Stacked Keys Podcast
The idea to talk to women who are out there living and making a difference is where the Stacked Keys Podcast was born. There are women who make a difference, but never make a wave while paddling through life. Immediately I can think of a dozen or more who impacted me, but I want more. I want to talk to those I don't know and I want to share with an audience that might need the inspiration to find their own beat. This podcast is to feature women who are impressive in the work world-- or in raising a family -- or who have hobbies that can make us all be encouraged. Want to hear what makes these women passionate and get up in the morning or what they wish they had known earlier in life? Grab your keys and STOMP to your own drum.
Stacked Keys Podcast
Episode 210 -- Dyneisha Gross -- Finding Balance in a Fast-Paced Creative World
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What does it take to thrive as a young designer in the bustling world of advertising? In our latest episode, we're joined by the incredibly talented Dyneisha Gross, whose unique journey from Baltimore to the heights of the creative industry offers a blueprint for success and resilience. Dyneisha opens up about the hurdles she has overcome, from battling imposter syndrome to navigating a space often dominated by toxic masculinity. She shares her strategies for coping under pressure and the importance of mentors in her career. Her story is an inspiring testament to the power of perseverance and self-belief in a high-stakes environment.
Balancing a demanding career with personal life is no small feat, especially when working remotely in an industry as fast-paced as advertising. Dyneisha candidly shares her experiences as a black woman striving for recognition and work-life equilibrium in a challenging field. Discover her tips for staying visible, from virtual coffee chats to seizing opportunities for face-to-face engagement. Despite the challenges, Dyneisha's passion for design and unwavering commitment to her career shine through, as she offers a heartfelt reflection on personal growth and professional development in uncertain times.
We also explore the themes of leadership, mentorship, and personal evolution during life transitions, including the impact of the pandemic. Dyneisha offers profound insights into what makes a great leader—empathy, communication, and authenticity. As we discuss the importance of a supportive network, listeners will find her reflections on mentorship and trust-building particularly enlightening. Dyneisha's journey through challenges and change underscores the importance of finding purpose in creative work while staying true to one's roots, inspiring us all to embrace growth and seek fulfillment in both personal and professional spheres.
Music "STOMP" used by permission of artist Donica Knight Holdman and Jim Huff
Empowering Women in the Creative Industry
Speaker 1I'm walking all alone down my yellow brick road and I stomp to the beat of my own drum. I got my pockets full of dreams and they're busting at the seams, going boom, boom boom.
Speaker 2Welcome to Stacked Keys Podcast. I'm your host, amy Stackhouse. This is a podcast to feature women who are impressive in the work world or in raising a family, or who have hobbies that make us all feel encouraged. Want to hear what makes these women passionate to get up in the morning, or what maybe they wish they'd known a little bit earlier in their lives.
Speaker 1Grab your keys and stomp to your own drum. Whatever you do, it ain't nothing on me, because I'm doing my thing and I hold the key to all my wants and all my dreams.
Speaker 2Like an old song everything will be all right. Oh, I'm so excited with our guest today. I have Denisha Gross.
Speaker 3Welcome, Denisha. Thank you so much. I'm very excited to be here.
Speaker 2Well, I'm excited because I know a little bit about you, but I'm going to be discovering you at the same time that our listeners are discovering, so we're going to get started right out of the gate. Denisha, how do people know you, both personally and professionally?
Speaker 3I'm Denisha. I'm originally from Baltimore, Maryland, and people know me as a designer, a creative, an art director, an extremely outgoing human that loves Christmas. But yeah, that's just a little bit, I guess, of like the background of how people know me.
Speaker 2Okay, all right. A designer that can go a million different directions. What kind of designer are you?
Speaker 3Yeah, so I work for one of the biggest advertising and creative agencies in the world, and so for me, my day-to-day could look like just about anything but for the most part, as a designer and in our director, I'm basically in charge of graphics for social media across a couple of different clients, as well as designing branding identity and then working those things into, like print files and things that they need or digital files, whether that be advertising for billboards or for digital ads be advertising for billboards or for digital ads.
Speaker 2Oh wow, that's a lot yeah.
Speaker 3So you can switch hats from client to client. I could, yeah, so I've had anywhere from one to five clients at one time. I've worked on a lot of different things. So the really nice thing is Baltimore is not too far from Washington DC and my office is actually based out of Washington DC. So the really nice thing is Baltimore is not too far from Washington DC and my office is actually based out of Washington DC, so we get government work all the time. So the FEMA stuff that you see, cdc, that's stuff that we work on. And then I just acquired Coca-Cola Brands two years ago. So I've worked on Sprite for two years during their social and are directing some of their shoots that they do for campaigns. And then I've pivoted into Coca-Cola and now I'm on Verizon. So you get just about anything at any given time.
Speaker 2That's fun. That means you can wake up and you can kind of have a plan, but then you might have to pivot, and those are some big brands and some brands. That takes a lot of responsibility. Do you lie awake sometimes at night going oh my God, what if I did X, y, z, what if I didn't proof it all the way? Do you get up in the middle of the night?
Speaker 3I do. I have been in this career for almost four years and I, for reference, I'm 26. So this is a big like when I go to work. A lot of people that I work with are people that I don't work with on a daily basis and they're like thinking that I'm 35, 36 years old doing the work that I'm doing, and then they're super surprised and they're like she's a Gen Z-er, like we can't trust her with the work. Um, so yeah, it feels like I kind of like uh, a joke that Gen Z has, is we girl boss a little too close to the sun?
Speaker 3I do feel like that sometimes, where I'm like I am an imposter, like I do not belong here for sure. Um, but I have really good mentors and my manager is amazing, so it makes it easier to be able to do the job because they trust me to do the job.
Speaker 2So, yeah, yeah, wow, okay. You hit a couple of things that I really want to jump into. But that imposter syndrome we hear people talk about that a lot and it can be debilitating, but you've you've earned to be where you are. So how do you handle that? How do you do you? Just what do you do? Look at yourself and do some serious self-talk, or what?
Speaker 3My self-talk is improving. She sometimes gets the best of me. But I think the big thing is I keep a folder. A mentor told me to keep a folder of all of the positive words, affirmations, any emails that were like praise, basically on my desktop and if, for any reason, I feel like I am not capable of a project somebody's asking me to do, if there's like an idea even in my personal life that I'm like I don't know if this would land like brieftober is something that I started in my personal life.
Speaker 3I'm like I don't know if this would land like brieftober something that I started in my personal life I would go and look to that folder, basically for a little bit of like affirmation and help to remember okay, I'm that girl, I can do whatever it is that they're asking me to do. But then some days, of course, like you're questioning it, you're winging it. A lot of the times you'll hear people in my industry say we're all winging it and we're successfully doing it and, honestly, that's basically what it is, especially in the age of social media, which literally changes every three seconds. So, yeah, I would say it's pretty 50-50, but that folder definitely helps me remember who I am and how far I've come.
Speaker 2I like that. I can remember, and I can remember even what I had on sometimes when I would look in the mirror and do those hey, you are good. I mean because you'll have these successes. That is one thing about your career. Sometimes your successes are very obvious. They are, they are printed, they are on a campaign, they are on a humongous billboard or they are in a yeah, the world can see it.
Speaker 2Or I mean, I had an example one time. I had to do some panels that were going into convenience stores and looking in your office that you know it's a small thing, Well, it's going up on a six by eight foot deal and we were doing hot dogs and the onions. I swear they look like sugar cubes. They get those hot dogs, and so all I could see was sugar cubes, and so for years I would go by and go, oh no, the sugar cubes. So have you had an experience like that? Have you had a story that just gnawed you?
Speaker 3Yeah, I would say my first print piece that I've seen on a billboard was actually in Huntsville, which is where I live now, and it was for a jewelry brand and it threw me off because I actually didn't even think that I was going to see it. It's for the brand Mikimoto, and so we're on the highway and I see it and I'm like I designed that and then I got, we got closer, I was like I did that. Yeah, it was like the aha moment that I got to see it so big on that, that large of a scale, um, and then the the first moment that I ever seen something that I noticed the mistaken was actually a sprite campaign that we did and it was for winter spice cranberry, the very first campaign that we did. And it was for Winter Spice Cranberry, the very first time that I'd ever done it. And I was like, oh my gosh, there's something that's like a hair off. The wedding is just off a hair.
Speaker 3Nobody else was going to notice it, but I was like this is garbage, like I shouldn't ever put it out like that. Oh my, goes through like channels of like 12 people and so everyone has seen it. But sometimes when you're like in the weeds and the project is due. There's not really any time to like edit or somebody might not catch something. So I think when you work on anything that's like large scale or for social media, even just like little things that you'll notice, you'll be like okay, we have to take it down, versus that'll ruin our optimization and performance, so don't take it down. I've had a lot of moments like that where we're like oh, we shouldn't have done that, like this is not great and we've had to learn from it. The client's gotten at us like and it hurts, but it makes you stronger, makes you a stronger creative, for sure it makes you stronger, makes you a stronger creative, for sure.
Speaker 2Oh, wow, all right. So that leads me into two questions here. You know, I hear people talk about C-work. C-work is fine, just get it out there, just C-work. Are you a C-worker, or are you an A-worker or a C-work? How do you come in on that?
Speaker 3I think I'm definitely an A worker. I want to see everything through, detail to detail, willing to like prolong a deadline to get it there, to make sure it's perfect. I'm a perfectionist for sure, like no doubt about it. But a lot of the work that I do is C work, where here's the deadline, there is no moving it, this is the day that it goes out. And sometimes the deadline will move up, especially on social media. I feel like I love her so much, but she's the bane of my existence sometimes, because it means if we want to get in on a moment, if we want to get in on a trend, if we want to get in on a holiday, we have to do it that day or not at all. And I on, like a holiday.
Speaker 3We have to do it that day or not at all. Um, and I've watched a lot of projects die because of that.
Speaker 2So yeah, yeah, oh, my god, the first time I was in retail I missed christmas. I had no idea it happened in may, no idea, yeah they it was like, uh oh.
Speaker 2then you know they're saying, hey, where's all the POP, where's all the point of purchase stuff? Yeah, I look on my calendar for next week and it's November and it's even worse now. And I hear what you're saying about the social media. So there can be a lot of anxiety in your career. How do you manage? And I'm actually, I'm just putting that on you. Isaac tells me I am his anxiety. So you know, I'm not sure that I want to accept that role. But if you have anxiety, how do you manage it? How do you stay in control? I?
Speaker 3think this is something that I'm still actively working on, especially because I'm the kind of person that wants to add extra work to their plate because they're capable of it, and I think I've measured my worth off of how much work I'm doing and how much I can get done. We actually, like most recently, took a like training at work, and my top five strengths all had something to do with consistency and being able to do work and I was like, oh, that's very boring but you're proud of it oh yeah, I struggle pretty hard with um, being anxious, thinking I can't get things done on time and then adding additional things to my plate to prove myself, especially in the industry that I work in.
Speaker 3So I'm actively working on how to kind of put anxiety on the back burner. I think what has helped is only taking on what I'm capable of, which is two to three projects instead of eight to nine projects, because I lived in that eight to nine projects world for the last two years and I actually just started to slow down and I've never felt free.
Speaker 2Yeah, it's almost like you don't have anything to do, huh.
Speaker 3Yeah, and I think the only reason that it feels like I don't have anything to do is because I've always piled too many things on my plate. Um, so, having less and knowing when to raise your hand and say, hey, this is too much, can we dial it back a little bit, has definitely been something that I've had to learn, so much so that my manager made it a goal for me for 2025.
Speaker 2Oh, wow, wow. My next question was all right. How have you done that?
Speaker 3Yeah, so I think, having a team that backs me up. One, two holding myself accountable, which is very hard because I just will take it sometimes. And then three, making like those measurable goals which I've learned to add to my personal life. At work we do like four goals a year and I feel like I need to start like making my goals a little bit more manageable in my like my personal life. So, yeah, that's I think the top three ways that I've helped is making sure you have a team behind you that's like, yeah, we're going to make sure you put your hand down for some of these things.
Speaker 2Do you ever sit in a meeting and say don't say anything, don't say anything, don't say anything, All the time, because I volunteer for anything, especially if I'm excited about it.
Speaker 3Yeah, oh, I'll get it.
Speaker 2I'll get it. I'll do it. I'm a terrible lying. Yeah, yeah, but you don't want to, is it? I don't know. Is it the fear of missing out on something, or is it the oh that's exciting too, or I think it's a couple of different things and I'll I'll.
Speaker 3I know this is like hard to say. So the first thing is like missing out on something for sure. Like we have groups at work where there's events that we throw and I want to be a part of that because work can't all just be nine to five doing projects, that kind of thing, Like build relationships with people as you do it. I think the other thing is, as a Black woman, it's been very hard to prove yourself in the advertising space because they don't trust that you have the knack or the skills. And then you're a woman and they're just like she can do all the maintenance stuff. We don't have to have her in charge or leading or anything like that.
Speaker 3And I've seen like that toxic masculinity come up a lot, which is scary, and so for me, I think a piece of it is me trying to prove my worth, like my ability. And then the other thing is to get the recognition because working remotely, a lot of the times they tell you once you work remote like they're going to forget about you, but if you're in the office and you're present, people see your face and they know who you are. I've been able to build the name for myself remotely and they're like oh, we've heard so much about her, Can we have her on this project? That's the kind of like recognition that I've wanted to grow. It's like they know who I am, They've seen my name, They've heard my name and they want to work with me. Versus like, oh, I have to work on this project with that person. Like I don't ever want anyone to think that I'm not capable of the creative that I wanted, that I want to do for the rest of my life.
Speaker 2Yeah, I'm very passionate about being a designer. Yeah, I never really thought about that. Remote, you know, like if you're not in their space and I mean I guess I've thought about that, but how did you make sure that that you're there? I mean, you can't, like, email them to death and you can't, you know, teams them all the time, and so what did you do to make sure that you stay present other than the me, me, me? What did you do to make sure that you stayed present other than the me, me, me.
Speaker 3Yeah, I think so. The nice thing is I wasn't always remote, Like yeah.
Speaker 3I graduated during the pandemic, so when I came on to the team, we were remote. The only way that I could get to know people was virtually. So I set up one on ones like coffee chats. I was involved in whatever groups that I could be like, um, any chance there was like a virtual holiday party or we do events all year. There's like chats and talks and panels and like, yeah, staffs, and so anytime there was an opportunity for me to have my camera on and be present, I was.
Speaker 3Then we started going in person and, um, some of the projects I was working on grew some traction.
Speaker 3So, like we had to do office shares and then they sent me for a conference and I had to present about the conference. So I think my personality kind of helped, because I'm very bubbly when I present, and so people kind of learned who I was. And then I went remote and they were like well, you know, going remote means that they aren't going to put you up for promotions, blah, blah, blah. And it scared me for a minute until my manager, like a couple of weeks ago, was like, hey, I'm going to start putting your name in the hat for promotions this year because here's all the things you've done. So I think just keeping recognition, doing coffee chats even across offices, was really nice, because I was working out of the New York office, I was working with Chicago and London and DC, so I got to just meet people, yeah, virtually, and it made it easier for people to kind of learn who I was and I got to meet people that were doing similar work across other offices.
Speaker 2So yeah, that's cool. I don't really have an understanding of that, I don't guess, because I came out of corporate like corporate corporate a long time ago and then but I was kind of among some of the first that left I left my corporate job and then turned. They turned around and hired me back to do the job but not be on their payroll but to be an independent contractor and I was like, yeah, this works, but we didn't have all the. You know I'd have to physically go and, you know, have the meetings or have the, go to the conventions or go to whatever. But that is really cool and fun. But that balance, all right, you talk about personal. You've got to figure out how to put your personal in that, because you're talking about time zones too and really really affect you. So how are you doing that kind of balance and juggle to what? What's personal? What is a personal life to you? Because some people can call personal life sitting there on the computer and working on a project, just been in the same room with somebody.
Speaker 3I think we're having this conversation at a very good time, because personal life for me didn't exist when I was working on a specific client that I was working on for two years. It was not present. Everything else took a backseat to whatever work they needed. We were working 90 hours a week Like it was a lot. There was no personal life, like it didn't exist. If I could get a meal in, it was a blessing, that's it, and so I've learned that by taking things off my plate, I now have time for other stuff, like getting to the gym every day that I can and having a actually like an intentional cup of coffee, not like one that's just like rush made. Yeah, yeah, um, you know I've picked up pottery, um, and so I now have time to do other things, um. So, yeah, I think the balance is really just getting rid of the things that are taking up a lot of time, and if you're, if you're not in a position I think that's another big thing is like, if you're not in a position to get rid of something that might be taking up 90 hours a week, step back from it or ask for additional help, like my biggest fear was asking for help, um, because I didn't want anyone to think that I wasn't capable of doing it on my own, but it was like, hey, this is a job of four people, so how can we make this work? So, yeah, I think I'm learning balance.
Speaker 3I'm learning work life balance for sure, but in the past, like month and a half, I've done a way better job. It's just like it's fine, it'll get done. When it gets done, I'm going to close my laptop at six, but of course, like London time, that's six hours ahead, so it's one of those things you can't really avoid. So I get up an extra two hours early so that I can get off at a reasonable hour. But when we're asleep they're awake. So it comes with challenges for sure. Like our dove pitch, we were awake for 48 hours straight and I was like I don't think I've ever seen this many hours in a day.
Leadership Mentoring and Trust Building
Speaker 2You didn't know there were more than 24, did you? And in some of these places you get to live it twice. That was just what I noticed today. No, it's now it was all put together. Yeah, wow, do you. In my era, a lot of times you kind of came across of they can fire me for anything, I can get fired. I have to do this because they'll fire me. But then there's this group that has come through where they're like fire me, I'll go get a new job, or they don't believe that that's fireable. Where do you fall.
Speaker 3I have so many friends that are like fire me, whatever, right. I'm very much Gen Z, but I was raised by my mom and I are 20 years apart, but my grandparents helped raise my brother and I too, so I have a very old soul and so I think that's why people think I'm like 34. So I am very much like how can I optimize as much time in this day that they're like of all the things that they're asking me for? I don't want to get fired because I am not showing up every day Like I give 110 percent when really my 70 percent is probably a lot of people's 100 percent, and my manager says that to me all the time. I definitely fall in like the millennial space. My mentor is a millennial and she's like you just act like an old lady. I'm like. I'm so sorry.
Speaker 2That's funny. That's funny. Okay, you say you're your mentor. Are you assigned a mentor? Is this somebody you found? This is just how do you seek mentorship and mentors.
Speaker 3So I think you're assigned a manager. That's a given. But I just got really lucky. I got a female manager of color and she's amazing. I wouldn't trade her in for the universe. But then we actually had someone come back in an ECD position like an executive creative director position that I got really close to, the reason being I left I'm sorry, she left the company that I work at when I got hired and then they told me about her and they told her about me. It was like everybody was like relaying our names to each other and then when we met it was almost like we had known each other in another life because she was like okay, I'm going to be your mentor. It was like it wasn't like a I'm going to be your mentor verbally, it was like we understood you, we just got the look right there and since then she's kind of like helped me build the career that I have. She's literally me, but she'll, she'll be the one to be like you need to put your hand down or you're going to end up like me.
Speaker 2Yeah, I've been there, done that, and let me tell you how not to get to the top. Yeah, yeah, wow, that's great. So do you look to be a mentor? Do you have someone that you mentor as well?
Speaker 3I think so. I recently had an opportunity to judge a creative set of work on an awards panel for the first time and it was so fun. I got to like meet people out of the countries and judge all of this work from other countries, including the.
Speaker 3US, and I ended up like signing up for an opportunity to be a mentor and talk to some of the students that submitted work, and so I actually have a conversation with her in a couple of weeks, so this will be the first time. I will say, though, I've never like been one to like when I manage a person at all, because it feels like I have to tell them what to do, which I don't think I like, and then, if they're a person that doesn't have an identical work ethic to me, I think it'll be a little bit harder to like get them to get a move on, you know. So I've never wanted to be a manager, but I've also like heard that I would be good in a position like it.
Speaker 2But mentoring, I think it's more my speed, I can help you where you need my help not do it, because I have to tell you, because you're my like, I'm your boss.
Speaker 3I don't like that, yeah, yeah. Well, tell me what you think a good leader is. I think I was just having a conversation about this and this could be like a very hot take, but I noticed a lot of millennial managers are terrible in my industry at communicating. They just suck at it Like they don't communicate well, they don't know how to relay information and then they just expect something from their mentees or the people that are reporting to them that they're not capable of and don't relay that. They just expect it.
Speaker 3And I think a good leader is somebody that one has lived a life of experience, like somebody who has a perspective that if you don't align with or have an experience, you can learn something from. And then a good leader is somebody that definitely can communicate and understand and be empathetic, because, at the end of the day, like this is someone that is looking up to you to give you information and pave the way for the career that you're working in. And I've seen, on the bad end, just managers that haven't done a really good job with the people that are reporting to them and they've ended up quitting. So a lot of my friends, actually. So, which is why I praise my manager. So much is because she's great at communication. She's like very proactive um, and she's very honest. I can like trust her to talk to her, whatever that's important yeah, I think that's. A good leader is basically that.
Speaker 2Wow, all right. How do you know you can trust somebody? What's your measure?
Speaker 3there. I think with her it was like talking about different projects that we had worked on, and she was very candid about things that bothered her about specific projects, the lack of diversity across teams for really important things, like can you imagine doing something for the African-American History Museum and no one on the team be an African-American Like those are things we would talk about. And just being able to like learn the insides of the company that I work for. She would give me details and tell me hey, when you work with this person, here's some tips. So, versus like somebody that just thrown into the wolves which I've been thrown to the wolves before but I've survived yeah, I think that's where the trust came from. But then also, she had been with the company for so long that you could just believe in a person based off how much information they have that is like honest and intentional, not just, haha, that's gossip information.
Speaker 2So yeah, yeah, yeah, things that really could be said in front of everybody because they're factual and they're not. Yeah, the gossip side. But what? What about personally? I mean trusting people personally, especially when I mean you are young and you have been career focused, and so to trust the outside, from your creative world, because some of the people that I know that you know are not in the creative world at all. I mean, it's just there. It's different matter of fact is engineering, math, logic, things, and those are not the same, which are not? Yeah, yeah, you know which of these things do not, are not the same. You know that little picture they're not like. Yeah, one of these things do not are not the same. You know that little picture they're not like. Yeah, so how do you, how do you personally, how do you factor in trust?
Speaker 3Yeah, I think. Yeah, that's such a hard question. Oh my gosh, I think you can kind of. I have a little bit of an intuition. My gut is 99% of the time right, so I trust my gut most of the time. You can tell a person's intentions um off from the beginning. Um like, I freelance on the side sometimes and so I can tell when a person's very serious about something that they want to work on, and I can tell when they're not very serious and I'm probably not going to get paid.
Speaker 3Um, I like I create. One of the craziest things I guess I can say I've ever done is flown to Alabama for the first time to meet my partner, and I don't know what made me trust yeah. I don't know what it was, um, but I just I trusted that I was going to be safe, in that I wouldn't have any issues, and then and I let my gut do a lot of that and that could be- my one thing, you left a bread, a crumb trail, a bread trail.
Speaker 2Pretty much I'm going yeah, I did one crazy thing that you've done literally I'm very like, I'm practical.
Speaker 3I'm like oh, does this thing have any danger? Points like should I do it? Like I don't really love long distance driving all that much. I'm not like a spontaneous human, which is wild, because in my work I'm the complete opposite.
Speaker 2Yeah, you have to make spontaneous, fast decisions and not even look back. Yeah, that's how you balance, then huh.
Speaker 3That's. That's probably the answer. It's like I'm a completely different thinker in my personal life than I am in my my work.
Speaker 2Oh, that's funny. I mean that's that's funny.
Speaker 3not funny, haha, but funny interesting because so much of your work life takes over, and so to be able to have such diverseness is pretty cool and I think that's why I had said to to you, like I'm still trying to find that balance, because it does feel like maybe 70 80 percent of work is my life and then 20 percent is for everything else, and I think I've I've spent less time in my personal life being spontaneous and trying the new thing without asking a thousand questions first, like I think I've gotten to a place which is why I said this is a really good conversation to have now and I've gotten to a place where I think I need to 100% spend my twenties doing things that I actually enjoy and I'm excited about that. I wouldn't have expected, because one time, once I'm 30, it's not- downhill at 30, I know, but I'm no.
Speaker 2hey, I was telling you I started this water program and the women, some of the women that are in it, I know I'm not sure how they all they are, but I'm going with 20 years older than me and they were talking about different things that they are discovering and learning. And I'm going with 20 years older than me and they were talking about different things that they are discovering and learning. And I'm like, really, really, and I mean to me it's exciting because it's like, oh, so there is always more and there's always more you can do in your career. There's always more you can do personally. I mean, coming down south is a biggie for you.
Speaker 3Yeah, I literally just called my mom this morning and asked for some advice and she's a big proponent for, like you don't have any responsibility, you don't have any kids, you work a job that pays you well, why are you even second guessing this opportunity? Why are you even second guessing trying whatever it is that I'm talking to her about at the time and I'm just like, wow, you just think this is just so easy and I'm forgetting that at my age she had me. So, yeah, yeah, so I guess I should stop looking at 30 and at like. Any age past 30 is like doomsday, because it's not. That's basically when life starts.
Speaker 2I get to make a little bit more mistakes.
Speaker 2Yeah, but the older you get, the more you know that a mistake is not going to just absolutely send you out to the back. I mean you don't, and even if you lose everything, just start again. So, all right, I think it's cool that you talk to your mom. You call your mom for advice. A lot of people these days are going no, you shouldn't do that. You are a grown adult and so it's like a little bit disheartening when you are a mom going. Oh my God, I had you for a reason and then all of a sudden we don't get to exchange anymore. That, to me, is the saddest thing. But tell me, tell me your relationship, and how did you have you? Have you had periods where you pushed back and then you pulled forward? And how do you deal with that?
Speaker 3Yeah, me and my mom when I was a teenager but had so much that we like really talked, I had an attitude problem I'm not going to lie about it, I did and so the buffer between us was my grandparents at the time, and so, yeah, we did not get along. I didn't ask for advice If I did something sneaky, like I wasn't telling, and so I think our relationship was strained like any other, like teenage daughter and mom. But my mom was also growing with me and I think that's something that's really nice and I was like we get to have conversations about like well, when this thing happened, I was just growing with you. So my grandparents passed like two years apart when I was in high school, when I was a senior. So they were super close, we were all super close, and these are my mom's parents.
Life Transitions During the Pandemic
Speaker 3So I think once that happened, my mom, my brother and I got very close, like took care of each other, and that's when our relationship started to get better with one another. Like I have a very close relationship with my brother now. I have a very close relationship with my mom now, and so I think now we're in a place where my mother's preparing my brother and I for the world. She's giving us all the information we needed to be able to say we can go out and be adults. I also was the kind of kid that, like, wanted to do stuff very early. So, like I think, at at 11, I tried to cook by myself.
Speaker 2She was so mad because she, she was like you can't use a stove, like don't do that.
Speaker 3And then I was like trying to make pancakes, like I hear the word try, yeah. So now our relationship is great and I can go to her and be like hey, I need some advice on this. Like this morning was a great example, um, and I think I would say in the last like four years it's just grown into like almost like a bestie. I love her and she's. She is exactly like me, except she took a different path than I did. She had me very early and now she's getting to like live life because her kids are grown and so now she'll call me and ask about something and vice versa.
Speaker 3So, yeah, I think it took a while and she like wasn't sure about the whole creative thing. She was like artists don't really make money and I was like let me prove it to you. And then she was like you're gonna have to get a cubicle job. And I was like I will not work a cubicle job. And then I was like let me prove it to you. And so she believes in me for sure, because before she was like starving artist.
Speaker 2Question mark oh, let me prove it to you. So you have always been a let me prove it to you kind of girl oh, for sure for sure. Wow, has that bitten you in the butt sometimes.
Speaker 3Because I sometimes I'll take off. What is it like? Bite off more than you can chew.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 3And I think that was the first time I'd ever experienced burnout. But I had to understand that burnout isn't the lack of ideas or work ethic, it's being literally to the point of exhaustion and not recognizing it and just continuing to try and go. So, yeah, there's been a couple of times where I've been like, ok, I'm going to prove it and I failed, and I take failure pretty bad. Is something I was asking about failure yeah, yeah, we aren't, we aren't.
Speaker 3Don't like buddies, don't like failing, um, but I've learned like the failure. Failures are the only way that I'll be able to kind of learn from mistakes um and I had a like a oh my gosh, should we go back to this mentor thing in my internship? And he was like, if you fail, just fail forward. And so that stuck with me for a long time, even though I literally crash and burn and cry yeah, yeah, yeah, you know I was.
Speaker 2I actually like we were. We were on like a virtual conference, a big conference, where you know there were thousands of people and then they, they broke you up into little pods and you, you chatted for a while in the little chat room and then you'd come back and they were talking about failure and they were talking about how much they love failure. Love, love, love, love, failure. And I came back and went are you kidding me? I'm sorry y'all, I hate failure. You put it, you put any. I mean I didn't like a C, but my goodness, you put an F on something in school. I was not happy, I was not rejoicing with oh, I failed. I know now that I need to study harder. I cannot embrace that. Yeah, failed. I know now that I need to study harder. I cannot embrace that. Yeah, get what people are saying about you. Learn from failures. I get it, but tell me it feels good. No, okay, I already love you because I mean yeah, mom was hard on us.
Speaker 3She was like no C's and I was like but this is hard. And so there was never an opportunity to say like this is hard. There was never an opportunity to bring a seat home. There was never an opportunity to talk back to a teacher like she. She gave us the tools to literally be distinguished citizens that were respectful and had qualities that people want to be around. Right, and I think I carry that still is like this idea of perfection, which then bleeds into this idea of like I can't fail, like that can't happen. And I think the pandemic like really slowed me down. It was like LOL, we have something for you. Basically because it was like we worked towards an entire senior show in college for them to be like you're not having a graduation and I was like, oh, so, and it wasn't on me, right, Like that was a global thing, but it felt like one of the biggest failures.
Speaker 3And then it was like, oh, I have to quit my job. Then it was like, oh, to quit my job. Then it was like, oh, you have to move back home. Like I've been living alone for four years move home so yeah, and nobody could fix it no, there was nothing.
Speaker 2There was nothing you could do, but yeah, and and and we didn't understand it either. So it's like I mean we didn't go to college like that. So, yeah, I mean Tori, my youngest was wildlife and so they had this practicum that they would do Forestry and wildlife did it, and during pandemic you know that practicum was several weeks out in the woods kind of thing. They didn't get to do it and it's like what'd that do to them? I mean, they didn't get to really practice. I mean it's called a practicum for a reason and so I mean there's so many that impacted. I bet that'd be one heck of a study to go back and see what did it do to you in your career.
Speaker 3So, like you went through all of this and there's no like here you go, diploma, they like put it in a trash bag and had him drive by to go get it and I was like this is terrible. So, like on a high school level, there was no transition to college for them. It didn't feel like they grew up. For college students, it felt like we kind of like just picked the first job because we needed a job. Get out of here, yeah, yeah. And then I guess for people that were in their career, that are getting laid off, it's like, oh well, I thought that I was going to do this thing for the rest of my life. Maybe this isn't the only thing that I could spend my time doing right and people learn. Okay, we could be doing these things virtually. Why are we in here for 50 hours a week? Like what, 50 hours a week? Like what is a commute? It turned everything on its head basically, which is cool, but corporate is feeling it.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, no kidding. Well, I will never forget the. We were in a grocery store and and I guess this kid was four or five and they were just acting like they were two. And Becca looked at me and said you know, they didn't get to go to a grocery store from the time they were two until now, so they're acting like they would, which would be appropriate at that back age. And it's like, oh gosh, yeah, I don't need to be so harsh on them of thinking, oh goodness, what was your mother doing when you were?
Speaker 3we call them pandemic babies and they, they like, are now flourishing, yeah, and having full conversation. Like I see a very big difference between my two god sisters, one during the pandemic. The other one grew up the regular like the quote-unquote regular way and it's it's just wild to see like the transition. But yeah, I think for everybody, everyone has a story like with their life what halted right during that time.
Speaker 2Yeah, and then how they either overcame or it changed, or kind of yeah, segued. So I have a question In advertising and in designing and all of this, your whole point is to persuade, is to get somebody to do something. Now my kids say that I am so twisted. But I want to see if I am twisted. Okay, why did you go into this career? Oh my gosh, I feel like if I tell the truth no, tell the truth the truth will come out. Okay, and I'll tell you my truth when you get that.
Speaker 3That's fine. Let me give you like a quick timeline. All right, 2020,. I had an opportunity to go to California and work for Patagonia. Like I was super purpose-driven, wanted to do stuff for the environment, for the government, that kind of thing, and so it was perfect. Pandemic hit. They pulled it away.
Speaker 3Then I ended up working for a nonprofit education agency in Pennsylvania, which is where I went to school, loved it, but didn't love the people. So I was like I have to get out of here quickly people. So I was like I have to get out of here quickly. Um, and so I was doing passion projects and an Ogilvy recruiter, which is the company I work for now, um, reached out to me and they were like we love your portfolio, we can teach you everything about advertising advertising that you need to know. Will you come do an interview with us? And I was like yeah. And so after I met all of the people and how warm and nice they were, I was like, okay, I want to work for, for them.
Speaker 3And then I gotta like I didn't go to a school that taught an entire year on advertising. A lot of people usually do that and they're like the prime, like this is where you want to be. There's a top three schools and this is or top three companies, and this is one of them. Um, because Ogilvy is basically like the, the god of advertising, um. And so I went in and I didn't know anything, like I didn't know. This man wrote the jingle for Nationwide. I didn't know, like I didn't know. I was just like hi, having me here, who are y'all? Ignorance is bliss, isn't it? And so I went in oblivious and then learned everything that I knew over time, and now I understand why we want to persuade, but do I feel like it's always bright? Absolutely not. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2That's amazing, that's great, and sometimes it is that blind confidence you know you're going in with. You know what you got, so how does it match up? And I think sometimes we flip that and that's where you miss. You miss the matchup. Um, maybe try too hard.
Speaker 3Yeah, I went into advertising because I wanted to make you do stuff you didn't want to do which I love because I've been in campaigns where I've been able to do it, where it's like y'all want to win a spice cranberry, do you drink? Said like I've gotten so many people want a soda. It's terrible. Ask me if I drink soda. I do not.
Speaker 2Yeah well, I'm back in the day where you could push cigarettes, and so it's like yeah.
Speaker 2And so it's like yeah, and we put the warning. I mean you had the warnings on there, it's gonna kill you, but let me make it look to where you'll walk in the store. So my, my advertising started with there's. There's two pillars of change in time that I came into one. We got this fixing to really age me. We got the pumps, the gas pumps, car do the card at the pump. Yep, that was my era and we were like we can't do this because we won't have them in the store anymore. This is our livelihood, our beer and cigarettes, and and we're like we can't, we can't, oh, but we can, we can make you walk in the store.
Speaker 1Yeah, we can make you.
Speaker 2You've got to have the hot dog. And then I was when debit cards came. I worked for a financial industry, and so it was like, oh, you may not have it in your account, but you're going to want to, because the debit card is your secret to your financial.
Speaker 3Yeah, oh, my gosh to, because the debit card is your secret, to your financial. Yeah, now we're like yeah, now we're in a space where it's like how can we persuade this influencer to work with this?
Speaker 4brand and hold the product in their hand.
Speaker 3Yeah and oh it's like a big shift and I hear like colleagues talk about the cigarette industry and how that came and evolved and then I think there was like um, like how Ikea kind of came and went because we had as a client, and so, yeah, it's wild to see what we're like persuading people to do over the years and I, I dig, I dig deep into that sometimes, where I'm like what were we selling in the eighties and how can we sell it today?
Speaker 2And there are times when you go I've been advertised to and so I mean it's like the, it's like food. If you start changing and looking at how you've been eating, it's like are you kidding me? I know what marketing and advertising is. Why am I?
Speaker 3falling for it. Exactly, DoorDash. Doordash gets me often and I'll get myself out of it, Cause I'm like. You are not about to send me a message and tell me I forgot something in my cart. Don't, don't do it.
Embracing Growth and Personal Evolution
Speaker 2That's funny. Oh yeah, I did, I did, I did it. Well, it's twisted fun, and I guess in every industry you've got to have some of that. Well, it's twisted fun, and I guess in every industry you've got to have some of that. So, what do you think you're always going to need help with? Um, personally and professionally? What do you think you're going to always have to have?
Speaker 3Yeah, personally, I'll start with professionally, because I want to end on personally.
Speaker 3Professionally, I think I'll always need an older perspective.
Speaker 3Professionally, I think I'll always need an older perspective.
Speaker 3I think a lot of the times, like right now, we're looking at Gen Z and Gen Alpha to look at what's fresh, what's new, and we're forgetting that there are tactics and techniques that have worked in the past and still work, because we're just so gung-ho and kind of like changing everything and transitioning and making AI and like I could care less about AI, I could care less about taking my job.
Speaker 3I think the older techniques work sometimes and so I'll always need, like, someone that is a little bit more seasoned than me to give me some guidance, sometimes professionally. Personally, I will always need a good support system in my corner. I think having close knit family and a partner and just a place to escape to, to remind myself hey, life exists over here, take a second and live it, I think will always be a thing, because it's what is really easy to do this like to do the work thing 24 hours a day when you're by yourself, like there's nothing else stopping you from doing it, and so having a support system and people that are like, hey, come, hang out.
Speaker 2Makes it easier to remember that you have a whole life to live yeah, yeah, because it can kind of sneak up on you and you don't realize it.
Speaker 3And I think that's kind of what it did the last two years, which is why I say that.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah. Well, it's funny. I kind of giggled a little bit cause you said in my corner and you're also around the fight world which you're not in, you're not in grappling, you're not in all of that, but yet you're a part of it, with your partner being a part of it but yet you're a part of it, with your partner being a part of it, and so do you see some parallels of your life and that life.
Speaker 3Yeah, I think there's a. There is something about watching an athlete do that for a living that reminds me that I literally don't have to work a nine to five. I could literally change paths tomorrow and I would be okay. And then the idea of like, especially because a lot of the people that I'm around work within the same network. This network is global and so, no matter where we end up, there's always someone that can be your coach in your corner when you compete, if you go by yourself. Um, so I find myself like referencing things, and I've even got like so into it. I kind of like I know a lot of the moves, I know the rules, like most of the rule sets, and so people see me and they're like hey now. And I'm like, oh, hey yeah so go ahead.
Speaker 3I've learned. I've learned a lot from it, just learning the the idea of not having to feel so independent, um, because you always have a team with you regardless of where you go, um, but then also just that in your corner thing is really important, because it feels like a lot of the times you do things like you're an independent fighter, but that doesn't mean that your entire career has been independent um right yeah, I mean it's just like a work promotion.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, well, and you get these people that invest in you and when they invest in you, even if they're not from your gym or whatever, they're investing in you and care, and it can be the same way in your career, in you and care, and that can be the same way in your career. We had somebody the other day who passed away and I was like, oh my gosh, you know, we sat down and we were among the first to sit down and do 10, you're going to laugh slide projectors at the same time in a presentation and we rocked it.
Speaker 2I mean it was like and so you're like, you always have these people that got you on that next step and maybe recognizing that is super important.
Speaker 3Yeah, yeah that. That in your corner thing is key.
Speaker 2Yeah, yeah, what do?
Speaker 3you fear most in life failure.
Speaker 3No, I'm just kidding, yeah we're gonna go right back to that um, I think right now, my biggest fear is wasting my time because I've put work first. It's a theme. It's been a theme lately Wasting time and not being able to catch up with people, catch up with myself, catch up on new hobbies, to rest and be restful versus hey, I got eight hours of sleep last night, right, last night, right, um, yeah, so I've stood in my way a lot on that and I'm trying to get to a place where that's not a problem anymore.
Speaker 3Yeah, I had big like personal dreams at one point and so relight those or find them or change them. Yeah, it can evolve yeah, especially as you get older, because like 14 year old me was like I'm gonna be married with kids by 25 what that's funny, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2So so how are how, how is? Is Danisha different today than what you thought or you were projecting as a kiddo?
Speaker 3I think there's like a trend that's like 14 year old you, or like nine year old you would be smiling Still an artist. I knew it from the oh. I was very set. I knew I was going to be some kind of creative. I was like there's nothing else I want to do. I've been doing it since like the fifth grade, but I think I'm way more ambitious than I was as a kid. I was very like closed off and like scared of everything and everyone. So I have a bit more ambition to me. I'm open to a lot more things. I think that's one of those things that I'm like let me do a little better, because I'm not spontaneous and I think I've reversed the spontaneity. Like as a teen and a preteen I was spontaneous and now I'm like think about the risk. But yeah, I would say that I don't know.
Speaker 2I've grown into a very nice young lady, which is what my mom always says to a very nice young lady, which is what my mom always says think about the risk is your old soul coming through?
Speaker 3exactly you could die doing this? Yeah. Am I gonna bungee jump anytime soon? No, no. But do I maybe plan on like taking a spontaneous trip or trying something new that I didn't think that I was good enough to try? Yeah, so, like, I think a really good example of that is like I applied for Forbes 30 under 30 for creatives. Oh I, I just about fell out of my chair Cause I was like why am I doing this? Why? But someone had sent the opportunity to me and I was like, okay, instead of questioning why they sent it, just fill it out.
Speaker 2So so yeah, they sent it because they thought you should be in it. Yeah, and you need to just go ahead and pat on the back. Whether you get it or not, it's, it's doing something, that's. That's one thing that a creative has trouble sometimes doing. Yeah, when you do get, recognition takes like because you work behind the scenes.
Speaker 3So much and I love like I think, for the first, like the first time I couldn't be behind the scenes was as an stepping in as an art director and it was like you're in charge of the set, with the production, get to it. And so, for the first time, like client facing, and I'm having to like explain the concept, explain what we're doing, explain why it works like work with talent, like celebrity talent you have to remember, these people are real people. So, yeah, stepping from behind that curtain was strange, but I had decided with my manager. I was like I'm never going to be an art director, I'm always going to be an art director, I'm always going to be a designer. I want to be behind the scenes. And she was like I think you should just give it a try and I loved it. I was wrong, like telling people what to do.
Speaker 3I was wrong so yeah, it's good to be wrong. More of that in 2025 yeah.
Speaker 2So you hear people talk about less is more, less is more. You know, people are going through and getting rid of their stuff, not wanting their parents stuff like my parents passed away and it's like, yeah, I don't want all don't and and tom's did I was better at saying this to him of do not bring that stuff home, I mean. But less is more is a concept that we hear so much of. What do you think people mean really when they're saying less is more?
Speaker 3I think, from from a professional perspective, I think I can say you can do a little bit less to get to where you want to be, instead of having to over is it over?
Speaker 2exert your energy and your time yeah, over exert over commit yeah over commit, I think is better over commit. Your time and your time yeah.
Speaker 3Overcommit, yeah, overcommit. I think it's better Overcommit your time and your energy where it's it doesn't need to be. So, yeah, I think less is more at work is like you can work at about 70% and get the job done better than most people can. And personal, I think less is more is like. I think I think about over consumption a lot, how much we consume social media, how how much media in general we consume, and I think less of that means there's more to to life and living, um a quality life of living. So yeah.
Speaker 3I'm thinking about it right now, but in terms of like stuff, I'm a maximalist give it to me.
Speaker 2Yeah, that's funny. Yeah, a lot now. So that's I like that. That's funny. Who's your hero? Do you have a hero?
Speaker 3I don't have like a uh. Oh, my goodness, kaya made this, um, made this joke. Never meet your heroes, yeah, and I met, like somebody that I just talked about, all the time that I was like, oh, this person reminded me that I could stay in art school. Like I wanted to quit, I was ready to go home and not do it ever again. And I didn't get to meet him when he did the talk at our school. And then I met him six years later at an event I was at.
Speaker 3He was the worst person. So stand up, I was at. He was the worst person. So stand up. I was like no, terrible, horrible, horrific. So I don't think I need to meet my heroes that aren't my family members. I would definitely say my mom and my grandparents are my heroes, which is so cliche, but like I've watched them go through so much and do so much and trade so much for my brother and I to have the opportunities that we have, just for us to like flourish now I know that we proud and my mom is definitely proud. So I would say my mom and my grandparents are, for sure, my heroes definitely proud.
Speaker 2so I would say, my mom and my grandparents are, for sure, my heroes. Yeah well, I know what you're talking about and you just have we have these bigger than life ideas of, of heroes and even people that aren't completely hero level, but you just all of a sudden hear them or see them in a different place, and I always want to be the same, like, if I'm talking here today, I am what you're going to see out in public, or I am going to be, and I think that's come from meeting people along the way and going, oh yeah, that's a big one. Okay, so why'd you want to quit art? Why'd you want to walk away? What happened 2016,?
Discovering Purpose in Creative Work
Speaker 3which is a replication of this year. So I experienced a lot of things that I didn't think I would ever have to experience coming out of Baltimore. It was a big culture shock, and so I think I endured a lot for two years and I was like I can't do this anymore. I was like I need to go to a different school or like maybe art isn't for me, like maybe this isn't it, maybe I need to go. And I was actually going to go to school to be a chef. I was like maybe I just need to go be a chef, maybe that's just what it needs to be. I can go to New York, I can go to a culinary school, like we can just switch it up. And at the time food was comfort. Like anyone in college can tell you like that freshman, 15, 20, 25, yeah that wasn't even good culinary food yeah.
Speaker 3So I think I was just like I don't know if this is what I want to do anymore and I called my mom and she was like you can't quit, that's all she said. And I was like, yeah, and so the the mom that I read like I realized the mom that I had In elementary and middle school telling me not to get a C was the same mom that was telling me not to quit because it would be worth it. And she was like the I think the best part about it was when we finally got to walk across that stage two years after the pandemic. And she was like I'm proud of you. And I was like, yep, that's what I needed.
Speaker 2That's what I needed. So it is having that honest hero, that honest person in your life.
Speaker 3That's like not an option. Yeah, wow, all right.
Speaker 2We've talked a lot and we honestly could keep going, but I want to to. Is there anything that we haven't brought up that you want to make sure that we do touch on?
Speaker 3yeah, I think, I think I talk so much about work and I'm learning how to transition out of work being the personality, um, and if there's any piece of advice I would give, is to find a like a real balance between work and life, like it doesn't mean slack off and never get the thing that you're working towards, but never, ever, ever, turn your back on what your personal life could look like and make your personality at work. So, yeah, I think that that's something that I wish somebody would have told me before I started working as many hours as I did, because life is very short. So, yeah, at the end of the day, live it.
Speaker 2That's great, and I do want to come back because I do want to touch on some controversial and touchy and life things that you've gone through. You've gone through some things that I have not and cannot, and it is only my responsibility to tap in where I can and learn, because we can learn and be compassionate.
Speaker 2Think that in the industry that you're in, that has got to be an exchange amongst us, because I can't just assume and I mean you said a couple of times, how do you have a project and not have the right people on that project? If you're trying to learn and convey a message and you're targeting and hitting the wrong people? We wouldn't do that. We wouldn't put together a um oh, I just lost my word a panel of um. You wouldn't. You wouldn't put together a consumer panel and not have all represented. And it seems like we do that more and more.
Speaker 3Yeah, and when you mentioned like time crunch and how much time you have to put things together, a lot of people forget that, even though we're running and chasing and trying to beat time, at the end of the day the real intention is, like what kind of team did you harbor to create this project? What's the story behind it? From the very first moment of like an account team, designers, creative producers, like did this reflect the work that you just put out into the world? And so I am very happy that I get to focus on that and like the government space as well. As when you start and do all of this like creative work for these brands that don't have to really quote unquote, worry about those things because their audience is their audience regardless. But at the end of the day, like it's still important, especially when those like key holidays and moments come around every year. Let's make sure that we're being intentional on the back end, and I think that's why I wanted to be creative. Not, I think I know that's why I wanted to be creative, because I've never seen anyone like me, um, do anything big until maybe like three or four years ago.
Speaker 2So yeah, that's cool that you say that, because I can remember as a child wanting to create something like Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer that somebody was always going to see and why it was going to be cherished and it was going to move people and it was going to do something and it was like, yeah, I mean you that opportunity and while it's a big responsibility, it is a tremendous opportunity.
Speaker 3I'm patiently awaiting my moment to like remake the Hershey Kisses Christmas commercial.
Superpower Choices and Bucket List Dreams
Speaker 2There you go, there you go. That's awesome. That's awesome, Gosh, this has been fun. I've really enjoyed it. I have one more question. That is you have 24 hours. You can have any superpower that you want. You can use it any way you want for 24 hours, personally or professionally. What would you choose? How would you use it and why would you choose it?
Speaker 3Okay, 24 hours. I will clone myself a couple of times. I personally would spend time with my mom and my brother. I would travel to a couple of different states that I haven't been to to decide if there are places I want to live and build a home on, and then I would see a lot of the places in the world that I haven't been able to see yet. So I would cross like some like big bucket list items items, but then also some like personal things of like taking care of and being around family. Um yeah, I think I'm gonna call myself flying scared heights. Um cool, with the plane gonna let the pilot handle that. Um speed, I'm okay. I don't think I need to move any faster than where I'm at right now. Right, so I think I think cloning that's what.
Speaker 2I would do. That's funny. Then you'd all come back together, have a committee meeting and exchange stories and then decide that's awesome, that's awesome, oh, this has been great. If people wanted to follow you or if you had. If someone was looking to you for hey, mentor, or just a question, how do they either get in touch or follow?
Speaker 3Yeah, I'm present on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube with my name it's just Dinesha Gross on everything, and then my email is the same thing at Gmail. So if anybody wants to get to know me more and see a very quirky side of me via video, I mean, that's where you can find me. But yeah, I'm really happy that you invited me to be on the podcast. I loved being able to have a conversation with you. It was so fun.
Speaker 2It was fun, thank you. So, so, so much, thank you. Thank you, own song little, you'll find yourself encouraged. Join us for casual conversation that leads itself, based on where we take it, from family to philosophy, to work, to meal prep, to beautifully surviving life. And hey, if I could ask a big favor of you, go to iTunes and give us a five rating. The more people who rate us, the more we get this podcast out there. Thanks, I appreciate it.
Speaker 4I got a stomp to my own drum stomp to my own song stomp, hey. Gonna put all my boots in the room, got a stomp to my own drum stomp to my own song stomp, hey.
Speaker 1Ooh, ooh, ooh. Gonna sing it out loud and say it real proud. Nobody's gonna step on my cloud Cause I stomp, stomp to the beat of my big drum. I got a big drum. Whatever you do, it ain't nothing on me, cause I'm doing my thing and I got the key To all my walls and all my dreams.
Speaker 4Yeah, Cause I stomp to my own drum. Stomp to my own drum. Stomp to my own song Stomp. Hey, gonna, put on my boots and moves Stomp to my own drum. Stomp to my big drum Stomp. Hey, thank you.