Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Lymangrover and Maritza Sinavage.
Hi Melissa and Maritza, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Melissa Lymangrover: As a mother and daughter team we have always loved to serve the public, entertain, spread joy, make others laugh, foster humanity, and encourage all communities to help and be there for each other because we all have a special power within to contribute in any way possible. It is true that not everyone shares the same values but by helping others, learning lessons, and knowing that at the end of the day we are all humans that make mistakes, is what matters. Furthermore we should know that making mistakes is not what defines us nor means is the end of the world. We should all look forward to a brighter future and help others along the way. When you have a natural calling to help you have a purpose! We are both entertainers and advocates. My daughter Tara (Maritza Sinavage) is a Girl Scouts alumnae, a content creator, and a clarinetist. While she was a Girl Scout she acquired a respect for authority. She participated in events honoring those who serve in law enforcement and those who have served in the military. A few years ago she was featured in a news story where her Girl Scouts troop created a community garden in honor of Rosie the Riveter! When we first moved to Central Florida, we payed a visit to Sheriff Mina, where Tara personally gave him a letter thanking him for everything that he does for his community. She was able also to bring some treats for the staff and the deputies at the Orange County Sheriff’s Office! Not long after that during a 911 Remembrance at Avalon Park she handed out roses to first responders. We have participated in many community events and organizations all around the state of Florida whenever we have been able to. We eventually decided that fostering and encouraging others to do the same would be something that we could do through YouTube! Our channel That’s Just Tara has a little bit of everything that we love doing. If you want to find something in specific all you have to do is go to our playlist tab and you will most likely find it! Tara, who currently is also certified in First Aid, CPR, and AED thought it was a good idea to post her second certification journey on the channel in order to encourage parents, grandparents, or guardians to do the same for their children! It’s never too early to learn how to help save a life. You will even find videos of everything else that I have been talking about in this interview in our channel. But it doesn’t stop there; in it I love talking about the surrogacy process since I am an experienced surrogate and currently a surrogacy recruiting manager! Aside from that, I also react on cases that have gone viral. Additionally, I enjoy making videos for personal development and mental health betterment. Tara makes videos on her music journey, makeup tutorials, unboxing, shopping hauls, and many others! We both host videos showcasing different communities and the beauty of what life is in the form of vlogs! But one thing that we consider the most important of all is that we use our You Tube channel That’s Just Tara to show to the world how the love for humanity and kindness has not been lost in the world. We are naturally drawn to exhibit organizations and charities that promote local economy growth and lending a hand to those in need. For example just last year we attended one of the events for the charity Little Smiles, where we met Vanilla Ice, a great advocate of this charity. As soon as we found out about this event we thought it would be amazing to showcase their work and also the support that he has done for them over the years. Just last month we attended a Thanksgiving Dinner hosted by Kissimmee Main Street and the restaurant 3 SistersSpeakEasy. We were simple guests. While we were there we realized it was not just a community gathering. The restaurant was serving plates to people from all walks of life: families, those that were alone and those that were in need such as the homeless. I became flabbergasted and my heart wanted to explode from joy! But my nature was calling me and I asked to see if I could speak with the organizer of the event Diana. The conversation ended up being an authentic and beautiful interview that we published in our channel immediately after! So besides our lifestyle or case reaction videos that we do to entertain, this is the most important part of our channel because we want to convey a message of love, kindness, and humanity. By the way we launched not long ago our channel merch! When you contribute by buying one of our products or donating to our That’s Just Tara Ko-Fi page, you support the channel and help us to continue showcasing amazing communities and organizations! Maritza Sinavage (Tara): My name is Maritza Sinavage, and growing up I have been a good and respectful person my entire life even though I have some imperfections. I am a musician, a former Girl Scout, and I am CPR certified. My philosophy is that if you are determined and if you believe in yourself, you will already be halfway there. I was a Girl Scout for 5 years and being one taught me how to be open-minded, and develop confidence and teamwork skills. In the 3rd grade I paid respect to the Orange County Sheriffs Office by giving them letters and thanking them for their service. In 6th grade is when I finally decided to join band. At first, I chose band as an elective just to try it out, but then I started to really enjoy it. Joining band has improved my teamwork, creativity skills, and it has given me a lot of friends. I have performed at my school, and other schools as well. I am also a content creator for the channel Thats just Tara, and recently co-hosted a video in our channel about 3sistersspeak Thanksgiving Dinner, which was a lot of fun! I have also made donations to the Ronald McDonald foundation because it means a lot to me.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Melissa Lymangrover: It has not always been easy. Life comes with opportunities! By that I mean that it is natural to face roadblocks. Not everything good happens overnight. Everything that you want to commit to or everything that you want to achieve takes hard work, trials and errors. I think that the key to everything is patience and knowing that you can’t always get what you want, but you should be grateful with what you already have! To be the public servers that we are is easy. To grow a personal brand in social media is not so easy, especially YouTube. Our journey as content creators is ongoing and we are enjoying every step of the way because the journey is what matters! Maritza Sinavage (Tara): It wasn’t always been a smooth road. Sometimes, I make mistakes and sometimes not everything is easy to do. And sometimes, I don’t get the best grades, but in the end you shouldn’t give up!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Melissa Lymangrover: So I currently am a Surrogacy Recruiting Manager and an experienced surrogate myself! You can find my past surrogacy journey vlogs on our channel That’s Just Tara. I am also a content creator, an advocate of many causes, and a future author! I carefully review surrogate applications and help through the thorough process of intake before the potential surrogate gets matched with intended parents. Surrogacy holds a special place in my heart. There is something wonderful about seeing individuals who are unable to carry their own biological child finally have their dream of being a parent become true! I’m going to say… I’m pretty known for my surrogacy process and case reaction videos. I’m very upfront and don’t sell any false dreams. I say things the way they are while I reiterate that there is hope and not a reason to give up. I’m mostly proud of the work that I have done raising Tara as a single parent. I think I am getting her ready for the world that we live in today but with a huge splash of perseverance, strength, kindness, humanity and lots of empathy! I am also preparing to become an author! I am working on a non-fiction novel that is set to be published by the end of 2025. I am including in this novel a variety of topics that affect today’s women, stigmas, struggles and how society sometimes overlook certain issues. Of course I will be providing more details in our channel throughout the year! If you are interested in taking a peek at some of the topics that will be presented in this project be sure to check out the “Mystery Playlist” in our channel “That’s Just Tara!”. I think that what sets me apart from others is my very peculiar critical thinking and I’m not shy about it. When I am analyzing cases on our channel my opinion sometimes can be very particular and unpopular. I have a way of analyzing events that sometimes spark a certain curiosity on others and it drives people to come see what I have to say just because it may be unconventional! Other than that, no matter what position or stage I am in life, I always have a heart for others. Whether I do it in person or through my videos, I love helping! Maritza Sinavage (Tara): I am a content creator, and I am mostly known for playing the clarinet or just content creating. I am mostly proud of how much I have improved at those two things. What sets me apart from others is that I am confident when it comes to playing my instrument or creating content for our channel!
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Melissa Lymangrover: I’m going to say that if you feel the call to do something good for others, use your platform to share it with the world and to teach others at the same time. There is a big stigma out there that is dedicated to shaming those who are kind to others in front of cameras; and they do by citing or quoting religion. I believe the main problem here is judging and sometimes not knowing how to be kind because we are so busy pointing fingers. The less we judge the more room we will have to teach kindness to others. I am a firm believer that we need to teach kindness through social media, even if it is by examples. Maritza Sinavage (Tara): My advice for others starting out is to challenge yourself, and when you feel like giving up, don’t. Something I wish I knew before starting to… for example create content, is to be more authentic and to be myself.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thats-just-tara.myspreadshop.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thatsjusttara
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010716041061
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thatsjusttara
- Other: https://ko-fi.com/thatsjusttara
Image Credits
Orange County Sheriff’s Office El Cilantrillo Rob Van Winkle (Vanilla Ice)
