Meet Tatyana Melvin

 

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

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Tatyana with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?

My work ethic comes from my desire for a stable, financially prosperous life and from my nanna!

My nanna has been a hard working black woman her whole life. She learned from my great grandmother and great grandfather, who taught her independence and survival skills. She graduated early in high school at the age of 16 and went into the military. Her ranking at retirement was a Petty Officer for the Coast Guard. The most inspiring thing to me about my nanna, is that she spent 20 years in the Coast Guard and NEVER worked on a ship! She has always done whatever she wanted to do from just enjoying her retirement, to owning her own in-home daycare to her and my grandfather owning a used car lot in Wilmington, NC. She has always instilled in me to get good grades, get a good job and learn to be stable in all areas of life so that I can be prosperous in all areas of life!

I came from a family who didn’t have much money. We weren’t broke and we definitely had hard times, but we weren’t rich either. The town I grew up in, had many “Jones” families; my nanna would always say, “this isn’t keeping up with Jone’s.” There were things I wanted to do, I wanted to have and we simply didn’t have the extra funds for that.

That alone, gave me the drive to want to do better, so that I could do what I want, buy what I want & most importantly to me- live where I want; to be free essentially. I found interest in many things; my grandmother saw that I was interested in candles. She was the one who taught me how to melt the last little bit of wax in the bottom of the jar and reuse the wax to make a new candle. From there, she told me that I should start my own candle business. I was only 14, and that is exactly what I did! I started off making paraffin wax candles; learned about soy candles and switched from paraffin to soy wax! I sold the candles to my neighbors, my grandparents would take some to the car lot and would sell them to people buying cars! I even had a couple consignment deals at local consignment shops! For my first business, I’d say I was pretty successful.

School started to become more demanding, I didn’t focus on the candles as much! During the summers I would take extra classes online. My school trusted me so much, that I was taking 5 high school honors classes online AT HOME! My nanna talked to me over and over about her graduating early, so I had talked to my counselor about it and I had enough credits to where one semester I would be a junior and the next, a graduating senior! I graduated in 2015 a year earlier than projected.

To me, that wasn’t enough. I kept striving for the next level. That is still my attitude today. No matter what I do, I am in the main character in my life and it is up to me to create the life I desire. I was never one of those people who just thought things just come falling out the sky in your hands. I was and am always working, striving for a better life. For not only me, but for my younger siblings, my dog and my family too!

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

In my last article I told you guys I am a jack of all trades!
I am LITERALLY that!

Currently I am working on rebranding Gerrianas Kandles and getting a new camera for a T. Melvin Photography revamp!
Both websites will have a whole new look and vibe to it, new logos, new everything!

I am working on building my modeling portfolio- so studying poses, having photoshoots, and practicing my runway walk; all while getting bookings to be on set for music videos, short films, ads, tv shows or movies!

I have a bunch of talents, one of them being singing and rapping. I have been working quietly over the past couple of years getting comfortable with the microphone, finding my voice and finding what type of music I actually want to create! With that being said, I will be dropping music at the top of 2025, so stay tuned for that!

While I’m talking music, I also manage 10 artists. All of them dabbling in different calibers of each music genre! How I came about this? My main artist, Lyl Tenn came to me one day and told me he wanted me to manage him because of my work ethic and how I get things done! I told him, along with a lot of my friends who are artists, who have said the same exact thing about my work ethic and them wanting me to help put them out there! That is exactly what I’m doing – I may not know 100% how to be an artist manager, but I am learning along the way!

Aside from that, I have decided to take my UGC content seriously over the past few months and I am proud to say I have worked with over 10 brands now! When I first started, I didn’t think any brands would want to collaborate with me because my follower count is below 5k. What I have learned is, it does not matter if you’re content does not go viral, or if you don’t have 5k, 10k or even 500k followers; what matters is: is your content valuable? So I have been focusing on making valuable content for my clients, my followers, future clients & followers! I hope to work with bigger brands in the near future such as Savage x Fenty, Fenty Beauty , Nike, Prada & more!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

The three areas of knowledge that were most impactful in my journey were gaining emotional intelligence, adaptability and most importantly: building my relationship with God!

How I am today, is extremely different to who I was 10 years ago, and completely different to who I was when I first moved to Los Angeles. All of what I have learned, but have put to use and that has made me a better person.

Moving across the country to a whole new city and state, is a challenge within itself, but even more challenging when you’re in a big city with all types of people. Which is where adaptability comes in. You can be and get involved with a lot of different things. It is most important to have discernment and emotional intelligence. You have to be able to know who and what is for your greater benefit.

Being at the wrong place at the wrong time, with the wrong people is real. Always be aware of the company you keep

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

I am always looking for new people to collaborate or partner with!

I’m involved in many things, but to be specific, I am looking for new events to vend and sell my candles at.

I am looking for artist showcases, tours, and more opportunities for my artists to perform and connect with new supporters!

I’m am open to collaborate with brands for user generated content opportunities

And last but not least, I am looking for more modeling and acting work!

If you are reading this, you can connect with me on any of my social medias or via email at [email protected]

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Capsule Station
https://www.instagram.com/capsulestation?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

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