Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tenaiya King. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Tenaiya, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

I am happy as a business owner, but I also currently have a job that isn’t so ‘regular’. Working both for my business Tenaiya Imani LLC doing Social Media & Website Strategic Development (primarily), with the addition of Affiliate Brand Partnerships (with Glossier, Amazon, Adobe & Rakuten), and being a published author of The Metamorphosis of Me (available on Amazon). As I am developing other books as well, I am currently developing an education software, solutions for the homeless, and real estate opportunities.

In the corporate world, I work as an Administrative Support Specialist & Social Media Coordinator for Premier Enterprise Solutions currently for almost 3 years now. This IT government & business contracting company has connected me with opportunities that have contributed to the development of my business, including conferences, project work, and networking. I actually met my most recent client at one of those conferences, the HBCU Digital Literacy Summit. This event was presented by the Department of the Air Force, hosted by The Air Force
Institute of Technology (AFIT), partnering with Central State University (CSU), where I was a panelist on the Junior Workforce Panel for being one of the young people involved in the Air Force workspace. During the panel, I mentioned my business, where afterwards I was approached by my next client, not even knowing it in the moment. One thing I really love about working for myself and another company is that in my situation, everyone I come in contact with in the corporate space is supportive of my personal business. I’ve met countless business executives, business owners, Founders, CEOs, CTOs, and Presidents, that have given me insight and advice for my own business and the workplace that are priceless. So for me, it’s been great having both a ‘regular job’ and freelance job, because both businesses get support from one another.

Tenaiya, 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?

My name is Tenaiya Imani King. I am 22 years old, and January 26 Aquarius, currently based in Greensboro, NC. I’m originally from Columbus, GA, but moved around a lot bouncing between there and Atlanta before moving from Columbus to Rocky Mount, NC for a majority of my development.

My business is Tenaiya Imani LLC, where I do Social Media & Website Strategic Development (primarily), with the addition of Affiliate Brand Partnerships (with Glossier, Amazon, Adobe & Rakuten), and being a published author of The Metamorphosis of Me (available on Amazon). As I am developing other books as well, I am currently developing an education software, solutions for the homeless, and real estate opportunities.

I got into the media industry back in 2015 when I was first beginning to post more outfits on Instagram where they began getting a lot of attention. This contributed to my follower growth on Instagram (where I now currently have 11.2k followers) and got me into the early version of the ‘influencer industry’. I began getting attention from smaller brands initially, being sent free clothes and accessories to promote for a commission or as an exchange for picking my free items. After this continued, I began doing “shoutouts for shoutouts” where either another individual would post your picture and caption in exchange for theirs or a group of individuals would include all their @ names on the platform in one caption for people to follow and we all post this image together. This rapidly sped up my following, and was doing this to try and promote for a brand that required at least 20k followers. I got to a point where I gave up “shoutouts for shoutouts” and wanted my following to be organic, halting my follower climb to a mid-10k range. When I post outfits I usually tag the brands, which has also gotten me some interests from brands including Crocs, Fashion Nova & Shein.

This was my entry way into the media industry. I then began in 2017 posting on YouTube, where my first video was ‘How I lost 35 lbs + WEIGHT LOSS TIPS’ in 2017 and my most popular video is my ‘Nike Air Force 1 Shadow: UNBOXING + ON FEET REVIEW’ at 70,000 views. My topics include fashion, beauty/makeup, health & wellness, media, finances, self development and anything else along those lines. I took a break from YouTube due to being in school at North Carolina A&T 2018-2021 and needing to focus on grades, any job/internship, organizations I was involved in, and my business. Although, I am happy to say I am excited to continue the journey on YouTube soon.

Me being on social media from the beginning peaked my interest in Social Media Strategy, seeing that everything had a strategy whether we knew or not. An example of this is algorithms on social media, or modifying your language to fit your target audience. This was interesting to me, so in college, I switched from English (Creative Writing concentration) to Journalism & Mass Communications (Multimedia concentration) to get as close to being able to learn about media equipment & the media itself as possible. I began doing Social Media & Website Strategic Development for clients early in my college career and worked with any internship opportunity or organization opportunity that would support my ventures indirectly or directly. My favorite organization was the Aggie Student Entrepreneurship Club, where I was the Marketing Leadership managing all social media and marketing tactics.

My book The Metamorphosis of Me was a compilation of poems written at different times that explained part of the development of who I am. I have been a writer since early elementary school, becoming more serious and entering spoken word competitions in middle and high school. I felt the need to share my story, hoping that my raw thoughts being conveyed in poetry could help someone else get to their breakthrough. As this book was a compilation of my experiences from adolescence to 18 years old, I will be continuing the story in the Second Series of “The Metamorphosis of Me”. I am excited to continue that as well as writing themed poetry books.

I’ve had some business ventures that I have either put on hold or retired as of now, including being a certified Lash Extension Technician & freelance writing/editing articles for individuals. I try to try everything I’m truly interested in so I can know what really works for me and the business management of those various hustles.

If I had to leave my followers, fans, clients, network, or family a message, I would first say thank you for contributing to my growth and development as a business woman. I am a very detail-oriented multifaceted talent that excels at everything done, and I am an asset to anyone I partner or interact with. I want to strategically do what’s best for the people, however I see fit. I want to see a better world; someone has to do something, and that someone is going to be me. To the people who say ‘Focus on one business’ I can’t just work on one business at a time — how else would I have multiple streams of income? I have to get this generational wealth somehow — this is the way.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn is the thought that “I can do everything by myself.” The backstory to this is that I’m a very independent person that likes to be self-sufficient. From the beginning, I had been open to help from others, but the way I saw it was that I wanted credit for my work and wanted to figure things out on my own. I would ask for advice, but indirectly or not in full detail, just enough to get some insight. I soon came to learn that directly asking transparently relieves unnecessary confusion and frustration. You need people to bounce ideas off of and get opinions from. Whether that being from a family member, friend, mentor, teacher, author, random person in public or YouTube content creator. We need people that have knowledge in other areas to support and develop our own thought processes & executions. The more I have come to realize this, the stronger I have become in the ability to assist others, because I have accepted assistance myself. Doing this gives me the ability to see better perspectives of the assister and the one being assisted.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I think what help me build my reputation within my market is my networking skills, my presentation of interest and my execution of work ethic.

I network everywhere I go — and I mean everywhere. Whether it’s a conference or the airport, I always try to spark conversation with a general question, compliment, or introduction if I know of the person. It’s important to build your network because that’s where the real intellectual capital lies. A piece of advice from me is, “One person can have the one thing you really need to hear. Don’t let social anxiety or pride make you miss it.”

My presentation of interest ties Into the way that I net work with people. And make sure that I get some background information on the person and highlight qualities that are prevalent to me. I try to find ways that I can benefit, support, or uplift another person, solely for the betterment of the people. I’m genuinely interested in a better society.

My execution of work ethic speaks for itself. I am a very detail oriented, diligent & creative multitasker in Multimedia, Communications & Information Technology. Due to this, I am able to thrive in any environment. When combining great work ethic with teamwork, it showcases to the people working around me and prospective clients how a concept or project can develop efficiently with my dedication.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/tenaiya.imani
• Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/tenaiyaking
• Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TenaiyaImani
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/c/TenaiyaImani

Image Credits
Photo Credits: Tenaiya Imani King, bdpatoday