We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tarreyn Van Slyke. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tarreyn below.

Alright, Tarreyn thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

As a social media strategist and consultant, I work with a wide variety of individuals and businesses, and I try to have an extremely bespoke, personal, and custom process with each client. Many colleagues in my field like to focus on data-driven strategy in their work: what are the numbers looking like, implementing one-size-fits-all platform best practices, and giving guidance based on competitor analysis. While there is value in that approach, I like to think of myself as more of a coach – finding out what actual style and type of strategy will work on a case by case basis, and figuring out what my clients will be continually excited about. I treat my strategies with a holistic, marathon-not-a-sprint approach that they can consistently produce even after our work together ends. I am cautious to never promise virality, and instead of trends focus on authenticity and creativity.

Tarreyn, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Growing up before the innovation of smartphones, I was always that kid carrying around a film camera, documenting and sharing everything. I even made my own yearbooks in high school. So, as social media began to exist, having a digital space to record my life and connect with others was the most exciting thing in the world to me. I became a blogger in the early days of tumblr and blogspot, and voraciously adopted every new platform that came out, educating myself as much as possible in the emerging technologies. It was a really natural and thrilling progression for me. I found myself getting freelance work helping people with their social media before it was even really a career, and landed at Nickelodeon as one of their first embedded social producers in 2015. That world – entertainment – is where I really cut my teeth, growing in my career as the field of social grew too. I love working in social media because it’s always evolving and there’s endless variety and inspiration. I always say to clients that people who “don’t like” social media just haven’t figured out what works for them yet. My greatest professional passions are connecting with people and finding the intersection of creativity and commerce, and those are both what working in social provides!

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My greatest motivation in both my work and my personal life is finding the joy and creativity in the every day. I like to think of my life as an art project, with no detail too small to curate and beautify. Creativity can be found in every corner of your life, whether its how you parent, how you make an omelette, how you get dressed in the morning, and, yes – how you create content online. My goal is to help others find creative joy in their lives from a micro to macro level, and to be reminded that you don’t have to be a capital A ARTIST to embrace creative living and imaginative storytelling.

How did you build your audience on social media?

AUTHENTICITY. Period. No two people on earth are the same, so no two social presences should feel the same either. Even if you’re talking about the same subject matter as someone else, your lens on it could be completely different. If something inspires or interests you, odds are it does for another person out there as well. I am grateful that the direction of social media seems to be moving away from the ultra curated, pinterest-y aesthetic of the 2010s, and into a more approachable, lo-fi and genuine trajectory. If you are genuine and make content for yourself first, the audience will follow.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tarreyn.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tarreyn/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tarreyn/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@tarreyn

Image Credits
Main headshot (purple background with striped shirt): Stephanie Nelson Photography All other images are self portraits