In 2015, Smith made her directorial debut with the short film "Boxed in", which premiered during the 19th Annual American Black Film Festival. In 2017, Smith directed the television film "When Love Kills: The Falicia Blakely Story", starring Lil Mama and Lance Gross and it is based on a true story. It premiered to 1.6 million viewers, ranking as TV One's #1 original movie premiere of all time among all key demos. In October 2017, she also directed an episode in the BET drama anthology series "Tales". Smith worked as Mary J. Blige's acting coach for her role in "Mudbound".