We had the good fortune of connecting with Marka & Jamesna Manning and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marka & Jamesna, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
We chose a creative career as travel, relationship, & lifestyle content creators because when we first started traveling we noticed that there were not many African American influencers who were being shown in the travel industry and we wanted to show that African-Americans travel as well as engage in adventurous things. As we grew deeper into our travel niche, we noticed there were plenty of solo travelers, but not many couples who travel together or families. Therefore,  we branded those extra pillars togethers and became Memories With The Mannings.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Memories With The Mannings is a growing brand that specializes in travel, family, relationship, and lifestyle content creation. When we first started we were solely on focused on travel and informing our followers about different travel destinations since we are also a full travel agency. Many people say that travel influencing is an “over saturated” market, however we viewed it as an outlet to inform, share, & promote relationships, family, & different lifestyle varieties all while traveling. This is what separates us apart from other travel influencers. We’re excited about watching all of our social channels grow & also booking travel for any of followers that may be interested. Consistency has been a hard challenge for us because we lacked consistency for a while. We jumped into this blind & did not realize the amount of work and effort it takes to build your own travel brand/blog. In addition, we’re still parents and  we both work professional full time careers. Marka is an accountant and Jamesna is a social worker. We learned to find a balance by planning ahead, batching content, and being organized between our professional lives, family life, and our new creative brand. We would like the world to know that we eagerly share our lifestyle to encourage and inspire our audience to maintain a healthy family life, safely explore the world, & simply try new things.Together, we are a couple who understands the importance of consistently watering our marriage & family to fully thrive.

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?
We’re from Nashville, TN, which is now a very popular vacation destination. If we had a best friend who was visiting Nashville for the week an exciting, fun, and interesting itinerary could be set based off of these places:

Places to Eat:

Sinema- You would want to go on a Saturday or Sunday for their bottomless breakfast & Mimosas. Be sure to get a cute picture in the vanity bathroom ladies!

Liberty Commons- If you’re looking for an aesthetically pleasing location with great food try Liberty Commons.

SOUL Restaurant-Aesthetically pleasing Instagramable vibes, great food, and live music.

Locations to visit:

Parthenon

Pedestrian Walking Bridge- The bridge connects  to downtown Nashville  and has breath taking views of downtown Nashville.

Love Circle – if you’re with a significant other this a great place to see more views of Nashville.

National Museum of African American Music-The museum is dedicated to African music & it’s history.

Nissan Stadium-If you’re in the city during football season, be sure to check out a Titans Game!

Bridgestone Arena- If you’re visiting the city during hockey season try a Nashville Predators game.

Hang out locations:

The Pedal Tavern-Grab some booze & pedal around downtown Nashville.

LA Jackson-This is a great rooftop bar whether it’s day or night! You’ll also be in the Gulch area and it’s plenty of bars to hit!

Fables-If you’re looking for some upscales cocktails then Fables is the place you need to be.

White Limozeen- This a Dolly Parton’s famous Instagrammable rooftop. If you’re looking for a pink aesthetic this is the place!

Minerva- Day Parties, hookah, & vibes are the best if you’re looking to eat & party at the same time.

Any place on Broadway is fun if you’re looking to bring out your cowboy hats/boots.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Upon our journey we have met some amazing creatives. One of our favorite content creators is Nikki. Her IG handle is @wheredidnikkigo. She was one of the first creators who started to support us & provide us with some knowledge about how travel influencing worked. Her support and encouragement has motivated us to continue to create content we enjoy to share with our audience.

Website: Www.memorieswiththemannings.org

Instagram: https://instagram.com/memorieswiththemannings

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MemoriesWithTheMannings/

Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRAwkXQS/

Image Credits
Photos with Green Clothes-Demian Gibbs, Aruba Photo with Castle behind it-Memories With The Mannings

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutSocal is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.