By TJ Mitchell | Yup! It's TJ Mitchell — The Blog Y'all… I have a question. Have you ever been in a room FULL of people, laughing, talking, having a good time, and somehow still felt like nobody really knew what was going on in your life? Because let me tell you something… Being surrounded by people and feeling connected to people are two VERY different things. And that's something I've been thinking about lately. If you know me, you know I'm a people person. I love talking.

By TJ Mitchell | Yup! It's TJ Mitchell — The Blog Y'all… I recently had my eye photographed, and let me tell you, I never thought I'd be sitting here writing an entire blog post about my EYEBALL! 😂 But here we are! If you've ever seen iris photography, you know it's pretty fascinating. They take a close-up photograph of your iris and turn it into a beautiful piece of artwork. And when I saw mine? I was honestly amazed. The colors. The patterns. The tiny details you would nev

The Beautiful Chaos of Being a Creative Person By TJ Mitchell | Yup! It's TJ Mitchell — The Blog Y'ALL… Can somebody PLEASE explain why my brain thinks 2:00 in the morning is the PERFECT time to come up with a brand-new business idea?! 😭😂 Because I'm trying to GO TO SLEEP! But apparently, my brain has other plans. One minute, I'm lying in bed, minding my business. The next minute, I'm thinking about starting a new business, producing a stage show, creating a YouTube series,

By TJ Mitchell | Yup! It's TJ Mitchell — The Blog Y'ALL… if there's ONE thing working on cruise ships has taught me, it's that PEOPLE ARE SOMETHING ELSE! And I mean that in the best way possible. Well… MOST of the time. Because when you put thousands of people from different countries, cultures, backgrounds, and personalities on one floating hotel in the middle of the ocean, BABY… you're going to learn some things! I've met some of the kindest people imaginable. I've met peop

By TJ Mitchell | Yup! It's TJ Mitchell — The Blog Y'all… if somebody had told me years ago that I'd go from teaching students in a classroom to entertaining guests in the middle of the ocean, I probably would've looked at them like they had completely lost their mind. Because WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'm going to be working on a cruise ship?! 😂 But here we are! From school hallways in Texas to stages, microphones, and cruise ships sailing around the world, my career has taken some t

A World Mental Health Day Reflection By TJ Mitchell | Yup! It's TJ Mitchell Y'all, can we talk about something for a minute? And I mean REALLY talk. If you know me, you know I love to laugh. I love making people smile, bringing energy into a room, grabbing a microphone, and turning an ordinary moment into something unforgettable. I'm the person who can walk into a room full of strangers and somehow leave knowing everybody's life story. 😂 But here's something I've learned ove

If you would've asked younger TJ what my life would look like at 30, I can almost guarantee you this was NOT the answer. 😂 Working on cruise ships? Traveling around the world? Hosting events with a microphone in my hand? Creating content? Running a creative business? Writing books? Randomly waking up in another country and sometimes having to remind myself what day it is? Yeah… none of that was on the original vision board. But here we are. And lately I've been thinking abou

Hello, October. I don't really know what you have planned for me, but I guess that's part of the fun. Usually when a new month comes around, we start making all these declarations. This is MY month. New month, new me. I'm about to lock in. And listen… I love a fresh start just as much as anybody else. 😂 But this October, I'm walking into the month a little differently. I'm not asking October to completely change my life. I'm not coming into it with a list of 72 things that H

There’s this trend on TikTok about “When love finds me again…” I made my version of it recently. At first, it was just supposed to be a collection of pictures and little thoughts about what I hope love looks like whenever it finds its way back into my life. But somewhere between choosing the photos and writing the words, I realized I wasn’t really describing my dream relationship. I was describing the person I’ve become. At 30, love looks different to me. I don't want somethi

Thirty years. Countless chapters. Every version of me fought, dreamed, survived, and kept becoming. This is the life I fought to live.

The clock is running out on my 20s. And somewhere between looking through old photos, thinking about the people who came and went, remembering classrooms I once stood in, stages I've held microphones on, flights I've boarded, ships I've called home, countries I've explored, tears I've cried and moments I've laughed until my stomach hurt, one thought keeps hitting me: I really lived an entire decade. On September 10, I turn 30. Thirty. It's strange because I can still see 20-y

This Isn’t Just Cruise Life—This Is My Purpose Every now and then, someone asks me when I’m going to leave cruise ships behind and begin a “real career.” What they don’t realize is that I already have one. My career just happens to cross oceans. More Than a Job at Sea Working aboard a cruise ship is sometimes viewed as an extended vacation. People see the beautiful destinations, ocean views, exciting parties and photographs from around the world. What they don’t always see ar

Goodbye 2025. Hello 2026. No Regrets. Just Growth. If I’m being honest… 2025 didn’t come quietly. It arrived loud, demanding, transformative—and at times, exhausting. It tested me in ways I didn’t expect, stretched me in ways I didn’t plan, and revealed versions of myself I didn’t know I was still becoming. But that’s the thing about growth—it doesn’t ask for permission. It just shows up. 2025: The Year I Became Unapologetic 2025 wasn’t about playing small. It wasn’t about

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