Don’t let Tana Mongeau’s party girl persona fool you — or her Twitter bio, for that matter. While Mongeau may describe herself as a “not bad for a 5 with no talent,” the opposite is true.
I sat down with the 24-year-old YouTube star to learn about how she’s quietly building one of the most successful businesses in the creator economy. Over the past eight years, the Las Vegas native went from surviving a turbulent upbringing to thriving with over 5 million subscribers and 900 million views. But the road was anything but easy.
“Over time, I’ve had to figure out everything as I go,” Mongeau reflected. “That’s probably why I had a million scandals and stuff because it was all at the forefront of the camera, figuring out how to navigate life, adulthood, and this business as I go.”
Those scandals most notably include TanaCon, Mongeau’s attempt to rival VidCon in 2018, which was shut down to overcrowding safety concerns on day one and later drew mass criticism. Now years later, Mongeau seems to be using what she learned from her failures to amass a fortune in the form of products like Dizzy and now Tanabis, revenue from OnlyFans, and even her own agency, Tana’s Angels Agency, a sub-division of Tara Electra’s Unruly Agency.
Not to mention, Mongeau won the 2019 Streamy Award for Creator of the Year, beating out the likes of MrBeast and Emma Chamberlain.
So how did Mongeau bounce back? And what has she learned about the realities of being a business-woman in a male-dominated creative field? In our interview, Mongeau shares her insights, upcoming projects, and the value of remaining authentic.
Shattering The Mold
“I was just unhinged. And the other girls that I was competing with were the beauty guru girls who were getting those Neutrogena deals and those Dove deals and the Coca-Cola deal,” Mongeau said. “And that’s never gonna come to me.”
Mongeau’s videos don’t have a lavish budget or extravagant editing. But they are unapologetically herself — whether that’s telling all in a storytime or being unabashedly truthful in her opinions on pop culture.
While Mongeau’s storytime content might have deterred those early brand deals, staying true to herself is what built her longevity on the platform. Mongeau’s “unhinged” brand created the perfect launching pad for Dizzy, Tanabis and Tana’s Angels — Mongeau’s OnlyFans modeling agency.
Ironically, Mongeau has titled her podcast “CANCELLED,” but her candid nature has arguably made her un-cancellable.
Even Mongeau’s canned wine beverage Dizzy origins come from a place of authenticity.
For nearly a year, Mongeau and her team had been building out Tana’s Tacos — a ghost kitchen and pop-up restaurant with Virtual Dining Concepts, the same partner behind MrBeast Burger.
“I hate to say this, but I don’t think it’s right. I don’t think Tana needed Tana’s Tacos,” Mongeau recalled telling her team as they were nearing launch. “We switched to Dizzy and it was a shot in the dark.”
Mongeau realized that Tana’s Tacos was inauthentic to her brand and she couldn’t envision being excited about it when looking ahead five years. But as a self-proclaimed party girl, she asked herself: “Why am I not partying with my own drink in my hand?”
That’s when Dizzy was born. Since debuting her beverage in 2022, Mongeau said she’s sold “hundreds of thousands of units” of her canned wine. More impressively, Dizzy is just a part of Mongeau’s broader strategy to diversify her income. Another huge source of revenue has been OnlyFans. On March 23, 2022, Tana posted a trophy she received her from management company, Unruly Agency, for becoming a top earner after crossing over $10,000,000. During our interview, Mongeau wouldn’t reveal the exact dollar amount from OnlyFans, but she did confirm that number has only grown since then.
Proving The Critics Wrong
“People are going to underestimate you as a woman in pretty much everything, and you’re gonna have to claw your way up a little harder than most men are,” Mongeau said. “But I wanted it and I did it, and I don’t give a [redacted] if it’s hard.”
Only in the past few years has Mongeau actually felt the recognition for her talents, both as a creator and an entrepreneur. Until then, it was a battle to convince people of her capabilities, often met with an, “Oh, you’re actually smart?”
With both Tanabis and Dizzy, Mongeau repeatedly had potential partners laugh in her face, shutting the door and telling her, “You’re not a business, you’re a crazy girl.”
This didn’t deter Mongeau. If anything, it invigorated her. “Sit there and think I am an untalented five with the brain cells of a toaster, and soon you’re gonna be bringing me a coffee,” Mongeau said of her naysayers.
Although Mongeau said her boundary-pushing content in those early deals left enough brand deals behind to “buy an island,” staying true to herself is what built her a cult-like fanbase and the varied success she’s had today. From her podcast to live events, merchandise, meet & greets, club appearances, Tanabis, Tana’s Angels and Dizzy — nothing would exist without Mongeau being herself.
Much of this mindset comes from her mentor and friend, Paris Hilton, who pioneered the modern influencer and the idea of using a controversial perception to your advantage.
“Had I been cookie cutter, I would’ve never amassed any success,” Mongeau said. “And had I switched up to a perfectly brand safe business woman … I don’t think I would’ve made it to the point that I’m at.”
By refusing to be ordinary and cookie cutter, Mongeau is now seeing extraordinary results. And at 24 years old, she’s just getting started.
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