We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tiffany Tynes-Gonzales a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Tiffany, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?
I am blessed to be able to earn a full-time living as a content creator and business owner of 3 different businesses. Starting my journey is honestly really simple. I got tired of working for others and building their empires and wanted to put 100% focus into my content and my own brands. It takes a lot of consistency, hustle, hard work, and passion to take the leap of not working for others and starting your own business and it is not easy. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it, right? My content and my businesses have been featured on multiple platforms and shared with millions of people and that is an awesome step and milestone in the success of my career as a full time Girl Boss. The only part of the process I wish was sped up, is the business trademarking process. Had I done it sooner, I think that would have made starting my businesses that much better.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Here’s my story on how I went from a social media sensation with over 116 MILLION views to owning 3 businesses and working as a full time content creator. In 2007, I moved to Los Angeles, CA with $350 for rent to live in a friend’s living room.
I have always been an actor/performer first so while I was planning my hustle in Hollywood, I was able to get a job at Universal Studios Hollywood performing in multiple shows while simultaneously working on the side doing television/film background acting work to pay the bills.
Over the years, I would go on to land dream come true opportunities including dancing for Beyoncé, working with Will Smith, Joaquin Phoenix, co-starring alongside Daniel Tosh in Comedy Central’s Tosh.0, among other projects which would lead me to say goodbye to Universal Studios Hollywood and background acting. In 2014, something happened that really changed my life.
I literally became an overnight social media sensation. YouTuber, Bart Baker, asked me to portray Nicki Minaj in his “Anaconda” music video Parody and I accepted the offer. Once the parody was released, I woke up to so many phone calls and messages that I was trending on Twitter, World Star Hip Hop, and all over Youtube and Instagram. From there, I began making my own content as well as took the leap into other avenues that I have always loved such as fitness, fashion and beauty professionally.
That is when I decided to start my production company Another Funny One Productions™ , my fitness brand Fierce Fit Club By Tiffany™, and my online boutique, The Shoptique™. All of my businesses are an absolute passion of mine and I’ve been blessed to see them work hand in hand even being in totally different industries.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
My goal driving my creative journey is very simple. It is to inspire and motivate my audience. I want my audience to know that if they are having a challenging day, they know they have a safe space to come and be entertained and even learn something from all of my platforms.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect of being a creator is getting messages and comments from my followers/fans letting me know that my content saved their life, cheered them up from a bad day, or inspired them to start a journey they have always wanted to start. Making an earning is great, but touching the hearts of thousands upon thousands of different people all over the world is truly priceless.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fiercefitclubbytiffany.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/miss_tiffyt
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/misstiffanytynes
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/misstiffanytynes
- Other: The Shoptique™ Online Store // www.theshoptique.com Amazon Storefront // www.amazon.com/shop/misstiffanytynes Fierce Fit Club By Tiffany™ Instagram // www.instagram.com/fiercefitclubbytiffany The Shoptique™ Instagram // www.instagram.com/theshoptiqueofficial
Image Credits
Alex Gonzales www.instagram.com/dj.agonz Brittany Foster www.instagram.com/brittbee21