We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Janay Tyson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Janay, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

One of the biggest life changing moments I experienced was moving to NYC right after graduating college with little money, no immediate family or resources and a post-grad internship to jumpstart my career. I graduated in May 2019 and remember moving back home and feeling like I was in a haze because I didn’t imagine this would be how I would start my post-grad journey. I would like to consider myself a planner (true Virgo) and extremely ambitious, but not having options after finishing school truly impacted me – especially my ego. However, I decided I wouldn’t wait for my opportunity to come, I would chase after it. I applied to hundreds of jobs, started reaching out to my network (old professors, internship directors, managers, etc.) and shared my situation with them. Next thing I knew, people were helping me out left and right – reminding me of the power of community. The risk paid off when an old manager shared an opportunity with me in NYC and although it wasn’t a full-time role, I knew this was the one. My hope was that I would move to NYC within 2 years of graduating and never did I ever expect I would move within 2 months. After interviewing and applying for the role, the director told me they wanted to hire me immediately and shortly thereafter, one of my mentors called me letting me know a friend of hers had an extra room in Brooklyn that I could stay in while I got on my feet. What started as no path forward, quickly turned into God ordaining my steps and aligning me with the resources, people and opportunities that would give me the start to my career that I had worked so hard for in undergrad.

Janay, 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?

Janay Tyson, also known as @justjanayyyyy across social media is an event curator, host, community connector and zillennial socialite based in Brooklyn, NY by way of the Carolinas. She is the founder of Curated Conversations, an initiative started to foster meaningful and intentional connections through networking and social events that support small, women and minority-owned businesses and brands across NY, the USA and beyond. She currently works in experiential marketing at an award-winning multi-cultural agency based in NYC, Team Epiphany, and has produced events for notable brands such as PUMA, Delta Airlines, Disney and more. In her personal career, she is passionate about connecting small businesses to large brands through her partnerships and sponsorships work.

Janay got into the advertising/experiential marketing industry through much networking, prayer and hosting+curating her own events and experiences. She wasn’t getting what she wanted from a prior job and decided she wouldn’t wait for them to give her anything, she was going to seek out the gigs she wanted herself until she ended up working in events full-time. Janay provides consulting from brand strategy and development, content creation such as UGC, paid promo and product reviews to professional development by making connections for brands/businesses through collaborations, referrals, and events. What sets Janay apart from others is her passion for people. She is adamant about the fact that she doesn’t just work with anyone and always makes sure to get to know her clients on a personal level before deciding if they will work together formally. She is also passionate about helping small, women and minority-owned businesses, so she utilizes her skill set, network and resources to provide exposure, knowledge and opportunities for clients. That has allowed her to focus on building up community-driven brands and making sure they are able to reach their KPIs and business goals effectively.

Janay is most proud of one of her recent collaborations with Dosso Beauty, a Black-owned hypoallergenic braiding hair and organic hair care brand curated for people who suffer with sensitive scalp and skin. During her work with the founder, Kadidja Dosso, Janay secured over 5 major sponsors ranging from haircare to mocktails and art for Kadidja’s storefront grand opening event. This was Janay’s first time working specifically with a brand to secure brand partnerships for them and the founder kept commenting on the fact that this service was so helpful for her by taking a major burden off her plate during the planning process. Janay enjoys helping others and recieves joy from sharing her knowledge with those who need it most – the underserved and underrepresented.

Janay wants future clients and brands to know that they will always get authenticity from her, clear and concise communication and a standard of excellence with any service or collaboration both parties agree upon. As a lover of people, she seeks to make genuine connections rooted in helping people in the areas they need most.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

My audience has grown a lot of the past year due to increased consistency, renewed perspective on networking and intentional approach to my content. I started creating content back in 2018 but didn’t take it seriously, so I’ve fallen off several times throughout the years. However, after getting serious about event curation in the last year, I made it a point to post more often, asking friends and peers to engage with my content to increase exposure, being intentional about the brands, opportunities and creatives I connect with and making sure to put myself out there.

For those starting out, I would encourage them to overthink the content LESS and post MORE. I spent too much time trying to determine my “niche,” keep up an aesthetic and comparing myself to others. As I started posted more freely, I received higher engagement rates, follower counts and brand collaboration opportunities. Stay true to you and do what feels natural, it will show through in your content.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Yes, CapCut and IG/Tik Tok templates are my BFF. Instead of overthinking the content, use tools that all you have to do is import the content and let the apps do the rest!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @justjanayyyyy
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janay-tyson/
• Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/12148769858?si=Tm7CKlH2R_aQK5fkLw9Pbw
  Tik Tok: Same as IG @justjanayyyyy

Image Credits

@felixnataljr @b.nia @eshamajp