[4] Smith also directed several acclaimed television pilots, including Hanna, Looking for Alaska, and Lessons in Chemistry.

[5] She won the Directors Guild of America award for Movies for Television and Limited Series for her Lessons in Chemistry episode "Her & Him".

She graduated from Poudre High School in 2001, and studied philosophy at Columbia University in New York.

[9][10] Her sophomore feature, Buster's Mal Heart,[11] premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, and stars Rami Malek, DJ Qualls, and Kate Lyn Sheil.

[18][19] In 2024, she won the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Limited Series for directing "Her and Him" from Lessons in Chemistry.