We were lucky to catch up with Tealjoy Grove recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Tealjoy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Going back to the beginning – how did you come up with the idea in the first place?

Classic Strange Productions and Publishing Company began when I was a freshman in high school. I was always an outcast because my mother wanted well-rounded children, and her kids hated sports.

So we took creative writing classes, ballet, hip-hop dance, painting classes, plays, choir, musicals—everything art. I watched Turner Classic Movies with my mom and old shows like Perry Mason and Andy Griffith, and I read really old mystery books and encyclopedias.

So I was the weird kid.

After a while, I decided to make the weirdness my own. I wrote fanfiction and short stories, and from that, I started just staying up late designing logos and coming up with taglines. And I started shooting more on a little point-and-shoot camera, building out the company.

Classic – because of my love of old shows and old movies

Strange—because being a Black kid in the Midwest who liked anime and old shows was weird.

And, of course, Productions, because I love so many different avenues of creativity, especially since I knew I didn’t want to stop at books and drawing.

I wanted to create a space where everyone, no matter who they are, felt included and seen. It’s meant to have People of Color at the forefront, but it’s also meant to be inclusive to all—all ages, races, and different walks of life.

Now I’m looking to hit the ground running and film short films with soon-to-be ad space in New York and LA, with my publishing house going live by July 2024. The goal is to be fully up and running in a lot of studio space within the next three years.

Because it’s no longer about chasing dreams—it’s about making plans.

Tealjoy, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I like to say I’m grounded in reality but also work in a dimension of fantasy. I’m often on photography gigs or have my camera at the ready, making concepts or finding the beauty/humor in the mundane. Art has helped me through some tough times, from my mom losing her job after 9/11 to us starting over with nothing but Goodwill clothes in the roughest neighborhood in downtown St. Louis.

You have to find the good even in the harder times and because of this it can be hard to separate from my art because it helped feed my aould when it needed it.

After a while I decided to make the weirdness my own. I wrote fanfiction and short stories and from that I started just staying up late designing logos and and coming up with Taglines. And started shooting more on a little point and shoot camera building out the company.

Classic – because of my love of old shows and old movies

Strange – because being a black kid in the Midwest who liked anime and old shows was weird

And of course Productions because I love so many different avenues of creativity especially I knew I didn’t want to stop at books and drawing.

I wanted to create a space where everyone no matter who they are felt included and seen. It’s meant to have People of color at the forefront, but it’s meant to be inclusive to all. All ages, race, and different walks of life.

Now I’m looking to hit the ground running and filming short films with soon to be ad space in New York and LA with my publishing house going live by July 2024 with the goal to be fully up and running in a lot studio space with in the next three years.

Because it’s no longer about chasing dreams, it’s about making plans.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I’m honest. I know that is a very basic answer, but in the world of social media, I do believe it carries more weight than you think.

I feel people sometimes forget that social media, in its present state, isn’t  real. They forget what it was originally created for, which was connecting with friends and loved ones and staying bonded through common interests.

People try so hard to be things they are not for fame, money, or just trying to get by, and it’s exhausting playing someone other than yourself. I’ve done that, and I quite frankly don’t want to ever do it again. What you see is what you get with me, but you’ll know it’s loving, motivating, supportive, and honest because why be anyone else but yourself?

People respect that and take comfort in it, and they feel they can show up as they are with me, which I love being for people. I feel it brings the best out of them and really shows in their work/projects with me.

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

I touched on it a little bit in describing what the company is about, but I want to say that outside of being an outcast of sorts, I think that even with my family’s hardships, I had a normal suburban childhood. It’s frustrating to see a lot of African-American movies that are stereotypical or hardly show any representation at all. Yes, my family had hard times when I was a child, but I would have loved to see more African-American women and men in positive roles that don’t involve drugs, gangs, assault, or some other nonsense. Black kids wish they could be Harry Potter or Superman too; it gets disheartening not to see yourself in your heroes.

I want African-American children to feel that they can be more than they are. That they can be more than a statistic or, worse, a body on the news.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @t.e.a.l.j.o.y.m and @classicstrangeproductions

Image Credits
Tealjoy Grove (it’s me!)