Today we’d like to introduce you to James Tyson.
James, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Authentically Original is a passion project years in the making – I’ve always loved writing and telling my story and wanted to combine that with a way to inspire people to live their best, most authentic life. Throughout my life, I have found words to be my biggest source of inspiration, so I’ve always wanted to give back to others in that way. I experimented with blogging over the years, but when I turned 25, I made a promise to myself to finally commit and share my work with others. My hope is that in sharing my experiences – good, bad, and ugly, I can empower people to experiment with finding who they are and growing into the power that comes from knowing your purpose.
It’s been inspiring for me to see the growth of the site, and to see that people are interested and impacted by my journey – I think because many times it looks a lot like their own.
Has it been a smooth road?
I love that quote “A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor”, and my sea has been anything but smooth. Growing up, I dealt a lot with the self-esteem issues that come with being a gay, overweight, quirky individual, combined with a family where alcoholism and addiction was always an elephant in the room. One of the main reasons I started writing was because I found myself at 23 years old, in my career and long-term relationship, with no clear idea of who I was or what I wanted. I spent a lot of my earlier years molding myself to what I thought others wanted and expected from me, and I think that in a lot of ways that stunted my emotional and spiritual growth.
But over the past few years, and even more recently, I’ve been able to use Authentically Original as a tool to connect with others, and share that journey to self-discovery. Through that process, I have become a more fully realized version of myself. I’m so grateful for every step I’ve taken, good and bad because I fully believe that destiny plays a role in everything that we do, and were it not for some of those missteps along the way, I wouldn’t have the appreciation I do for life as it is now.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
Both my biggest hope and my biggest source of pride in Authentically Original is in the vulnerability of the story I’m telling – It’s so easy for someone who falls under the category of “influencer” or “blogger” to highlight all the wonderful things, and only show the highlights – there is little to none of that with Authentically Original. When I created the site, I made a promise to myself and to my readers to show every step of the journey. Sometimes that means telling a story about a personal growth win, and sometimes that means saying “I’m not feeling great today – here’s why”. I think the beauty of growing into the truest version of yourself is realizing that it won’t all be wins – we all experience times of depression, and confusion, and anxiety, and I love being able to tell that part of the story too. For so long I kept up this act of being “on” all the time, and we all do it. But I want Authentically Original to be a place where you can unburden yourself of that, and step into the reality of what it means to be a dynamic, complex, and beautiful human being. I like to end all of my posts with “With Love, James” because I believe that love has the power to change a life, and I hope to bring a little more love into the world with my site.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Atlanta is such a vibrant community – I work downtown, and I’m so in love with the diversity, the innovation, and the talent that our city has to offer. And don’t even get me started on the food.
I think Atlanta is a city where anything is possible – we are the home of fortune 500 companies, film studios, a stellar soccer team (go United – I’m not biased, that’s just the only sport I can follow), and a group of professionals who are passionate about propelling this city forward. I think what Atlanta does best is our spirit of ingenuity, inclusion, and community. Atlanta is a huge city, but there’s a sense of community here that I haven’t felt anywhere else.
I would recommend anyone who lives here to take advantage of the entrepreneurial energy that Atlanta has to offer and start that project that scares you because you can do it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.authenticallyoriginal.com
- Email: authenticallyoriginaljames@gmail.com
- Instagram: @jamesdtyson93
- Twitter: @jamesdtyson93
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