Hello Pretty People,

It’s time for another #Girlboss feature, and I am very excited for this one. I started this #Girlboss series on my blog almost a year ago, and it has been one of my favorite series to do. I was inspired by Sophia Amoruso, author of the book #Girlboss and founder of Nasty Gal. I loved the tone of her book and the message it portrayed to women. I knew that I wanted to do something similar on my blog. My #Girlboss series consists of finding women who have impacted the world, even in the slightest way; I want to highlight their girlboss moments and allow their stories to inspire others to channel their inner girlboss.

This month I am bringing you a brand new, wonderful #Girlboss feature. This woman is well-traveled, fashion forward and all around a genuine person. She is always so bubbly and happy, no matter how gloomy the day might be. So, I am happy to share this month’s #Girlboss: Danielle Davis. 

What’s your Story?

I have always been a dreamer, and sort of a free spirit. My parents always tell me that from a young age I talked about traveling and following my passions. Creativity has always been a huge party of my life. Growing up in a Midwest City having passions for acting and fashion weren’t number one on what everyone thought you should do. But, I was determined to follow my dreams and become the person I always wanted to be. So I ended up moving to LA at 17/18 and going to fashion school at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM). As soon as I stepped off that plane at LAX I felt a sense of belonging that I can’t really explain. It was like I was exactly where I was supposed to be. My eyes and my heart were opened so wide with the creativity and fashion, and all the opportunities that this place held. With the beauty of living in LA, there was also a dark side to moving to such a crazy city at 18 years old. At 18 you really don’t know who you are so it’s easy to get swallowed up in what others want you to be.

I started to slowly become someone who wasn’t a girl I remembered. I was always so full of life and bubbly and laughing; but I started becoming cynical, bitchy and started to trust less and less people. I also lived in New York City for 3 months working at a fashion house and modeling agency. NYC is a whole different animal but I absolutely loved it. It’s seriously its own little world, you could live in NY forever and forget that there is any other place out there. I’ve worked at NYFW for 4 years now and it is every bit of crazy and amazing as you can imagine. I remember my first Fashion week, it was like an absolute dream and chaos all wrapped into one week of no sleep and LOTS of coffee. All these beautiful collections, and all the beautiful people I was absolutely mesmerized. I’ve seen so many good and bad sides too this crazy fashion industry. I loved every minute of my time there but when I was done I needed a breath of fresh air. I knew that I loved this industry but I wasn’t sure if I loved who I was becoming. I knew some people who worked in this industry who seemed so full of life, and so centered in themselves and I didn’t understand how they did it. They all told me you need to know who YOU are in this industry and be confident in it or otherwise everyone else will tell you who to be and you won’t last a few years.

So I decided to move to Hawaii and work for a non-profit organization that helped other people in all different countries. Hawaii was such a change of pace to what I was used to. What I initially though would be a 6 month stint became three years of working and traveling. I took a little bit of a hiatus from the world that I had grown to love. I needed to figure out who I wanted to be in this world. Did I want to be that high power fashion girl who had no heart? Did I want to be that girl who was so nice but got walked all over? Maybe I could be a great combination of both. I ended up traveling to a number of different countries like Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, Nepal (where I engaged) and Fiji! My eyes were completely open and I saw that the world was so much bigger and loving than I could have ever imagined. I realized that there was more to life than just fashion, but that everywhere I went I saw the beauty in their fashion in every country and the diversity in it! I remembered who I was and became confident in who I wanted to be. I left Hawaii about a year ago and have the world ahead of me. I’ve taken such a crazy path but I feel so much more stable in myself and through that it helps me work better and love others better as well. I can’t wait to see what the future holds, I know it’s got to be something crazy.

What inspires you?

Genuine People inspire me. I loving seeing people being authentically themselves. You can see it in someone when they are happy and satisfied with who they are. Following their passions and not having fear about what anyone thinks. There is just something so beautiful about someone so free from fear and full of dreams that inspires me to keep chasing my dreams. When I see fire for life in someone else, it sparks fire in me to keep burning.

Favorite Quote:

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.” -Henry David Thoreau

I love this verse so much, it reminds me to confidently follow my dreams and following your dreams doesn’t always mean complicated. Simplify your life.

A lesson you learned and now live by:

You can’t make everyone happy, but you can make everyone feel valued. 

I lived so many years trying to please everyone and trying to make decisions based on how others would react or what would make them happy, but in the end I was just exhausted and there would still be days when someone wasn’t happy with my decisions. So I embraced the mantra of you can’t make everyone happy but you can make them feel valued. I  think it’s important to really listen to what others are saying and accept their advice but don’t get bent out of shape if you don’t feel like it’s right for you. Take in what feels right and leave behind what isn’t for you and others will respect you for that.

Career or life advice?

Don’t rush your life or feel like there is only one path to get where you want to go. Just because most people take a certain path to do something doesn’t mean that’s how everyone is going to do it. You might take a whole different journey to get to where your going and that is beautiful! and if you’re not sure how to get where you what to go, that’s even more exciting because maybe you’re going to do something that’s never been done before! 

Take time to remember your goals- Set your goals and every few months or years if you don’t feel like your on the right path, make a change. Don’t be afraid to stop what your doing and shift your life to how you want it to be! 

Fear is  the enemy of dreaming – Throughout your life your going to feel fear, it’s a natural thing, but don’t let it rule your life. If you do, you might miss some amazing opportunities. Fear wants to keep you from living your creativity but don’t let it keep you down. Kick fear in the ass and keep going, you’ll never regret it.

Danielle’s story inspired me because I am working on breaking into the fashion industry myself. Her perspective reminds me of how crazy it can be; it’s a beautiful industry but it can consume you. Danielle is actually one of my managers & I think she is an amazing person. She is truly beautiful inside and out! She is also very humble, she has done all of these amazing things and I had no idea until my co-workers informed me. I knew right then that I had to ask her to be my next girlboss feature.

I feel lucky to work with an inspiring human like Danielle.

Thank you for reading this month’s #Girlboss feature. I will be working on continuing these once a month. This is PYM’s first post in 2017 & there is much more to come. I decided to take this past Monday off and organize content, you can expect a post this coming Monday. I am continuing to brainstorm amazing content for you all, and as you know, I only post the content I am confident in. Keep reading PYM & follow me on social media.

New Year, New Goals!

xo, Lyss