The Dollpreneur™ Podcast
Welcome to the Dollpreneur™ Podcast!
I’m so excited to have you join me on this new adventure as I reignite my passion for the doll community with the Dollpreneur™ Podcast. Each episode celebrates the innovators and artists who bring this magical industry to life.
I’m Georgette Taylor, co-inventor, co-creator, and co-founder of the first plus-size fashion dolls, Big Beautiful Dolls and with years of podcasting experience from a business podcast to being the former creator, host and producer, of In The Doll World podcast.
Join me as I share inspiring conversations with talented creators from around the world, introducing both seasoned artisans and fresh new voices. The Dollpreneur™ Podcast offers a unique glimpse into the world of doll creators, blending art and entrepreneurship to showcase the passion that drives the doll-making world.
Whether you’re a doll enthusiast, an aspiring creator, or simply curious, the Dollpreneur™ Podcast is where creativity meets entrepreneurship, community, and every conversation inspires. Let me guide you through this world I’ve helped shape, from Big Beautiful Dolls to engaging discussions with the leading voices in doll-making.
Until we connect again, have a Dollpreneur™ Fabulous Day!
The Dollpreneur™ Podcast
“Sculpting Confidence: Tina Vincent’s Plus-Size Paper Mâché Dolls Celebrate Women of Color”
www.thedollpreneurprodcast.com
Sometimes, art doesn’t just reflect us — it reaches for the parts of us we’ve hidden, forgotten, or been told to shrink.
In this conversation with, Zimbabwean artist Tina Vincent she shares how her plus-size paper mâché dolls became more than sculptures — they became mirrors of beauty, courage, and wholeness.
These captivating figures celebrate women of color with unapologetic confidence, showcasing diverse body types, skin tones, and attitudes that challenge conventional beauty standards. Rooted in tradition and wrapped in intention, Tina’s faceless figures speak to every woman who’s ever longed to be seen. Their curves tell stories. Their silence holds space. And their presence reminds us: you deserve to take up space — joyfully, fully, and without apology.
Vincent's artistic evolution unfolds beautifully as she shares how she overcame her initial reluctance toward three-dimensional work. What began as preparation for teaching high school sculpture blossomed into a profound artistic expression that resonates with women everywhere. Her deliberate choice to create faceless figures—inspired by Caribbean doll traditions—allows viewers to see themselves reflected in her work, creating an immediate emotional connection that transcends specific identities.
Join us as we talk about art, body love, and why it's perfectly okay to still be obsessed with dolls.
PS: Dollpreneurs (and creatives like us!) need wellness too! Because your art, your ideas, and your business deserve the energy to flow — not the burnout to stop you. Explore Dynamic Wellness — collagen, coffee, and clean supplements that fuel your glow, your health, and your hustle: dynamicwellness.vip
This podcast is sponsored by Vital Health Global and Dynamic Wellness
Thanks for joining us on The Dollpreneur™ Podcast! We hope you enjoyed the episode and feel inspired by our amazing guests and learn something new about the creative people within the doll community.
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Until next time, have a Dollpreneur™ Fabulous Day!
Hello everyone, welcome to the Dollpreneur Podcast, where I get to chat and share with you the amazing doll creators and creatives from around the world.
Speaker 1:I am your host and creator of the Dollpreneur Podcast, georgette Taylor, and I'm so excited to highlight the inspiring stories from the people who keep the doll community buzzing with creativity and passion. So, whether you're a long-time doll lover or just curious, looking for something new and creative to listen to, join us for engaging powerful and insightful conversations that celebrate the heart and soul of the people within the doll community. Hey, everybody, we're going to get to the show in one minute. I just wanted to share something with you. You know, for years my life has been about creating dolls, podcasts, communities and stories that inspire others, but not long ago, I was completely sidelined by bronchitis. The inflammation was so severe that I lost my voice and that forced me to put my dollpreneur podcast on hold. It also was a wake-up call for me. It hit me that, no matter how passionate I am about my work as a dollpreneur or all the other things that I do, without my health none of it really matters. Creativity takes energy, business takes focus and living with purpose takes wellness. And I was running on empty. I realized I couldn't keep creating, building or even inspiring others if I wasn't taking care of my health first, and I decided to make that a priority. That's when I partnered with Vital Health Global. Why? Because I love what they offer. They offer clean, powerful supplements designed to restore energy, strengthen immunity, reduce inflammation, and I'm telling you, I needed all of those things and so much more. But they also helped me to revitalize my body from the inside out. The difference has been really life-changing for me. I feel energized, focused and capable of showing up full for my creativity, my business, my podcast, my purpose and my family. Again, if you ever felt like your health would stop you from doing what you love to do, then it's really time to take it back. So if you'd like to take this journey with me in creating better wellness for yourself, you can visit my shop at dynamicwellnessvip, because your art, your ideas and your business deserve the energy to flow, not the burnout to stop you. This message is sponsored by Vital Health Global and Dynamic Wellness. So what do you say? Let's get this show started. Hello everybody, welcome to the Doppphinor Podcast. I'm your host, georgette Taylor, and, as always, I am so excited that you're joining me today, and also, before we start the show, I want to say thank you guys so much for being patient for me coming back. I feel so much better and I really appreciate all the messages that I receive, so thank you again so much for being with me here on the Dauphinor podcast.
Speaker 1:I am excited to talk to our guest today. She has such beautiful work and I can't wait for you to find out about her story and about her work as well. So my guest today is Tina Vincent. She is an award-winning Zimbabwean artist best known for her captivating women of color paper mache sculptures, and they are just so fabulous. I can't wait till you get to see them. Each piece is celebrating the powerful beauty and meaningful relationships found within communities of women. And not only does she do paper mache sculptures, she's also a mixed media collage artist as well. She does portraits and quilts, and so I'm just excited to have her on the show. How are you doing?
Speaker 2:today I'm doing well, thank you, and thank you so much for having me on your podcast.
Speaker 1:Oh you're so. You're so welcome, you're so welcome. I'm excited for people to get to know you and to learn everything that you do about being an artist. So I know every artist really has a beautiful origin story and you just take, take us back to the very first moment that you fell in love with creating art, especially your paper mache sculptures. I really just want to know was there a special turning point for you, did you?
Speaker 2:have a mentor. Did you think about it being an artist when you were young? How did that happen for you? So I actually. So there's actually two stories.
Speaker 2:So the first one I started doing art when I was in high school. Coming from an African family, they're very strict about academics in school, so my parents would always be getting on me about, like, why aren't you reading? Take out a book, go and read. And it's like I like really hated it. Like I, as an artist, I work when I'm ready. So the more that I'm being told that I need to go and do it, the less likely I was going to do it. So I would sit in the dining room with my textbooks open. And then I started getting computer paper and I started like to draw. I mean, I never imagined I could actually become an artist. And then I took art. They have what you call O-levels and A-levels, which are like high school, like finishing off my high school. So I took art all the way through.
Speaker 2:The weird thing is I signed up for art because I just thought it'd be cool to just sit and talk to my friends while I drew. It wasn't like I thought it was going to be my career and I actually wanted to be a chef when I was younger. I really wanted to be a chef and I did really well with food science and I'd gotten the trophy at school. But then we had an exam and the exam I had studied so hard but then I got a C and I was so devastated so I didn't cook for like a year. I just kind of avoided it. But it makes me think of how sometimes God has to do kind of a big thing, because if, if I just said, oh, I'm just going to keep, I'm just going to keep cooking because this is what I. But I'm saying there are other things, just like with my son. Sometimes I'll be like, hey, try this new thing. It's like, no, I don't like it. It's like you're six, there are other things, but anyway.
Speaker 2:So then I, um, I went to college. I went to Landry university in Greenwood, south Carolina. I got a bachelor's degree in visual arts and a master's degree in art education. So I became an art teacher. I avoided 3D work for a long time. So I was working in Spartanburg, south Carolina, for seven years. Then, when I met, my husband got married and I got a job at Rock Hill High School, where I was supposed to teach sculpture, and I was so nervous about the idea of sculpture because I was like I'm so bad at sculpture, I'm not good at it.
Speaker 2:But one of the things that I learned is sometimes I'm so bad at sculpture I don't, I'm not good at it. But one of the things that I learned is sometimes we say we're bad at a thing, but then you think about like I had never really put in time into even learning how to do it. So if you, if you're someone I tell my students this all the time because I'm also an art teacher you, if you spend all day and all night drawing in pencil, you're going to be very good at drawing in pencil.
Speaker 2:But if I show up with like some paint and I say, hey, why don't you paint? You're going to say, oh, I'm not really good at paint. No, you just need to practice, you just need to put in the time. So I wanted to make paper mache people for this class, and I have this thing whenever I teach a new course. I want to do, I want to like um practice all the projects so that when the students get the project, I've already figured out all the kinks and I'm able to like, help them to successfully complete it. So I started, and I started this little village of really, really old ladies, because they were really old, because it's easier, because when things are not like, portioned or something it's just like it's in there somewhere.
Speaker 2:So as I got better and better at making them, they became younger and they became like more attitude and it took a lot and then so recently, I started actually. So this is basically about the size of most of them.
Speaker 1:Okay, and what height is that? What height are they?
Speaker 2:This might be like maybe like 24 inches tall. And then this is that. What height are they? This might be like, maybe like 24 inches tall. And then this is another one. And I also started ones in bathing suits and stuff. So this was the initial size. It's easier to actually work big than it is to work small.
Speaker 1:Because I know a lot of people are like oh, could you make a small one.
Speaker 2:So for a while I just was like, eh, this is kind of big, just kind of come out the size they come out. So as I continued practicing, so recently I launched the minis, so actually they're harder to make. But I'm realizing, like this one actually just sold and I'm realizing the lady had showed me where she was going to display it and I was like, oh yeah, everyone doesn't need a big one, cause if you've got like a coffee table, or something it does not need to be like a giant centerpiece.
Speaker 2:So I'm really excited about the miniature, the mini collection Nice. They're just all different sizes.
Speaker 1:They're so cool. I love them, thank you. I fell in love with them. When I saw them, I was like this is beautiful work and you know, just remind me of my blind plus size dolls. You know, with their attitude and the, you know the beauty that they have, and so I'm excited about that. So let me ask you a question how do you decide on, like the outfits and the poses and you know, the things that bring their individuality to life? How do you decide on that? How do you decide on that?
Speaker 2:I feel like sometimes I'm inspired by just women that I see out and about. For example, I remember one time I saw I don't know, I can't remember where I was I saw someone and they were like they had freckles, kind of like red hair, and they were like black person with freckles and red hair and I was like I've never done a lady with freckles and red hair. And then I also have the ones that are albino. Then I have the ones that are jet black.
Speaker 2:So I feel like it's just trying to like represent all the skin tones For me. I feel like my favorite ones are actually the jet black one, as well as the like. I like the albino one as well, and then I also like all the skin. Like, oh like, I just think there's just something beautiful because, as I think, as um black people are, we just our skin tones are just so diverse.
Speaker 1:Like there's not just like one right, right, one shade or like yeah, exactly like changes.
Speaker 2:I mean this is like an entire spectrum it's so true.
Speaker 1:And then, and each one of those shades has these different undertones, you could be somebody, your same complexion, but it looks different because your undertone is like more red or more yellow or things like that.
Speaker 2:So yeah, I definitely and I also feel like working with young people. I sometimes like my favorite thing, even when I do paintings and portraits. I love to just paint people just naturally, because sometimes, like nowadays, you see a lot of girls are having like weaves and the lashes and it's like you're covering your beauty. They're so beautiful. Underneath all that, I mean, I feel I'm not opposed to like getting.
Speaker 1:Right, yes, I get that Underneath all that.
Speaker 2:I mean I feel I'm not opposed to like getting Right. Yes, I get that. I'm saying like when you put so much to the point that we can't see you anymore, these girls are like beautiful. So it's like I just love in my work to show that like that's what the work is all about, even though the sculptures don't have faces I've done ones with faces before, but I feel like the ones without faces tend to be much more popular because people can kind of like identify with them and they're just kind of fit into the decor a lot better.
Speaker 1:Right, okay, so funny. I was going to ask you about the faces. Why didn't you paint faces on there?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and also I don't know. So, when I was little I also lived in the Dominican Republic, so I lived in Santo Domingo and they also, like in the Caribbean sometimes they'll have like a lot of like faceless dolls and like part of that is also like representing just the mixture of all the like historically where the backgrounds of the people, so basically just representing everybody. Ok, but yeah, I don't know. Like I said, there have been times when I've made a sculpture, I've added a, added a face, and then I'm like, oh, I should have just not had a face on, I shouldn't have had a face. I feel like it's all in their gestures, like, and then this is another one. So I only have, like so far, two guys. This is the other one that's sold.
Speaker 2:okay, I mean, I don't usually do guys, guys, right, some of the guys have been complaining, because I started a line of sweatshirts and they were like do you have anything with guys on them? I began to kind of make a few here we can have a couple of guys.
Speaker 1:So how is creating like your sculptures influenced your own personal, I don't know journey to how you feel about yourself as a woman and as an artist?
Speaker 2:I feel like I, I just feel like I've come into like just being who I, who I want to be. I feel like there was a time when I like people, like a certain version of you, like when you're still like not sure of yourself and they try to direct hey, you need to be doing this, this is a little bit too much, you don't need to be doing that, and I felt a lot of that growing up, like in Zimbabwean culture. Sometimes I feel like with girls, there's a tendency of like, trying to like, not like.
Speaker 2:You're not supposed to just be so out there and just being and like calm down and fall back and I just feel like I got to a point where I just wanted to be my authentic self. I wanted to create work. Like I love the fact that people want to spend money on something that I just came up with out of my head, and that's like very empowering, especially after for so long, you're made to feel like be quiet, Nobody cares about what you've got to say, but these are the things that I have to say, or these are the ideas that I'm coming up with.
Speaker 1:I totally understand that, especially, I think, in a space where you, where you are an artist, not only do you have to show your voice through your creativity, but you also have to start to have a voice, because if you want to do a show, you have to be able to speak for yourself. If you want to, you know, be able to talk about your art, you have to have a voice to be able to do those things. And also, being an entrepreneur we're going to talk about that because I think a lot of times artists think of themselves as an artist like any creative right. Was that a hard shift for you to become like to do the art but then also realize well, now I'm a real entrepreneur because I'm selling these things and I have to think about how do I market, how do I do these things for myself and be that you know that all around person in your business.
Speaker 2:So it's actually so. There was something big that happened in my life that kind of created that shift. So back in 2022, I applied to a program they have here in Charlotte I think they used to have it in Atlanta at one point called Art Pop Street Gallery. Have here in Charlotte I think they used to have it in Atlanta at one point called Art Pop Street Gallery, where they choose 20 artists one high school senior in there where they put your artwork on billboards and digital displays all throughout the city and it just gave me so much exposure.
Speaker 2:They had our work up in Times Square and it just was like it made me realize that, hey, if people see the power of just being seen because I was always like oh.
Speaker 2:I don't care about being seen, I'm just going to say to myself. But I feel like it's a different kind of seeing the work, hearing what I have to say. And then I also took a business class, because they offered us business classes in there as well. And I remember taking a business class where this guy came and we had this whole day workshop and he taught. He said, you know, number one, nobody is coming, so you need to get out there and go and do what you need to do to get this work out there.
Speaker 2:And then the other thing I took from it was people cannot want a thing that they don't know about. So I struggled, like, especially when I first started, like my Instagram, especially growing up, like sometimes I just remember always being told like, oh, you're posting too much, take it down, even though I really wasn't, and do you know what I'm saying? So then it was very hard for me to say, okay, I just made a thing, I'm going to post it and share it because it is kind of scary. It is scary, yes, I know, but I'm saying I had to get over it. So then I had to start coaching myself and say Walmart, doesn't feel shy that they had an ad before the news, in the middle of the news and at the end of the news. So this is a business, this is not just me going.
Speaker 2:Oh, I'm just, you know like a selfie or something.
Speaker 2:It's really, it's really my business and I also found that not to put too much into like if somebody is liking things or not, because I feel like I've noticed that sometimes people have like a little bit of a laziness where I'll notice if I post like one sculpture, it's just like, oh, but then when I have five, they're like, oh, my gosh, this is amazing. But yeah, you can't have five without having one. You have to do them individually. You understand? You know what I'm saying. Like it's so true, not to really not to, in other words, like just not to put too much into. You know how the responses are, or there've been times.
Speaker 2:I've done something and it doesn't really get a whole lot of feedback, but then I send it off to a competition and it wins. Just feel like.
Speaker 1:It's just like realizing that I just just have to keep going and just believing in what I'm working on Well, I mean, I think that that is important as an artist in general, you know, not just entrepreneur. You have to believe in what you're working on.
Speaker 2:Not be worried about oh my gosh, nobody liked what I did.
Speaker 1:Nobody's going to like it.
Speaker 2:I've seen artists like that, where you can tell they're like oh, nobody liked anything that I did. And then I'm like so you're not doing work anymore, because the weird thing about people is like you can share a thing and they're not interested one bit. And then you could say, oh, I did a competition and I won a thousand dollars, and now the same piece of work. Everybody's like wow, that's awesome, congratulations.
Speaker 1:They weren't there when you did the first doll, you know, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So I'm just saying I think that's really important to understand. Even a lot of the time and I always say this to my husband whenever you see someone stepping out to do something bold, at first you notice everyone's like I don't know, what is she trying to do? All that she needs to stop. But then when they become successful, they're like wow. I think that happens a lot with art. Someone says I want to be an artist, I want to be a singer, I want to act.
Speaker 1:I mean at first everyone's like you mean like a hobby, like a hobby but how are you going to, how are you going to make money with that Like you really exactly? You know like and that is it is a real job because you're spending your time and your craft building. So I totally understand that. It's funny. It makes me think about when we did the dolls, like everybody said the same thing Like, who wants like? Literally the word that they used obviously was fat. They used a fat doll. That's what they said back in 2000. Who wants a fat doll? That's what they said to us and I think for me it just I don't know.
Speaker 1:It kind of struck something in me because I think I want to bring back to your point where you were talking earlier about just seeing yourself as you and not putting all this other stuff on. You know what I mean, because I think sometimes you even lose sight of who you are when you do that and you start not to like who you are. And we had so many people and we thought we had a lot of plus size women who would be happy to see a plus size doll, but that was not the case. They said they were happy but they really didn't want to see it in real life, to see who they were. You know, and that was one of the things we really tried to have those conversations with people at the end of the day, about them loving who you are where you're at, loving what it is that you do, loving the things that you have passion for, because you know it's part of you, it's part of being authentic to yourself. And I think that a lot of people just don't I don't know, sometimes they don't.
Speaker 2:They're like more impressed with the superficial things than actually like the natural.
Speaker 2:Like to me, I don't like. I feel like, at least like one thing I love is like seeing like women age gracefully there's nothing wrong with aging and I feel like there's so much that's pressure put on women and so it's just like. So we're not allowed to get old, Like sometimes. And I feel like sometimes our bodies are telling stories, Like when I had my son, the body changed, it's not going to be the same. There's no way we can just do everything, and I just feel like there's so much pressure that's put on women. But I also think that probably since about two, since 2000 is what you were saying I think there've been a lot more developments because now?
Speaker 1:Definitely, yes, it definitely has been a lot more, a lot more development. You know, and and I and I think that's one of the things that really struck me about your dolls is because, the size that they are, they are joyous in their presentation of who they are.
Speaker 2:Yeah, not apologizing, not trying to be, not trying to shy away, not trying to hide their body.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2:Exactly, and that's what really struck me. I feel like the interesting thing is, I feel like my sculptures. A lot of the time, people like the bigger ones, like they actually that's what stands out, and like, oh man, that's so, that's so cool because they just have like a presence. And I also feel like I wanted them to like inspire women, like sometimes I have one that's doing the splits.
Speaker 1:Yes, I saw that one. I love that one. It's so beautiful. I love it, thank you.
Speaker 2:That was actually one that got juried into. Have you seen the Fiber Now publication? Did see that one, yes. Yes, the Fiber Now publication. Did see that one, yes.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:So Fiber Now is a publication that comes out quarterly, so that one is. There's going to be an like, some images, I guess, of that one in their fall issue coming up. But, just the idea of like man. If she can do it, so can I. Like they don't look uncomfortable because people make it seem like, oh, you have to be super small or super tiny to be able to do that. Or I have another one it's called Arabesque, where her leg is cranked up and she's like a ballerina, but she's so thick.
Speaker 1:I really do. I really do love that. So when you're making the sculptures, do you start out with one idea and then something else shows up for you. When you finally look at it, you're like that's not what I, that's not what I was going for, but that's kind of how she she created herself. Yeah, I just go for it.
Speaker 2:Most of the time, I usually just go for it. Sometimes I have an idea in my mind to be like oh, I want to create a lady with this pose or that pose Right, right, yeah, the biggest thing is I need them to be stable, because that was one of the things I didn't want a sculpture that could not stand on its own. And it's interesting because I feel like there were sculptures, but then I suddenly found myself among the doll artists too.
Speaker 1:And I mean, why not Like that's what I?
Speaker 2:feel like I don't know. Sometimes I think with being an artist there's like a snobbery that people go, oh, this is not done and you need to do it like this. But I want to do at the end of the day. I remember someone one time asking and saying hey, I noticed you do sweaters. So like, are you trying to do fine art at the gallery? Are you trying to do sweaters? But I'm just like. You know, the gallery shops have all kinds of sweaters with people's art on them. So maybe we need to like normalize us as the artists, making the money off of our own merchandise and not having it to where you're like oh, I'm not going to do that. Then you get an opportunity at a big museum and now they're making t-shirts and sweaters with your work on it. I don't know, I've always been just a person. That's just like. I don't know. I'll just tell I'll do sweaters. I mean, if I end up in H&M, then I'm in H&M, if I end up at the high museum.
Speaker 1:As long as my artwork is there right as long as my art is there. Right, I get that Because I was going to ask you that, like do you see them as art dolls yourself when you do them, or have they become more art dolls because of people who have seen them?
Speaker 2:Because I put a lot in the gallery scene, they see them as sculptures. But I feel like the playfulness of them is like dolls. And I also feel like it's interesting because when I see like women and they like look at them, they just like stop and they smile and they're like hmm, and it just it makes me think that as women that's another thing it's like we were basically like forced into like oh, when you get to this age, you're too old to be dealing with dolls and you need to put those down.
Speaker 2:So I know that's a no. No, yeah, I mean, but I feel like there's a point when you're in like middle school, because I remember there was a point where I was still playing with dolls and I was in sixth grade but I would be really secretive about it because I didn't want anybody to know that I was still playing with it and then eventually I stopped. But I'm just saying, seeing women be so excited about to have this in their home or to have an arrangement of them in their homes, it makes you realize that we still love these things.
Speaker 1:Yes, it just brings you back to the things that made you feel good, you know, when you were little, and that is still okay. To have that desire to want to, you know, play and have and have imagination. That's really important and I think that's why dolls are just so powerful, because it does bring that part of yourself back to life that a lot of us, you know, really truly need.
Speaker 2:And just even seeing like and especially now, like I said, with a lot of young girls as well, because a lot of young girls nowadays they're like I feel like when I was little, everybody was basically the same size, but a lot of our young girls now are ranging in size as well. So we need to be appreciating that as well.
Speaker 1:So what impact do you really want your you know these dolls to have on young girls, I mean, who don't really see themselves as represented in dolls before. Or I know a lot of your dolls of women in general, you know, like older women, but do you feel that there is some that there could be a connection in helping a young girl look at herself differently through your dolls? There is some that there could be a connection in helping a young girl look at herself differently through your dolls um, I feel like it's the confidence that's in the sculptures that's really important.
Speaker 2:I said, ever since I had my son, like my body just changed and it's not like how it's definitely didn't go back to how it was, but I can't. I did come out with the most beautiful baby, um, but I'm saying that's something to be proud of, that. I mean, there's some women who are struggling to have children, that can't even have kids. So I just feel like it just seems like as women, we just can't win. It just seems like there's just always so much pressure, so I just want them to be able to be like wow, she's like heavyset and she's got some pounds. Look how confident. And I think that's something that takes young people a long time to learn. That confidence is about how you feel about yourself, because the minute you're very confident, everybody just gravitates towards you. But when you're not secure or if you don't like yourself, I don't know people can feel that.
Speaker 1:Yes, so true, but you know also, to piggyback on that, it takes women, older women, still many years to like themselves.
Speaker 2:Trust me, yeah, I mean it took me a long time to to just come into who I wanted to be like and not be like, not feel pressure, Like, because sometimes I feel like people try to, especially, I mean, even with being African. Sometimes there's like certain cultures and pressures people try to put on you and I feel like I had to get to a really healed stage in my life where it's like I don't feel bad if I'm not comfortable not doing it right.
Speaker 2:I'm not interested, I'm not coming like, I just had to just get. And there's so much power when you get to that point and say this is my body.
Speaker 1:I don't care what you think about it. At the end of the day.
Speaker 2:Even if you don't like it, it doesn't affect my bank account, Right? That's true.
Speaker 1:Right, exactly, I don't know.
Speaker 2:I just feel like it's sad. Even though we have so much nowadays, people just are not as happy or as feeling as confident, because they're being given this image of themselves, like women are getting all this surgery, all these fillers, all these things and it's like, you know, you could still be beautiful and you could be 70 and you would just having aged gracefully and whatever lines, whatever's there.
Speaker 1:There's a reason for those lines, you know. There's a reason for all of that and understanding that that also brings wisdom and it brings a life. You have lived a life and nothing. Nothing is going to stay the same ever. Yeah, you do have to get to a place where you accept yourself as who you are and like that person. And I know a lot of times people talk about self-love and I think that's just important. I mean, I work a lot with affirmations and cards and things for women, but what about self-like? There's people who don't even like who they are in general, you know, and you have to be able to be around other people who like themselves and love themselves and feed off of that, because I think that is really, really important, you know, and I also think it's important to be careful because sometimes, when people don't like themselves, they want to break, tear down other people who are more comfortable with themselves.
Speaker 2:So I feel like it's really important to you know, stand firm and be like okay, this is who I am, cause I I. I'll give you an example. I remember I used to like to like well, I still do like eating, like a lot of different things and then I remember I'd always be around. People would be like I don't know, I don't know, but then one day, as I grew older, I was like you can tell that these folks have not eaten a whole lot of different things.
Speaker 2:So if I was just going with the masses and saying oh, I'll just, you know, follow along, cause they were like this is weird, but you have to look at whatever that person's life experiences are. So I think it's important not to just feed into the opinions of other people, like even sometimes, even if I make a thing or I share it with someone and they're not as, it's fine if you don't like it, but I'm saying I believe in it and I continue to put. And do you know what it made me think of? It made me think of the time when that sculpture popped up in New York and I just thought it was the coolest.
Speaker 1:Oh, of the girl that was just there on Times Square, and then everybody, and then, at first, everybody was mad.
Speaker 2:I was like what are you guys mad about? Because it's like if the lady had been all decked out, there would have been an issue. If she's looking plain, there would have been an issue. If she's looking plain, there would have been an issue. We, especially as Black women, we wanted to be represented as just as we are, and that's exactly what that was. But I feel like initially, everyone just did like what you said when you did your dolls in 2000. And I was confused. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:And then after when they started seeing that it was super popular. Then everybody just suddenly, oh, we're taking pictures with it. But I'm saying I felt like that was very powerful, that she was just an everyday person.
Speaker 1:But I think that's why art is important, because of the messages that it states. You know, whether it's a message of a statue standing in Times Square saying this is just who I am, you know what I mean. Or your beautiful you know beautiful women of color dolls, you know, this is who I am. And I think that without that, without artists out there, you know, you don't get opportunities to even question those, to have those questions. So I think, I think I think your art is beautiful.
Speaker 1:I think it says a lot about empowerment. It says a lot about owning who you are and embracing who you are, and that was the first thing that I took away from that, you know I mean. Second thing is, yeah, I'm a plus size woman and I love who I am. I didn't start out that way either. You know what I'm saying, but it is who I am and I couldn't spend my time living in that space of like oh, this is what I look like now. Okay, yeah, so that's cool, this is what I look like now, and I'm cool with that, but you know what?
Speaker 2:I think there's an importance to be happy with the here and now. So I'm just saying, just not to put yourself down so much, because I think sometimes we're our own worst critics.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we definitely are. We definitely are and I mean, and that follows you, you know, throughout your life. So I think you have to find those ways and find those little moments when you really look at yourself and say, well, I'm really proud of myself, that I've accomplished this, that I've accomplished that. You know, I think a lot of times, like you said, women we take on so many roles and I think we tend to lose ourselves in all of those roles and I think that that definitely plays into us not liking what we see because it takes we don't look at ourselves anymore.
Speaker 1:We don't look at ourselves anymore. We don't have time.
Speaker 2:I would say, also as a mom and a full-time teacher and as a as a wife, like it's a lot Like I used to exercise every single day. I used to do like three or four miles daily and I was very much in shape. But then when I started my art business, I get up early, I make my sculptures, like something has to just, there has to be something and that something is is exercising. I can't, there's no way that I can do all those things and then still be exercising like a crazy and getting it done. But I feel like I really would like for you know, to leave behind something that my son can say look, this is a selection of dolls that my mom made.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you, you want to leave a legacy. Yeah, that you made a difference. You know, in, in, in creating the things that you do. So I totally understand that. So you know you were saying that you get up in the morning, so what is your routine? So you get up in the morning and you make a doll. I mean, how does that? How does that?
Speaker 2:work. So I don't know. I just I feel like I started realizing that if I didn't make time for my art it was just not going to happen. Because, like I'm like my husband and I are super traditional for the most part, so I'm like cooking and I'm doing different things around the house. I mean, he's military, so he does a lot of cleaning. But I just was realizing, every time they were up I was like I was busy and I could never get anything done. So I started getting up. So I think at first I started getting up at five and then after that I started getting up at four and then I started getting up at three.
Speaker 2:I did two, but then when two got me kind of sleepy later, so, for the most part, every single day, whether it's a weekend, a holiday, I get up around three o'clock in the morning to do my art, and it doesn't have to necessarily be a sculptor adult. Right now I'm working on some sculptures because the minute something sells, I have to replace it.
Speaker 2:Especially with me having a full-time job, so like this one that I was saying I just sold in this little guy right here, because I'm shipping them out tomorrow, I have to have to have to make sure that they are immediately replaced.
Speaker 2:My numbers always stay constant, so I feel like I just have to be so proactive about it, because I want my artistic presence to be as if I'm a full-time artist. There's an event, if someone calls me, like right now, Blumenthal, which is like the Broadway company Bloom Studios, has five of my sculptures in their gift shop where they're doing this life-size monopoly situation. Oh, that's cool. So I just never want a situation where a big opportunity hits and I'm like I don't have any sculptures, or I'm a mom of a six-year-old and like you know what I'm saying Like there is not an excuse that I need to have, so the work just has to be there. Wow. So I don't know Like I feel like I've just made a commitment to it and it's just so important for me to do that even if I just have them in different stages right, even if.
Speaker 1:I have always working on them.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, always working to produce that and I also switch it up, like I said, sometimes like I'll decide to work on a collage. That's what keeps me in production all the time. When I get tired of making a doll, I'll be like oh, let me do a collage, let me do a assignment, let me do a paint. So it's the rotation of these different things that I'm doing Right?
Speaker 1:OK, yeah, because you do work in different and different and different areas of the art media.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, I definitely understand that.
Speaker 1:It's so interesting to hear you say that, though, like you're up at three o'clock and this is what you do and this is your process, and then, yes, you do have a young child and you are married and you do have a husband, you know.
Speaker 1:But the fact that you stated that you realize you had to make it a priority and that is and I think that that goes without saying when it comes to building a business, regardless, you know, whether you are building it in the art world or you know, tech world, it doesn't, it doesn't really matter. It's about the commitment and, and I think it's important too, that you want to leave a legacy, it's about the commitment and, and I think it's important too, that you want to leave a legacy, it's not, you know, there's something else besides that happening. Yes, you want to be prepared for a show, you want to do all of those things, but you also want to leave a legacy for your, for your, you know, for your son to to know that he can still do what it is that he, that his heart desires to do, and I think that's really so important.
Speaker 2:And I also feel like there's something about living a lifestyle where you're focused and you have goals. Like living that goal based lifestyle really helps you to stay like grounded and not distracted. Because it's like every day I wake up it's like what do I need to work on today, what needs to be finished? And it's like I started realizing I just have to do a little bit of something. I can't, I'm not going to finish it all. Like this morning I started this sculpture, I put it together and I'm going to put it aside.
Speaker 2:I may begin papier-mâché tomorrow, it may be next month, it may be two months from now. Right, I may begin another one. Like it's just. However it happens, I have like all these projects that are like in the halfway point where I can just pick something up and finish it. But one of my biggest rules is I never rush. Like, let's say, there's an opportunity that I have to submit for by the end of this week, it needs to be something that's already done. I don't like to ever feel like, oh my gosh, I have to finish this thing because I want to make sure, like the quality is right, right, right and, and it's a different energy too.
Speaker 1:I think when you do that, you know so it may not even turn out the way you want it to turn out, because you are, because you are rushing, you don't have time to spend on on crafting it for yourself, you know so I feel like also, when I make them, I'm not making them with the intent to sell them, because I've had sometimes had kids be like oh, are you trying to?
Speaker 2:is it something you're trying to sell? I said anytime, every time I make something that I the, the goal is not to sell, the goal is to create whatever it is that I'm feeling that I want to create in that moment. Now, if somebody wants to buy it, I'm not going to tell them they can't buy it, but um, it's never, that's never the um. Right, it's never the driving goal.
Speaker 1:That's what you're saying. It's never the drive and go. That's what you're saying.
Speaker 2:it's never the driving go for example, I feel like and I've had a lot of people say, oh well, are you gonna quit teaching and go full-time now that you're doing all this? And I was like, no, I feel like my, my teaching is like my favorite thing, like to be able to work with, like my students. So, for example, this coming school year I'm gonna be teaching contemporary craft and design. I've had to like I feel like it's in the uncomfortable spaces is when I expand.
Speaker 2:So the last time the dolls happened, when, I was teaching a sculpture class, now it's contemporary art and design. I'm creating a whole nother set of lessons and I'm very competitive, by the way. So those lessons, they have to be such that if there's a couple of students that nail that it needs to go out to some competition somewhere and be like you know what I'm saying, it matters what it is.
Speaker 2:You can't just be like, oh, here's some yarn, and just do whatever. No, there has to be some serious planning behind it. But I feel like that work that I do with those kids makes me have to stretch myself and grow, because I feel like I'm the most expensive resource they have in that room and so I can't just like there's a lot of art teachers that just go oh, here's some colors to straw. No, you have to. You have to really guide them.
Speaker 1:Yes, you're so true, cause I you know. I mean because I think that's where you you allow them to find out a little bit more about who they are.
Speaker 2:And also, I think, with my students. Sometimes I divvy things up because sometimes I'll show them a finished project Like I can't do that and I'm like, no, the first thing you're going to do is I've created a module. Module has about eight activities. Every time you finish an activity, you submit that item and they are not realizing that they're actually going through an entire process and it's done.
Speaker 1:they've got something better than the example that I showed you in the first place and not even that you're showing them the process of things that they could use for other things in their life exactly. So what else are you working on? I know you said you're doing the other thing for, uh, for your students. What other kind of mediums are you planning on working on in the future, or you just want to stay with the ones that you have?
Speaker 2:I feel like being an artist is like a shopping spree with no limit. So, like right now, because of that class, I'm looking into quilling and then I'm looking into I'm working on some quilted houses, because I feel like there's simplicity in the shapes that my kids would probably be able to easily you know they can cut a rectangle and just put something together.
Speaker 2:You just make it simple, but it's still got an advanced Right, something about it, and I'm also going to. I used to do a lot of batik, so I'm getting ready. I just got my little materials to begin doing batik because I think for that course I'll probably do that and um, and also in caustic, I don't know, like I said, the minute there's a new course, you have to show up ready because those kids will, like you'll be stressed out if you do not plan accordingly. Seriously, do you know what I'm saying? You need to plan accordingly. I'm talking about high school.
Speaker 1:Yes, oh, yes, oh well everybody's done, like my kids.
Speaker 2:Sometimes they're like oh my gosh, ms Vincent, we just got done. It just seemed like we keep. I said listen, as long as there are school days left, I still have projects, yes. So you might as well not rush and take your time, because anytime you're in here you're going to be working.
Speaker 1:That's wonderful. That is so wonderful. Well, I'm just so glad to have had you on the show. I'm so glad you shared your journey and your beautiful dolls, and I love the fact that you are really helping to empower these young minds out there. You know what I mean With things that are not just creative, but things that are going to really, once they learn them, they're really going to be so useful in their life. I'm telling they truly are, because you have to have some type of structure in order to get things happening in your own life and I think that you bring that to them. So I want to say thank you for doing that for them, as well as and being a teacher, you know.
Speaker 2:Thank you Well, thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate you even taking time out of your day to ask me questions about my work and actually share my work with your people that follow you and your podcast.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you so much. I appreciate that, but you know you, you you have beautiful work and I really you know, my goal, as always with the Dompreneur I had a show previous to this in the Dom world was the same thing is to be able to show people the creators and the creatives in the community, because I just don't think they get enough attention, enough praise for the work that they do, and so I will always make sure that that's what I do, and I just found your work to be fascinating and I just love it, so I'm just thankful that you said yes to being on the podcast. I appreciate that. How did you?
Speaker 1:find my work On Instagram. I'll be looking for dolls or things like that. And I don't even know if I said dolls. I was just looking, I do creators or doll makers or artists and things like that and it came up and I just I just fell in love with them.
Speaker 2:I just thought they were so cool and powerful and joyful Because sometimes I do Instagram ads and then I found that to be really helpful to reach like a broader audience.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I did that. I don't think I was just scrolling through creators or something like that, and and it came up and I looked at them and they, just like I said they, they touched me because you know, one I'm a plus size woman and other I did a plus size doll. So I, you know, I want people to just love who they are, no matter what they weigh. You know, that's just a, that's my thing. I mean, I want that to be something that's powerful for them, and so when I saw your work, I was like I got to have her on the show. So I'm just thankful that you say yes. So before we wrap up, can you just let people know how they can reach out to you and see your amazing work?
Speaker 2:I would say the best place to find me is on Instagram. My Instagram is most up to date. I do have a website, but I'm not really the best at keeping it up to date. I'm trying to stock up my Etsy store and my Etsy store is found under the link below the bio of my Instagram. But it's really that's definitely one of my struggles is the administrative side of the business, between the making of the work and then putting things into the online store and but I'm really trying to do it, especially before I go back to the new school year. So, and I'm also on Facebook. You can follow me on Facebook and LinkedIn and TikTok, and it's always my name, tina G Vincent.
Speaker 1:Tina G Vincent. Ok, on Instagram, tiktok and Facebook is all under Tina G Vincent, or you can just Google me and I should even Tina Vincent dolls.
Speaker 2:Ok, definitely come up. Ok, all under Tina G Vincent. Or you can just Google me, and then I should even Tina Vincent dolls. Okay, definitely come up.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, cool, tina Vincent dolls are either. Tina G Vincent. Yes, okay, on the Instagram. Okay, beautiful. Well, again, thank you so much for sharing your journey, your beautiful dolls and your story and your love for teaching, which I I appreciate that so much, and so I just want to say thank you again for being on the Dialpreneur Podcast. Thank you, tina. Thank you, you're so welcome, love. Thank you so much for joining us at the Dialpreneur Podcast. We really hope you enjoyed the episode and feel inspired by our amazing guests, as well as learn something new about the creative people within the Dial community. So don't forget to visit our website at wwwthedollpreneurpodcastcom for more content and please, we would love for you to stay connected to us, so please subscribe to the Dollpreneur Podcast newsletter, youtube channel, instagram and Facebook pages, and they can all be found at the website, wwwthedollpreneurpodcastcom. Thank you again for listening to the Dollpreneur Podcast and until next time, have a doll fabulous day.
