Meet Tonya Tran | Creative, Veteran & Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tonya Tran and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tonya, let’s talk legacy – what do you want yours to be?
Wow, this is such a profound question!! I have always lived a humble lifestyle, yet I am super proud of my accomplishments as a young professional. When people call me a legend, no kidding, I am still learning how to grow into that!! I live to inspire others. You’ve got to stay true to yourself. I’d like to be known as the person who saw things from a different point of view to others. I wouldn’t consider myself as a person who likes to always follow the “status-quo”.

Perhaps, I am an optimistic radical. I love to advocate for necessary changes and find the current loopholes to fill in. That’s what I want people to remember me by. An optimistic radical. I really have a lot of fun doing it.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
The journey to success is not a straight-away A-Z type of roadmap. No way! I wish it were that easy, but if it was, then more people would want to do it! Right after high school, I left for Army boot camp. I was lost in high school. I had an idea of where I wanted to be but didn’t know exactly how to get there only because it wasn’t a typical career per say.

There were times when I wanted to give up, because it felt like I was in this toxic relationship of not being able to live out my true identity. I wanted to fulfil my dreams of being in the music industry. At a certain point, I didn’t know who I was anymore. Questions would arise such as, who am I? What am I supposed to do for the rest of my life? Where am I going? Am I where I’m supposed to be? What do you mean I can’t be political? Does that not mean I don’t have a voice? All these rules and protocols required so much of my thoughts during my time in service. Ironically, I have a degree in Political Science with primary focuses on current foreign affairs.

So, it was really weird not having permission to be political in any kind of news or press, and technically “not being able” to express personal political opinions on social media while being in the military. Yet, I had this degree. (Got to love the irony!)

After I finished boot camp, I decided to enroll in college. During my sophomore year, I got an internship at Power 106. That literally changed the course of my life. It put me on the path I wanted for myself. Truly. Power 106 is known to be an R&B and Hip-Hop station. I love all sorts of music ranging from EDM, alternative rock, classical music, and even dream pop. I really love 90’s era hip-hop. In my opinion, hip-hop is a new wave of political rock n’ roll.

I chose to be at Power 106 because 90’s hip-hop wasn’t about conforming to what people felt was normal. I like to tell people: pardon my sanity, in a world that feels literally insane sometimes. I don’t conform whether it’s in music, politics, whatever it is. For instance, when I was just a kid living in America in early 2000’s, I would point out that there was no one who looked like me or my mother on American television. Eventually, this lined up to my life’s purpose in pop culture.

I reached more than 1 million on online engagement. So I guess you can say I do have influence, maybe internet famous. I was just being myself. Really. There’s no secret sauce behind that. It was really a pinch-me moment. I get recognized outside sometimes. My supporters are always like “salute” and/or saying my name through passing, acknowledging my presence. It’s neat. Occasionally we’ll take pictures. My supporters are super respectful. Thanks for that ya’ll!

On an entrepreneurial aspect, being an entrepreneur is super weird. Because even on your worst days, when you’re surrounded in debt, taking L’s, missing targets, losing hope and support, you’re STILL living out your dream and holding tightly to the vision and the dream. That honestly takes a special kind of insanity. Any real entrepreneur can vouch for the same.

I’ve learned to prioritize my well-being. As an arts and musical creative, a military veteran and industrial entrepreneur who wears “a lot of hats” in various professions, I would say to learn how to be more loving to yourself. Learning how to forgive yourself and stop comparing what could’ve, should’ve, would’ve happened. Life happens. We all go through it. As a matter of fact, the chances of you making that same mistake are highly unlikely. Learning how to forgive yourself and address the fact that you made the best possible choice then, with the limited amount of information you had. Learning from that experience is vital.

I’m human. I have feelings. All business is personal to us, wouldn’t you agree? It’s all interconnected. I’ve learned how to build a team and know when it’s time to leave a certain business and/or partner. Some of these decision processes are extremely tough. That’s half the battle. It is what it is. We live and learn through these lessons that make up our life story. Stay true to yourself and simply be a good person!

In conclusion, I wanted to add it on this note: “My support system is a bunch of loyal, loving good hearted people. And that’s something that a lot of these other people are missing, they may have followers, but I have leaders, a bunch of ambitious, aspiring, life changing people who are all looking to help and better the lives of themselves and others. So what more could I ask for other than what I already have? I found loyalty. I found respect and I found love in all of them. Do I get nervous that I’ll fail sometimes, yes…I am human but my confidence is high because I have people like you supporting me.”

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well, first off, we got to go dancing! This could be literally anytime and anywhere! And we’re most likely getting some Thai food in the city. I love going to Thai District in Downtown Long Beach. It has a super vibrant and snazzy ambience. Perfect for a date or just hanging out with your bestie. My top 5 foods are hibachi, sushi, Vietnamese food, pizza and for number 5 I’ll leave it open just because I have a few ties and I can’t seem to decide at this very second! I am obsessed with culture. I’m all for it. I’d most likely convince my bestie to go on a random road trip somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Yup, that’s very me.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I give a shout out to Women Are Heroes, Too! (www.WAH2.org)

They advocate for change by assisting women veterans and their loved ones heal holistically. The unique part of WAH2 is that they help gainfully employ these awesome sister heroes. I am proud to be an ambassador and advocate for this organization.

Website: www.wah2.org

Instagram: tonyattrvn

Youtube: www.youtube.com/@ttbby

Image Credits
Jackson Wang, 88Rising, Jennifer Lopez, Former Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti, CL, Zendaya, Steph Curry, 222, Triple Deuces, WAH2, wnba, NBA