We recently connected with DeShawna Ladd and have shared our conversation below.
DeShawna, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
How did I develop my confidence and self-esteem? That’s a great question! The development of myself having true confidence, and self-esteem has been a journey. As a child, I was always outgoing, had a lot of friends, and wasn’t afraid to be myself. One of my elementary school gym teachers said: “That girl is gonna be the president some day!”, because of my personality, frankness, and opinions. However, upon a move across the state, in the middle of second grade, I started to regress in the confidence department. I found myself becoming very shy, and developing low self-esteem after experiencing cliques, teasing, and bullying. I also started a lot of negative self-talk at this time. If I made a mistake: “I’m so stupid!”. When I was scared to really speak my mind: “I don’t know.” When trying something new, and not succeeding immediately: “I can’t do it!” This, plus several social disappointments, led me to become a loner for several years. Regardless of the fact my family became broken records encouraging me to make friends, and do extracurricular activities. I didn’t show any gains in confidence or self-esteem until my senior year of high school, when I stopped caring about what people thought of me. When heading off to college, I developed a new way of looking at myself. I started looking at what made me, me. Taking all the positive qualities I had into account, and making sure I exuded them at all times. College was a time to “be my true self”. I ended up making a lot of friends, knowing a lot of people on campus, and trying things I didn’t think I would. In the years up until the moment I’m writing this, I have always reminded myself: Why do the people that love me, love me? What is it about me that sets me apart from everyone around me? God made me for a reason. What do I do that is unique? I also now speak life over myself with positive self-talk. As well as, I read certain Bible verses that are uplifting. These are the things/methods I have used to develop the confident and self-loving DeShawna I am today.
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?
I’m DeShawna, Owner/Artist of Celestial Intentions LLC, and also known as DJ Daisy Chains! Art and music has inevitably been an emotional/physical outlet for me since I can remember. I didn’t feel good if I didn’t express myself in some sort of artistic fashion. At the beginning of 2017 I was still making jewelry as a hobby, and getting back into doing art. With some brainstorming and encouragement, I started my own business, Celestial Intentions LLC!
Celestial Intentions LLC offers a variety of original artworks: Handmade Jewelry, Paintings, Digital Drawings. Logo Design, Crafts, and Photography.
In 2021 I discovered a pretty cool soundboard/drum pad app. Immediately I began playing around with it. It was exciting to be able to make music again! By early 2022 I had produced several electronic/techno/dubstep songs I felt were fit for putting on an album. I came up with a “DJ” moniker, and after finding the proper resources, in May 2022 “Let Your Light Shine: An Experimental Album” was released!! In the last year I have since released 3 more albums and 4 singles, available on platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music! DJ Daisy Chains supplies some banging beats for any occasion!
At the moment I am focused on developing my own/new methods of painting, new services I can offer with my talents, and getting what I need in place to start my professional DJ career! I also am coming up with a way to offer my Therapeutic Art Life Coaching services, in person and online, later this year! God willing!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three qualities that were most impactful in my journey are:
1) Creativity
If I had no creativity, or lacked it, I wouldn’t be where I am today! My business wouldn’t exist. There are several ways to improve your creativity. Like taking inspiration from new sources; taking a creating hiatus to clear your mind; making something new; and praying for it to flourish, are a few examples.
2) Optimism
I would have stopped trying with my business a long time ago, had I not been able to think about where it can go/take me into the future.
You have to be able to see the big picture, and the future ahead, if you want to be successful! Keep a positive mindset; imagine what you will have accomplished 10 years later; Envision what you really want!
3) Ambition
Having no goals in mind won’t give you motivation for much at all. I like to have a certain amount of sales I want to make when I do events etc. I use it to see if I can meet my goal,and if so I set the bar higher for the next time around. If not, I’ll look at what I can do better next time to make it happen. Keep a drive and love for what you do; make your goals realistic in the beginning; don’t beat yourself up; stay motivated.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
I love meeting other artists! I am looking to collaborate with like minded people. I’d love to get with other creatives that want to start something new in the art community; that want to work with the youth and show them how to use their gifts and talents for the better; people who want to collab on an art piece; also people who want to collab on a song or podcast etc. about music. If you’re reading this and want to collaborate with me, you can contact me at:
email: celestialIntentionsllc@gmial.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/celestial_intentions_llc/
https://www.instagram.com/dj_daisy_chains/
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/celestial_intentions_llc/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCizfqO9pLUZd-_9vnKq6b4w
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/dj-daisy-chains
Image Credits
Photos of myself at art events: Alexander Ladd
