A native of Dallas, Texas, Terri started writing, and developed a love of music, at a very young age. With music and lyrics being her life a move to Nashville as a young adult made sense. Following her career in Nashville at Opryland and entertaining for US Troops in Central America for a season, at 26, Terri married NHRA Drag Racing Pioneer Harry Schmidt; a Hall-Of-Famer of the famous Blue Max Funny Car.

After 21 years of marriage on April 30th of 2012, Terri, and her daughter’s lives would be forever changed when Harry lost his 4-year battle to cancer. In search of rediscovering her identity outside of being Harry’s wife, Terri rekindled her passion for writing and tells her journey of faith and loss in "When Drag Racing Met Country Music".