Today we’d like to introduce you to Tiana Benjamin.
Hi Tiana, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Tiana Benjamin; I’m 27, and I’ve lived in Orlando for almost 3 years!
I want to start by saying how thrilled and grateful I am to be asked to share my story.
Living in Florida has been a really beautiful & transitional time in my life. I’m definitely fortunate & grateful for the support & guidance of my family since moving here in 2020.
I learned a lot about the power of gratitude at a young age after the loss of my dad.
I learned a lot about who I was, what I was passionate about & what I wanted to get out of life. I cultivated routines that unkept my mental & physical well-being. I prioritized my relationship with God as well as my time alone to get to know each new version of myself that I grew into every year. I only worked jobs that I enjoyed spending time at. I built friendships with some of the most wholesome, incredible, inspiring humans a girl could ever ask for & I created so many special memories.
Somewhere along the way, I just started capturing things I thought were beautiful on camera. I started capturing views, my beautiful friends & family, events, food, places, songs, etc. It brought me so much joy to not only share my point of view but to also be able to have something tangible to look back on & relive some of my favorite memories.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Creating content has always been the easy part for me but as a creative who still works full time to support herself, the struggles I faced were trying to find balance between the two.
I never wanted the incentives jobs offered to make me forget about my passions, dreams & desires. I think we can all agree that time is the most priceless thing in the world & you can never get it back. For me, my struggles came from prioritizing time for my craft, adjusting to new norms, and fluctuating incomes & responsibilities.
For anyone struggling with this just remember to keep showing up for yourself & believe in yourself more than anyone else. Know that anything that you consistently water will eventually grow. Even if you don’t have time to put all of your attention into what you’re passionate about, as long as you are consistently trying, success is always a possibility. Always remind yourself that you are capable & remember no decision will pay off more than pursuing & prioritizing the life you desire.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I started creating content professionally after I landed my first job working on a social media team in 2015 for Urban Outfitters! I started off as a sales associate & about 4 months later, I was asked to come on as their “Vibe specialist.”
The vibe specialist was in more professional terms the Director of creative services. I became a member of the social media team & got to sit in on conference calls from the home office, organized promotional events for the store as well as quarterly events for the staff to spend time together outside of work. My favorite part was that I got weekly opportunities to sign out clothes/ accessories & shoot content for the Instagram pages.
Outside of my work, I’m most known for my positive spirit & exceptional people skills. I’m very charismatic & I love engaging with others. I like to leave long-lasting impressions on people I interact with. I believe that the things that can’t be taught or bought but come to you naturally are always what’s going to make you stand out in this world, and for me, it’s my aura, my voice, my love for people, and my creativity.
This made me a great candidate for the role, and I absolutely loved it.
My time as a Vibe specialist for Urban Outfitters is when I really fell in love with what I do now as a social media consultant & content creator for brands and corporations today.
What are your plans for the future?
My plans for the future are pretty big. I don’t believe in putting a cap on what can be accomplished in this lifetime.
I plan to continue to put myself out there in the beauty/ lifestyle industry & work with some of my dream brands. Next, I plan to use my experience & charisma to establish myself in the entertainment industry. In the next 10 years, I can definitely see myself as a creative director or hosting my own tv show. Or both!
I’m looking forward to it all! I really just want to inspire people & leave a legacy behind that I’m proud of.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tiana.benjx/
Image Credits
Sammy Escudero
