas themed performance, in Melbourne.
As for writing, Chisolm is a contributing author to two anthologies and was recognized with a Selah Award for her 2023 book Breaking the Shadows: How to Embrace Your True Self and Live in the Light of God’s Glory.
While Chisolm never expected this, it is how she carries on her father’s legacy: He authored five books and was the first African American to graduate from Oklahoma Baptist University in 1963. “He was a trailblazer and laid such a great foundation to follow,” she said. “I’m still trying to build his legacy and leave it for my children.”
Chisolm has two grown children, Kimmel and Kimmaya, and a granddaughter, Isabella. Above all else, Chisolm is most proud of them.
“If you don’t know your history, you don’t know who you are. I want them to have the foundation of family and the foundation of Christ,” she said. “There are no limitations on what you can do. You only limit yourself.”
At 61 years old, Chisolm doesn’t know what the future may hold, stating on her website, “This phase of my life is still under construction. Join me on the journey.” What she does know is that her journey is one of faith. “I just want to be a light in darkness and to give hope where there’s hopelessness,” she said.