We were lucky to catch up with Danielle Hibbitts recently and have shared our conversation below.
Danielle, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
I would start by saying that my purpose is finding me? This has been a journey of life discovery and it’s meaning for me. I am still on this path of my purpose, but I see glimpses of “why” along the path. I was a teen mother who refused to become a statistic, and instead became a statistician. I learned early in life that I had to master and conquer my fears. If anyone told me no, then I had to find another way of resilience, to make it happen. I struggled with the topics because they were all very relevant in my development of self-identity, self-esteem and self-confidence. The one constant factor has been my faith in God.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
My story is one of being moved from Oakland, Ca. to Livermore, Ca. in the first grade. I found myself being the only Black person in my class then, and this became a reoccurring theme throughout my educational endeavor of becoming Dr. Danii. I learned to be comfortable in my own skin, discovering in the fourth grade, cultural differences, colorisim and white privilege. These challenges gave to learned insight and intuition as to why was my life was so different from others, and why my “look” was different from my peers. I being the only Black person in my class, I was teased about my hair texture, and the color of my skin. I learned early that I had no control over how I looked and accepted that fact that I was in deed different than my peers, and embraced my unique presence in this world.
This experience and understanding led into my desire to make people look and feel beautiful from the inside out. I learned that if people felt the looked pretty on the outside, then they felt confident about themselves, leading to better self-esteem.
During my first life, ( currently on life number four) I was a married woman with a child at 18, attending cosmetology school, and working as a cosmetic counter-girl for Fashion Fair, at Emporium Capwell’s. After cosmetology school, I became a platform artist for Design Essentials, where I began teaching and educating other cosmetologists in different states. I taught color, cutting, and haircare, sharing with others how hair and make-up builds confidence in others, that could make anyone look and feel good about their outter appearance.
During my first marriage I discovered my husband was an alcoholic. I eventually ended the marriage because he needed to deal with his childhood trauma. This marriage lasted for 13 years, and his son was born on his birthday. My oldest son’s father was never present in his life, but my ex-husband was a great father to both of the boys, when he was sober.
I remarried and gained custody of my husbands daughter when she was 19 months old. This was a precedenting event for a Black man to win full legal custody of his daughter. I was there for the support and a full-time mother to my bonus daughter who is now 31.
The night we received custody of my daughter I had a dream that I had allowed bitterness to consume my life. In the dream, I became “Hagatha” a 500lb woman with rollers in my hair, and no purpose. When I awoke, I saw a commercial advertising for enrollment at Chabot college for women in transition. I immediately enrolled in school and began classes the next month.
I, and my son’s graduated from our respective levels of education in the year 2000.
I continued my educational journey through school, earning two masters degrees, and my doctorate in 2014. My clinical psychology, specializing in forensic psychology led me to work with many diverse populations. In an attempt to correlate my first life and my second life, I decided to do my research in something that brought the two world’s together. My dissertation became my book entitled, Herstory of the Hairstory: The psychological implication hair has of African American women. I wanted to connect my first life of cosmetology with my second life of psychology. By sharing my experiences with my peers to enlighten them in the challenges of the Black woman Hairstory and a term we began to use called psychohairapy.
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?
My faith in God is everything. As a PK, (pastor’s kid) I learned to put God first, and his grace carried me through life’s challenges
Tenacity is learning to never give up.”If at first you don’t succeed”…. you find another way to make it happen!
Resilience is about knowing that despite all odds being against you, being an outliers gives you the advantage of being unique.
All of these experiences and more, led me to self-awareness and the acceptance that my journey was bigger than me. My advice would be to never give up on your dreams and be aware of distractions.
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
I am currently studying to pass the EPPP in order to be licensed in the State of California to practice independently. This test is $700.00 each time I register. The study program is 400.00 every three months to study with. I am frustrated with the process and the challenges I have had to face. I feel like I can not move into my purpose until this process is complete. I feel like others don’t understand my challenges because my culture is not experienced in this process and I consider myself a weedwacker creating the path for others to follow. I feel isolated on this journey of my life. This is something I must do alone…but God is always with me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.drdanii.com
- Instagram: @dr.danii12
- Facebook: Danielle Dr.Danii Hibbitts MA, MS, Psy.D
- Linkedin: http:// www.linkedin.com/in/drdanii12
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
