We were lucky to catch up with Taryn Archambault-DeRoche recently and have shared our conversation below.

Taryn, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

If I could go back in time and start my creative career sooner, I definitely would in a heartbeat. I started taking creative photos with my husband in 2019 and loved learning how to style and pose the outfits and accessories I already owned. I was a huge fan of Disney and had just moved down from Massachusetts to start a new adventure of sorts. I started noticing that my close friends in the Disney community were working with small shops to promote their products. I of course wanted in on the magic too and so I started reaching out on my own. I had the opportunity to work with a few different shops that sold different items such as t-shirts, hats, bags, etc. and I had so much fun coming up with fun ways to creatively showcase their products to my growing audience.

After working primarily with small shops, I started organically hearing from other larger companies such as Vera Bradley, Fun.com. and Otter Box. I started researching ways to grow as a creator and began pitching emails to other brands as well in hopes of one day having the opportunity to work with them as well. I took it as building my “creative portfolio”. I developed a media kit that I would send out and I feel like the rest is history.

It has been almost 4 years since I began this whole content creator journey, and I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to work with brands such as Disney Parks, Teleties, Corkcicle, Coola and more. I oftentimes wish I had started it a few years earlier, but I also am just so content with how much I’ve grown these 4 years and continue to grow each day. I am always learning something new from my friends and through researching. I feel like my biggest advice for someone wanting to start is “just go for it”. Don’t wait around to get the best camera, or new clothes, work with what you have. Get used to talking on your stories and get as comfortable as you can being in front of the camera lens. Don’t compare yourself to others, but instead use that to motivate you to be the best version of yourself.

Looking back the one thing I would change is the education and research side of it. I felt like I went off of a lot of what my local peers said rather than looking into what larger bloggers and creators were doing in other states. I find myself turning to Tik Tok a lot more now in terms of content coaching and sharing of ideas. I feel like in the past 2 years the content creators have really bloomed around the country and its really fun and exciting to see what everyone is creating. I just always have to remind myself that the people that follow me follow me for who I am and what I bring to the table and when you start believing in yourself and your content you will do nothing but succeed.

I was a teacher for 11 years and just recently retired to pursue a new career path. I am now able to fully be creative and am excited to see where life takes me. If you feel like you’re stuck in the occupation or field, you chose in college don’t be! Let me be an example of someone that chose to take the leap and has been successfully working with brands as a second income for over 2 years now. Never stop dreaming or believing and you can do it too!

Taryn, 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?

Hey there! My name is Taryn and I was born and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts. I have been an athlete my whole life and competed in gymnastics all the way up to college. I have my bachelor’s degree in sociology and my masters in elementary education. I grew up going to Disney yearly as a child. I have so many fond memories there, so I decided in 2016 to pick up my life and start a new adventure in Centra Florida.

I have always been a creative person but fell in love with photography and content creation as soon as social media became a thing honestly. I was always recoding my myspace, taking pictures whenever I could, and loved adding things to Tumblr and Pinterest. I recently began video work and completely love creating memories that I can treasure forever. I’ve been creating content for not only myself but for major brands such as Disney, Corksicle, Teleties, Love Your Melon, and more. I am always looking new ways to grow and learn in this new business.

My page is Florida lifestyle mixed with my love for all things Disney. I provide everything from outfit inspiration to daily vlogs. I love giving my followers insight as to what it is truly like moving from one place (Boston for me) to Florida.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

One of the most rewarding aspects of being a content creator is the ability to share my love of creativity with the world. Every campaign and shoot I create a completely unique look for myself or for the brand being represented. I love coming up with fun looks, picking out unique locations and changing up the photo styles with my husband. One of the things I am most thankful for is the fact that my husband and I work as a team.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I built my audience by finding pages that were inspiring to me. I would look at how they spoke to their audiences and based my page and the way I wanted to create content off of those that inspired me. Rather than copying the direct content you draw inspiration from several places and then add in the one unique piece…. YOU. It took me a while to understand that my audience and following is there because they like me. If you are just starting out, be supportive of others, and really let your personality shine through because at the end of the day people are coming to your page because they like you and what you bring to the table that is different than what others are doing.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.dreamalongwithtaryn.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/dreamalongwithtaryn
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/tarynalyssa214
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/tarch214
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-wRWNp1gi9cZQIEDXuBCGQ
• Other: pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/dreamalongwithtaryn/_created/ tik tok: www.tiktok.com/dreamalongwithtaryn

Image Credits
@mackeemousemedia on instagram