Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Danny Wonders. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Danny, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
My work ethic derives from always striving to be the best version of myself. I never wanted to be the same and i learned early on that knowledge is power, the more I know the more I become, so when if i can end my day knowing i learned something new that means I was better that day, this then become an obsession, reading something i needed more information on, watching a tutorial, trying out new skills, all of this helped grow my confidence in working harder to become the best in what I do.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am a Director & Photographer and griot as i travel across Africa and wherever else we are from to tell a story.
This means rather than just picking up a camera to capture the moment i am able to document emotion in each frame which can teach the audience or make them feel something. This gift came upon me constantly creating and actually finding a value in wanting to bring knowledge to my audience.
I initially started as a director doing music videos, most people told me to “Niche down” but i had too much passion to do so, i read somewhere “A jack of all trades is a master of none” then i read the full quote later ‘though oftentimes better than a master of one”. I then had my “Ah ha” moment where i said wow, if this is the case i will learn every side of storytelling, but rather than doing different things, i will become the jack of my trade and learn every side of it, and that’s what gave me the competitive edge because now I can’t be boxed in.
I took it upon myself to do weddings, documentaries, web series, music videos, commercials, you name it, anything with a story i was doing it.
I then picked up photography professionally in 2018 and grew my name and my brand through it when i lived in Los Angeles & Ghana. I worked with huge brands, tonnes of celebrities and have had 4 photo exhibitions since then, as the time has gone on i am now also an online tutor, where i teach students how to improve their storytelling skills all whilst using their iPhone.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The most important qualites, skills i would suggest is the willingness to learn, the energy to execute and the patience to review your progress. Learning is what keeps your skills sharp and has you confident, executing is the work done behind the scenes, the results will actually show as you continue to drop the work and more money will come in, reviewing your progress daily/weekly or monthly will remind you of what you could’ve done better is what will keep you holding yourself accountable to do better the following day, week or month.
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
The most impactful thing my parents did for me was getting together to bring me into this world, i think that’s the only gift we need to be able to take life into our own hands and prosper. Another thing i’d say is my mum for instilling God into me, that plays a huge part in my confidence and with God (Yesuah) I know i can never lose in my endeavours.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dannywonders.com
- Instagram: dannywonders
- Linkedin: dannywonders
- Youtube: wondervisionstudios
Image Credits
Photography by Danny Wonders
