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“Dreams do come true, especially when you work hard.” – Danielle
This Is Danielle’s Story
Having lived most of her life in Subang Jaya, her childhood memories lie as a Subang girl despite being born in Ipoh and adopted by her parents who are Penangites. Her biological mother, who is a Kadazan, is actually from Sabah, which makes her part Sabahan as well. She spent her high school years in SMK USJ4 Subang Jaya while gaining her degree in Advertising & Marketing at Taylor’s University Lakeside.
Working Hard To Achieve Her Dream Of Being A Radio Announcer
It all started 4 years ago when she stumbled upon the competition called Flydol 2017 organized by the radio station FlyFM. Though being a radio announcer has always been her dream job, initially, she decided to join simply because of the chance to meet her favourite radio station announcers.
“At that time, I just wanted to meet the people behind my favourite radio station and show them how much they have helped me grow and paved my dreams for me,” Danielle shared.
Despite not winning 1st place, she managed to get 2nd, which is more than enough as they offered her a part-time job. That didn’t last long as eventually in 2020, she was offered a full time job instead!
“Before I knew it, I was in the finals and even though I got 2nd place, they still offered to train me and be a part-timer. Late 2020, they offered me my dream job, my own radio show ‘Prime Time’ and I vowed to work harder than I ever did.”
From her journey on becoming a radio announcer, it showed her how it’s not impossible to achieve your dreams if you work hard enough for it.
Being A Content Creator
Prior to becoming a radio announcer, she was a full-time model. While she was creating a path on being a model, she managed to gain some influence from the public. That brought her to have the desire to create an impact and influence others for the better instead of just posting pretty pictures on Instagram.
“I wanted to use my ability to influence people for good rather than just share “pretty photos on Instagram”. I wanted to create an impact and I realized that the best way to do that was to create more engaging and inspirational content for my audience.”
On how she produces content through her social channels, she mentioned how her personality has always made her more vocal on voicing out her thoughts and opinions. “I’ve always been very vocal about my thoughts & opinions and I love entertaining people so I used this to be the anchor on how I produce content.”
Challenges Faced As A Content Creator
It’s not all glitz and glamour when it comes to being a content creator. The main challenge Danielle faces as a content creator would be work-life balance. When you are a content creator, you’d always be thinking about how to create content, which makes it harder to enjoy the moment instead of documenting it.
“Everything I do, everywhere I go, my mind is always alert, always thinking & looking for content. Sometimes, I just want to hit the pause button and just enjoy life and it’s little moments without having to pull out my phone and record stuff.”
If you’re wondering what being a content creator means, Danielle shared, “Being a content creator is managing yourself as a brand and the content you put out is your product.”
The second most challenging part of being a content creator is how important it is to deal with the audience. “Sometimes, people can treat content creators like we’re not humans and it’s so easy for people to say mean things in comments or DM’s. I don’t like to feed the trolls but once in a while, I have to put these trolls in their place because I don’t like encouraging bitter or bad vibes on my platforms.”
There will always be mean or negative comments on your content, which brings us to our next point.
Dealing With Negativity And Gaining Confidence
If you’re going through a tough time dealing with negative comments or haters, Danielle herself has gone down that road up to today. “Just don’t feed the trolls! If the comment doesn’t help you grow, it’s not a comment you should be paying attention to.”
You don’t have to be mean to them back, but you could put them in their place whenever necessary. “You can’t please everyone and for everything you do, there will always be 1 person creeping and ready to make you feel bad because that’s just the way it is. But sometimes, I use intelligent sarcasm against the negative comments & haters cause you need to put them at their place,” Danielle advised.
Gaining confidence in yourself isn’t an easy thing to do – we’re bound to have low self-esteem one way or another. When Danielle was growing up, her parents told her they would always be there and support her no matter what. That’s how she managed to raise her self-esteem while carrying a ‘IDGAF’ attitude along the way.
“I carry this ‘IDGAF about what you think’ vibe with me wherever I go because I have learned that no matter what you do, there will always be people who won’t like you so just do it anyway. I’ve also experienced people who have tried to body shame me or just make me feel bad about myself and my body. That just made me stronger and I learned not to feed the trolls, just let them STARVE!”
Fun Facts About Danielle
Diving into learning more about Danielle as a person, she’s a foodie at heart! Cooking is how she shows her love and comfort to her loved ones. Together with her partner, she enjoys cooking challenges while experimenting new recipes as well. Though she takes care of her body by working out here and there, ultimately, she loves to spend most of her time in the kitchen while watching Chef’s Table or any cooking competitions.
Since she’s a foodie, we asked her what’s the one thing she would choose to eat for the rest of her life, and she answered: rice!
“I want to say chocolate cake because I have such a sweet tooth but I’m gonna say rice! Rice is so versatile, I can cook it with anything and make it risotto or nasi goreng kampung. Then for dessert I can have rice pudding!“ She enthusiastically shared.
Aside from being a fan of rice, she also loves playing foosball! Here are other fun facts about her: she was the youngest to win a fried rice cooking competition (her competitors were all aunties) and one of her dreams was also to open her own restaurant where she can food for every foodie out there.
We also asked her what it means to have self-love and how does she practice it.
Danielle shared, “Self-love to me is doing what makes you happy. I live a really hectic life, working in entertainment is challenging and I always make sure I give myself a break and take care of myself mentally, physically and spiritually.”
Some days, she would also pray with her family as her faith is one of the ways she keeps herself grounded and is at peace with her surroundings. Besides that, self-love to her is doing the things she loves, which would be doing her nails, cooking or baking with her partner, and taking a long bath. “Time will never slow down but when you do the things you love, it’s time well spent!”
We hope Danielle’s story has inspired you the way it inspires us, to never give up on your dreams and work hard to achieve them!
Do you have your own story to tell? Drop us an email at: contact@happyhormones.my
Danielle’s Instagram: @damnyoudan