Meet Tarik Daniels

We were lucky to catch up with Tarik Daniels recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Tarik , thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
My work ethic has evolved beautifully over the last few years. A huge component of me being able to lead in so many ways in my community involves around the ideal of rest as resistance. I became aware of a social media platform, The Nap Ministry and it inspired me to move towards instilling rest along my journey. I truly believe in putting in the time and effort to get results in what you are looking to accomplish in life I.e. career goals, community impact, and simply achieving your dreams. Doing the things that others are afraid or wont do has been very vital in my success. Importantly, as much energy I put into working to achieve my dreams, rest is equally just as important. For so long, we have been taught that you have to work so hard or go home. But for me, Im going home to rest.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Since 2016, I have been bringing mental health and suicide prevention awareness to my community through my organization, WHATSINTHEMIRROR. As a healing justice social movement we focus on education and increasing access to mental wellness providers to communities of color inciuding women, youth, LGBTQIA+ persons, and persons living with HIV. Through our programs Connect to Care and the Art Heals Project, we are dedicated to ending mental health and HIV stigma through art and advocacy.

With over ten years in public health, I continue to provide services and resources as an Assistant Director of Peer Advocacy at ASHwell. ASHwell is a clinic and nonprofit with a mission of empowering Central Texans by providing sexual health and wellness services that serve the body, mind and spirit.

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 best advice that I can give to anyone early in their journey is to always chase your passions and dreams no matter what. Sometimes being able to financially provide for yourself means you have to take a job that isn’t aligned with your passions and dreams. Survival is real and can impact our journey towards our dreams. It is okay to think of ways to incorporate your day job into your passion or look for ways to keep your dreams alive, Maybe dedicated a few hrs outside of your day job work hours or on the weekend. Every little step is a step towards achieving those dreams or passions.

Another advice would be getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. To get things that you have never had sometimes requiring doings thing you never done or going places you never been. Being in rooms and spaces that you have never had access to can be very uncomfortable but success is always on the other side of fear.

Lastly, fear is just an emotion and sometimes we allow it to be a barrier along our journey. Learn from the things that seems fearful to us and use it as an advantage. It’s usually a lesson from the around the things that makes us afraid.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
My mother has always been so understanding and supportive to me as a parent. Watching her show up for me and my causes has impacted me to see what unconditional love looks like. Her ability to survive and thrive from the things from her past has inspired me to heal and move forward from traumas that could have otherwise negatively impacted my life. As a child, you always dreamed to be able to give back to your parents and support them and I proud that my mom is employed with our organization, WHATSINTHEMIRROR. She shows up for the black queer community and youth and is dedicated to ending mental health and HIV stigma. It is a beautiful thing to be able to be proud of your parents and the work they are doing in the community. It is a joy to work alongside my mother everyday.

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