01-04-2025
Trinitee Stokes: From Disney star to multi-hyphenate powerhouse at 18
Trinitee Stokes, an 18-year-old actress, author and singer-songwriter, is reshaping what it means to be a multi-hyphenate creative — and doing it all before most people finish undergrad.
Why it matters: In a culture that rewards specialization, Stokes is building a career defined by range. Most people are expected to pick a lane; she's choosing the whole highway.
"I'm a supernova," she told Axios. "I can't breathe to do anything else... I leak creativity. It's how I communicate, empower, and share."
Now, she's expanding her creative reach — turning her focus to music, authorship and public speaking as tools for storytelling and impact.
The former Disney star's country debut single, " Write You Off," is set to be released on Tuesday.
Catch up quick: Stokes broke through as a child star on Disney Channel's "K.C. Undercover" and voiced a beloved character on "Doc McStuffins."
Since then, she's published her first book, graduated from Emerson College at 18 and interned at the U.S. State Department.
State of play: The singer, actress, public speaker and published author was the youngest student ever accepted by Emerson and completed her political communication degree in 2.5 years.
Zoom out: While some might see singing and songwriting as a new path, Stokes says it has been a constant state of expression.
"I was singing and songwriting before I ever got on TV," she told Axios. "Now it's just back in rotation."
She primarily sings country — her first radio love thanks to her dad — but writes across genres, drawing from her complete creative vocabulary.
Zoom in: She's also held roles on "Mixed-ish," "Dear White People," "Snowfall" and more — a résumé that rivals veterans in the industry.
Between the lines: Stokes doesn't separate her creativity from her intellect or ambition.
She's a disciplined goal-setter who wakes up early, splits her days between creativity and administrative tasks and builds vision boards as big as her ideas.
"I love completing things," she says. "I get a thrill from it."
Stokes is also a global speaker and youth advocate, often uplifting young women and encouraging them to see individuality as a gift.
"Pray as though everything depended on God," she says. "Work as though everything depended on you."
And she's deeply self-aware about the pace she keeps.
"Sometimes people think I don't have direction because I'm doing so much. But I know exactly what I'm doing — I'm doing everything."
Context: Stokes was born in Jackson, Mississippi, into a family rooted in education — her mom holds a PhD, and her dad is a professor.
She graduated high school at 14, almost by accident: years of taking advanced classes added up faster than anyone expected.
During the pandemic, she leveraged remote learning to pursue her college degree without pausing her career, flying back and forth between LA and Boston.
She graduated from Emerson on Mother's Day 2024 — and went straight back to work.
"I thought life would be more carefree after college," she says. "It's actually more intense — but I have more space to create."
What we're watching: Her new book — the follow-up to "Bold and Blessed: How to Stay True to Yourself and Stand Out from the Crowd" — is in the works.
Stokes is teaching herself guitar ("It's going… it's going") and still writes songs from voice memos and instinct.
She points to Issa Rae and Quinta Brunson as models for how to stay true to a creative path while lifting others along the way.
"I know exactly where I'm going. I'm doing everything — and I'm doing it on purpose," Stokes says.
The bottom line: Stokes isn't just a former child star. She's a blueprint in motion — a young woman building the future by refusing to pick just one path.
