Meet Tiffany Nicole Clevenger

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tiffany Nicole Clevenger.

Tiffany, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up on a cotton farm with one older sibling. My days were filled with playing outside in the mud, on the irrigation pipes, all over the cotton farm. My imagination was something to behold but the thing was I didn’t share it with anyone. I guess I lacked self-confidence growing up and felt too shy to share my dreams with my parents.

I was really good at sports growing up so to the outside world, that is all they saw. They saw my dedication and determination to get a college scholarship in basketball and I accomplished that. I was always envious of the kids who did theater at my high school and I was intrigued by the drama kids at my college, but I felt I had to pick so I picked what I was comfortable with.

What no one saw was my imagination turning me into the lead actress of the film I just saw. They didn’t see the hours spent in front of mirror practicing dialogue and the hours my mind would float to a world where I was in character.

To be completely transparent, I didn’t know what I was doing either…but it turns out I was practicing the art of acting.

After getting my business degree and landing a highly sought after position with Eli Lily Pharmaceuticals, I still had that nagging feeling of ‘what if’. My mind still ran rampant with scenarios of being in character. I kept my focus (as much as possible) on the job at hand. Not too long after starting I was being ‘re-aligned’ so I found a position with a new company near my home town in Lubbock. Before I left though, my best guy friend, Nick, and I started dating.  We ended up being in a long-distance relationship.

Years go by and I find myself at home with my nine month old and married to my Nick. Like every mother out there, I thought my baby boy was the most precious thing to ever grace the earth and thought modeling and possibly acting would be perfect for him. After I thought this I realized, now is the time to shoot for my dreams. I was in a perfect scenario as I just stopped working to stay home with my son, I lived in Dallas (a great hub for actors looking to learn and expand their experience), and I had time. I didn’t have a career-propelling me and taking all my energy. So, I dove in.

I found a role online to audition for and I applied. I was soon contacted back and asked to come back in for an in-person audition and I actually got a part in this short film! I was ecstatic and I just knew the universe was sending me a sign! This first experience was truly amazing and I will always cherish it. I then was able to land a few more roles via networking, auditions, etc. I enrolled in acting class at R.E.A.C.T studios to hone my skills and to learn all that I can. I even went back to work part-time to finance my classes, gas, day-care, etc. to pursue this dream.

I can’t lie about my professional business career, I love being a Sr. Project Manager and being an independent contractor at that. It is very freeing to me and the leadership qualities demanded by this position come easily to me. It’s amazing how I can be very organized professionally but not personally, lol.

Currently, I am taking a quick break from acting and classes as I am due to deliver my second son in November.

Has it been a smooth road?
No road worth traveling is very smooth in my opinion. There is a lot to be proud of when you have worked and received what you want. My road was full of surprises and some hardships. As for acting, I haven’t had a lot of challenges as I am still pretty new at it, but growing up I definitely had some.

I was a kid that got picked on a lot when I was little. I went to a private school and don’t remember having a lot of friends. The teachers thought I had some learning issues so I had to attend a grade in between kindergarten and first grade called ‘Pre-First’. In this class of seven, I was 1 of 2 girls. The girl was merciless. My mom says every day I would come home crying and complaining about this girl. It must have been bad because I have blocked it out. Fortunately, we transferred to a public school and things were so much better. I focused on sports and found I had a natural ability for basketball.

While playing year-around basketball otherwise known as AAU basketball, my mom got some bad ‘vibes’ from my coach. He wanted me to go with him alone to tournament out of state since my parents couldn’t make it. When my mom said, “Hell no” I was demoted in a sense to a younger team after excelling on the older, scouting team. Needless to say, we left his organization and not two years later he was charged with sexually assaulting a minor and possession of some awful photographs. I am very thankful to my parents for being so protective and seeing the signs.

I was able to get my basketball scholarship without this coach and went to college. After a year though, my parents got a divorce and I stopped playing basketball and transferred to Texas Tech University (my dream school). Since I didn’t have a scholarship, I needed to pay my way. I took out loans, worked 2 to 3 jobs, completed summer classes and graduated with my business administration degree within 3.5 years of college. I am honestly proud of myself for completely all of this because within six months of graduating I was diagnosed with Attention-Deficient-Disorder. Something I never would have thought affected me but in my professional world others had recognized the signs and suggested I get tested. So, maybe the teachers back in grade school saw what my co-workers did. This was something that I thought was just me…some sort of learning issue that only pertained to me but knowing it affected others and I wasn’t alone was comforting.

ADD is still something that affects me to this day. For the most part, I am able to manage it with medication but it can only help so much.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
My acting resume has a few things listed on from Short-Films, R.E.A.C.T acting classes to workshops with Del Shores. I am so excited for what the future holds after baby boy number 2 comes along. I love being able to dive into a character and relate it to myself in ways that only applicable to me.

Contact Info:

• Email: nicoletclevenger@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tnclevy
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tiffanynicolephoto

Image Credit:
Tiffany Nicole Photography

Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.