Meet Danielle Williams

 

We recently connected with Danielle Williams and have shared our conversation below.

Danielle, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

I’m a little bit of a perfectionist, so I’d say that my confidence and self-esteem comes from a lot of life experiences that pushed me out of my own comfort zone and allowed me to see myself in a different light. I have also always been someone that works towards my goals and passions, and as a 15-year-old musician, I already understood the limitations of my growth if I had stayed at my regular public school in Columbia, SC. I knew if I wanted to achieve certain things, I needed to place myself in situations that fostered my creativity in bigger ways. I think knowing this from an early age was super important. I left home at 16 to attend the South Carolina Governors’ School for the Arts and Humanities, a residential boarding school in Greenville, SC for the arts. This is where my confidence and self-esteem really started to flourish, when I started focusing solely on the depths of my creativity. And now, whenever I am given the opportunity to perform, I know the impact of my art once it leaves me, not just from the audience reaction, but within myself. The moment I can get a piece of work to the point of performance, I know there is a level of trust and understanding, a level of feeling evoked that creates real impact. I have learned to understand how my art feels, what it should sound like, what I want it to become. I believe that level of confidence in myself and in my artistry also serves to help boost my self-esteem and sense of self.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I’m Black and Chamorro poet, essayist, translator, copywriter, creative strategist and spoken-word artist. I self-published my first book of poems, The Art In Knowing Me, in 2017 before starting my MFA in Poetry at George Mason University. A few poems from this collection were used as pivotal pieces for my first spoken-word EP, We Fall Down, followed by another EP, At My Own Risk, which was released during my program in 2020 – both projects featuring production, vocals, and instrumentation by many of my talented friends from undergrad at Elon University.

After graduating from my MFA in Spring 2021, I moved across the country to Los Angeles, and have been working as a copywriter on the creative team for CAA Brand Consulting for the last 3 years, where I am able to apply my unique perspective and writing skills to develop creative brand strategies and bring stories to life across a multitude of platforms and industries.

Alongside my day job, I am constantly writing and finding opportunities for performance. In Fall 2021, I published my chapbook, Who All Gon’ Be There?, with Backbone Press, and in 2022 had the amazing opportunity to have one of my poems featured in The Indigenous Pacific Islander Eco-Literatures, an anthology of contemporary eco-literature that gathers Indigenous writers from Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and the global Pacific diaspora which was the first collection of its kind.

I also released my debut album in 2022, Danielle Paige, which further solidified my body of work. You can also find my pen-game working on various projects and collaborations with my friends like Taija Kerr’s EP “7” and Torrance’s EP “On Display”.

My performances around Los Angeles all draw back to these creations, whether music performances or poetry. I am thankful to communities and organizations, like Cuties Los Angeles, that allow room to foster growth and understanding of myself as an artist, but most importantly, as a person identifying as Black, Indigenous, and queer. These spaces incite collaboration and fellowship amongst artists and are extremely important for my continued growth and exploration through my many mediums of expression. If you’re hoping to catch some of my poems, you’re likely to find me at one of their poetry readings!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Patience. Grace. Passion.

My main advice is don’t force things. I’ve learned to grant myself grace when I am not feeling creative, or being able to create for long periods of time. It’s okay to take time off, to fully live life and stay in the moment. You’ve got to allow yourself the time and space to be inspired by something – to lead you to the passion of a new project, to come back to yourself and understand what needs to be created versus what the world around you is saying about creative output, or the need to always have art ready to be consumed. Be patient. Give yourself grace. Don’t do anything without passion. The art will come when it’s ready.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

It’s really the village of Black women that I have surrounded myself with that keeps me going. From my little sister, my older cousin, and my high school best friend who have devoted their time to understanding mental health in a variety of capacities and careers. They keep me honest. They help me gain clarity and allow me the room to make mistakes, picking me up no matter what. They show me unconditional love and cheer me on. My college besties, my sorority sisters, my LA tribe – who don’t just see me for who I am, but tell me about myself and provide that extra lens of visibility. It’s this community of accountability I’ve worked my life to create and grow that continues to challenge me to do better, be better, and overcome any obstacles I come across. They all individually teach me, in many different ways, that in order to be successful I must first put complete trust in myself and my own abilities.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Performance shot w/ crowd – Bil Brown (@bilbrown)
Performance shot w/ books and solo photo of me – Mishawn Simms (@ohsnapsmish)
Danielle Paige album cover – Gabriel Salvador (@gabe_s96)
We Fall Down / At My Own Risk EP covers – Dillon Donolds (@dilltakespics)

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