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For The Corporate BarbieZ: Navigating entry-level America as Gen. Z ft. Danielle Germain
5 Plays2 years ago
Welcome to another episode!! I'm joined by a friend I made during the pandemic. Her name is Danielle Germain and she was sooo helpful when I had questions on navigating an internship opportunity I had. Danielle Germain is a Social Media Strategist, Sports Reporter and Marketing Communications professional. She's a Jill-of-all-trades and I hope you took away insightful info from us both on our unique journeys. SHARE YOUR COMMUNITY STORIEZ!: https://forms.gle/dAaithxuJeVtr2Qe8 (You may get a shoutout!) Listen to more interviews and subscribe to "Feel Your FeelingZ" here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-feel-your-feelingz-podcast/id1673148400 Follow Danielle on her socials: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daniellegermain_/ Support her service: https://www.instagram.com/careertoolkitsbydee/Linktree: https://linktr.ee/daniellegermain_ Follow Victoria on socials: https://linktr.ee/astoldbyvictoria_ Subscribe above and follow me here to stay plugged in: Website- ufeelme.univer.se https://twitter.com/fyfzpod https://www.facebook.com/thefyfzpodcast https://www.instagram.com/feelyourfeelingzpod Email: Serious/Business inquiries only. thefyfzpodcast@outlook.com 😁
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Transcript
Introduction and Background
00:00:07
Speaker
Welcome or welcome back to the Feel Your Feelings podcast.
00:00:10
Speaker
I'm your host, Victoria Macanjewola.
00:00:12
Speaker
And today I am joined by Danielle Germain.
00:00:16
Speaker
Hi!
00:00:17
Speaker
Hey, sis!
00:00:19
Speaker
Hey!
00:00:20
Speaker
So she's currently based in South Carolina.
00:00:23
Speaker
She's originally from New York.
00:00:25
Speaker
And we have a lot of things in common.
00:00:26
Speaker
We actually go way, way back to 2020 pandemic crisis.
00:00:31
Speaker
And we're both passionate about communications, social justice and sports.
00:00:36
Speaker
And I think we really connected over our shared interest
00:00:40
Speaker
in broadcast journalism.
00:00:41
Speaker
I was an intern for CBS at the time.
00:00:44
Speaker
And I think I reached out to Danielle while I was job searching a little bit.
00:00:49
Speaker
And I reached out to her about an opportunity and she got back to me.
00:00:54
Speaker
And I think what stood out to me is that how she kept it real of like, this is like, this is the real behind it.
00:01:00
Speaker
So I really appreciate her.
00:01:03
Speaker
And, um,
00:01:05
Speaker
The topic that I kind of want to get into is kind of multi-level.
Career Focus and Media Representation
00:01:10
Speaker
But before we get into that, I'm going to ask you, how are you feeling today?
00:01:14
Speaker
Oh, I'm feeling good.
00:01:16
Speaker
I'm feeling good.
00:01:16
Speaker
I'm really excited to be on your podcast.
00:01:19
Speaker
And I'm really just excited to catch up with you and have this conversation.
00:01:23
Speaker
kind of just let the audience see our friendship i'm excited for sure for sure this has been a long time coming by the way yes since like january or something like i've been seeing you put time on my calendar it was like january wait can we move it back can we move it back
00:01:41
Speaker
It's August, y'all.
00:01:43
Speaker
It's been a long time coming.
00:01:44
Speaker
I'm so happy.
00:01:45
Speaker
I'm so happy.
00:01:46
Speaker
Me too.
00:01:47
Speaker
Me too.
00:01:48
Speaker
We made it happen.
00:01:49
Speaker
And I'm super excited.
00:01:51
Speaker
So I'm curious to know, like, what are you doing right now?
00:01:57
Speaker
Because when I first met you, I think you were...
00:02:00
Speaker
in the nonprofit field, I think with the Pay Our Interns or something?
00:02:06
Speaker
Yes, that's where I was.
00:02:08
Speaker
Wow, yes, that seems like a lifetime ago.
00:02:11
Speaker
I definitely was, I've been working in the communication specialist space for the last three to four years.
00:02:18
Speaker
Prior to that, I was working more in like the DEI politics space, working with Angela Rye and her team.
00:02:26
Speaker
I was doing that for about two years before transitioning.
00:02:29
Speaker
into like multifaceted comms.
00:02:32
Speaker
And now I'm actually really, really focused on freelancing.
00:02:36
Speaker
I've been doing a lot of writing.
00:02:38
Speaker
I'm currently a politics and sports reporter for Deaf Pen Media Group, which is also based out of New York.
00:02:44
Speaker
So definitely check it out if you haven't.
00:02:46
Speaker
So I've been writing, freelancing a bit.
00:02:48
Speaker
I actually just wrapped up an interview with former LSU player Alexis Morris, one of the girls from the NCAA National Championship Games.
00:02:58
Speaker
So I got to interview her.
00:03:00
Speaker
It was awesome.
00:03:01
Speaker
So that's kind of what I'm doing right now.
00:03:02
Speaker
I'm writing.
00:03:03
Speaker
I'm working on my small business.
00:03:04
Speaker
I'm working on my career coaching business, which I absolutely love.
00:03:08
Speaker
So yeah, that's kind of what I'm doing right now.
00:03:10
Speaker
I love that.
00:03:10
Speaker
And we're gonna definitely, I'm definitely gonna shout out your career coaching business towards the end of this episode because you're doing great things with that as well.
00:03:19
Speaker
Helping other young people, other young black women navigate their careers and job hunting.
00:03:25
Speaker
So check that out for sure.
00:03:28
Speaker
So what are some of your passions at the moment?
00:03:30
Speaker
I know you just mentioned like sports and your organization, but like, what are you really passionate about?
00:03:38
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:03:39
Speaker
Right now, I'm definitely focused on my career coaching business.
00:03:42
Speaker
Like I said, I'm really looking to just give back to, you know, communities and spaces that look like me and where I've come from.
00:03:48
Speaker
I really want to see entry level professionals get jobs, especially in media like I want to see black women in media.
00:03:54
Speaker
so bad right now.
00:03:55
Speaker
It's really, really needed.
00:03:56
Speaker
Our stories need to be told.
00:03:58
Speaker
The stories of marginalized communities need to be told.
00:04:00
Speaker
So I'm really just focusing on getting my voice back out there and helping other people kind of find their niches and spaces that they want to be in and get them in those rooms and in those conversations.
00:04:10
Speaker
So, yeah, that's a little bit of what I'm working on.
00:04:11
Speaker
And then hopefully, you know, looking into 2024, I'm really looking to get back into the election media space.
00:04:17
Speaker
I really, really am looking forward to the 2024 presidential election
00:04:22
Speaker
and kind of interviewing candidates and getting into those debate rooms and kind of asking those important questions, especially for young voters like us.
00:04:30
Speaker
I really, really want to get back into that space as well.
00:04:33
Speaker
So, yeah.
00:04:34
Speaker
For sure.
00:04:35
Speaker
For sure.
00:04:36
Speaker
And we need us in those spaces.
00:04:39
Speaker
I think it's a crazy political cycle from what I'm seeing on the news and everything.
00:04:45
Speaker
So having more young voices and POC voices is really important.
00:04:51
Speaker
Yeah, I definitely agree.
Podcasting and Code Switching
00:04:53
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:53
Speaker
And I know you have a podcast or this... A podcast.
00:04:58
Speaker
I'm going to call it a podcast.
00:05:01
Speaker
It's called Black Barbies.
00:05:03
Speaker
Tell me more about Black Barbies.
00:05:04
Speaker
It's from what I saw on YouTube.
00:05:06
Speaker
It's a conversation with Black women based on life and literature.
00:05:12
Speaker
So what's that all about?
00:05:14
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:05:15
Speaker
Yeah.
00:05:15
Speaker
So during the pandemic, me and my amazing homegirls from when I was growing up, my day ones,
00:05:21
Speaker
Shout out to y'all.
00:05:22
Speaker
I don't know who you are.
00:05:24
Speaker
We were really just missing each other.
00:05:26
Speaker
We weren't seeing each other during the pandemic.
00:05:28
Speaker
Our families are all over the place.
00:05:29
Speaker
And we were like, how can we find a way to stay connected while also just
00:05:32
Speaker
pouring back into ourselves and finding moments for self-care.
00:05:35
Speaker
So we wanted to start a book club and we wanted to start reading books about Black authors, by Black authors, about Black people, about our communities.
00:05:45
Speaker
We wanted to, and any facet genre, it doesn't matter.
00:05:48
Speaker
We just really wanted to get reading again and have these in conversations with each other.
00:05:53
Speaker
So we started a book club and we just started recording our conversations and putting them on the internet and letting people get a feel of who we were and hearing our dialogue.
00:06:02
Speaker
And we really, really enjoyed it.
00:06:04
Speaker
We're kind of taking a little hiatus right now.
00:06:06
Speaker
I would definitely really love to see us rebranding in 2024.
00:06:10
Speaker
So if you have any book recommendations, comment them on Victoria's page so that we can get back reading.
00:06:16
Speaker
Yeah, I'm a book nerd for sure.
00:06:19
Speaker
I have a few books that are on my to-dos or to-read list.
00:06:25
Speaker
And I also love audiobooks as well.
00:06:27
Speaker
I just talked to an author recently for a series that I'm doing on my podcast.
00:06:33
Speaker
His name is Micah.
00:06:35
Speaker
So I'm just trying to support your local...
00:06:38
Speaker
authors you know support your local authors support your local libraries support your local book stores support support small businesses period yeah for sure okay so i'm ready to dive into the meat of this which is basically one of the topics i want to talk to you about that you we were talking about like i was even thinking like what should i talk to danielle about like i don't know like she's so intelligent like i feel like we're kind of like the same person but in like different
00:07:03
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:07:04
Speaker
In different environments.
00:07:05
Speaker
So I really was like, okay, code switching.
00:07:09
Speaker
And then she mentioned, Danielle mentioned navigating career journeys as entry-level professionals.
00:07:15
Speaker
And then ways to stay encouraged and motivated in seasons of transitions.
00:07:21
Speaker
So, okay, let's...
00:07:23
Speaker
First talk about code switching.
00:07:25
Speaker
So if you're not already aware of what code switching is, the way I define it is not being entirely yourself in the space, the professional space that you work in.
00:07:35
Speaker
So if you're working in corporate America, like you having to change the way you talk or change the way that you look.
00:07:43
Speaker
And then I guess after work, you pull that wig off and then you just, you'll be more comfortable.
00:07:51
Speaker
Yep.
00:07:51
Speaker
So how do you define code switching and have you experienced it in any of your
00:07:59
Speaker
job.
00:08:00
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:08:01
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:08:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:08:02
Speaker
I feel like as black women and just as like any diverse group, I feel like we always feel like we have to hide part of ourselves.
00:08:10
Speaker
Right.
00:08:10
Speaker
Especially when we're in the workforce and we're not the majority.
00:08:12
Speaker
Right.
00:08:13
Speaker
Unfortunately.
00:08:14
Speaker
Unfortunately.
00:08:15
Speaker
So when there's a lot of people that don't look like me, I've definitely found like in the past, especially when I was early in my career, especially in this like
00:08:24
Speaker
media space.
00:08:25
Speaker
Like there's so many opportunities where I didn't see enough people that looked like me in the room.
00:08:30
Speaker
And I felt like I had to change what my hair looked like.
00:08:32
Speaker
I couldn't comb with my natural curls.
00:08:34
Speaker
I couldn't talk how I would talk to maybe you or another peer or a mentor.
00:08:41
Speaker
I just felt uncomfortable.
00:08:43
Speaker
And I would say the first time I realized that I didn't have to code switch anymore was when I was working at PBS.
00:08:50
Speaker
I was working on a show at Washington Week.
00:08:52
Speaker
I was working on a show at PBS called Washington Week.
00:08:56
Speaker
And the commentator, her name was Yamiche Alcindor.
00:09:00
Speaker
Wonderful, amazing woman, Haitian woman.
00:09:03
Speaker
I'm Haitian.
00:09:03
Speaker
I'm Caribbean American.
00:09:04
Speaker
I absolutely was in awe of the fact that I'd be working with somebody that had a similar background to myself.
00:09:11
Speaker
And Victoria, when I tell you every Friday night when we recorded the show, Yamiche would record her show with her natural puff, just like mine, and she would come on the show and she would talk eloquently and she would talk with her guests in her beautiful outfits, sometimes in her different prints, whatever she wore, whatever she was comfortable with.
00:09:28
Speaker
and her puff i saw that and i was like i can be in this space and i can be myself in this space um and other people that look like me can be in this space and we can come here and we don't have to be unapologetically different from anything we can just be ourselves um and that was the first time i really saw that and it made me realize how important it was and i keep saying this but it's very very important and i want to harp on it the importance of seeing black women in media
00:09:52
Speaker
I hadn't before that time.
00:09:54
Speaker
I had worked with other women of color in politics, in news spaces, but I had not yet had the opportunity to work in a space where someone that was going to be on TV, front-facing, anchoring every single day had hairstyles that looked like mine.
00:10:08
Speaker
Right.
00:10:09
Speaker
And she normalized it.
00:10:10
Speaker
I started coming to work with my Afro puffs, my braids.
00:10:14
Speaker
I was coming in with my prints.
00:10:16
Speaker
I was doing whatever I wanted.
00:10:17
Speaker
I had my Jamaican keychain.
00:10:19
Speaker
I felt more than accepted.
00:10:22
Speaker
Finally, I finally felt like I had a place and I made sure that wherever I go next, wherever company culture I transition into next, I feel accepted the way that I did in that organization.
00:10:32
Speaker
That's fantastic.
00:10:33
Speaker
Kudos to you, honestly, that you had that awareness, that you were inspired by someone, first of all, that looked like you and that showed you the way of like how they're doing it.
00:10:43
Speaker
And you decided to do it as well.
00:10:45
Speaker
I really didn't start to embrace my natural hair professionally.
00:10:49
Speaker
until recently and i recently did a job interview and the lady who interviewed me she was a natural as well yeah and that was super inspiring to me and i just recently i'm my background is my dad's nigerian um my mom's american so this is an african crown basically it is period period period um so i just trying to i've been embracing you know
00:11:13
Speaker
that side of myself.
00:11:14
Speaker
And there's nothing wrong with if you wear braids, you wear wigs, whatever, like do what you have to do because I did have some hair damage and that was like my main reason for using protective styles was to protect my hair.
00:11:27
Speaker
But in a professional setting, there's nothing wrong with you wanting to express yourself with your hair, you know?
00:11:35
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely.
00:11:36
Speaker
We shouldn't be ashamed of that.
00:11:37
Speaker
And they passed the Crown Act recently here in Texas.
00:11:40
Speaker
Yes, they did.
00:11:41
Speaker
So hair discrimination
00:11:43
Speaker
got to go gone go gotta go and i encourage i just want to encourage women watching this especially black women like you see us here with our puss and you know ask questions and go on youtube and talk to your home girls and you know make yourself feel comfortable and sometimes when you start to see yourself being comfortable you actually feel comfortable yeah you see other people around you doing those things like i think it's great that we're on this interview on both this wasn't even planned it wasn't even planned it wasn't even
00:12:14
Speaker
So, okay, so next point is navigating career journeys as entry-level professionals.
Career Transitions and Faith
00:12:21
Speaker
Okay, so I don't really know where to start with this topic because I consider myself, we're entry-level professionals.
00:12:29
Speaker
But the way I've navigated this, I'm still navigating it, to be honest.
00:12:35
Speaker
So I went to the George Washington University, Danielle went to American University.
00:12:40
Speaker
in DC and fantastic schools.
00:12:43
Speaker
But after that, I started a full-time job during the pandemic at one of the top three news organizations, right?
00:12:51
Speaker
You got ABC, CBS, NBC.
00:12:55
Speaker
And it was great.
00:12:56
Speaker
You know, I got to network with prominent journalists and producers and people in the field that I watch on TV and that I look up to.
00:13:04
Speaker
So it was a, it was a great,
00:13:07
Speaker
opportunity for me to get my feet wet and meet new people.
00:13:11
Speaker
However, navigating it was a bit of a challenge for me because I consider myself a very curious person.
00:13:19
Speaker
And if I maybe don't get the answers that I want the first time around, I can get
00:13:25
Speaker
disheartened or disappointed and be like, this isn't really what I thought it was.
00:13:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:13:31
Speaker
Yeah.
00:13:33
Speaker
Long story short, I worked with this company for like nine months after graduation.
00:13:39
Speaker
They gave me a full time job offer, which I'm super grateful for.
00:13:42
Speaker
I met some fantastic journalists.
00:13:45
Speaker
But then that job got terminated in January of 2022.
00:13:50
Speaker
And, you know, they did their best to be like to help us out and be like, hey, like you can either sign your severance papers or stay on with the company and we can put you in a new office or new office.
00:14:04
Speaker
department and I thought about it.
00:14:06
Speaker
It was like, do I want to stay in a new department?
00:14:08
Speaker
I would have had to move to New York though.
00:14:10
Speaker
Um, cause it would have been in person.
00:14:11
Speaker
I would have been like an executive assistant or administrative assistant.
00:14:15
Speaker
And at the time I was just, I wasn't feeling it.
00:14:18
Speaker
Like I was attached.
00:14:20
Speaker
I am attached to where I live now, you know, in Texas with my family.
00:14:25
Speaker
So, um,
00:14:29
Speaker
I decided at that point to sever and just freelance.
00:14:34
Speaker
So that journey was a bit difficult because it's stability and then you leave stability for instability for a while.
00:14:42
Speaker
But I don't necessarily regret it because it caused me to...
00:14:46
Speaker
kind of find myself I don't think I would have been this particular Victoria had I stayed or had that not happened or had I moved to New York I could have been a completely different person so how have you navigated your career journey as entry level
00:15:03
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:15:03
Speaker
Well, I love everything that you just said was really like spot on and honestly very much like mirrors what I've been experiencing.
00:15:09
Speaker
I've been going through a career transition myself.
00:15:11
Speaker
As I mentioned, I was in the nonprofit space and I'm transitioning out of that space and back into broadcast media.
00:15:19
Speaker
Yeah.
00:15:20
Speaker
directly writing in sports and in politics.
00:15:24
Speaker
That's really my niche right now.
00:15:26
Speaker
And it hasn't been easy.
00:15:28
Speaker
Redoing interviews and talking to new companies and figuring out company culture and where I've been and figuring out if this role is going to lead to a career success and potential growth.
00:15:40
Speaker
All of those things are extremely stressful.
00:15:43
Speaker
And honestly, I don't know if this is a spiritual podcast, but I'm a very spiritual person.
00:15:48
Speaker
I'm glad you mentioned that.
00:15:49
Speaker
I definitely am.
00:15:50
Speaker
I depend on my faith a lot for this podcast.
00:15:53
Speaker
I'm a spiritual person for sure.
00:15:56
Speaker
I think you have to be.
00:15:58
Speaker
I think you have to be.
00:16:00
Speaker
Like, even if it's not rooted in.
00:16:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:16:02
Speaker
Even if it's not rooted in, you know, Christianity, which is where I'm rooted, right?
00:16:07
Speaker
Whatever.
00:16:07
Speaker
I just feel like you have to be rooted in something.
00:16:09
Speaker
I feel like you have to be rooted in something bigger and higher and more powerful than you, because we all need something to believe in.
00:16:15
Speaker
We all need something to put our faith and our trust and our hope in.
00:16:17
Speaker
And honestly, like my faith is the thing that has been helping me navigate the season of transition.
00:16:22
Speaker
Like you said, going and especially when you choose to go from stability to instability, that's practicing your faith.
00:16:30
Speaker
That's living on faith, not sight.
00:16:32
Speaker
So it's very, very important to me right now that I stay grounded in the word and I stay grounded in what God's promises are to us and making sure that I find that.
00:16:43
Speaker
alignment in wherever I go next.
00:16:45
Speaker
I want to make sure that my faith is, I'm doing what I need to do.
00:16:50
Speaker
I'm doing what I feel like my purpose is.
00:16:52
Speaker
And I want to make sure where I go next, I'm not rushing into that next phase.
00:16:55
Speaker
I want to make sure that I'm planted there and placed there like I'm supposed to be.
00:17:00
Speaker
That's so good.
00:17:09
Speaker
guides me for sure.
00:17:10
Speaker
And I think I, I, I tried my best to lean towards faith over fear.
00:17:15
Speaker
And I think my flesh sometimes is like, it's scary.
00:17:18
Speaker
Like, it's so scary.
00:17:19
Speaker
It's I'm scared.
00:17:20
Speaker
I don't know what to do next, but, uh, my faith tells me that with God, all things are possible.
00:17:26
Speaker
So, um, yeah, we, I need, I feel like there's someone, people, uh, our age and, and older that are going through this right now, um,
00:17:38
Speaker
That's something that they're probably wondering, like, can we talk about, like, how scary it is, though?
00:17:44
Speaker
Like, to depend on your faith?
00:17:46
Speaker
Like, when you don't see how, when you don't see any...
00:17:50
Speaker
tangible results when you don't see tangible results and that's when people that's where faith starts to shift that's where faith gets shaky right because when you don't see the things that you're praying for immediately you start to think are they are my prayers being heard or am i being um protected watched over etc and i know in theory we're supposed to know that we are but it's a lot harder to say that than and actually put like
00:18:14
Speaker
work behind faith.
00:18:15
Speaker
It's hard to do that sometimes.
00:18:17
Speaker
And honestly, the thing that I keep in my mind is a very special verse, which is you only need faith as small as a mustard seed.
00:18:24
Speaker
It's small, even if it's this small.
00:18:27
Speaker
My best friend when I was in college, her name is Akilah.
00:18:29
Speaker
Love her.
00:18:29
Speaker
Shout out to Akilah.
00:18:31
Speaker
She used to tell me that all the time.
00:18:33
Speaker
All the time in college, she would tell me, all you need is be at the smallest mustard seed and you will see it through.
00:18:38
Speaker
You will be still, be still.
00:18:40
Speaker
And I'm telling you, like to this day, anytime I'm nervous or anytime I don't know what's going on or I don't know where to put my next step or whatever, I'm just still.
00:18:50
Speaker
I just, I'm literally still because I know that it's being worked out already.
00:18:53
Speaker
It's already being worked out.
00:18:55
Speaker
I mean, look at God already because I was watching a show last night and I've been watching it for a little while.
00:19:00
Speaker
It's called The Chosen on Amazon Prime.
00:19:03
Speaker
Love the show.
00:19:05
Speaker
It's based off of the Bible and the people that lived during that time, obviously Jesus and his disciples.
00:19:11
Speaker
And I'm on the last episode, but he mentioned to someone in the crowd about having faith and he mentioned having faith as small as a mustard seed is all you need.
00:19:22
Speaker
and he healed a man whose leg was like infected and stuff.
00:19:25
Speaker
So I was thinking of that when you said that.
00:19:27
Speaker
I'm like, that timing is crazy.
00:19:29
Speaker
Look at God.
00:19:30
Speaker
Isn't God?
00:19:31
Speaker
God is different.
00:19:33
Speaker
God is different, man.
00:19:34
Speaker
God is different.
00:19:36
Speaker
Exactly.
00:19:37
Speaker
That leads perfectly into the last point, which is ways to stay encouraged and motivated in seasons of transition.
Community Support and Self-Care
00:19:44
Speaker
So I guess how should we go about this?
00:19:47
Speaker
Like, do we, should we talk about how we,
00:19:49
Speaker
encourage ourselves or maybe how we would encourage other people.
00:19:53
Speaker
I think it's tied into the same thing.
00:19:55
Speaker
I think we should talk from our own personal experiences.
00:19:58
Speaker
How do you, Victoria, stay motivated in seasons of uncertainty?
00:20:05
Speaker
Currently, so I think what you said about being still was super valid.
00:20:13
Speaker
I have a tendency to think really fast
00:20:18
Speaker
and maybe be a little bit impulsive on things.
00:20:22
Speaker
And I think being still has been a challenge since the pandemic.
00:20:25
Speaker
I think the pandemic really forced a lot of us to be still, like just sit down.
00:20:31
Speaker
Sit down.
00:20:31
Speaker
That's what I've been doing.
00:20:35
Speaker
And I feel guilty sometimes.
00:20:37
Speaker
I'm like, well, I'm here at home and there's other people like doing this, doing that, walking red carpets, blowing up on TikTok, going viral.
00:20:47
Speaker
making lots of cash and I'm doing this.
00:20:53
Speaker
And it's like, I have to be still sometimes and we're like, but like, what are you grateful for though?
00:21:00
Speaker
Like you have a support system, you have,
00:21:05
Speaker
tools you have at your disposal to create a podcast, which is a platform to talk to people who are feeling the same way as you.
00:21:15
Speaker
You're technically not alone, you have a roof over your head.
00:21:18
Speaker
And you may not have everything you want financially, but you're working towards it.
00:21:24
Speaker
And you have everything that you need in order to create more financial abundance and stability in your life, even though you don't have it.
00:21:31
Speaker
So
00:21:33
Speaker
I think for me, I stay encouraged by the small stuff, things that make me happy.
00:21:40
Speaker
And it's something that I'm currently working on.
00:21:42
Speaker
I was just attending a virtual webinar by an organization called First 15 LA.
00:21:50
Speaker
And one of the organizers works at Warner Brothers.
00:21:54
Speaker
And she was, we were talking about the things that bought us joy recently.
00:21:58
Speaker
And I was telling her, I was like, I'm sorry, but I can't really think of the last moment or the last event that really bought me joy.
00:22:05
Speaker
So you're kind of encouraging me to be more intentional about scheduling joy into my week or finding the things that bring me joy.
00:22:13
Speaker
And she's like, yes, yes, absolutely.
00:22:15
Speaker
Because I'm like,
00:22:17
Speaker
I've really been dwelling on a lot of negative things.
00:22:19
Speaker
So small things, whether it's like my favorite song on Spotify and then listening to that.
00:22:25
Speaker
And if just, just one song, like let me put on Victoria Monet and then just jam out that brings me joy.
00:22:30
Speaker
So I think breaking it down because it's easy to get, this is so real.
00:22:35
Speaker
Sorry, this is so real.
00:22:38
Speaker
But it's easy to get caught up in the, what we don't have in the,
00:22:45
Speaker
the things maybe we don't want.
00:22:47
Speaker
Well, I don't want to be poor, but instead of focusing on the things that we want, well, I want to have a successful podcast.
00:22:54
Speaker
I want to have impactful conversations with people.
00:22:59
Speaker
I want to make money, but not at the expense of my mental health.
00:23:02
Speaker
So that's my spiel.
00:23:06
Speaker
It's your turn now, sis.
00:23:07
Speaker
No, that was really, really strong, Victoria.
00:23:09
Speaker
And I think that a lot of what you said I resonate with.
00:23:13
Speaker
And I think that
00:23:15
Speaker
Honestly, if nothing else, right now, the thing that's gotten me through this season of transition is my village.
00:23:22
Speaker
It's my fiance, it's my parents, it's my sister, it's my friends, it's those people that, it's my parents-in-law, my in-laws, it's the people that are consistently pouring into me and praying for me every single day.
00:23:37
Speaker
That's what has gotten me through this season of transition.
00:23:41
Speaker
I also think comparison is the thief of joy.
00:23:44
Speaker
And I think that your season of uncomfortability is when God makes the biggest changes.
00:23:49
Speaker
And I think that right now, a lot of us, especially us media professionals, we're in season of transitions, dealing with layoffs, dealing with company shortages, dealing with...
00:24:00
Speaker
Oh my gosh, think about the writer's strike in LA.
00:24:02
Speaker
Think about all those people.
00:24:03
Speaker
I have an uncle that's affected by, he hasn't been working in weeks, months, because they're fighting for better wages.
00:24:09
Speaker
And like you said, they don't wanna make money at the expense of their mental health.
00:24:13
Speaker
They want to have livable wages.
00:24:16
Speaker
It's all about doing what you're passionate about, even if it takes time to get there.
00:24:20
Speaker
And I think that this Gen Z, I always tell my fiance, I'm a mix of millennial and Gen Z. Yeah, Z-lingual.
00:24:27
Speaker
I feel like I'm, yeah.
00:24:30
Speaker
I'm 26.
00:24:31
Speaker
Oh, okay.
00:24:31
Speaker
So you're, I'm a little younger than you.
00:24:33
Speaker
I'm about to be 25.
00:24:34
Speaker
Okay.
00:24:35
Speaker
So I always feel like I'm, the reason why is because I really feel like I channel my parents a lot.
00:24:40
Speaker
I have that boots to the ground, hustle mentality, get it done, you know, have a goal list and then have extra goals behind it.
00:24:50
Speaker
It is from our parents' generation where you had to work twice as hard.
00:24:56
Speaker
You had to push yourself more.
00:24:58
Speaker
You had to,
00:24:59
Speaker
like grind through.
00:25:01
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:01
Speaker
And that's, and that's where I struggle, right?
00:25:03
Speaker
Because I have that mentality.
00:25:05
Speaker
Like I said, I was born in a Caribbean household.
00:25:07
Speaker
I'm, I'm very much used to having a hustle and education is the priority and making sure that your things get done.
00:25:15
Speaker
But also in that same vein, I'm very much a Gen Zer.
00:25:18
Speaker
I'm like, look, if I'm tired of closing the laptop and going to bed, I'm going to do it tomorrow.
00:25:22
Speaker
Um, if I want to go to get my nails done, I'm going to go get my nails done because I just don't have to tell it today.
00:25:26
Speaker
So I always say that I fall right in between the middle.
00:25:30
Speaker
But I don't think that's a bad thing because I think that it teaches me discipline, but it also teaches me patience.
00:25:37
Speaker
And I think that we're so quick to have these expectations of what our life is supposed to be.
00:25:44
Speaker
And we have no grace for ourselves.
00:25:46
Speaker
And if my faith has taught me anything, God has so much grace for me.
00:25:50
Speaker
so much grace for the people around me.
00:25:52
Speaker
Why don't I have any grace for myself?
00:25:53
Speaker
I'm going to get where I need to go.
00:25:55
Speaker
It just might take me a little bit of time to figure it out and get there.
00:25:57
Speaker
But when I do figure it out, I'm going to be grateful for the journey.
00:26:01
Speaker
Right?
00:26:01
Speaker
So that's what keeps me motivated.
00:26:03
Speaker
That's real.
00:26:04
Speaker
That's real.
00:26:04
Speaker
Like God gives us grace when we don't give grace to ourselves.
00:26:07
Speaker
That is so real.
00:26:09
Speaker
I was in, I go to this youth Bible study on Monday nights at my local church.
00:26:14
Speaker
And I went last night and he was talking about, you know,
00:26:18
Speaker
like loving the youth pastor was talking about loving your neighbor, right?
00:26:22
Speaker
And how our generation, what he's noticed is that our generation is super hyper fixated on themselves, like we are selfish basically called us out.
00:26:32
Speaker
He read us for filth.
00:26:33
Speaker
He's like, y'all just, y'all don't care about anyone but yourself.
00:26:38
Speaker
And I was like, that's so true.
00:26:41
Speaker
But we're all in the same,
00:26:45
Speaker
but we're feeling the same things.
00:26:46
Speaker
We are, and we're not doing it selfishly.
00:26:49
Speaker
I don't think any of us are doing it in a place of selfishness.
00:26:52
Speaker
I think we're all just trying to get to the next place, the next level, the next school, the next job, the next whatever.
00:26:59
Speaker
And a lot of the time,
00:27:02
Speaker
like life is short too like we only get one we're here and then we go we transition and i think that we spend so much time trying to get to the next to the next to the next one day you're gonna run out and the next is gonna be over and yeah and that's it so what are you doing now to make sure what you actually do is it is worth the time that you're spending you know that's it that's it i think what you just said about grace is that we don't give other people grace because we don't give it to ourselves like
00:27:31
Speaker
Me comparing myself to someone who is famous or is on a red carpet is like,
00:27:39
Speaker
They're not me.
00:27:40
Speaker
That's their journey, you know, and I'm not giving them grace because I'm not giving myself grace like, hey, it's OK.
00:27:47
Speaker
Like you follow this person, but that doesn't make you like less than or doesn't make you worse or inferior in any way.
00:27:56
Speaker
You're just on a different life journey in the life path.
00:27:59
Speaker
God doesn't give us things that we can't.
00:28:01
Speaker
handle he gives us things that we can handle and if you were in that person's shoes you probably wouldn't be able to handle it let's just and honestly sometimes and i i said again i say this to my fiance a lot i say like god like you said god gives us what we can handle god's not gonna give me two million dollars if he knows i'm gonna go blow it on something that i don't need he knows mike he knows what would you do with the first million what
00:28:26
Speaker
I would get my nails done.
00:28:28
Speaker
I'm going to Dubai.
00:28:30
Speaker
I'm traveling.
00:28:31
Speaker
I'm paying for off my wedding.
00:28:33
Speaker
That's what I'm going to just swipe the card.
00:28:36
Speaker
I'm buying a couple of cars.
00:28:37
Speaker
I don't even have a license yet.
00:28:39
Speaker
I'm going to get a couple of cars.
00:28:41
Speaker
And God knows, Danielle, you're not ready for that $2 million.
00:28:44
Speaker
You're not ready.
00:28:45
Speaker
I gotta prepare you.
00:28:47
Speaker
There's some more steps in your journey.
00:28:50
Speaker
There's a couple more.
00:28:51
Speaker
And then when you are ready, you're going to be filled.
00:28:54
Speaker
You're going to be blessed beyond measure.
00:28:56
Speaker
And it's going to be your story.
00:28:58
Speaker
And you know what, though, Victoria, something I did want to say, the same way that me and you are idolizing and seeing, because I see it too.
00:29:03
Speaker
I got friends.
00:29:04
Speaker
in all different types of this industry, all over the media industry, red carpets and going to all-star games and covering this and going to debates and talking to presidents.
00:29:13
Speaker
Trust me.
00:29:13
Speaker
And I'm like, why am I not there in my career yet?
00:29:16
Speaker
And it's not that I'm not there yet.
00:29:17
Speaker
It's just that it hasn't happened for me yet.
00:29:20
Speaker
But think about what we have done in our careers.
00:29:22
Speaker
Like you said earlier, you've worked at one of the top news organizations in our country.
00:29:26
Speaker
You have done some of the most.
00:29:27
Speaker
You're about to, I'm not going to tell all your tea, but you got some real big things coming up for yourself.
00:29:33
Speaker
You got some real important, wonderful things that you put in motion that all the steps that you've been taking have led to these moments that are about to come for you.
00:29:41
Speaker
And there's somebody, you might not know them, you might not see them, but there's somebody saying, damn, I wish I was in Victoria's spot.
00:29:47
Speaker
I wish I was doing what Victoria is doing.
00:29:49
Speaker
And they want to be where you're at the same way where we want to be where the next person's at.
00:29:52
Speaker
So it's all about perspective.
00:29:53
Speaker
That's what I do.
00:29:54
Speaker
For sure.
00:29:56
Speaker
I'm crying on the inside.
00:29:57
Speaker
This is real.
00:29:59
Speaker
Thank you.
00:30:02
Speaker
I have a speed round where I ask all my questions or ask some quick questions to people.
00:30:07
Speaker
That's fun.
00:30:10
Speaker
I'm excited.
00:30:11
Speaker
Let's get it.
00:30:12
Speaker
Let's do
Speed Round and Promotion
00:30:13
Speaker
it.
00:30:13
Speaker
What's the last song that you listen to?
00:30:18
Speaker
You can check on your Spotify.
00:30:20
Speaker
Let me check.
00:30:20
Speaker
Real, real, real, real quick.
00:30:21
Speaker
I love you.
00:30:24
Speaker
I even had to think like, wait, what was the last?
00:30:27
Speaker
I love my music and I listen to like, people probably see me and they probably think I'm like, it's a little princess.
00:30:33
Speaker
I'm checking mine too.
00:30:35
Speaker
I am listening to, so one of my favorite rappers is, people are probably listening to something that's crazy.
00:30:41
Speaker
After I was just talking all this beautiful stuff, they're going to hear what I listen to and be like,
00:30:45
Speaker
No shade.
00:30:47
Speaker
But a couple of my favorite rappers, top three probably right now, A Boogie, Lil Baby, and NBA Youngboy.
00:30:56
Speaker
Those are five.
00:30:56
Speaker
I only know one out of three.
00:30:59
Speaker
Those are the three people I'm listening to right now.
00:31:02
Speaker
Okay.
00:31:03
Speaker
NBA Youngboy, that was the last song I listened to.
00:31:07
Speaker
It's a song called Out Nothing.
00:31:09
Speaker
And that's the last song I might listen to this.
00:31:13
Speaker
Got a little juice in your cup.
00:31:15
Speaker
It was funny.
00:31:16
Speaker
One time, it was a separate, random, but I went to the mall with my youth group.
00:31:21
Speaker
They have separate, smaller groups.
00:31:22
Speaker
And we went to the mall and just kind of were doing these things where you go up to people, you give them a mic and stuff.
00:31:29
Speaker
So we went up to a mall security guard and he was so funny.
00:31:33
Speaker
He was so funny.
00:31:33
Speaker
Like at the end, we were like leaving.
00:31:35
Speaker
He's like, y'all got some hood in y'all.
00:31:39
Speaker
I swear, like if you heard my playlist, you'd be like, who is this girl?
00:31:44
Speaker
He's like, all y'all.
00:31:45
Speaker
That's amazing.
00:31:49
Speaker
That's amazing.
00:31:52
Speaker
Finish this sentence.
00:31:53
Speaker
I truly believe that.
00:31:57
Speaker
I truly believe that life will work out for me exactly how it's supposed to.
00:32:02
Speaker
That's great.
00:32:03
Speaker
That's great.
00:32:04
Speaker
My favorite book is.
00:32:10
Speaker
My favorite book to this day is To Kill a Mockingbird because you're never too small or too young to affect change.
00:32:16
Speaker
That's what that book told me.
00:32:18
Speaker
I have that book for sure.
00:32:19
Speaker
Yeah, definitely read it.
00:32:21
Speaker
It's an old, old classic.
00:32:22
Speaker
I was supposed to read it in high school, but to kill a Mockingbird, the story, it just always stuck with me because it's such a, it's just such a powerful story.
00:32:29
Speaker
It talks about so many different things and it really shows you that you're never too young to affect change.
00:32:33
Speaker
Exactly.
00:32:34
Speaker
Exactly.
00:32:35
Speaker
In two words, I would tell my younger self to be patient.
00:32:40
Speaker
That's a liberating one.
00:32:44
Speaker
Be patient.
00:32:45
Speaker
Be still.
00:32:45
Speaker
Yeah.
00:32:46
Speaker
Yeah.
00:32:47
Speaker
And last one, right now, I feel.
00:32:50
Speaker
Blessed.
00:32:52
Speaker
Even if everything around me is uncertain.
00:32:54
Speaker
And trust me, I got some uncertainty.
00:32:56
Speaker
I got some, what am I doing next?
00:32:58
Speaker
What am I trying to plan out next?
00:32:59
Speaker
But yeah, I'm just, I'm blessed.
00:33:03
Speaker
Anyway, I got breath air in my lungs.
00:33:05
Speaker
I woke up this morning.
00:33:06
Speaker
I got food on my table.
00:33:07
Speaker
My lights came on.
00:33:09
Speaker
That's a blessing.
00:33:10
Speaker
Some water.
00:33:11
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:33:12
Speaker
Okay, I love that.
00:33:13
Speaker
And so I want to let people know before we wrap where they can find you.
00:33:18
Speaker
So Danielle has a small business called Career Toolkits by Dee.
00:33:24
Speaker
And I want you to drop your socials and let people know where they can find you, how they can keep up with you and how they can support you.
00:33:32
Speaker
Oh, absolutely.
00:33:33
Speaker
Well,
00:33:34
Speaker
I'm gonna tell you about three pages.
00:33:36
Speaker
You guys can follow my personal page, Danielle Germaine underscore.
00:33:40
Speaker
So exactly how it's spelled, underscore.
00:33:42
Speaker
My career business page, which is Career Toolkits by Dee.
00:33:45
Speaker
That's the at name on Instagram and on all social platforms.
00:33:49
Speaker
Honestly, the best way to support a small business, if you can't tap in financially, that's okay.
00:33:55
Speaker
Share a post.
00:33:56
Speaker
Tag somebody that might need the service.
00:33:59
Speaker
Tell a friend to tell a friend.
00:34:00
Speaker
Just lift it up.
00:34:02
Speaker
It's nothing else.
00:34:02
Speaker
Even if you can't, like I said, financially contribute to a small business, lift it up and speak life into it.
00:34:08
Speaker
And I think that's how you build success.
00:34:11
Speaker
And the last page I want to tell you guys about, obviously, is Def Pen.
00:34:14
Speaker
That's where I've been freelancing for the last, oh my gosh, I can't even believe it's been like eight months.
00:34:19
Speaker
Oh my gosh.
00:34:20
Speaker
Okay.
00:34:20
Speaker
um but yeah i've been freelancing with them so come to deaf pen it's um at deaf pen um or at deaf pen sports and that is the page that i actually manage um deaf pen as in it's d-e-f-p deaf pen and then deaf pen sports and you guys should follow both those pages and check out our content and engage with us because yeah we here for sure for sure and just a little sports tidbit so like i'm into sports as well i used to play tennis in high school
00:34:48
Speaker
I still consider myself a former athlete.
00:34:50
Speaker
I'm a former athlete.
00:34:51
Speaker
You're a former athlete.
00:34:52
Speaker
I played tennis.
00:34:53
Speaker
What did you play?
00:34:54
Speaker
Oh, my gosh.
00:34:54
Speaker
What did I not play?
00:34:56
Speaker
I started off in the soccer, volleyball track space.
00:35:00
Speaker
I did track all of high school.
00:35:03
Speaker
Wasn't bad at it.
00:35:04
Speaker
Wasn't bad at it.
00:35:04
Speaker
Actually had a little speed.
00:35:06
Speaker
And then I transitioned into dance and gymnastics.
00:35:09
Speaker
And I actually went to college and I was a cheerleader at American for a little while.
00:35:13
Speaker
I love that.
00:35:14
Speaker
I love that.
00:35:14
Speaker
We're going to chat a little bit later after this about, I guess, who
00:35:19
Speaker
who your top athletes are and like maybe who you would like to see on the Game Changer series because I am currently looking for kids.
00:35:26
Speaker
And my first thought was like reach out to an athlete, reach out to an athlete, which I have people in mind.
00:35:30
Speaker
You should try to get some former, especially some former.
00:35:34
Speaker
Yeah, we should try to, we could definitely talk about that.
00:35:36
Speaker
Definitely some former, especially I love talking to athletes that are out the game because I like seeing where they're at now, especially talking to like former NFL players, NBA players, and really any,
00:35:48
Speaker
And also, major plug, women athletes right now are killing the game, okay?
00:35:53
Speaker
Killing the game.
00:35:55
Speaker
I expect everybody to be watching the women's basketball, college women's basketball series, support the WNBA, support women, period.
00:36:02
Speaker
Because we're killing the game in music and sports and everything.
00:36:05
Speaker
In almost every industry, women are killing the game.