Jake Pavelka’s multi-faceted ex-girlfriend Tanya Douglas PHOTOS
The internet is all a-buzz over 24-year-old landscape architect Tanya Douglas who claims to be the ex-girlfriend of The Bachelor‘s Jake Pavelka. That may not sound too remarkable, but Tanya says the two were still in a relationship as he was taping the show and even after!
All the juicy tidbits will be revealed in detail when her two hour-plus interview with Panama City radio personality Steve Kramer of WILN is made available to the public, which according to the station’s March 8 podcast will probably be Monday, March 15. (The release is reportedly being delayed to accommodate an article and interview in Star Magazine, due out the same day) For now we will have to settle for the preview clip available HERE.
In my previous post on Tanya I expressed my admiration for her marketing tenacity because she seemed to have put together a very slick website to promote herself as a landscape architect, a field in which she has a degree from the University of Florida in. Even with the Real Housewives doubleshot tonight I was able to squeeze in a little bit of detective work and look a little deeper into Tanya Douglas. What I found out seems to support my theory from the previous post that Tanya has been “prepping for fame.”
What’s the first thing you should do when you’re about to get splashed across every celebrity site in the blogosphere? Delete your Facebook account. Check. Here’s what’s left of Tanya’s Facebook presence (Click for a larger image in the gallery, but know that I blurred out her friends that were pictured) :
Looking into Tanya’s well-done website I discovered that the domain was registered on January 22, 2010. Sounds like perfect timing! The Bachelor premiered on January 4th so Tanya was really on the ball! To get a nice, professional-looking website up and running between the time she realized Jake wasn’t coming back (which was sometime after the show had finished taping, according to her story) and a few days ago is quite impressive and shows a great deal of initiative! (I’m guessing none of The Bachelor contestants have done as well with their websites. Actually, 95% of reality stars that attempt an online presence don’t measure up either.)
Tanya may have also used her eminent fame to land a job! According to Florida photographer Caroline Johnson, Tanya approached her about a job in the beginning of February and Caroline was so impressed she not only went out and found Tanya a job somewhere else, but she created a blog entry about it! Here’s her entry from February 12, 2010 talking about Tanya (I’m not really great at spelling, but the mistakes are all Caroline’s):
I often have the pleasure of meeting someone that in incredible. A while back I met Tanya Douglas. She had approached me in search of joining the Caroline Johnson team. Unfortuantely, I was already staffed. I met up with her for a second meeting to get to know her and figure out how I could help her secure a job. Her background ironically is in landscape architecture. She is ridiciously talented with sketching. Within 2 seconds she whiped out the sketch while interviewing for a potential job with us. Her creativity amazed me and her talent was remarkable. I simply knew she belonged in the Orlando Wedding Market. I got a buzz that Solutions Bridal was hiring and instantly knew she would be a perfect fit! As of last Thrusday she is a new face at Solutions Bridal! I am excited for her becasue the staff at Solutions Bridal is amazing! When you are in the Salon be sure to stop in and say hi to her!
Tanya was gracious enough to leave a comment on the post which reads, “Caroline, Thanks for much for writing such a nice blog entry about me. Looking forward to working with you more in the future. I’d love to be your “Prada Bag”. Haha!!!!”
Who writes a blog post about someone that interviewed for a job and didn’t even get it? (Bad interviews aside) Unless you somehow knew people would be interested! Right? (Actually, I’m gonna do the ol’ speculation thing and guess Tanya was kind of doing Caroline a favor here – maybe they’re friends?)
UPDATE – My theory about the Caroline/Tanya “you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours” looks to be dead on the money because Tanya just swapped out the charming snapshots of herself that were on her website with professionally done studio photographs by guess who? Caroline Johnson! So I’m guessing Tanya got free photos in exchange for allowing Caroline to name-drop her and put her logo and website on the images on Tanya’s site. Proving this theory is one of the funniest things I have ever run across in my limited experience as a celebrity blogging internet sleuth: take a look at the names of the images of Tanya on her site:
carolinejohnsonphotography_tanyadouglas_jakepavelkaexgirlfriend00.jpg
carolinejohnsonphotography_tanyadouglas_jakepavelkaexgirlfriend01_hrrf.jpg
carolinejohnsonphotography_tanyadouglas_jakepavelkaexgirlfriend02_tbpq.jpg
carolinejohnsonphotography_tanyadouglas_jakepavelkaexgirlfriend04.jpg
carolinejohnsonphotography_tanyadouglas_jakepavelkaexgirlfriend05_kf07.jpg
It’s clear Caroline Johnson knew the real identity of who she was taking pictures of!
UPDATE 2 – (This post is growing out of control! If it could speak it would be saying, “Feed me Seymour!”) Photographer Caroline Johnson has officially recognized Tanya as a soon-to-be celebrity! Here’s her latest update:
Ok… so a while back you may have noticed I posted a blog about an extremely talented, charismatic, bright eyed Tanya Douglas. She came to us as a perspective member of the Caroline Johnson team. We simply adored her! Unfortunately, there was not an opening with us at the time. We were initially seeking interns and during the interview she simply blew us away. We had already nailed down to two finalists for the position and Tanya was entered into the round at the final stages. She shared with us all of her amazing skills and blew me away. It was evident that she was entirely over qualified for the internship position- since we had already had it nailed down to two candidates and she entered in to the round at the final round of interviews. During her interview, I commented to her something to the effect… “Do you ever watch the Bachelor? You are like the curve ball that gets thrown in on the final episode.” Mind you, this was said during the January interview. I knew nothing of her background other than what was in her resume. Much to my surprise, she actually knows Jake Pavelka VERY well. 🙂 Difficult choice…We think not!!! Vienna or TANYA…. hmm?
…and by the way…. the online tabloids who commented on my spelling… I am an artist not a speller. -Caroline
(Oh man – I’m guessing we’re one of the “online tabloids” that she’s talking about. Sorry about that Caroline! Great photographers are to be admired much more than great spellers!)
Anyway, back to the Solutions Bridal job! If you visit their site, sure enough, there’s Tanya Douglas! With the same white-framed photo and the same drop shadow. Here’s how Tanya introduces herself:
Hello,
My name is Tanya Douglas, and I’m the newest stylist and bridal consultant here at Solutions Bridal. In joining the team, I bring a creative, designers’ eye for style. I’ve recently graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in Landscape Architecture. I’ve painted for almost 14 years, and have worked in creative environments with clients and diverse design teams.
Upon coming into the shop, I would like to take a few minutes to talk and get to know you, and also to find out more about the type of wedding you are planning. This allows me to be able to choose a dress for you that fits your personality – something that you will feel great in on your wedding day. I’m happy to suggest any design changes that we can make to “a dress” to make it “The Dress”. You may want to change the neckline, or you may want to add more beading or take beading away, and you might even want to consider shortening a dress to a “tea length”. Accessories can also change the entire look and feel of your wedding ensemble. A different veil, hair piece, sash, or shoes can alter the character of a dress to fit your personality perfectly. There are so many options!
My favorite dress in the shop right now is a dress by Anne Barge. It’s my favorite because it’s a wedding gown with pockets! the pockets are part of the folds in the skirt and are formed with how the fabric is cut. It is unique, and it would even look great hemmed as a “tea length”.
You can learn more about me and review my design portfolio at tanyaldouglas.com. If you go directly to tanyaldouglas.com/About, you can view my bibliography and some of my favorite personal photos.
I look forward to meeting you and helping choose “The Dress” for you. Come and see me at Solutions Bridal Designer House.
Tanya
So if you live in the Orlando area, hop in and see Tanya! Oh, and take a picture for us!
I looked through Tanya’s elaborate portfolio (You can download the PDF file from TanyaLDouglas.com) and although I don’t really know all that much about landscape architecture, I was impressed! Here’s a page from it with a design drawn and watercolored by Tanya while a student at The University of Florida (Click to see a larger image in the gallery):
I’m not sure why Tanya wound up working at a bridal shop. My three guesses are: the job market for landscape architects is really bad, the market for bridal stylists is REALLY good or she’s getting a little extra because she is about to become a celebrity. I suppose it could be a mixture of all three.
(Are you reading this Vienna? Not that you need any help in angering women who like Jake Pavelka, but just in case I though I might suggest going to Bridal Solutions in Orlando and asking for Tanya to help pick out your wedding dress.)
But landscape architecture (I’m getting really tired of typing that), marketing, wooing bachelors, photographer job applying and looking good aren’t all the talents in Tanya’s toolbox! As mentioned above, she paints too! Here’s a nice watercolor painting from her portfolio:
So what’s the conclusion? I greatly admire Tanya for being completely prepared for people like me to write articles like this! I’m sure the big boys with phone banks and a big budget are going to sniff around Panama City and Gainesville long enough to find some compromising photo of Tanya, but until then she has prepared quite well for all the media attention that has already started pointing her way. (By the way, we would gladly take a look at any photos of Tanya flashing for beads, passed out in the bushes or secretly rooting for the Seminoles of FSU.) It’s rare that someone thrust into the spotlight has such a solid first line of defense.
My only criticism is that she was about two or three weeks too late. The number of people that still care about Jake Pavelka and/or Vienna is dropping faster than the John Edwards’ 2012 presidential campaign staff! By the time this all comes out (which now sounds like Monday at the earliest, according to the latest from WILN, who said on March 8 that Tanya is giving an interview to a magazine and as soon as it is published, they can release their audio interview) the only people left that are going to care are Bachelor-obsessed fans, mildly curious Dancing With The Stars fans and celebrity bloggers like me who don’t realize it’s time to move on. All of this needed to come out at least a few days before the final rose ceremony.
Oh, and I should add one other criticism, which might qualify as more of a personal preference. The new look on your site with all the professionally shot studio pictures looks a lot worse than it used to! The casual snapshots that were up before looked much more authentic and less desperately hungry for fame than these cheesy and kind of heavy-handed modeling shots that start to make you look less like a smart small-town girl with a college degree in landscape architecture and more like someone that would appear on The Bachelor. In case you didn’t see what her site looked like before, here is a scaled down screen capture:
So Tanya, if you’re hoping to gain the public’s sympathy, which in the case of The Bachelor controversies is probably 85% female, then I would strongly suggest going back to the attractive-but-humble landscape architect look for your site. I’m really pulling for you and I think you’ve done a great job so far in marketing yourself as an intelligent professional woman, I just hate to see you start doing things that make you come across more like one of Tiger Woods’ mistresses. That being said, if the Bridal stylist thing doesn’t work out, feel free to drop us a line about a job! We’ll try to look past your amazing good looks…
If other companies out there feel the same way, here’s Tanya’s resume:
Objective
To secure professional opportunities in the following areas: landscape architecture, photography, graphic design, art, and other professional fields involving innovative design and creative thinking.
EDUCATION
University of Florida: Gainesville, Florida
· Bachelor of Landscape Architecture
· Graduating GPA: 3.80/4.0
· Summa Cum Laude, graduated May 5, 2009
Chipola College: Marianna, Florida
· Associate in Arts Degree, Spring 2005
· Graduated Summa Cum Laude
· Graduating GPA: 3.98/4.0
Marianna High School: Marianna, Florida
· Honor graduate, Spring 2003
· Graduating Cumulative GPA, 4.14
EXPERIENCE
Contract Work – Nassau, The Bahamas
· Contract Work, May 2009 – October 2009
· Worked with a design-build firm producing refined planting plans and construction documentation for a large scale community project to include single and multi-family housing and resort style amenities
· Used AutoCAD 2010 and LandFX to complete projects
Golf Course Design Firm – Asheville, North Carolina
· Internship, May 2008 – August 2008
· Worked with multi-disciplinary team on golf course design and land planning projects within the United States and internationally
· Rendered multiple watercolor marketing graphics for golf course projects
· Produced golf course construction documents for project to begin construction in 2009. Documents included grading plans, staking plans, and routing plans.
· Used AutoCAD 2007, Photoshop, and InDesign to complete projects
Landscape Architecture – Longwood, Florida
· Internship, June 2007 – December 2007
· Worked with Landscape Architects on multiple projects including commercial, residential, and land planning
· Rendered multiple watercolor marketing graphics and artistic renderings
· Produced community conceptual site plans, planting plans, signage design, and other detail design. Produced construction documents including grading and drainage plans, and hardscape plans.
· Used AutoCAD 2007 and AutoCAD 2008, Photoshop, and InDesign to complete projects
University of Florida, Department of Landscape Architecture – Gainesville, Florida
· Member of Williston Linear Park Design Team, Spring 2007
· Team chosen by community council of Williston, Florida based upon presented designs
· Designed final site plan and detail design of new community park and produced graphic site plan renderings and detailed perspective drawings
Honors, Achievements, and Activities
· Florida Medallion Scholar, August 2003 – 2009
· National Student ASLA Member (American Society of Landscape Architects) June 2007 – present
· Presidents Honor Roll, Fall 2005 and Fall 2008
· Named to the Dean’s List, Fall 2005, Spring 2006, Spring 2008
· Recipient of Gilkey Pin-Up Award and Scholarship, Spring 2006
· Recipient of the Paul Verlander Award and Scholarship, Spring 2008
· Invited to join Golden Key International Honor Society, achieved by placing in the top 15% of my class at the University of Florida, Spring 2009
· Recipient of the ASLA Student Honor Award, one of only two awards received by graduating seniors a year at the University of Florida, Spring 2009
· Certified in Rainbird® Landscape Design Irrigation and Advanced Irrigation Design
Computer Skills
· Proficient in the following: AutoCAD 2007, AutoCAD 2008, AutoCAD 2010, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, LandFX, SketchUp, GIS, and all Microsoft Office Programs
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