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Tinx On Embracing the Unknown and Navigating Career Paths in Your Twenties

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Before Christina Najjar, known to her 1.5 million TikTok followers and nearly 550,000-strong Instagram community as “Tinx,” became the creator and influencer she is today, she was a twenty-something-year-old Stanford grad dealing with uncertainty and dissatisfaction in her career.

“I was so lost [in my twenties],” shares Najjar on the latest episode of WorkParty. Now 32, the social media star, podcast host of It’s Me, Tinx, and author of her newly released book, The Shift: Change Your Perspective, Not Yourself, describes the often glamorized decade as a time of self-doubt with high highs and low lows. “It was very scatterbrained, very spiral-y,” she says. “It was a far cry from what I thought my twenties were going to be.”

After graduating from college, Najjar went on to work in retail management for Gap Inc. for three years at the company’s headquarters in San Francisco. “I always thought I wanted to be in retail or fashion, and it was really difficult for me,” she says. “I had a hard time; I wasn't good at my job; I felt stressed all the time. I was just so confused because I had put all my hopes on this career and then it was not what I thought it was.”

Najjar then began working for Poshmark, a social marketplace to sell new and secondhand fashion, but encountered the same lack of fulfillment and purpose in her career. “I didn't feel like I was doing a good job,” she confesses. Her frankness and refreshing openness on the topic is exactly what brought her notoriety and a loyal following on social media.

“I learned a lot in both [roles],” she says. “That's the thing: Even if you're not in a job you love, you can always take something and learn from it." Eventually, Najjar pivoted and went on to pursue a master’s in fashion journalism at Parsons in New York City; after which she began freelance writing.

Then, during the pandemic, like many, she found herself unemployed, which is when she decided to download TikTok for the first time under the name “Tinx.” Creating content and building an online community gave her the fulfillment she had been yearning for. Her candid conversation and advice on everything from mental health to relationships (plus comical skits and bits on rich moms) earned her the title of “TikTok’s older sister.” 

Though her previous jobs felt like misdirections at the time, she says that her early work experiences informed the incredibly successful career she has today—Najjar reportedly earned $11 million in 2022 alone. It's a lesson that she believes could be true for anyone navigating their careers and looking to take that next step.

Tune into the latest episode of WorkParty with Jaclyn Johnson where Tinx dives into dating and relationships, why your twenties aren’t all it’s marketed to be, and why everyone needs to “double down” on friendships.

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