Charlotte artist markets talent on Times Square billboard

TANAJAH WALLACE

Tanajah Wallace, a Johnson C. Smith University alumna who works at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, took to a Times Square billboard to market herself as an actor and model.

New York City is known for its beauty, but what really attracts people to the city that never sleeps is the lights, especially from the big billboards that decorate Times Square.

Those billboards often contain big marketing campaigns from many popular brands.

Tanajah Wallace, an aspiring actress who lives in Charlotte, is the newest face to be seen by millions of tourists that visit the popular destination on a billboard displayed for two days.

Wallace, who aspires to become a model and actress, considers the arts as a safe space. The New York billboard of Wallace and her Instagram handle – @TheTanajahWallace – is something she wants to show the world as part of her new stage. Wallace has more than 3,000 followers.

“I think entertainment for me is a way to express and it also has been a part of me since I was younger,” she said.

Wallace’s campaign is reminiscent of the plot to the 1954 movie “It Could Happen to You,” a romantic comedy in which the lead character played by Judy Holliday spends $1,000 to rent a large billboard overlooking Columbus Circle to make a name for herself. Ultimately, the billboard delivers a lucrative advertising and television career as well as sparking a romance.

Wallace found her way to Times Square as part of a 12-month journey to build a portfolio and get signed by a talent agency. A friend who is an entertainment lawyer in New York helped her make the advertisement a reality.

“The billboard, I think that’s just a part of the manifestation part,” she said. “Sometimes it's not what you know, but it’s who know. You’ve been grinding and doing your thing for a while and then you build real relationships to build real friendships. I guess he just found a way to connect with whoever and kind of showcase who I am and allow for that to be a moment for me.”

While it isn’t the usual way to getting onto a billboard, the campaign represents an opportunity to generate exposure. Although the campaign hasn’t led to work yet, it has boosted Wallace’ social media following.

“It wasn’t something that I knew was going to happen,” she said. “I was planning to go out to New York and work with a photographer out there and also visit my friend and this was something that he told me.”

Though she is passionate about her work in Charlotte, Wallace has other goals.

But she has a plan.

“If I’m not getting money from doing brand work like when I worked with two brands, I went out to Florida that paid, I work my full-time job,” she said. “Until I make it, I got to still support myself, pay my bills, my car, my house, all those things.”

Wallace said she plans to also obtain a doctorate in psychology by the time she turns 30.

“It’s my dream,” she said. “It hasn’t gotten me where it’s totally supporting me but that’s the goal.”

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