Today we’d like to introduce you to Danae Edmonds.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Danae. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Hey, girl hey! (That is literally how I start everything.)
As long as I can remember, I was always interested in having my own magazine. I was fascinated with layouts and design and wanted to create original content. I started my first blog in 2008 and I loved it and the power it gave me to write about things that mattered to me. I never really saw it as a way to make money, though.
When I got to college at Mercer University in Macon, GA, I tried to maintain the space and added a Youtube channel to the mix, but over time as school got busier, I definitely neglected them both. When I got to my senior year in college, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my soon to be completed business degree. I knew I wanted to work in marketing but had no idea what creative careers really looked like. I had the idea to start a digital media brand where I could share those careers.
I will spare you all of the many twists and turns that that vision has taken but I will emphasize that it hasn’t been easy by any means! I went from having a brand that launched in 2014 called Speaking of Everything with a co-founder and team to working on my own to keep putting content out, to a rebrand in 2017 to Aspiring Co. and now that business is growing beyond what I could have ever envisioned.
Today, we have a podcast, our written media, e-commerce merch, and we are helping other content creators with their brands from ideation to implementation. I have a ton of new ideas up my sleeves that I will be sharing as soon as I have more details but basically, my focus is developing community and supporting women, specifically women of color, running creative businesses.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Whew, definitely not.
Early on I learned something that apparently lots of folx learn… having a co-founder isn’t for everyone! I started with this vision that I shared with a few friends and one of them was interested in partnering instead of contributing which I initially had in mind. They came with a ton of ideas, support, and even brought team members with them BUT at the end of the day, our visions weren’t aligned. If I am being honest with myself, looking back there were signs that I ignored that I wish I hadn’t. The separation was painful, like a bad divorce and we were fighting over something that at that time, was completely worthless. After we figured out the split, I had to rebuild and I learned a lot about myself. About two years post-breakup, I decided to rebrand to Aspiring Co. so that I could start a new legacy and make it completely my own.
Since rebranding, my idea of struggle is different. Now, I see things mostly as opportunities to show growth. Some of those have been working a fulltime job while trying to build a successful media company, managing your budget and bandwidth, figuring out where to allocate resources when you are self-funded, and hearing ‘no’ way more than ‘yes’. The other thing that I used to struggle with was explaining myself to people who literally couldn’t understand my ‘why’.
I recommend checking in with yourself frequently, accessing your needs, asking for help and building community with like-minded people. Everyone isn’t going to understand what you are doing or why, but you have to stand firm in your beliefs. That is difficult most times, but surrounding yourself with people who get it definitely helps.
Aspiring Co. – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Aspiring Co. is a media company where we focus on women living out their dreams. We interview women who are happy in their careers. We talk through topics on our podcast to share lived experiences with our audience. We also offer coaching for other women content creators to walk them through the process from ideation to implementation. Every woman has a story that deserves to be told!
As a company, I am most proud that other women are comfortable with sharing their dreams with me! The online community that we have built has been impactful for my own life and every now and then I get love letters from other women who feel gratitude for the work Aspiring Co. does. Now that we are also working with other women content creators, I feel empowered knowing that our work is being seen even more!
If you are looking to start a blog, need a rebrand, want to do a podcast or anything, hit us up! I offer design services, coaching, all the things! We also have a Patreon page where you can donate monthly! We are always looking for boss ass women to work with so if you are one or know one, head to our Nominate page to share about them! Lastly, listen to our podcast, subscribe, leave us a rating, and review!
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Attending the United State of Women as press- Michelle Obama was the keynote!
In 2016, Aspiring Co. (then a blog called Speaking of Everything) was nominated to attend the United State of Women, an initiative from the Obama White House to gather hundreds of women community leaders to inspire and ignite change. We weren’t selected as finalists but receiving the nomination was an honor. In 2018, the event was slated to happen again but in LA and this time you could purchase tickets. Once I considered having to travel to LA, I decided on trying to apply as press to see if it would get approved. AND IT DID! I couldn’t believe that Aspiring Co. was headed to the west coast to cover an event that Michelle Obama gave the keynote for. It was such an honor to be alongside national outlets bearing witness to so many change agents! Kamala Harris, Yara Shahidi, Elaine Welteroth, Tracee Ellis Ross, Valerie Jarrett, and more incredible women were also speakers.
I would also say getting our LLC status. For me that was the moment was a mindset shift. I stopped looking at this as a hobby! When Aspiring Co. became an LLC, it meant finding more ways to monetize and getting creative. At first, that was through helping women with design needs for their businesses but that later became the niché of content creators.
An honorable mention: securing an interview with artist Amy Sherald, the mastermind behind Michelle Obama’s official portrait!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.aspiringco.com
- Email: heygirlhey@aspiringco.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aspiring_co/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AspiringCo/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aspiring_Co
- Other: https://www.patreon.com/AspiringCo
Image Credit:
Linda Nguyen (main photo and laptop photo), Christina Noel (confetti photo)
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
