We were lucky to catch up with Tiyonna Griffin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tiyonna, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Success to me means making goals and achieving them. Everybody has a different definition of the word success but to me it means believing in yourself, watching yourself grow, taking risk and accepting different opportunities. Being successful means you’re living the life that you’ve always wanted to live. I am still learning a lot about myself and life but right now I am feeling confident in this stage of life. So far I’ve found my passion and I’m pursuing it, I’m finding things that make me peaceful and happy, I’m learning more about my city and the world, I’m grateful and… successful!

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?

I’ve always been creative or even eccentric, I knew I would step into a creative path but I didn’t know exactly what career. Makeup and beauty has always been apart of my childhood from playing and dressing up my dolls, to playing dress up with myself. As I got older it became more clear that, that was what I wanted to pursue. Now I wear makeup, apply it on others and teach them about it. I am a makeup artist, my brand is Dolled by Amauri and I am also a beauty advisor at Sephora so I get to to learn and teach others about makeup and skincare. I create videos showing how to apply it, what products work best for what skin types and facial features and other beauty tips as well. When I’m not working on my videos or at Sephora I have a makeup service for anyone looking to get their makeup professionally done. My brand is Dolled by Amauri, I offer soft glams, full glams, tab eyelash extensions, eyebrow shaping and mini facials. I am proud of how far I’ve come. It’s very easy to quit and lose hope but if you keep going when it gets difficult you’ll get to find what you wanted on the other side, to me that’s being successful. I hope anyone I get to know learns something or leaves feeling more confident and joyful, that’s the most important thing to me and that’s what sets me apart.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Being an artistic creator allows me to look at life in a different perspective. I see things others normally don’t see and I have my own unique story. I get to meet different people and they get to share their own unique experiences because of that connection. I’m always open to learning or finding new ways to do things. It’s a constant learning experience when you’re creative and that’s the best part, I am always changing or doing something new.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I tend to go with the flow sometimes and that’s the one thing a lot of people don’t resonate with. It’s harder for me to create a schedule because I might feel differently tomorrow. I go with how I feel in the moment. Of course it’s times where I have to be serious about my future but on a daily basis I get new ideas from how I feel in the moment, thinking too hard about being creative is impossible to me, it’s an in the moment thing. What I’m saying is, sometimes it’s okay to calm down, breathe and feel life right now instead of thinking too far ahead or back.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dolledbyamauri.square.site/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yonnaamauri/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@yonnaamauri