Check Out Deeahrue’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Deeahrue.

Hi Deeahrue, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Growing up I’ve always felt a little different from my peers but could never articulate what it was. Living in the Bronx as a first gen low-income child of immigrants, the only expectation is to get accepted into a prestigious university and get a high paying job from there. Luckily, I was great enough at studying in school to get into one. It wasn’t until leaving my hometown to go to Emory University in Atlanta that I discovered I’ve been a suppressed creative all along. Though I was very interested in studying gender and sexuality, I couldn’t help but feel a calling to a path separate from this field (and all the other ones present in my STEM liberal arts college).

Being away from home meant I had more time and opportunities to experiment with my interests. Trying on colorful hair styles and different fashion aesthetics as well as teaching myself how to do makeup. My favorite hobby in university was posting photos of these on my Instagram, taking time to curate the perfect set of images and captions (and the perfect 15 second song lol). My junior year I built enough confidence to start posting my makeup on TikTok but not consistently.

As senior graduation season started to approach, I dreaded applying for jobs and internships. Not a single bone in my body was eager to work in an office or to continue higher education. It was getting hard to suppress the voice that kept telling me I have to take my creative passions seriously. I took the email rejections from the opportunities I applied to as spiritual alignment and a sign to pursue my creative journey.

After I graduated, I made a promise to myself to post videos on my social media every day. I knew that creating content was the perfect start to my creative journey because of how natural speaking to a camera felt and because of the equipment I already had: a phone, a cheap Amazon light, tripod, and a personality. What started as me talking while doing my makeup developed into making life analogies and then short comedies and vlogs (I never knew I was funny). Truly I decided to post whatever came to mind in order to discover my niche.

Today it’s been a year of me pursuing content and I have made beauty and comedy my main niches on social media.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The creative journey is incredibly lonely. I still remember the blank stares and silent judgement I received from my peers (and professors) when asked about post-grad plans. Though it’s been a year since I’ve finished college there are still times I’ve felt shame for choosing creativity. It’s not a common path, so it requires a great amount of resilience, faith, delusion and a solid support system. I still don’t have that support system, but I know it’s on the way.

Specifically with content creation, it is so easy to get burnt out. The algorithm moves fast so there’s this fear and illusion of being left in the dust. It can get hard to stay present because the next video is being filmed before the previous one is even uploaded. I’m constantly hyper focusing on metrics, which contradicts the creative process.

Comparison is a huge distraction because of how accessible other creators’ metrics and timeline are. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve been discouraged by this. Dedicating hours of time and effort just for a video to flop is a mental hurdle I’ve had to learn to get over. What’s one more flop after a hundred? And then obviously being a Black woman creator it’s hard to not be placed into a box. I’m pretty sure my content is more harshly critiqued but that is out of my control.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Today I mostly post makeup and funny relatable content. I’ve never seen comedy and beauty as a content creator’s niche so that’s pretty cool. From time to time, I’ll post “outfit checks,” short music videos, and iPhone fashion photoshoots. For long form content I post witty/cringe comedy Youtube vlogs.

When I first made the promise to commit to my creative journey my fear was that I was going to run out of ideas and quit. I’m so proud that’s been nowhere near the case. It’s been one year of committing to content and I’ve been able to acquire over a million likes on TikTok and 2 million views on Instagram.

I see content creation as a launch pad into the biggest creative rooms. I want to walk red carpets, do interviews, fashion shows and be on big screens. My biggest goals are to act, model, and direct in Hollywood and New York City. Currently I live in the Bay area which makes me excited to have a full circle moment in the city I grew up in. When I’m not on social media I work as a Beauty Advisor at Sephora.

What was your favorite childhood memory?
On laundry days (Sunday) I’d record silly videos with my brother. We’d do anything from making stuffed toys talk and interact with each other to imitating cartoon characters or acting out imaginary scenarios in front of an old iPhone camera. I guess you’d say these videos soft launched my content creation days lol.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://beacons.ai/dl3archyve
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dl3.archyve
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diarriou-b-a85863276
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@dl3archyve