Today we’d like to introduce you to Tiffany Nycole.
Hi Tiffany , thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always loved fashion. My parents owned a store growing up named Tiffany’s Shoes in Florida. I would go on trips to LA and Miami with my father to help buy clothes for the store when I was like seven or eight. I was completely mesmerized with dressing up. Kids used to tease me in school because I always wore dresses and heels, even in elementary school. They would call me Barbie girl and sing the song as I walk down the halls. It actually used to make me cry… But looking back, they were teasing me because I was dressed nice. Like a Barbie. 🙂
I actually started as a singer and a songwriter. I learned how to model through doing artist photo shoots to promote EP’s and performances. I was always completely obsessed with fashion… and entertaining people. I performed on MTV’s TRL, opened for a few BET comedy jam shows around Florida. Eventually had a ton of music placements on MTV and VH1 shows, Jersey Shore, The City, The Hills, Room Raiders, Single Ladies.. a ton of them. I had my own MTV artist profile at one point, was signed to a production deal with an independent label named Launchcode, under Armando Colon (Grammy nominated producer). I made music for the majority of my life and it’s really where the creativity started to flow. It was like I became someone else when I got on stage. But the music industry is tricky, especially when you’re a pop artist… At the time, a pop artist without a major label backing was almost impossible. It takes money to make money, and I was a struggling Artist who served tables at Pappadeaux‘s on Jimmy Carter to pay bills and pay for photoshoots. Haha. I eventually took a backseat with music and focused on trying to find some stability for my future. I became a production coordinator for a local film studio, hated that. Haha but working there I learned that I loved client interactions. I loved being on set and helping the talent enjoy their experience. From there, I became the owner of that company’s executive administrator. I was always great with people so it ended up being the perfect role. I now currently work for Morgan Stanley, entering corporate America. I’m an executive assistant and have been with a company for three years now. It is most definitely a traditional and sometimes conservative corporate company… With not a lot of room for creativity. That’s when I started to work on my social media becoming an outlet for me to show my fashion. My personality. My brand.
I think initially, I was a little intimidated because working in such a conservative setting while being so inspired by art and fashion, you definitely stand out. But I’ve enjoyed being able to blend the two worlds… And also creating a world that it’s mine outside of work. I’m also a mother of a nine-year-old boy, but I’ve never let being a mother be the only way that people describe me either. I am a mom and love it… But I’m also a creative. A woman who loves concerts, and traveling. A woman who is free. I think that’s really important for him to see. I fear our generation has a really bad view on having kids because we watched our parents give up their entire lives once they had us. They no longer had hobbies or things that they wanted that were just for them. (At least my parents were like that anyway.) But for me, I want my son to see that I still have career goals. I still have personal goals. I’m still an artist.
That was another reason why I started to really push my social media… I was never gonna wear the “mom uniform” or be one of these moms who’s entire life revolves around their kids rec ball sports (no offense to them). I go to all my kids games, but it hasn’t become my entire personality haha You know, being from Miami.. it’s a different world there. People here stare at me all the time when I go places dressed up. In Miami, women don’t walk out the door unless they’re put together. I think there’s just a stigma on women who are moms in general.. But I’m gonna dress the same way I would dress if I didn’t have a kid, because I like the way I dress. I love following trends and trying new looks. And since I’m not raising a son who over sexualize women… I think he loves that I don’t look like everyone else too. 🙂
Anyway, I hope my posts help women that don’t feel like they fit into whatever box society tries to put them in. Whether that’s the mom box or the corporate female box… You can check all the boxes. No one gets to tell you that you can only be one thing.
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?
With music, I dealt with a manager that I had been signed to for a long time stealing money from me. Thousands and thousands of dollars. Constantly dealt with being uncomfortable as a female in a room full of men. Constantly back-and-forth with trying to be creative while trying to play a game. With music, all of that is probably stuff you’ve heard before. The entertainment business is just a really hard world to live in. You genuinely have to love it more than anything in the world. And today, I don’t. Ask me again tomorrow though. Haha
For fashion in my social media, definitely not a smooth road. Like I said, I’m a mother who lives in a relatively conservative state… people don’t take too kindly to women who look like me in the outskirts of Atlanta. Haha But that’s life… And I know that the anger certain people feel when they see me has more to do with them than it will ever have to do with me. And like I said, I’m used to it. I spent my whole life being called Barbie girl.
I’m not an incredibly religious person… But I do have conversations with my God. I remember I asked him a year ago why I’ve spent my entire life with people judging me based on what I look like and how I dressed? And like I said, I’m not a super religious person, but in that moment, I felt like whatever higher power exists up there said to me… “you keep asking me why i keep putting you through this? But how many times do I have to put you through the same thing before you stop flinching?” After that, I’ll never be afraid of what someone says about me and how I dress again. As a matter of fact.. say it meaner next time. Haha.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I think what I’m most proud of in my career, corporately and with social media influence, is that I won’t let one or the other take priority. I’m very proud of working at a company like Morgan Stanley… I mean, I’m an art kid, with no college degree. I fought for my life to graduate high school because all I wanted to do was make music when I was younger. I had hot pink hair at one point. Working incorporate America was not in the cards for me… And yet I did it.
Deciding to still have a creative outlet online to promote being a confident, sexy, and powerful woman after having a kid and while living in a world where other women constantly tear you down for being proud of your body and proud of your style… There’s been a version of me that would never have believed that I could’ve loved myself this much. Being this confident wasn’t in the cards for me… And yet I did it.
I’m proud of a lot of things in my life… but I’m mostly proud that my son gets to grow up with a mom who is happy, unapologetically herself.. and a mother who goes after any and everything she wants, no matter the cards she’s dealt.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
I hope you know that the possibilities are endless. Don’t ever let anyone tell you what you can and cannot do. Don’t ever let anyone tell you how you can and cannot dress… Or what kind of music to like. No one gets to decide that you can’t be the CEO of a corporate company and still perform music for on your day off. No one gets to tell you who you are except yourself. We’re not created to live in a box. That box is there to control you.. to keep you from being great. Have fun.. with everything you do. The right people will align.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://afashiongirlie.com
- Instagram: @tiffany.nycole
