We had the good fortune of connecting with Danielle Damrell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Danielle, what do you attribute your success to?
The most important factor behind my success both personally and professionally has been to prioritize processing my present reality through the lens of both my past, present, and vision for my future. What does this look like, you may ask? Well, it looks different for each and every person. As a creative by nature, creative processing has been the most important contributing factor to my success. Creative processing is a tool that activates one’s creative mind in an intentional way. This processing method leads to clarity, joy, renewed hope, and deep-rooted healing. When I speak about creative processing, I encourage people to develop this as a coping skill. The best part about creative processing is that everyone already has this desire innately within them. Having the words to describe what exactly needs to take place in order to feel better mentally, emotionally, and physically leads to the freedom that many of us are searching for. A life filled with contentment, gratitude, joy, and endless opportunity.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Creativity runs through my blood into every inch of my body. Describing what kind of “artist” I am is nearly impossible to sum up into just a word or two. Name an art form and I’ve probably tried it. From painting murals in my home to building bookshelves or even lettering at large events, I love it all. Today, I am serving as the Creative Director for a company that serves doctors and clinicians around the world, equipping them with the tools to open their own private practices. These clinicians are on a mission to impact 1,000,000 lives around the world through functional medicine – a holistic approach to mind, soul, and body healing. I am excited to be making a difference through creating in an intentional way each day (tasks still vary) and leading others towards discovering the healing impact of creative processing for themselves and with their clients.

The road to my position today was anything but typical. I actually have always felt called to be a writer and speaker but after being unexpectedly laid off from a corporate job as a dispatcher, I was presented with the steps to become a small business owner I started as a custom artist creating wood signs and random projects of all types (watercolor, calligraphy, pyrography, woodworking, etc). From there, I started teaching workshops, making silly youtube videos, and sharing my life more openly on social media. It took a few years before I began to realize that I was operating in a cycle of burnout and was struggling to see the results of all the hard work I had been doing. I was working 60+ hours a week and was still not making a livable income. I was showing up consistently on social media yet my engagement was still very low. Gaining followers was never a goal for me, but increasing my impact was definitely a goal.

Eventually, I began to realize that I was starting to hate everything I was creating. I was creating from a place of “I must check this off my to-do list” instead of “I love that I can create magic and spread joy.” The latter was what I wanted to feel but the reality was that I just wasn’t capable of that at the time. Despite the confusion and burnout, I continued to push forward because I knew that the fruit of my harvest had to come… eventually. Thankfully, I was right.

At the end of 2020, after experiencing more chaos, pain, and confusion than I ever could have imagined, I decided to do something different. I decided to try to learn more about how to grow as a professional and plug into a network of people who were older, wiser, and much further ahead in their careers than I was. it turns out that this desire led me straight to a free online masterclass that resulted in a scholarship opportunity to become a part of the exact type of group I was hoping for. From there I gained the skills I was missing and was connected to the CEO of the Institute I work for today.

The lesson in this was if you’re feeling stuck, look for the opportunities to take action. We live in a world of opportunities and I believe each person’s is out there somewhere… but you have to open your eyes in a new way to discover them.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
First, I would take them to Hashtag, a breakfast place in Stapleton. Next, we would go on a hike up at Red Rocks Amphitheater… Then grab a bite in Golden and head back up there for an unforgettable concert experience in the evening.

***Warn them to drink A LOT of water… Altitude sickness is a real problem… and it sucks, period.

The next day, we would go destroy things in a wreck room then probably spend the rest of the exploring the city and maybe end the night with a theater show at the Denver Center for Performing Arts.

On the last day, we would go to Meow Wolf for another unforgettably weird experience. This would take 4-5 hours and I would encourage them to bring an external battery to re-charge their phones because obsessive picture taking is an absolute MUST.

Honestly, if anyone comes to visit me, recording an episode on my podcast “Created Worthy” is another thing we would absolutely be doing. Not sure when it would fit into the trip, but I do know that we would have a blast in my newly renovated in-home recording studio. 🙂

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We cannot achieve the life and success we desire all by ourselves. Throughout the course of my life, I have been blessed to experience support from people that I have connected with during all seasons. I would not have beat the odds to become who I am today without the love, prayers, and encouragement of friends, mentors, and chosen family along the way. I would not have the courage or vocabulary to own my truth and advocate for my beliefs without the work of incredible writers, authors, and speakers who have come before me. I would not be capable of maintaining stability and continuing to grow into my calling without the man who miraculously chose to create a family with me. And last but certainly not least, I would not have had the motivation to heal from my past and break generational patterns without the unexpected blessing of my daughter, whom I had at just 19 years old.

Books that have changed my life:
“The Path Made Clear” – Oprah Winfrey
“Daring Greatly” | “Rising Strong” | “Braving the Wilderness” – Brene Brown
“Becoming” – Michelle Obama
“Suffering is Never for Nothing” – Elizabeth Gilbert

Website: www.damrellcreativeco.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/danielledamrell

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-damrell/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/damrellcreativeco

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5uQXfNSeZOFTLIHOdws4IQ

Other: Instagram Business Page: instagram.com/damrellcreativeco

Image Credits
Photo Credit: Brooke Rock Photo Instagram: @brookerockphoto

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