The Distinguished Social Media Personality of The Year - Tami Chin Mitchell
‘Authenticity can lead to extraordinary things’
Published:Sunday | April 30, 2023 | 1:36 AMAaliyah Cunningham - Sunday Gleaner Writer
For recording artiste and performer-turned-social media personality Tami Chin Mitchell, getting awards has never been a measure of success for her. However, speaking with The Sunday Gleaner, the vivacious and candid Chin Mitchell shared that, since being presented The Distinguished Social Media Personality of the Year Award by The Gleaner’s Flair, she has taken a moment to pause and reflect on how showing up as her authentic self has brought her to beautiful places.
“It is so funny because I have never thought of my life in awards. I don’t know if this is because, even back in prep school, I never got awarded for anything. So, it has never been something that has been high on my list. Like I have never thought about winning Grammys or Oscars, or that type of thing. It is not a way I measure the success of my life, So, to be awarded in this way is actually quite rewarding,” she explained when asked if she ever saw herself receiving an award for social media.
In the early 2000s, she was popular for being a young and rising singer in the reggae and dancehall and crossover music space, with hits such as Hyperventilating, Over and Over, and Certified Diva. Now, many moons later, though her tracks are still able to get an audience of Jamaican music lovers raving, she has stepped back from the stage to take the masses into her home and her life as a YouTuber and podcaster, with a large community, or as she dubs it, “extended family”, across the world. But even with 235,000 subscribers to her family’s YouTube channel Meet the Mitchells and over 300,000 followers on Instagram, the recognition she received for her work in the social media space came as a shock to her.
“At first when I heard I was receiving the award, I was taken aback,” she said.
“It is just so interesting that I feel like I have done quite a few cool things with my life. Be it the record deals or opening salons or whatever it was, and I think it is so wonderful that Flair shone a light on my most ordinary life. It is such a reminder to me that our ordinary lives are so extraordinary really, and how wonderful it was to be recognised for being myself and not having to be anybody but me,” Chin Mitchell continued.
Supported by her husband, Wayne, who also went through a metamorphosis of sorts as recording artiste who has now expanded into YouTube, they share moments of their daily lives in a very unscripted way, and the authenticity is arguably what keeps Jamaican and other members of their growing community so engaged. But, for her, striking the balance between what is sharable and what is private takes some work.
“We only share what we are willing to share. As much as we share, we vet everything. I edit everything and Wayne and I film everything. We do not hand it out to anybody to decide on that. We decide how we are telling our story. I think it is very important for anybody who is going to put themselves in a vulnerable position, or baring some of their soul or some of their family with other people, you get to decide how you want to do that,” she said.
“I always stress that, as much as we share, contrary to popular belief, we still maintain a lot of privacy and I [say] for example all the time that there are issues that we are going through privately that people don’t know about. I was pregnant for six months without anybody knowing I was because we are able to deal with things that we need to behind the scenes and we share only what we are ready to share. It is not for everybody either. I am pretty sure there are people who look at it and go ‘what the heck?’ but it’s what is right for us at this point in our lives, and it is something that we are comfortable with and I think that is the most important thing,” she continued.
She is currently in the process of rebranding her podcast Tami Tackles Everything. For her, this platform is an additional space to share her thoughts and perspective while providing somewhere for both men and women to feel a sense of belonging. What originally started as an audio-only podcast has evolved into video logs alongside her sister, singer Tessanne Chin.
But, with all that she has accomplished and the many hats she wears, one wonders what is next for Tami Chin Mitchell. To this question, she says her answer is simple – she has no idea.
“I don’t know what’s next and, in a world that is always pressuring you to stay 10 steps ahead and to know what’s next and to be promoting something ... I don’t know. I am literally just following the breadcrumbs of my life, as Elizabeth Gilbert says, and seeing what God has in store for me next. I really don’t have any hard-and-fast plans for what happens next, but I can assure you that it will be 100 per cent true to me,” she revealed.
As she marches to the beat of her own drum, she advises others to do the same.
“As much as you can, put to the side what everyone else wants for you and become deeply in touch with what you want for yourself, and then move from there.”