February 5, 2025 • 53 mins
What drives someone to make a bold career transition from the media industry to healthcare? Join us as we unravel Danae's transformative journey from being a media mogul at CHRY to an influential leader in nurse practitioner-led clinics. Danae's story is a testament to the power of transferable skills and the courage to pursue passions, no matter the industry. Her experience is a beacon for those contemplating a career change, showcasing how involvement with community health initiatives can spark unexpected interests and lead to fulfilling roles in healthcare.
Balancing a day job while nurturing entrepreneurial dreams is no small feat, especially in a post-COVID world. We explore the intricate dance of building a consulting business aimed at uplifting small businesses, all while honoring cultural roots and personal identity. From organizing events like AfroFest to supporting the Caribbean diaspora, this narrative highlights the intertwined journey of career alignment and community development. The challenges of blending full-time work responsibilities with the calling of entrepreneurship are painted with vivid strokes of passion and purpose.
The episode takes a reflective turn as we consider the broader societal issues of climate change and economic challenges, and how these shape our work ethic and financial outlook. Personal anecdotes reveal the influence of family and upbringing on our approach to work and money, urging a reevaluation of inherited mindsets. By sharing the struggles and triumphs of breaking generational patterns, we aim to inspire listeners to cultivate self-awareness and strive for personal growth in both their careers and financial lives.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carlene (00:00):
hi, I'm carlene and this is diva tonight.
I have with me on zoom dene.
She is a woman with many titles.
I I mean, if I want to sayanything she used to work at
(00:21):
chRY.
I was the manager.
Yeah, you're a manager, yeah.
Danae (00:25):
And then change the station to Vibe.
Yeah, change titles to CEO tobetter reflect what was
happening in the industry.
Carlene (00:34):
Yeah, and now you're actually working in the medical
field.
That's quite the change frommusic yeah, I mean, you're still
in music now, obviously as amedia consultant, a business
consultant, but what made youdecide to do that so?
Danae (00:56):
short answer is I needed a change.
So, after after doing thestation reorg, establishing,
establishing not just a stationbut a social enterprise, trying
to delineate for people like,what are the aspects of media
that we would engage in goingforward, not just radio, we
would be going to digitalpresentation, so video and so on
(01:19):
.
That was two years of a lot ofheavy lifting, a lot of stress,
and I got to near the end ofthat two year mark and was like
I don't need to do this anymore.
I don't, I don't need to proveanything.
You know, I've done a decade inmedia, in leadership, in media
(01:42):
and what else is out there forme as the short version.
And so I looked into how do Itransfer the skills that I do
have into anywhere?
I literally, when I, when Iresigned, I had no job lined up,
I was just taking a leap offaith.
I knew I was done with that.
I knew, you know, my healthwould be at risk because my
(02:06):
stress levels were high and Iwas like something will show up,
leap, and the net will appear.
Some people say so I took aleap of faith and so I said I'm
open and that's what I said, youknow, outwardly, I said I am
open to wherever this goes.
I am going to test for myselfthat transferable skills is a
(02:26):
thing.
And so, you know, I was anoperations person, that that was
the bulk of what I did, apartfrom, you know, knowing media,
understanding media, you knowunderstanding sales, training,
all of these pieces that I hadalready done.
But at the core, my core skillsets is operations, and so I
kind of leaned into that.
(02:47):
I was fortunate.
I, in my time on, you know, inVX3, vibe and CHY prior, I was
also on boards.
I was on board of directors andone of the boards I was on was
Black Creek Community HealthCenter.
I was even the chair of thatboard at one point and that kind
(03:08):
of lit a little bit of a lightbulb kind of went off and I was
like, huh, I'm in this, I'mgoing to conferences.
I learned the jargon, Iunderstand the issues, I'm in
the space, even as a boardmember, but I'm consuming it.
I'm, you know, in the spaceeven as a board member, but I'm
consuming it, I'm in it.
So when the opportunity came upto work in health care, it
(03:32):
wasn't scary because all I, youknow, I tell people all the time
.
I think our lives are asequence of things that we put
in our toolkit.
So every job you've had, everyexperience you've had, adds to
your toolkit.
And so all those years I was inmedia and I was doing other
tangential things inentertainment, I was adding to
(03:55):
my toolkit.
So when I was on the board ofBlack Creek, I was adding to my
toolkit and that toolkit led meinto healthcare.
So now I'm you know, I'm anexecutive director for a pair of
nurse practitioner led clinics.
Yeah, that's my nine to five.
Carlene (04:10):
Yeah, yeah.
I think, I think it's like it'snot where.
I always say this it's notwhere you're going, it's where
you came from, and so it's likeyou're.
You built your career in radio,but I think working in
community radio is differentthan working in, I guess,
mainstream radio.
Right, because it's stressfulin the fact that every year you
(04:35):
have to do fundraising to helpraise money for community radio.
Like people don't understand,like most of the announcers that
work at CHRY, they don't getpaid for what they're doing,
right, and so it's volunteerwork at the end of the day.
And you know, only somepositions are paid.
But your journey to health care, obviously that's a big leap,
(04:59):
like, because they always saydon't leave one job unless you
have another one lined up, youknow, and so that itself is like
a scary role to be in.
But if, if it's too stressfultoo, like I guess for you it was
the best thing to do at thattime, right?
Danae (05:17):
Yeah, I mean it was a life changing time in general.
Right, yeah, dress aside.
What else was I going to do?
What else was I going to do incampus-based community radio as
a leader?
Right, I'd already done it.
I was on boards.
You know, I had led a reorg.
I had led the prior station.
(05:37):
I have established now a newstation, vibe 105.
I have established now a newboard.
I've established what new thingcould I produce?
One new idea I could have.
I could have challenged myselfand do more and do different.
But did I want to?
Did I want to in that setting?
(05:57):
You know, like the reality is,if other stations had come
calling, maybe I would have gonethere.
I don't know, because, again, Ijust said I'm open.
Right, I'm open to change.
Yeah, I want change.
Whatever that looked like, itcould have been change within
the sector and anotherpositioning in the sector, or
(06:19):
it's a new sector.
Carlene (06:20):
I was just open to change Right right.
I think that you know I didn'twork with you at CHRI for long
and I think there was one videothat I found while on YouTube
that I thought was sointeresting.
When everyone was locked out ofthe station it seemed like it
wasn't publicized.
(06:41):
It was like something thatcaught everyone off guard.
Were you there at that timewhen that happened?
I was like, oh weird, like whydid they do that?
Danae (06:54):
I guess that was when things were changing right.
That's when we were changing,yeah, yeah.
So so I mean you know, toquickly recap, that we took
everybody off air and we'reestablishing a new entity.
In essence, we're we're doing afull overhaul.
We're going to changetechnology.
So no more CD players, no moretape decks.
We're modernizing.
We're modernizing the space,we're changing how we approach
(07:17):
campus-based community radio.
We're taking we're taking it tothe next level in terms of
presentation, professionalismand so on.
So we had to have a clean slate, so we wiped.
We literally said it's done.
Whatever you thought it wasRight, that's done.
We're going to establish a newthing and that's what we did.
(07:39):
So the reality is a lot ofpeople take ownership for things
that they don't really own anda lot of people take ownership
for things that they don'tunderstand.
So the community and I usecommunity lightly, the community
who were engaged in, listenedto or were on air.
They thought they ownedsomething, and I guess it was a
(08:02):
hard lesson in you don't own itright.
Own something, and I guess itwas a hard lesson in you don't
own it Right.
It was, and I guess that wasthe harsh part for them is oh, I
was hosting and now I don'tanymore, so that I can
understand their reactionarything to that is oh, I no longer
get to do what I used to do.
(08:22):
But if you were a student ofmedia, if you were interested in
media, if you were growing inmedia, there's a role for you in
the new thing.
But if you've been stagnant,you never shifted anything.
We always offer trainings at astation and I can tell you from
the people who are on airhandful of them would come to
trainings.
Every time we changed anyequipment outcry, outlash, oh my
(08:46):
God, what is happening?
So you're risk averse andyou're change averse.
We have to clean the slate andthen we can re-recruit from
within or outside.
Right, and that's what we didwhen we changed the station.
We re-recruited mostly fromwithin.
Most of the people who we tookover into Vibe were people who
(09:07):
had done shows, but they were ata different growth level.
They were not afraid of change,they were not afraid of
technology, they were willing tocome in and learn and try, and
even some of those people aren'tthere now because we have to
keep evolving.
Media does not stay still.
Anybody who knows anythingabout media.
(09:27):
If you think it stays still,you are in the wrong place.
What we're doing right now,this podcast stuff didn't exist.
Didn't exist when we were doingCHOI.
No no, but we saw it coming andwe're like we need to be able to
produce media that we can dropinto a podcast format.
We had those conversationsbecause we are leaders, we're
(09:49):
having that conversation.
We're paid to have thatconversation.
What is the next best thing forus to do?
So the people who weren't paid,who are volunteering, who are
community members and so oneverybody has an opinion.
Great Awesome, you're not theone doing the job.
Great Awesome, you're not theone who has to handle change.
So I took a hit personally andI think that may have propelled
(10:12):
my leaving as well because,personally, I was attacked
personally.
People.
I had to change all of mysocial media handles because
people from outside of thecountry who did not listen to
the station were messaging andsending me hate mail and doing
all this stuff because they werecaught up in the frenzy of not
(10:32):
knowing, not understanding andyou're not the lead decision
maker.
So it sucks to be you, to notbe the decision maker, but
you're not the decision makerand the decision maker has to
wear the crown, has to take theblame, has to take the hit.
I did it.
Great, moved on, you know.
Carlene (10:51):
Yeah, yeah, no, I mean it's been a long time since that
was a station and obviously alot has changed since then.
I mean, when I volunteered, Iwas like how many years ago now,
you know?
And when I volunteered, I waslike how many years ago now, you
know?
It's 2006 to 2008 when Ivolunteered at CHRY and I think
that from volunteering there,that's how I knew I wanted to
(11:13):
get into radio, and so it was agood learning experience, of
course, and learning fromcommunity radio.
I think it gave me even thatvideo, even though it had that
negative spin on it.
It made me realize how attachedpeople are their community and
it's hard to accept change ifyou're not in it.
(11:34):
And I no longer work for thiscompany, but even listening to
you talk about that, there arealways going to be people who
can't accept change.
I started this company I had.
When you go in, you're soexcited to bring in like new
ideas because we're going intothis, whether or not you want to
, ai is here to stay.
(11:55):
It's not going anywhere.
Being a part of like learninghow to do things more
efficiently, like you weretalking about, like the
changeover in media itself, likeeven me working in an
environment like that, there'ssome people that just are going
to complain about the change,right, no matter what.
Yeah.
Danae (12:15):
And during that change there was something I would say
to new recruits, new people whoare doing internship with us,
who didn't know the old station.
They would come in and I'd belike listen, the key to media is
being flexible.
Right, the key to working inmedia and staying in media and
staying at the top of your gamein media is to be flexible.
(12:35):
The power of campus communityradio was that flexibility.
Mainstream media is very hard tochange.
You literally have to shut itdown, sell it, change owners to
change what they're doing.
If you're a country station,you're a country station, you're
a country station.
So Campus Community Radio hadthat, that pliability, because
we were always open to multiplegenres, we were always open to
(12:57):
diverse voices, we were alwaysso.
There was that wiggle room todo some shifting because we knew
the model could take it, themodel of media could take it.
Not all models of media canhandle the abrupt changes that
are happening right now and wesee it.
We see how many newspapers arefolding, we see how many
(13:18):
magazines no longer exist.
Because if you can't have adigital platform, if you can't
interact in that way, you'regoing to die.
So you have to be flexible andyou have to be quick at change.
That's just where we are.
Carlene (13:31):
Yeah, I mean, even though you're not in community
radio anymore, you're stillworking in media and you're
still doing a lot of thingsbehind the scenes.
A lot of things behind thescenes like going to events like
AfroFest and covering differentthings other than you're.
Obviously, you're a nine tofive.
So what made you decide to dothat, like create Hurt Media and
(13:54):
become a business consultant inthat way?
Danae (13:58):
So that was actually born out of my working with artists.
While I was at the station,there were artists that would
call me up, would want to sitwith me, would want some ideas
and so on, and I realized that Ihad a knack for certain things
in media, whether it's because Iwas working in it or because of
my eye or my ear Right.
(14:18):
So people used to send me theirtracks and they're like you
know, before I put this out,what are you?
What are your, your thoughts?
So parent media and businessconsulting started because
people used to always ask myopinion on brand related things
and and marketing related things, and I also noticed that a lot
(14:40):
of artists didn't have thebackend.
So they were talented, they cansing, but they don't have any
kind of marketing material.
They have no idea about how tobrand themselves and, similarly,
small businesses were havingthat challenges.
So those set of challenges.
So a small business owner wouldalso approach me and is, like
(15:01):
you know, 10 years in and Ihaven't grown my business, 10
years in and I don't know whatI'm doing.
10 years in, I have no systemsand structure.
So I'm applying my myoperations skills and I'm
applying my brand marketingskills to help them navigate
that.
So I registered the company.
I was like, ok, there might besome there there, let me
(15:22):
register and see what comes ofit.
The reality is I haven't.
I haven't even worked thiscompany yet.
I really haven't, because Ihave a nine to five.
When you have a nine to fiveit's hard to be a part-time
entrepreneur, it just is.
Entrepreneurship takes time.
Time takes a lot of time.
But when you're busy doing thenine to five, paying the bills,
(15:46):
all of that stuff, it is almosta distraction from your
entrepreneurial exploits.
So I haven't even hit 50% onhow I work that business yet.
But each year more projectscome to me and I'm refining.
What is it that paired media andbiz wants to do?
You know, sometimes people arelike so why not just media?
(16:09):
Why did you add on biz?
I'm like because smallbusinesses are having the same
challenges that media personnelare having.
Soul entrepreneurs are a ton ofthem now, especially post COVID
.
Everybody's an entrepreneur.
None of them have a structure,none of them know about policy,
None of them know how to set upa proper business.
(16:30):
But I got an idea and I'mrunning with it.
So contact me, I will help you.
You know, put a little order towhat you're doing and I can
consult you on the brand.
So those opportunities arestill out there and you know,
that's that's why I opened upthat bucket to be like let me
(16:50):
see what I can catch in thereand what I can, how I can help
people, cause ultimately, that'salways I'm always going to be
drawn back to media.
I'm always going to be drawnback to business.
You know running things welland so on.
So that's how that came about.
Hosting.
I'm a good host, like if Ishould toot my own horn, I'm a
very good host.
So that's going to be a nobrainer.
(17:11):
I will, I will always host.
I think every year I say I'mretiring from hosting and I
don't.
I get more gigs and more gigsand more gigs, because word gets
out.
People realize that I actuallyam a very seamless host.
I actually do more than theaverage host, so, and I have a
great voice when it comes tothat stuff.
So I will always somehow get acall for hosting.
(17:34):
So that will always be a partof whatever it is I'm doing, you
know, and I enjoy it actually.
So it's a good side thing tohave, if you enjoy your side gig
great, so I enjoy doing it.
So hosting AfroFest is aprivilege being able to stand on
a stage in front of thousandseach year and to rep for the
(17:56):
Caribbean because AfroFest isthe continent and it's diaspora,
and they're making a wiggleroom for the rest of the
diaspora, those of us who werestolen, and so on so I take it
as a privilege to be able tostand on that stage and help
navigate.
So those things will always bea part of what I do.
Carlene (18:16):
Yeah, and so like, even stemming from your growing up,
like you didn't grow up inCanada, like you came here later
on, from what I've learned,like you came here when you were
21.
So later on in life, and so doyou feel, like as a Jamaican,
that you have a role, like assomeone who has to help your
(18:43):
community in some way, whetherit's in the health care system
or in media, like you say,because we all have a calling,
we all have something that we'remeant to do.
So it seems to me like, eventhough you've changed your
career path, there's still that,that side of you, that's,
that's your passion.
It seems like you know it's apart of who you are, right, yeah
(19:07):
.
Danae (19:07):
So I've always struggled with calling and purpose.
But what I can say is I'mactively engaged in what I'm
supposed to be doing and I thinkit stems from my identity, like
I strongly identify as aJamaican strongly like,
unapologetically but I alsostrongly identify with community
(19:30):
.
So I studied local economicdevelopment because I thought I
would go the route of planningand economic development and
help build up community.
So everything I have done,whether it is scholastically or
career-wise, has always had thatlens that I'm going to help to
(19:50):
build up community.
So when we changed the stationand the name was settled it was
VX3, voice Village Vehicle,right, it was always going to
involve the people.
It was always going to involveelevating community, everything
I do.
However, over time community ishard because community is
(20:14):
unforgiving and is high demand,high demand, low resources and
so on.
So over time sometimes I gettired of that.
Sometimes I feel like man.
I wish I would just chuck allof this and go work in for
(20:34):
profit and just let go of thatthing that keeps pulling me back
in to building community.
I don't know what that thing is.
Maybe it's purpose, maybe it'scalling, but I keep getting
pulled back into it some waysomehow, no matter how I've
changed sectors, no matter whatI consulting, I am still being
pulled back into it.
So could be purpose.
Carlene (20:52):
Yeah, yeah, it's hard.
It's hard to find purpose or tofind your calling or what
you're supposed to do in life.
I think I understand when yousay it was hard, because I think
now that I'm older like I justturned 40, I feel I can
understand what you're saying,because there are sometimes I
don't know if you've had peoplesay to you that, oh, this is
(21:13):
what you're good at, this iswhat you're supposed to be doing
, and I'm like, no, what are youtalking about?
Like that's not what I seemyself doing, like you have this
other idea in your mind andthen it just takes time and like
trying different things tofigure it all out.
Oh, this is this is what I'mgood at, and not necessarily
what you're good at is whatyou're supposed to be doing.
(21:35):
But getting back to what yousay, what makes it hard about
community work?
I think there's a lot ofmisunderstanding with that.
What makes it challenging?
What do you think?
So community?
Speaker 3 (21:47):
work tends to be under-resourced right, so that's
the first issue.
Danae (21:51):
Right it has.
It is usually where the highestneed is and the least amount of
support, and so people who areon the front lines in any form
of community work whether it isin campus-based community radio
or in healthcare or in you knowany, anything where you're the
word nonprofit is a yeah it'sgoing to come with challenges,
(22:14):
because we'll never have enoughresources to meet the needs and
the needs.
Carlene (22:19):
The needs, especially these days, expand right Like
we're dealing with a lot of likenow you're, you're dealing OK,
so you're in health care, butnon-profit, like the fact that
we're dealing with inflation,we're dealing with homelessness,
like we're dealing with ahousing crisis.
There's so many things and thatis like what do you, what do
(22:40):
you say to that Like we've beendealing with this?
Danae (22:43):
And which do you fix?
What do you say to that?
Like we've been dealing withthis and which do you fix how?
do you fix it?
Yeah, when you don't haveenough.
When you don't have enough,we're all functioning from a
place of a deficit.
We're all functioning from that.
Every sector that has the wordnonprofit is functioning from a
deficit.
And as the society grows, moreimmigrants, you know more
(23:04):
challenges economically, because, don't be fooled, this economy
is not getting any better.
You could change five millionprime ministers and presidents.
Yeah, they do not have theanswer.
No, because society changed.
Society changed faster than thepeople did.
It did so.
(23:26):
Now that we've entered a digital, virtual era, how many people
are tooled for this next phase?
And you started earlier in theconversation with talking about
AI.
Ai brings me excitement andfear, because we can only at
this stage manipulate it, use itto our advantage, incorporate
(23:47):
it in our work.
But what happens at the nextphase, when less and less of us
is needed?
Right, so we're not ready.
We're not ready.
And if you're a nonprofit,you're so not ready for what is
about to happen, right?
So, yes, we will incorporateall these new things and we will
change and we will try tochange, but we're going to hit a
(24:09):
wall at some point.
So, if you're somebody who, likeme, I read a lot.
I keep up with current affairsbecause of my local economic
development background.
I'm very curious aboutdevelopment issues.
I'm very curious aboutdevelopment issues.
I'm very curious about climatechange.
All of these things sometimeskeep me up at night because it's
(24:32):
like a puzzle.
I'm like how will we navigatethis?
I literally am concerned.
I'm literally concerned in anysector I'm working in or
consulting in.
I'm concerned for what doesnext five years and next 10
years.
So that's why it's hard.
It's hard when you care, if youdon't care it might not be hard
(24:53):
it might not be hard.
If I could take on that newattitude that people are having
because I'm seeing it in theworkforce now where people don't
care If I could take that on, Iwould have more sleep.
I'd have more sleep at night.
Carlene (25:05):
It would be, it would be so easy if we could.
Just, you know, sometimes Ihave to say that to some of my
colleagues.
Like, I'm just like OK, becauseit takes one person to want to
change, but if you don't have acollective Denae, you're not
going to get the change.
Like if there's only one personwho's going to voice, like
every, there's always the peoplethat are going to talk about
(25:27):
the issue but they're not goingto do anything about it, and
that's the hard part.
And so, like you said that, thepeople who don't care, I'm like
well, I guess I just come towork, do my job and go home, you
know yeah, and here's the thing.
Danae (25:41):
I don't even blame them, because they're looking at what.
What we are looking at nowfinancially.
We're looking at inflation it'sa recession but they're not
using the R word.
We're probably in a depression,but they're not using the D
word.
When you're looking at all ofthat, yeah, a protective measure
is I'm going to do less.
(26:01):
Measure is I'm going to do less.
At the very least, I'm going tostress myself out less, because
I don't control none of thisstuff that's happening.
Let me back up, right, Iunderstand that it's, it's
almost a protective measure thatpeople are taking is hey, look
what happened.
My parents were for 40 years atthis place and got a pen.
(26:22):
I'm not doing that.
Right?
I know that's what people arethinking.
I know people are like I'm notgoing to work as hard as my
parents and have nothing to showfor it, and or they're looking
at I'm working at the same level, my parent is working and I
can't own a home.
I'm working at the same level,my parent has worked and I can't
own a car.
(26:42):
And we're in a space and timewhere that is more and more the
reality.
So I do understand, but assomebody who does HR, it's
frustrating, right, but I dounderstand that perspective is
like no, get somebody else to doit, I get that perspective I
get it, yeah, but when I'mhiring, I hate it.
(27:03):
I'm like, oh my gosh, whathappened to work ethic, what
happened Passion?
What happened to interest?
Where is it gone?
Right, so I can see from bothlenses, but my day to day life
is to hire talent and keeptalent.
So when I have little to offertalent, yeah, I, I understand.
(27:26):
I understand when they're likeget somebody else to do it.
You know it's rough it is roughalso.
Carlene (27:32):
You do hire as well.
Danae (27:34):
Oh my goodness, like wow I'm an executive director, like,
yeah, I have all of the, all ofthe things coming at you from
different directions divatonight with carlene humphrey.
Carlene (27:47):
This is 40, a female perspective what do you say to
the, to the future?
Like I mean, it's a scarythought.
Just just even listening to youtalk about what keeps you up at
night, that's a scary thoughttoo, because that's why
sometimes I'm like, okay, Ican't watch this anymore.
Because when you're talkingabout the environment and
(28:08):
climate change and like evenjust the news right now, what's
happening in California, likesomeone said to me that they
could have prevented this fromhappening.
Now, I don't know if that'strue or not to a certain extent,
cause I haven't done theresearch but when you think,
when you see stuff like that,like we've had so many things
happen, uh, environmentally,like where I'm from, grenada,
(28:30):
they've had like three floods,like there's one in Karakoram
and then they had two others,which is not the norm.
I mean, there's floods that dohappen, but not to this extent.
No, everybody's experiencing.
Danae (28:42):
Yeah, experiencing it and and I hear people on the
prevention thing, but we're 20years late.
We're literally 20 years late.
When I was doing local economicdevelopment, it's a part of
environmental studies, that'sthe faculty that it was a part
of, and so we would talk aboutclimate change and so on, and
(29:03):
the models that the climatechange pros had worked out puts
us right where we are right nowin terms of increased sea level,
increased heating, increasedextremes.
All of this was known, and I'mtalking 20, 30 years ago.
So could it have been prevented?
Not last week, it couldn't.
(29:24):
You know what I mean.
What could they have done when?
So you know, quickly and thisis kind of tangential, but
quickly I saw something onInstagram.
Somebody did a video on a homethat survived the fire because
it was concrete.
It was a concrete structure,they had a concrete wall around
it and the home itself wasconcrete and you know,
(29:46):
everything on the exterior was aretardant and all of that stuff
.
Right.
Right, you didn't have thattechnology for 20 years.
We had it.
But the other thing that weneed is the will the will of the
politicians, the will of thepeople to change Right.
So, if you're, if you'recomfortable in a gas guzzler, I
drive a crossover, so I'm notjudging anybody, but if you're
(30:06):
comfortable in a certainlifestyle, know that it has
repercussions in the future.
Right, and they've been tellingus.
But we're like, ah, they'retalking about these increased
floods.
Ah, you know, we're in Canadawhere we always have cold
weather.
Ok, did you notice how cold itis this week?
Did you notice how cold it'sgoing to be this week?
No problem, keep ignoring it.
(30:27):
The weather is going to do whatit's going to do.
Climate change is going toclimate change, right, so can we
prevent?
I don't even know.
I don't want to be the bearerof bad news, but we have been
told, we have been warned.
And you know right wing, youknow political thought leaders.
It's hard to say thought forright wing but right wing people
(30:48):
have determined that that'sfoolishness.
(31:12):
Climate change is foolishness.
In science, know more thantheir doctor, and people who
have an F in chemistry know morethan the pharmacists and the
anesthesiologists no more thanthe pharmacists and the
anesthesiologists.
That's where we are now for thefuture.
Here's here's the hopefulnessin everything.
We can still shift.
I don't know if we can save theplanet, but we can save our
(31:36):
current existence.
We can save our futureexistence for a little bit
longer.
We can delay some things if weare willing.
I strongly believe that peoplehave to find the will to do
better, and right now I'm notseeing the will to do better,
but that's the hope.
The hope is finding the will todo better, finding the will to
improve where you are, findingthe will to be like what
(31:58):
happened to curiosity?
We have been so satiated bysocial media's folly that we're
not a curious people anymore.
You know, like how many kidsare we encouraging to play, pull
Play-Doh together and makesomething with their hand and
see what comes of something?
(32:19):
Them in front of a PS5, infront of whatever other device,
and we ourselves have ploppedourselves in front of TikTok and
Instagram and all the thingsthat are distracting us from
real life and we're not engaging.
So if people want hope, I sayre-engage, re-engage, re-engage
in living, re-engage in whatcould your future be?
(32:43):
Don't give up on it.
What could it be if I did twomore things?
If I, if I shifted myperspective?
What could it be?
And if I have a child?
I don't have any kids, but if Ihave a child, what is the
future I want them to have?
What is the future I want toleave for them?
I should leave one of hope.
I should leave one of strivingbeyond the odds.
(33:05):
I should leave one of findingthe answer, because I've been
doing this for 20 odd years.
I must know the answer now,right, and impart it.
So, if you know, anybodywatching this or listening to
this is like where do we go fromhere?
Hope is in inside, it'sinternal.
It's not giving up.
It's not throwing in the towel.
It's saying there has to be abetter way and I'm going to be a
(33:28):
part of it.
Right, that's the hope.
I can't impart hope to you.
You have to tap into that Rightand know that it doesn't have
to be.
We don't have to continue onthis path.
We don't have to go down thishill.
Other people went down it andthey told us it's not cute, we
don't have to go down there aswell.
You know what I mean.
But that's that's internal.
That's internal.
Carlene (33:49):
Yeah, those are some inspiring words for sure.
Like I think it's from whatI've learned myself and just
like being mindful andpracticing mindfulness and just
being in the moment, becausewe've lost that Like and you
can't make other people want tobe in the moment because we've
lost that like and you can'tmake other people want to be in
the moment.
Like you just have to, you know, surround yourself with people
(34:10):
who have that way of thinkingbecause, like you said, we are,
a lot of us are just I'm notgoing to say I'm not addicted to
my device like I think we allhave seen ourselves.
And like we have to retrain or,you know, work on those things.
But, like you said, it's justhaving that hope and working
towards it in the way we think.
(34:32):
And so, as a person who is veryinsightful about the future and
hopeful, what do you think thatkeeps you hopeful, like in your
line of work, I guess, workingin nonprofit for so many years?
Danae (34:50):
So I don't know if it's keeping me hopeful, but each
time I see the power of whatdoing more can get us right.
Yeah, so when you engage morewith people, when you take the
time to care, you know like Ialways jab health care.
I'm like there's not enoughcare in the health care.
(35:12):
When you tap back into that,when you tap back into why are
you doing what you're doing, Istrongly believe people should
do things that they love and dothings that they're good at.
I believe in thatwholeheartedly.
If you're not good at it, don'teven attempt.
I think you know what I mean.
I don't subscribe to this.
Everybody can do everything.
Mentality I don't.
I think there are things thatyou can learn.
(35:34):
I think that you can add skillsets.
But tap into why are you doingthe thing you?
And if it's not the thing youshould be doing, walk away,
because the thing you're doingdeserves your best.
The thing you're engaged indeserves your best.
If you're in healthcare care,care is the key word.
So if you don't care, walk away.
(35:56):
Walk away if you don't care,because people's lives depend on
you caring.
Right Changes in society dependon you caring.
So if you don't care anymore,walk away.
No shame in that.
Maybe you were meant to be abarber, maybe you were meant to
be an architect, maybe you weremeant to be a farmer.
Who knows?
(36:17):
Tap back into what is it?
Carlene (36:21):
you're good at and what is it you love.
And I think that's the scarypart for some, you know, like
when you're not good atsomething or you're just doing
it to get a paycheck Right andthen walking away, that's a big
move like walking away, you know, or I don't think.
Danae (36:35):
I don't think it's easy by any stretch of the
imagination, right, yeah, yeah,walk away like you literally
have to jolt yourself sometimesto shift, right, yeah, but I
strongly believe in doing whatyou're good at and strongly
believe in doing what you love.
I think the world deserves yourbest and whatever that best is,
that's what you should betapping into.
(36:56):
I don't.
I don't think you should bedoing things mediocre.
I don't think you should bedoing things mediocre.
I don't think you should bedoing things less than but
that's just me.
I'm old school.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Long time ago I came up withprinciples and standards and all
these things.
Yeah, I would be wrong.
Carlene (37:13):
Yeah, but like.
I remember even a managersaying to me if you can't do it
right the first time, don't doit at all.
Like I think that's an oldschool mentality.
It's old school man.
Danae (37:23):
Yeah, it is I was still living in Jamaica and worked in
insurance for a bit, yeah, andmy manager said to me do you
know TQM, do you know TQM?
And I'm like I don't know, I'mnew, and she's like TQM, total
quality management If you can'tdo it right the first time, it's
(37:43):
not worth doing.
And I was like, okay, you'reintense, but I took it in and
TQM hasn't left my mind and I'mtalking about the nineties,
right, and that never left mymind.
Do it right the first time, doit good the first time.
And that's not necessarilyapplicable to everything that
we're dealing with now.
No, right, like now, in thisdigital realm where you know,
(38:08):
you see like one percent of thepeople making good money on
YouTube, one percent of thepeople making good money on
TikTok, you think they'restopping to think about quality.
You know what I mean?
Let's just see what sticksthrough.
Carlene (38:22):
They're just throwing it and hoping it takes you know.
Danae (38:28):
So I can't say to a person existing in these times,
with these challenges, that theold school way is right.
I can say that the principlesof old are correct.
Yeah, work, ethic, right,integrity, saying what you mean,
meaning what you say.
I can say those core principleswill always be right.
(38:50):
The ways in which we executethem have changed.
Right, because here's the thingwe're on a podcast now.
Yeah, the podcasts that are top10.
Yeah, have quality.
Right, everybody has a podcast.
I have a podcast.
Yeah, I took a hiatus.
Everybody has a podcast.
Right, podcasts that are top 10, regardless of how many people
(39:14):
have been throwing spaghetti onthe wall, they didn't throw,
they planned, they executedimpeccably.
Their aesthetic is on point,they have a show script, they
have a person who helps themwith ideas.
They're executing in a way thatis almost traditional radio,
almost traditional media.
They are still the top 10.
(39:36):
So, cool, gen Z, throw all thespaghetti.
I don't need to worry about howit looks, I don't need to worry
about how it sounds, I don'tneed a real mic, I don't need
whatever Cool, but there's amillion of you doing that, and
then there's a top 10.
So, again, the core principlesstill hold.
Carlene (39:55):
Yeah, yeah, no, it's very true what you're saying.
I think when you don't planthings, there's always obstacles
that come in the way, likeobstacles that come along,
obviously, and what you'resaying is very insightful and
very practical.
So I hope that whoever islistening to this can get some
insight, or get the belief again, because what you're saying is
(40:19):
so important, because we, Ithink, even for myself, I've had
to rethink my career path too,because for months, I was
working in an industry I didn'twork in before and then, when it
didn't work out the way Iwanted it to, it's like this
time I think I have to dosomething differently.
I do like it's importantbecause it's either you get
(40:43):
forced into doing thingsdifferently or something changes
, like I feel like we have to gothrough something traumatic or
some kind of experience to makeus turn on the light bulb, to be
like, ok, I have to changesomething now.
Like this is not working.
It's not.
Danae (40:59):
Yeah, and I think the wise people among us don't wait
for that moment.
Right yeah, the wise peopleamong us don't wait for crisis.
They're quick to change,they're quick to adapt, they're
quick to course correct, becauseyou could be on the right
course, but there's a hiccup.
What is it that you need toshift while you're on the right
course?
Right, because if that issomething you're good at and
(41:22):
something you're passionateabout, you could be on the right
course, but you're notexecuting well.
So how do I course correct?
How do I, you know, hoist thenext sale Because maybe I'm
using one sale and I should beusing two?
How do I get a paddle goingbecause the motor died?
Whatever that situation is, geton that, right.
(41:44):
If you're on the wrong path, getoff it right.
Get off it.
If you have no passion, nointerest, no insight, no skill
set for the thing and you'regoing around moping, who are you
serving?
Who are you serving bycontinuing?
Right?
It's not serving the peopleyou're supposed to be serving in
the role and it's not servingyou right.
(42:04):
So either you course correct oryou get off that path and get
on your right path, for, like,we're in dire straits now.
We don't have time to wasteanymore, right?
This is not the time.
This is not a time toexperiment.
Too many things are moving.
So now, it's okay, this is mypath.
For sure, I feel it, for sure, Iknow I'm good at it.
(42:26):
For sure, I just need somethingelse.
It might mean going to do acourse to upskill yourself so
that you can get to the nextlevel.
It might mean hiring somebody.
It might mean consulting withsomebody.
It might mean shedding all the.
It might mean consulting withsomebody.
It might mean shedding all theother things.
Like, as much as I'm heretalking, I do too much.
Right?
So in 2025, I'm going to shedsome stuff, because when I look
(42:50):
at successful people people Ideem successful- they hone in on
one or two things and do themwell.
Yeah, right yeah, so me with my10 things.
I'm a multi-hyphenate.
I need to pull that in.
Carlene (43:05):
What does multi-hyphenate mean?
Danae (43:06):
I'm, I'm, I'm a.
I'm a executive director.
I'm a media consultant.
Yeah, I'm a host, I'm a youknow, yeah, yeah, I'm an event
coordinator.
I can do all these things, yeah,so what I have to do now, in
2025, is hone in on the best ofit.
Yeah, yeah, I can do everythingI had to out of necessity
(43:29):
because I was in nonprofit.
I was always in nonprofit, andin nonprofit we do a lot of DIY.
We do a lot of DIY, but is thatefficient and is that effective
?
So in 2025, I'm working on Iwant more for my life.
That's my word this year ismore.
I want more from my life, morefrom my talents, but in doing
(43:51):
that, I have to also do less ofthe wrong things.
That's where I am.
I need to rejig my formulabecause, yes, I've expanded,
I've done all the things andI've shown all the skill sets.
What do I need to do?
What is my best self?
What are those one to threethings that I can hone in on
(44:12):
that will have the most impact,most effect, most results?
Right, yeah, that's the workI'm doing, right.
Carlene (44:20):
And that's and that's important too, I think for
anyone you know, even myself,it's like I have two podcasts,
but it's like which one should Ifocus on Right, and that's so
important.
Like talking to you, you'vekind of added the fuel to the
fire in a way, like with yourpassion, with the way that you
express yourself.
It's very important and I thinkit was this conversation needed
(44:42):
to happen.
In one way or another it'simportant to share.
Whatever you may, even if it'san old school mentality, it's
still important because that'sthe foundation.
Like you know the knowledgebase, knowing and getting to
where you are now.
You know what I mean.
If you didn't work in communityradio.
You know the knowledge base,knowing and getting to where you
(45:03):
are now.
You know what I mean If youdidn't work in community radio,
you wouldn't be working inhealth care now, and so it's
just the steps leading up rightto where you are now, and so
it's the journey, right, and howyou got there.
Danae (45:13):
So that's why my podcast one of my podcasts is called the
Journey.
Yeah, yeah, I strongly believethat we're all challenged with
similar things, just indifferent aspects of our life,
right?
So, like a lot of people, whenthey saw me launch it, they
thought I would only talk toartists.
I don't only want to talk toartists, I do want to talk to
artists.
I want to talk to somebodywho's a mechanic I want to talk
(45:41):
to because I know there is ashared set of challenges that we
face as humans, and each personis is combating it in different
ways, whether because of thesector they're in or because of
the skills they have.
Right, and?
And life is a journey, andsometimes we're not enjoying the
journey because we get boggeddown, right, we're distracted by
all the things that we'retrying to do and trying to keep
up with and try.
No, let's enjoy the journeybecause we get bogged down,
right, we're distracted by allthe things that we're trying to
do and trying to keep up withand try.
No, let's enjoy the journey.
Carlene (46:05):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
The one thing I didn't ask youabout is, like, you know your
parents.
Do you feel like your parentsinfluence who you are as a
person today?
Danae (46:15):
For sure, I didn't know how much of an influence they
were until I got older, right?
So if you would ask me thisquestion when I was 20, I just
said no, they don't influence mylife.
But after 20, it started tomake sense.
So my love for buildingcommunity, you know, helping
(46:36):
people to reach their best self,that's both of my parents.
I'm an orphan now.
My dad died two years now.
My mom was a culturaldevelopment professional.
She would go around the islandof Jamaica, you know, honing
young talent, bringing them tothe festival event she would
(46:56):
introduce.
She would be like a guide forambassadors that came on the
island.
This is what we are culturally.
These are the things you shouldtake away.
This is what Jamaica is.
That's her job before she hadcancer.
My dad an educator both of themwere educators, but he kept in
education for a while and hebuilt up.
He literally built upstructures for education,
(47:19):
tertiary education, built stufffrom the ground up.
So all of that is in me,whether it is through DNA or
through osmosis.
I saw those things, I know ofthose things and I'm looking at
my life sometimes and I'm like,ooh, that's my mom.
Right, I'm looking at my life.
I'm like, oh, that's my dad.
(47:39):
When I'm training people, whenI'm, you know, taking the time
to do a manual, when I'm takingthe time to guide somebody, when
I do a consultation like myfirst hour with somebody has
nothing to do with collectingmoney, I'm just trying to
calibrate them.
That's what my dad did foryears.
He to calibrate them.
That's what my dad did foryears.
(48:00):
He taught teachers.
He taught master's levelteachers.
He established institutions.
He was on 5 million boards ofdirectors, from schools to
colleges to church stuff andunfortunately I also got
workaholism from him.
I'm a big workaholic.
That was in my DNA, me and mybrother.
We laughed about it last year.
We're like we got that from him.
(48:21):
Huh we cannot stop, we arealways working.
I remember I'd be here studyingand it'd be 5am.
I'd message my dad.
He's up at his desk in Jamaicawriting a consult paper for
USAID or whoever he wasconsulting with at the time.
Yeah, that was my dad.
Wow, you can reach me at anytime.
(48:44):
I'm likely up doing something.
So I got that from him.
Good and bad, right.
So, yeah, great work ethic.
I'm a hard worker.
All those things I overwork,overwork, overwork, right.
So again, 2025, I'm bringingback balance because for me to
have more from my life, I needto do less of the bad habit.
(49:04):
Right, and workaholism is a badhabit that I need to break
Right.
But for sure, when you talkabout influence of parents,
that's them man, that's my dad.
Carlene (49:16):
Yeah, yeah't.
You say you can, you're likeyou can change certain habits,
but it's, it's that instilled ininside you, no matter what.
And then it you have momentswhere you're like oh yeah, I did
get that from them.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
As you get older, like you said, like the rebel, and you're at
20, you're like no, not like my.
Danae (49:36):
No, you're not, you're just a younger version.
Right.
Carlene (49:45):
Yeah, yeah, we're all doing that.
And then we have those momentswhere we're like sitting alone
and you're like, wow, yeah.
Danae (49:53):
Yeah, that's them.
And I mean luckily I won't havechildren, because they would be
subjected to all of the badparts.
You know, I'm strict.
Carlene (50:05):
I'm all the things.
I'm strict.
I'm going to be like you wouldhave been a strict mom, what are
you doing?
Danae (50:10):
Oh my gosh.
And you know you're not gettingany time to play.
No, nintendo and PS5 and allthem things.
That's not how I was raised,right, yeah, so be thankful I
don't have any kids out there.
That kid would be so uptightand miserable and be like how
did I get this parent?
I want a redo.
(50:32):
But you know we are them, weare, and I'm aspects of my
grandmother and I'm aspects ofmy aunts who helped to raise me
when my mom passed.
And you know I mean we're,we're aspects of all the things
we're exposed to, right, we justdon't take in all of it, right,
but we, all of these thingsinfluence us.
Right, it's our decision making.
Like you know, we can have awhole conversation on how our
(50:55):
poverty mindset comes from, howwe were raised, right, you know,
not not wanting more, becausewe were afraid.
We got that fear from somewhere.
Where did that fear come from?
Around money.
Well, we were told money is theroot of all evil.
No, the Bible says the love ofmoney is the root of all evil.
But we, we just, you know, tookthat bit out and ran with it.
(51:17):
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, and we'rejust like, yeah, I'm just going
to be humble and meek and mild.
We got that from somewhere.
We did yeah, because the peoplewho did not get that, you see
it, you see it in their businesspractice, you see it in how
quickly they accelerate inbusiness While we're struggling,
(51:37):
because we're, you know, we, wewere trained different, we were
exposed differently.
Right, so everything,everything is a foundation.
Carlene (51:48):
everything is a foundation to the parents are
definitely an influence yeah,and then, like you said, the
influence with the relationshipwe have with money as a
community, as a race.
Yeah, we, we have to changethat.
Yeah, we come from a place oflack.
Right, we didn't have enough.
Danae (52:03):
Yeah yeah, whole slavery like we don't have anything.
And then they promised them 40acres and a mule in america and
never gave them even a mule.
Like we come from, lack, right,so everything influences how we
, how we, function in the world.
Now the key is to finding outquickly what's influencing your
decision making.
Right and like I'm, I'm beingopen and saying in 2025, I got
(52:27):
to whittle down, I got to youknow, reformulate how I do
things, because I'm realizingsome of those habits, some of
the bad habits that I got fromthe upbringing, that I got from
the fear based conversationsthat I got from how, you know,
parents move through this world,have influenced.
(52:48):
Right now, I'm trying to haveway more self-awareness than I
did in 10 years ago.
Right, just so that I can rejigmy formula Right in 10 years
ago.
Right, just so that I can rejigmy formula right.
Carlene (52:58):
Yeah, it's a journey together and it's a process, and
I think I agree with you too,because I have to change a lot
of like my bad habits withcertain things too, because it's
important as to who we are.
Yeah, like if we want to getbetter, like if you want to be a
better person and make betterdecisions and have be able to
retire you know better personand make better decisions and
(53:19):
have be able to retire, you knowwhat I mean.
Like it's all those things.
So it's important and this hasbeen a great conversation.
Denae, Thank you so much forsharing your journey to where
you are now and I wish younothing but the best for 2025.
It's been great.
I'm Carlene and this is DivaTonight with Denae Hurd.
Speaker 3 (53:39):
Diva Tonight with Carlene will be back.
Send us a message on Instagramat diva underscore tonight.
hi, I'm carlene and this is diva tonight.
I have with me on zoom dene.
She is a woman with many titles.
I I mean, if I want to sayanything she used to work at
(00:21):
chRY.
I was the manager.
Yeah, you're a manager, yeah.
Danae (00:25):
And then change the station to Vibe.
Yeah, change titles to CEO tobetter reflect what was
happening in the industry.
Carlene (00:34):
Yeah, and now you're actually working in the medical
field.
That's quite the change frommusic yeah, I mean, you're still
in music now, obviously as amedia consultant, a business
consultant, but what made youdecide to do that so?
Danae (00:56):
short answer is I needed a change.
So, after after doing thestation reorg, establishing,
establishing not just a stationbut a social enterprise, trying
to delineate for people like,what are the aspects of media
that we would engage in goingforward, not just radio, we
would be going to digitalpresentation, so video and so on
(01:19):
.
That was two years of a lot ofheavy lifting, a lot of stress,
and I got to near the end ofthat two year mark and was like
I don't need to do this anymore.
I don't, I don't need to proveanything.
You know, I've done a decade inmedia, in leadership, in media
(01:42):
and what else is out there forme as the short version.
And so I looked into how do Itransfer the skills that I do
have into anywhere?
I literally, when I, when Iresigned, I had no job lined up,
I was just taking a leap offaith.
I knew I was done with that.
I knew, you know, my healthwould be at risk because my
(02:06):
stress levels were high and Iwas like something will show up,
leap, and the net will appear.
Some people say so I took aleap of faith and so I said I'm
open and that's what I said, youknow, outwardly, I said I am
open to wherever this goes.
I am going to test for myselfthat transferable skills is a
(02:26):
thing.
And so, you know, I was anoperations person, that that was
the bulk of what I did, apartfrom, you know, knowing media,
understanding media, you knowunderstanding sales, training,
all of these pieces that I hadalready done.
But at the core, my core skillsets is operations, and so I
kind of leaned into that.
(02:47):
I was fortunate.
I, in my time on, you know, inVX3, vibe and CHY prior, I was
also on boards.
I was on board of directors andone of the boards I was on was
Black Creek Community HealthCenter.
I was even the chair of thatboard at one point and that kind
(03:08):
of lit a little bit of a lightbulb kind of went off and I was
like, huh, I'm in this, I'mgoing to conferences.
I learned the jargon, Iunderstand the issues, I'm in
the space, even as a boardmember, but I'm consuming it.
I'm, you know, in the spaceeven as a board member, but I'm
consuming it, I'm in it.
So when the opportunity came upto work in health care, it
(03:32):
wasn't scary because all I, youknow, I tell people all the time
.
I think our lives are asequence of things that we put
in our toolkit.
So every job you've had, everyexperience you've had, adds to
your toolkit.
And so all those years I was inmedia and I was doing other
tangential things inentertainment, I was adding to
(03:55):
my toolkit.
So when I was on the board ofBlack Creek, I was adding to my
toolkit and that toolkit led meinto healthcare.
So now I'm you know, I'm anexecutive director for a pair of
nurse practitioner led clinics.
Yeah, that's my nine to five.
Carlene (04:10):
Yeah, yeah.
I think, I think it's like it'snot where.
I always say this it's notwhere you're going, it's where
you came from, and so it's likeyou're.
You built your career in radio,but I think working in
community radio is differentthan working in, I guess,
mainstream radio.
Right, because it's stressfulin the fact that every year you
(04:35):
have to do fundraising to helpraise money for community radio.
Like people don't understand,like most of the announcers that
work at CHRY, they don't getpaid for what they're doing,
right, and so it's volunteerwork at the end of the day.
And you know, only somepositions are paid.
But your journey to health care, obviously that's a big leap,
(04:59):
like, because they always saydon't leave one job unless you
have another one lined up, youknow, and so that itself is like
a scary role to be in.
But if, if it's too stressfultoo, like I guess for you it was
the best thing to do at thattime, right?
Danae (05:17):
Yeah, I mean it was a life changing time in general.
Right, yeah, dress aside.
What else was I going to do?
What else was I going to do incampus-based community radio as
a leader?
Right, I'd already done it.
I was on boards.
You know, I had led a reorg.
I had led the prior station.
(05:37):
I have established now a newstation, vibe 105.
I have established now a newboard.
I've established what new thingcould I produce?
One new idea I could have.
I could have challenged myselfand do more and do different.
But did I want to?
Did I want to in that setting?
(05:57):
You know, like the reality is,if other stations had come
calling, maybe I would have gonethere.
I don't know, because, again, Ijust said I'm open.
Right, I'm open to change.
Yeah, I want change.
Whatever that looked like, itcould have been change within
the sector and anotherpositioning in the sector, or
(06:19):
it's a new sector.
Carlene (06:20):
I was just open to change Right right.
I think that you know I didn'twork with you at CHRI for long
and I think there was one videothat I found while on YouTube
that I thought was sointeresting.
When everyone was locked out ofthe station it seemed like it
wasn't publicized.
(06:41):
It was like something thatcaught everyone off guard.
Were you there at that timewhen that happened?
I was like, oh weird, like whydid they do that?
Danae (06:54):
I guess that was when things were changing right.
That's when we were changing,yeah, yeah.
So so I mean you know, toquickly recap, that we took
everybody off air and we'reestablishing a new entity.
In essence, we're we're doing afull overhaul.
We're going to changetechnology.
So no more CD players, no moretape decks.
We're modernizing.
We're modernizing the space,we're changing how we approach
(07:17):
campus-based community radio.
We're taking we're taking it tothe next level in terms of
presentation, professionalismand so on.
So we had to have a clean slate, so we wiped.
We literally said it's done.
Whatever you thought it wasRight, that's done.
We're going to establish a newthing and that's what we did.
(07:39):
So the reality is a lot ofpeople take ownership for things
that they don't really own anda lot of people take ownership
for things that they don'tunderstand.
So the community and I usecommunity lightly, the community
who were engaged in, listenedto or were on air.
They thought they ownedsomething, and I guess it was a
(08:02):
hard lesson in you don't own itright.
Own something, and I guess itwas a hard lesson in you don't
own it Right.
It was, and I guess that wasthe harsh part for them is oh, I
was hosting and now I don'tanymore, so that I can
understand their reactionarything to that is oh, I no longer
get to do what I used to do.
(08:22):
But if you were a student ofmedia, if you were interested in
media, if you were growing inmedia, there's a role for you in
the new thing.
But if you've been stagnant,you never shifted anything.
We always offer trainings at astation and I can tell you from
the people who are on airhandful of them would come to
trainings.
Every time we changed anyequipment outcry, outlash, oh my
(08:46):
God, what is happening?
So you're risk averse andyou're change averse.
We have to clean the slate andthen we can re-recruit from
within or outside.
Right, and that's what we didwhen we changed the station.
We re-recruited mostly fromwithin.
Most of the people who we tookover into Vibe were people who
(09:07):
had done shows, but they were ata different growth level.
They were not afraid of change,they were not afraid of
technology, they were willing tocome in and learn and try, and
even some of those people aren'tthere now because we have to
keep evolving.
Media does not stay still.
Anybody who knows anythingabout media.
(09:27):
If you think it stays still,you are in the wrong place.
What we're doing right now,this podcast stuff didn't exist.
Didn't exist when we were doingCHOI.
No no, but we saw it coming andwe're like we need to be able to
produce media that we can dropinto a podcast format.
We had those conversationsbecause we are leaders, we're
(09:49):
having that conversation.
We're paid to have thatconversation.
What is the next best thing forus to do?
So the people who weren't paid,who are volunteering, who are
community members and so oneverybody has an opinion.
Great Awesome, you're not theone doing the job.
Great Awesome, you're not theone who has to handle change.
So I took a hit personally andI think that may have propelled
(10:12):
my leaving as well because,personally, I was attacked
personally.
People.
I had to change all of mysocial media handles because
people from outside of thecountry who did not listen to
the station were messaging andsending me hate mail and doing
all this stuff because they werecaught up in the frenzy of not
(10:32):
knowing, not understanding andyou're not the lead decision
maker.
So it sucks to be you, to notbe the decision maker, but
you're not the decision makerand the decision maker has to
wear the crown, has to take theblame, has to take the hit.
I did it.
Great, moved on, you know.
Carlene (10:51):
Yeah, yeah, no, I mean it's been a long time since that
was a station and obviously alot has changed since then.
I mean, when I volunteered, Iwas like how many years ago now,
you know?
And when I volunteered, I waslike how many years ago now, you
know?
It's 2006 to 2008 when Ivolunteered at CHRY and I think
that from volunteering there,that's how I knew I wanted to
(11:13):
get into radio, and so it was agood learning experience, of
course, and learning fromcommunity radio.
I think it gave me even thatvideo, even though it had that
negative spin on it.
It made me realize how attachedpeople are their community and
it's hard to accept change ifyou're not in it.
(11:34):
And I no longer work for thiscompany, but even listening to
you talk about that, there arealways going to be people who
can't accept change.
I started this company I had.
When you go in, you're soexcited to bring in like new
ideas because we're going intothis, whether or not you want to
, ai is here to stay.
(11:55):
It's not going anywhere.
Being a part of like learninghow to do things more
efficiently, like you weretalking about, like the
changeover in media itself, likeeven me working in an
environment like that, there'ssome people that just are going
to complain about the change,right, no matter what.
Yeah.
Danae (12:15):
And during that change there was something I would say
to new recruits, new people whoare doing internship with us,
who didn't know the old station.
They would come in and I'd belike listen, the key to media is
being flexible.
Right, the key to working inmedia and staying in media and
staying at the top of your gamein media is to be flexible.
(12:35):
The power of campus communityradio was that flexibility.
Mainstream media is very hard tochange.
You literally have to shut itdown, sell it, change owners to
change what they're doing.
If you're a country station,you're a country station, you're
a country station.
So Campus Community Radio hadthat, that pliability, because
we were always open to multiplegenres, we were always open to
(12:57):
diverse voices, we were alwaysso.
There was that wiggle room todo some shifting because we knew
the model could take it, themodel of media could take it.
Not all models of media canhandle the abrupt changes that
are happening right now and wesee it.
We see how many newspapers arefolding, we see how many
(13:18):
magazines no longer exist.
Because if you can't have adigital platform, if you can't
interact in that way, you'regoing to die.
So you have to be flexible andyou have to be quick at change.
That's just where we are.
Carlene (13:31):
Yeah, I mean, even though you're not in community
radio anymore, you're stillworking in media and you're
still doing a lot of thingsbehind the scenes.
A lot of things behind thescenes like going to events like
AfroFest and covering differentthings other than you're.
Obviously, you're a nine tofive.
So what made you decide to dothat, like create Hurt Media and
(13:54):
become a business consultant inthat way?
Danae (13:58):
So that was actually born out of my working with artists.
While I was at the station,there were artists that would
call me up, would want to sitwith me, would want some ideas
and so on, and I realized that Ihad a knack for certain things
in media, whether it's because Iwas working in it or because of
my eye or my ear Right.
(14:18):
So people used to send me theirtracks and they're like you
know, before I put this out,what are you?
What are your, your thoughts?
So parent media and businessconsulting started because
people used to always ask myopinion on brand related things
and and marketing related things, and I also noticed that a lot
(14:40):
of artists didn't have thebackend.
So they were talented, they cansing, but they don't have any
kind of marketing material.
They have no idea about how tobrand themselves and, similarly,
small businesses were havingthat challenges.
So those set of challenges.
So a small business owner wouldalso approach me and is, like
(15:01):
you know, 10 years in and Ihaven't grown my business, 10
years in and I don't know whatI'm doing.
10 years in, I have no systemsand structure.
So I'm applying my myoperations skills and I'm
applying my brand marketingskills to help them navigate
that.
So I registered the company.
I was like, ok, there might besome there there, let me
(15:22):
register and see what comes ofit.
The reality is I haven't.
I haven't even worked thiscompany yet.
I really haven't, because Ihave a nine to five.
When you have a nine to fiveit's hard to be a part-time
entrepreneur, it just is.
Entrepreneurship takes time.
Time takes a lot of time.
But when you're busy doing thenine to five, paying the bills,
(15:46):
all of that stuff, it is almosta distraction from your
entrepreneurial exploits.
So I haven't even hit 50% onhow I work that business yet.
But each year more projectscome to me and I'm refining.
What is it that paired media andbiz wants to do?
You know, sometimes people arelike so why not just media?
(16:09):
Why did you add on biz?
I'm like because smallbusinesses are having the same
challenges that media personnelare having.
Soul entrepreneurs are a ton ofthem now, especially post COVID
.
Everybody's an entrepreneur.
None of them have a structure,none of them know about policy,
None of them know how to set upa proper business.
(16:30):
But I got an idea and I'mrunning with it.
So contact me, I will help you.
You know, put a little order towhat you're doing and I can
consult you on the brand.
So those opportunities arestill out there and you know,
that's that's why I opened upthat bucket to be like let me
(16:50):
see what I can catch in thereand what I can, how I can help
people, cause ultimately, that'salways I'm always going to be
drawn back to media.
I'm always going to be drawnback to business.
You know running things welland so on.
So that's how that came about.
Hosting.
I'm a good host, like if Ishould toot my own horn, I'm a
very good host.
So that's going to be a nobrainer.
(17:11):
I will, I will always host.
I think every year I say I'mretiring from hosting and I
don't.
I get more gigs and more gigsand more gigs, because word gets
out.
People realize that I actuallyam a very seamless host.
I actually do more than theaverage host, so, and I have a
great voice when it comes tothat stuff.
So I will always somehow get acall for hosting.
(17:34):
So that will always be a partof whatever it is I'm doing, you
know, and I enjoy it actually.
So it's a good side thing tohave, if you enjoy your side gig
great, so I enjoy doing it.
So hosting AfroFest is aprivilege being able to stand on
a stage in front of thousandseach year and to rep for the
(17:56):
Caribbean because AfroFest isthe continent and it's diaspora,
and they're making a wiggleroom for the rest of the
diaspora, those of us who werestolen, and so on so I take it
as a privilege to be able tostand on that stage and help
navigate.
So those things will always bea part of what I do.
Carlene (18:16):
Yeah, and so like, even stemming from your growing up,
like you didn't grow up inCanada, like you came here later
on, from what I've learned,like you came here when you were
21.
So later on in life, and so doyou feel, like as a Jamaican,
that you have a role, like assomeone who has to help your
(18:43):
community in some way, whetherit's in the health care system
or in media, like you say,because we all have a calling,
we all have something that we'remeant to do.
So it seems to me like, eventhough you've changed your
career path, there's still that,that side of you, that's,
that's your passion.
It seems like you know it's apart of who you are, right, yeah
(19:07):
.
Danae (19:07):
So I've always struggled with calling and purpose.
But what I can say is I'mactively engaged in what I'm
supposed to be doing and I thinkit stems from my identity, like
I strongly identify as aJamaican strongly like,
unapologetically but I alsostrongly identify with community
(19:30):
.
So I studied local economicdevelopment because I thought I
would go the route of planningand economic development and
help build up community.
So everything I have done,whether it is scholastically or
career-wise, has always had thatlens that I'm going to help to
(19:50):
build up community.
So when we changed the stationand the name was settled it was
VX3, voice Village Vehicle,right, it was always going to
involve the people.
It was always going to involveelevating community, everything
I do.
However, over time community ishard because community is
(20:14):
unforgiving and is high demand,high demand, low resources and
so on.
So over time sometimes I gettired of that.
Sometimes I feel like man.
I wish I would just chuck allof this and go work in for
(20:34):
profit and just let go of thatthing that keeps pulling me back
in to building community.
I don't know what that thing is.
Maybe it's purpose, maybe it'scalling, but I keep getting
pulled back into it some waysomehow, no matter how I've
changed sectors, no matter whatI consulting, I am still being
pulled back into it.
So could be purpose.
Carlene (20:52):
Yeah, yeah, it's hard.
It's hard to find purpose or tofind your calling or what
you're supposed to do in life.
I think I understand when yousay it was hard, because I think
now that I'm older like I justturned 40, I feel I can
understand what you're saying,because there are sometimes I
don't know if you've had peoplesay to you that, oh, this is
(21:13):
what you're good at, this iswhat you're supposed to be doing
, and I'm like, no, what are youtalking about?
Like that's not what I seemyself doing, like you have this
other idea in your mind andthen it just takes time and like
trying different things tofigure it all out.
Oh, this is this is what I'mgood at, and not necessarily
what you're good at is whatyou're supposed to be doing.
(21:35):
But getting back to what yousay, what makes it hard about
community work?
I think there's a lot ofmisunderstanding with that.
What makes it challenging?
What do you think?
So community?
Speaker 3 (21:47):
work tends to be under-resourced right, so that's
the first issue.
Danae (21:51):
Right it has.
It is usually where the highestneed is and the least amount of
support, and so people who areon the front lines in any form
of community work whether it isin campus-based community radio
or in healthcare or in you knowany, anything where you're the
word nonprofit is a yeah it'sgoing to come with challenges,
(22:14):
because we'll never have enoughresources to meet the needs and
the needs.
Carlene (22:19):
The needs, especially these days, expand right Like
we're dealing with a lot of likenow you're, you're dealing OK,
so you're in health care, butnon-profit, like the fact that
we're dealing with inflation,we're dealing with homelessness,
like we're dealing with ahousing crisis.
There's so many things and thatis like what do you, what do
(22:40):
you say to that Like we've beendealing with this?
Danae (22:43):
And which do you fix?
What do you say to that?
Like we've been dealing withthis and which do you fix how?
do you fix it?
Yeah, when you don't haveenough.
When you don't have enough,we're all functioning from a
place of a deficit.
We're all functioning from that.
Every sector that has the wordnonprofit is functioning from a
deficit.
And as the society grows, moreimmigrants, you know more
(23:04):
challenges economically, because, don't be fooled, this economy
is not getting any better.
You could change five millionprime ministers and presidents.
Yeah, they do not have theanswer.
No, because society changed.
Society changed faster than thepeople did.
It did so.
(23:26):
Now that we've entered a digital, virtual era, how many people
are tooled for this next phase?
And you started earlier in theconversation with talking about
AI.
Ai brings me excitement andfear, because we can only at
this stage manipulate it, use itto our advantage, incorporate
(23:47):
it in our work.
But what happens at the nextphase, when less and less of us
is needed?
Right, so we're not ready.
We're not ready.
And if you're a nonprofit,you're so not ready for what is
about to happen, right?
So, yes, we will incorporateall these new things and we will
change and we will try tochange, but we're going to hit a
(24:09):
wall at some point.
So, if you're somebody who, likeme, I read a lot.
I keep up with current affairsbecause of my local economic
development background.
I'm very curious aboutdevelopment issues.
I'm very curious aboutdevelopment issues.
I'm very curious about climatechange.
All of these things sometimeskeep me up at night because it's
(24:32):
like a puzzle.
I'm like how will we navigatethis?
I literally am concerned.
I'm literally concerned in anysector I'm working in or
consulting in.
I'm concerned for what doesnext five years and next 10
years.
So that's why it's hard.
It's hard when you care, if youdon't care it might not be hard
(24:53):
it might not be hard.
If I could take on that newattitude that people are having
because I'm seeing it in theworkforce now where people don't
care If I could take that on, Iwould have more sleep.
I'd have more sleep at night.
Carlene (25:05):
It would be, it would be so easy if we could.
Just, you know, sometimes Ihave to say that to some of my
colleagues.
Like, I'm just like OK, becauseit takes one person to want to
change, but if you don't have acollective Denae, you're not
going to get the change.
Like if there's only one personwho's going to voice, like
every, there's always the peoplethat are going to talk about
(25:27):
the issue but they're not goingto do anything about it, and
that's the hard part.
And so, like you said that, thepeople who don't care, I'm like
well, I guess I just come towork, do my job and go home, you
know yeah, and here's the thing.
Danae (25:41):
I don't even blame them, because they're looking at what.
What we are looking at nowfinancially.
We're looking at inflation it'sa recession but they're not
using the R word.
We're probably in a depression,but they're not using the D
word.
When you're looking at all ofthat, yeah, a protective measure
is I'm going to do less.
(26:01):
Measure is I'm going to do less.
At the very least, I'm going tostress myself out less, because
I don't control none of thisstuff that's happening.
Let me back up, right, Iunderstand that it's, it's
almost a protective measure thatpeople are taking is hey, look
what happened.
My parents were for 40 years atthis place and got a pen.
(26:22):
I'm not doing that.
Right?
I know that's what people arethinking.
I know people are like I'm notgoing to work as hard as my
parents and have nothing to showfor it, and or they're looking
at I'm working at the same level, my parent is working and I
can't own a home.
I'm working at the same level,my parent has worked and I can't
own a car.
(26:42):
And we're in a space and timewhere that is more and more the
reality.
So I do understand, but assomebody who does HR, it's
frustrating, right, but I dounderstand that perspective is
like no, get somebody else to doit, I get that perspective I
get it, yeah, but when I'mhiring, I hate it.
(27:03):
I'm like, oh my gosh, whathappened to work ethic, what
happened Passion?
What happened to interest?
Where is it gone?
Right, so I can see from bothlenses, but my day to day life
is to hire talent and keeptalent.
So when I have little to offertalent, yeah, I, I understand.
(27:26):
I understand when they're likeget somebody else to do it.
You know it's rough it is roughalso.
Carlene (27:32):
You do hire as well.
Danae (27:34):
Oh my goodness, like wow I'm an executive director, like,
yeah, I have all of the, all ofthe things coming at you from
different directions divatonight with carlene humphrey.
Carlene (27:47):
This is 40, a female perspective what do you say to
the, to the future?
Like I mean, it's a scarythought.
Just just even listening to youtalk about what keeps you up at
night, that's a scary thoughttoo, because that's why
sometimes I'm like, okay, Ican't watch this anymore.
Because when you're talkingabout the environment and
(28:08):
climate change and like evenjust the news right now, what's
happening in California, likesomeone said to me that they
could have prevented this fromhappening.
Now, I don't know if that'strue or not to a certain extent,
cause I haven't done theresearch but when you think,
when you see stuff like that,like we've had so many things
happen, uh, environmentally,like where I'm from, grenada,
(28:30):
they've had like three floods,like there's one in Karakoram
and then they had two others,which is not the norm.
I mean, there's floods that dohappen, but not to this extent.
No, everybody's experiencing.
Danae (28:42):
Yeah, experiencing it and and I hear people on the
prevention thing, but we're 20years late.
We're literally 20 years late.
When I was doing local economicdevelopment, it's a part of
environmental studies, that'sthe faculty that it was a part
of, and so we would talk aboutclimate change and so on, and
(29:03):
the models that the climatechange pros had worked out puts
us right where we are right nowin terms of increased sea level,
increased heating, increasedextremes.
All of this was known, and I'mtalking 20, 30 years ago.
So could it have been prevented?
Not last week, it couldn't.
(29:24):
You know what I mean.
What could they have done when?
So you know, quickly and thisis kind of tangential, but
quickly I saw something onInstagram.
Somebody did a video on a homethat survived the fire because
it was concrete.
It was a concrete structure,they had a concrete wall around
it and the home itself wasconcrete and you know,
(29:46):
everything on the exterior was aretardant and all of that stuff
.
Right.
Right, you didn't have thattechnology for 20 years.
We had it.
But the other thing that weneed is the will the will of the
politicians, the will of thepeople to change Right.
So, if you're, if you'recomfortable in a gas guzzler, I
drive a crossover, so I'm notjudging anybody, but if you're
(30:06):
comfortable in a certainlifestyle, know that it has
repercussions in the future.
Right, and they've been tellingus.
But we're like, ah, they'retalking about these increased
floods.
Ah, you know, we're in Canadawhere we always have cold
weather.
Ok, did you notice how cold itis this week?
Did you notice how cold it'sgoing to be this week?
No problem, keep ignoring it.
(30:27):
The weather is going to do whatit's going to do.
Climate change is going toclimate change, right, so can we
prevent?
I don't even know.
I don't want to be the bearerof bad news, but we have been
told, we have been warned.
And you know right wing, youknow political thought leaders.
It's hard to say thought forright wing but right wing people
(30:48):
have determined that that'sfoolishness.
(31:12):
Climate change is foolishness.
In science, know more thantheir doctor, and people who
have an F in chemistry know morethan the pharmacists and the
anesthesiologists no more thanthe pharmacists and the
anesthesiologists.
That's where we are now for thefuture.
Here's here's the hopefulnessin everything.
We can still shift.
I don't know if we can save theplanet, but we can save our
(31:36):
current existence.
We can save our futureexistence for a little bit
longer.
We can delay some things if weare willing.
I strongly believe that peoplehave to find the will to do
better, and right now I'm notseeing the will to do better,
but that's the hope.
The hope is finding the will todo better, finding the will to
improve where you are, findingthe will to be like what
(31:58):
happened to curiosity?
We have been so satiated bysocial media's folly that we're
not a curious people anymore.
You know, like how many kidsare we encouraging to play, pull
Play-Doh together and makesomething with their hand and
see what comes of something?
(32:19):
Them in front of a PS5, infront of whatever other device,
and we ourselves have ploppedourselves in front of TikTok and
Instagram and all the thingsthat are distracting us from
real life and we're not engaging.
So if people want hope, I sayre-engage, re-engage, re-engage
in living, re-engage in whatcould your future be?
(32:43):
Don't give up on it.
What could it be if I did twomore things?
If I, if I shifted myperspective?
What could it be?
And if I have a child?
I don't have any kids, but if Ihave a child, what is the
future I want them to have?
What is the future I want toleave for them?
I should leave one of hope.
I should leave one of strivingbeyond the odds.
(33:05):
I should leave one of findingthe answer, because I've been
doing this for 20 odd years.
I must know the answer now,right, and impart it.
So, if you know, anybodywatching this or listening to
this is like where do we go fromhere?
Hope is in inside, it'sinternal.
It's not giving up.
It's not throwing in the towel.
It's saying there has to be abetter way and I'm going to be a
(33:28):
part of it.
Right, that's the hope.
I can't impart hope to you.
You have to tap into that Rightand know that it doesn't have
to be.
We don't have to continue onthis path.
We don't have to go down thishill.
Other people went down it andthey told us it's not cute, we
don't have to go down there aswell.
You know what I mean.
But that's that's internal.
That's internal.
Carlene (33:49):
Yeah, those are some inspiring words for sure.
Like I think it's from whatI've learned myself and just
like being mindful andpracticing mindfulness and just
being in the moment, becausewe've lost that Like and you
can't make other people want tobe in the moment because we've
lost that like and you can'tmake other people want to be in
the moment.
Like you just have to, you know, surround yourself with people
(34:10):
who have that way of thinkingbecause, like you said, we are,
a lot of us are just I'm notgoing to say I'm not addicted to
my device like I think we allhave seen ourselves.
And like we have to retrain or,you know, work on those things.
But, like you said, it's justhaving that hope and working
towards it in the way we think.
(34:32):
And so, as a person who is veryinsightful about the future and
hopeful, what do you think thatkeeps you hopeful, like in your
line of work, I guess, workingin nonprofit for so many years?
Danae (34:50):
So I don't know if it's keeping me hopeful, but each
time I see the power of whatdoing more can get us right.
Yeah, so when you engage morewith people, when you take the
time to care, you know like Ialways jab health care.
I'm like there's not enoughcare in the health care.
(35:12):
When you tap back into that,when you tap back into why are
you doing what you're doing, Istrongly believe people should
do things that they love and dothings that they're good at.
I believe in thatwholeheartedly.
If you're not good at it, don'teven attempt.
I think you know what I mean.
I don't subscribe to this.
Everybody can do everything.
Mentality I don't.
I think there are things thatyou can learn.
(35:34):
I think that you can add skillsets.
But tap into why are you doingthe thing you?
And if it's not the thing youshould be doing, walk away,
because the thing you're doingdeserves your best.
The thing you're engaged indeserves your best.
If you're in healthcare care,care is the key word.
So if you don't care, walk away.
(35:56):
Walk away if you don't care,because people's lives depend on
you caring.
Right Changes in society dependon you caring.
So if you don't care anymore,walk away.
No shame in that.
Maybe you were meant to be abarber, maybe you were meant to
be an architect, maybe you weremeant to be a farmer.
Who knows?
(36:17):
Tap back into what is it?
Carlene (36:21):
you're good at and what is it you love.
And I think that's the scarypart for some, you know, like
when you're not good atsomething or you're just doing
it to get a paycheck Right andthen walking away, that's a big
move like walking away, you know, or I don't think.
Danae (36:35):
I don't think it's easy by any stretch of the
imagination, right, yeah, yeah,walk away like you literally
have to jolt yourself sometimesto shift, right, yeah, but I
strongly believe in doing whatyou're good at and strongly
believe in doing what you love.
I think the world deserves yourbest and whatever that best is,
that's what you should betapping into.
(36:56):
I don't.
I don't think you should bedoing things mediocre.
I don't think you should bedoing things mediocre.
I don't think you should bedoing things less than but
that's just me.
I'm old school.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Long time ago I came up withprinciples and standards and all
these things.
Yeah, I would be wrong.
Carlene (37:13):
Yeah, but like.
I remember even a managersaying to me if you can't do it
right the first time, don't doit at all.
Like I think that's an oldschool mentality.
It's old school man.
Danae (37:23):
Yeah, it is I was still living in Jamaica and worked in
insurance for a bit, yeah, andmy manager said to me do you
know TQM, do you know TQM?
And I'm like I don't know, I'mnew, and she's like TQM, total
quality management If you can'tdo it right the first time, it's
(37:43):
not worth doing.
And I was like, okay, you'reintense, but I took it in and
TQM hasn't left my mind and I'mtalking about the nineties,
right, and that never left mymind.
Do it right the first time, doit good the first time.
And that's not necessarilyapplicable to everything that
we're dealing with now.
No, right, like now, in thisdigital realm where you know,
(38:08):
you see like one percent of thepeople making good money on
YouTube, one percent of thepeople making good money on
TikTok, you think they'restopping to think about quality.
You know what I mean?
Let's just see what sticksthrough.
Carlene (38:22):
They're just throwing it and hoping it takes you know.
Danae (38:28):
So I can't say to a person existing in these times,
with these challenges, that theold school way is right.
I can say that the principlesof old are correct.
Yeah, work, ethic, right,integrity, saying what you mean,
meaning what you say.
I can say those core principleswill always be right.
(38:50):
The ways in which we executethem have changed.
Right, because here's the thingwe're on a podcast now.
Yeah, the podcasts that are top10.
Yeah, have quality.
Right, everybody has a podcast.
I have a podcast.
Yeah, I took a hiatus.
Everybody has a podcast.
Right, podcasts that are top 10, regardless of how many people
(39:14):
have been throwing spaghetti onthe wall, they didn't throw,
they planned, they executedimpeccably.
Their aesthetic is on point,they have a show script, they
have a person who helps themwith ideas.
They're executing in a way thatis almost traditional radio,
almost traditional media.
They are still the top 10.
(39:36):
So, cool, gen Z, throw all thespaghetti.
I don't need to worry about howit looks, I don't need to worry
about how it sounds, I don'tneed a real mic, I don't need
whatever Cool, but there's amillion of you doing that, and
then there's a top 10.
So, again, the core principlesstill hold.
Carlene (39:55):
Yeah, yeah, no, it's very true what you're saying.
I think when you don't planthings, there's always obstacles
that come in the way, likeobstacles that come along,
obviously, and what you'resaying is very insightful and
very practical.
So I hope that whoever islistening to this can get some
insight, or get the belief again, because what you're saying is
(40:19):
so important, because we, Ithink, even for myself, I've had
to rethink my career path too,because for months, I was
working in an industry I didn'twork in before and then, when it
didn't work out the way Iwanted it to, it's like this
time I think I have to dosomething differently.
I do like it's importantbecause it's either you get
(40:43):
forced into doing thingsdifferently or something changes
, like I feel like we have to gothrough something traumatic or
some kind of experience to makeus turn on the light bulb, to be
like, ok, I have to changesomething now.
Like this is not working.
It's not.
Danae (40:59):
Yeah, and I think the wise people among us don't wait
for that moment.
Right yeah, the wise peopleamong us don't wait for crisis.
They're quick to change,they're quick to adapt, they're
quick to course correct, becauseyou could be on the right
course, but there's a hiccup.
What is it that you need toshift while you're on the right
course?
Right, because if that issomething you're good at and
(41:22):
something you're passionateabout, you could be on the right
course, but you're notexecuting well.
So how do I course correct?
How do I, you know, hoist thenext sale Because maybe I'm
using one sale and I should beusing two?
How do I get a paddle goingbecause the motor died?
Whatever that situation is, geton that, right.
(41:44):
If you're on the wrong path, getoff it right.
Get off it.
If you have no passion, nointerest, no insight, no skill
set for the thing and you'regoing around moping, who are you
serving?
Who are you serving bycontinuing?
Right?
It's not serving the peopleyou're supposed to be serving in
the role and it's not servingyou right.
(42:04):
So either you course correct oryou get off that path and get
on your right path, for, like,we're in dire straits now.
We don't have time to wasteanymore, right?
This is not the time.
This is not a time toexperiment.
Too many things are moving.
So now, it's okay, this is mypath.
For sure, I feel it, for sure, Iknow I'm good at it.
(42:26):
For sure, I just need somethingelse.
It might mean going to do acourse to upskill yourself so
that you can get to the nextlevel.
It might mean hiring somebody.
It might mean consulting withsomebody.
It might mean shedding all the.
It might mean consulting withsomebody.
It might mean shedding all theother things.
Like, as much as I'm heretalking, I do too much.
Right?
So in 2025, I'm going to shedsome stuff, because when I look
(42:50):
at successful people people Ideem successful- they hone in on
one or two things and do themwell.
Yeah, right yeah, so me with my10 things.
I'm a multi-hyphenate.
I need to pull that in.
Carlene (43:05):
What does multi-hyphenate mean?
Danae (43:06):
I'm, I'm, I'm a.
I'm a executive director.
I'm a media consultant.
Yeah, I'm a host, I'm a youknow, yeah, yeah, I'm an event
coordinator.
I can do all these things, yeah,so what I have to do now, in
2025, is hone in on the best ofit.
Yeah, yeah, I can do everythingI had to out of necessity
(43:29):
because I was in nonprofit.
I was always in nonprofit, andin nonprofit we do a lot of DIY.
We do a lot of DIY, but is thatefficient and is that effective
?
So in 2025, I'm working on Iwant more for my life.
That's my word this year ismore.
I want more from my life, morefrom my talents, but in doing
(43:51):
that, I have to also do less ofthe wrong things.
That's where I am.
I need to rejig my formulabecause, yes, I've expanded,
I've done all the things andI've shown all the skill sets.
What do I need to do?
What is my best self?
What are those one to threethings that I can hone in on
(44:12):
that will have the most impact,most effect, most results?
Right, yeah, that's the workI'm doing, right.
Carlene (44:20):
And that's and that's important too, I think for
anyone you know, even myself,it's like I have two podcasts,
but it's like which one should Ifocus on Right, and that's so
important.
Like talking to you, you'vekind of added the fuel to the
fire in a way, like with yourpassion, with the way that you
express yourself.
It's very important and I thinkit was this conversation needed
(44:42):
to happen.
In one way or another it'simportant to share.
Whatever you may, even if it'san old school mentality, it's
still important because that'sthe foundation.
Like you know the knowledgebase, knowing and getting to
where you are now.
You know what I mean.
If you didn't work in communityradio.
You know the knowledge base,knowing and getting to where you
(45:03):
are now.
You know what I mean If youdidn't work in community radio,
you wouldn't be working inhealth care now, and so it's
just the steps leading up rightto where you are now, and so
it's the journey, right, and howyou got there.
Danae (45:13):
So that's why my podcast one of my podcasts is called the
Journey.
Yeah, yeah, I strongly believethat we're all challenged with
similar things, just indifferent aspects of our life,
right?
So, like a lot of people, whenthey saw me launch it, they
thought I would only talk toartists.
I don't only want to talk toartists, I do want to talk to
artists.
I want to talk to somebodywho's a mechanic I want to talk
(45:41):
to because I know there is ashared set of challenges that we
face as humans, and each personis is combating it in different
ways, whether because of thesector they're in or because of
the skills they have.
Right, and?
And life is a journey, andsometimes we're not enjoying the
journey because we get boggeddown, right, we're distracted by
all the things that we'retrying to do and trying to keep
up with and try.
No, let's enjoy the journeybecause we get bogged down,
right, we're distracted by allthe things that we're trying to
do and trying to keep up withand try.
No, let's enjoy the journey.
Carlene (46:05):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
The one thing I didn't ask youabout is, like, you know your
parents.
Do you feel like your parentsinfluence who you are as a
person today?
Danae (46:15):
For sure, I didn't know how much of an influence they
were until I got older, right?
So if you would ask me thisquestion when I was 20, I just
said no, they don't influence mylife.
But after 20, it started tomake sense.
So my love for buildingcommunity, you know, helping
(46:36):
people to reach their best self,that's both of my parents.
I'm an orphan now.
My dad died two years now.
My mom was a culturaldevelopment professional.
She would go around the islandof Jamaica, you know, honing
young talent, bringing them tothe festival event she would
(46:56):
introduce.
She would be like a guide forambassadors that came on the
island.
This is what we are culturally.
These are the things you shouldtake away.
This is what Jamaica is.
That's her job before she hadcancer.
My dad an educator both of themwere educators, but he kept in
education for a while and hebuilt up.
He literally built upstructures for education,
(47:19):
tertiary education, built stufffrom the ground up.
So all of that is in me,whether it is through DNA or
through osmosis.
I saw those things, I know ofthose things and I'm looking at
my life sometimes and I'm like,ooh, that's my mom.
Right, I'm looking at my life.
I'm like, oh, that's my dad.
(47:39):
When I'm training people, whenI'm, you know, taking the time
to do a manual, when I'm takingthe time to guide somebody, when
I do a consultation like myfirst hour with somebody has
nothing to do with collectingmoney, I'm just trying to
calibrate them.
That's what my dad did foryears.
He to calibrate them.
That's what my dad did foryears.
(48:00):
He taught teachers.
He taught master's levelteachers.
He established institutions.
He was on 5 million boards ofdirectors, from schools to
colleges to church stuff andunfortunately I also got
workaholism from him.
I'm a big workaholic.
That was in my DNA, me and mybrother.
We laughed about it last year.
We're like we got that from him.
(48:21):
Huh we cannot stop, we arealways working.
I remember I'd be here studyingand it'd be 5am.
I'd message my dad.
He's up at his desk in Jamaicawriting a consult paper for
USAID or whoever he wasconsulting with at the time.
Yeah, that was my dad.
Wow, you can reach me at anytime.
(48:44):
I'm likely up doing something.
So I got that from him.
Good and bad, right.
So, yeah, great work ethic.
I'm a hard worker.
All those things I overwork,overwork, overwork, right.
So again, 2025, I'm bringingback balance because for me to
have more from my life, I needto do less of the bad habit.
(49:04):
Right, and workaholism is a badhabit that I need to break
Right.
But for sure, when you talkabout influence of parents,
that's them man, that's my dad.
Carlene (49:16):
Yeah, yeah't.
You say you can, you're likeyou can change certain habits,
but it's, it's that instilled ininside you, no matter what.
And then it you have momentswhere you're like oh yeah, I did
get that from them.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
As you get older, like you said, like the rebel, and you're at
20, you're like no, not like my.
Danae (49:36):
No, you're not, you're just a younger version.
Right.
Carlene (49:45):
Yeah, yeah, we're all doing that.
And then we have those momentswhere we're like sitting alone
and you're like, wow, yeah.
Danae (49:53):
Yeah, that's them.
And I mean luckily I won't havechildren, because they would be
subjected to all of the badparts.
You know, I'm strict.
Carlene (50:05):
I'm all the things.
I'm strict.
I'm going to be like you wouldhave been a strict mom, what are
you doing?
Danae (50:10):
Oh my gosh.
And you know you're not gettingany time to play.
No, nintendo and PS5 and allthem things.
That's not how I was raised,right, yeah, so be thankful I
don't have any kids out there.
That kid would be so uptightand miserable and be like how
did I get this parent?
I want a redo.
(50:32):
But you know we are them, weare, and I'm aspects of my
grandmother and I'm aspects ofmy aunts who helped to raise me
when my mom passed.
And you know I mean we're,we're aspects of all the things
we're exposed to, right, we justdon't take in all of it, right,
but we, all of these thingsinfluence us.
Right, it's our decision making.
Like you know, we can have awhole conversation on how our
(50:55):
poverty mindset comes from, howwe were raised, right, you know,
not not wanting more, becausewe were afraid.
We got that fear from somewhere.
Where did that fear come from?
Around money.
Well, we were told money is theroot of all evil.
No, the Bible says the love ofmoney is the root of all evil.
But we, we just, you know, tookthat bit out and ran with it.
(51:17):
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, and we'rejust like, yeah, I'm just going
to be humble and meek and mild.
We got that from somewhere.
We did yeah, because the peoplewho did not get that, you see
it, you see it in their businesspractice, you see it in how
quickly they accelerate inbusiness While we're struggling,
(51:37):
because we're, you know, we, wewere trained different, we were
exposed differently.
Right, so everything,everything is a foundation.
Carlene (51:48):
everything is a foundation to the parents are
definitely an influence yeah,and then, like you said, the
influence with the relationshipwe have with money as a
community, as a race.
Yeah, we, we have to changethat.
Yeah, we come from a place oflack.
Right, we didn't have enough.
Danae (52:03):
Yeah yeah, whole slavery like we don't have anything.
And then they promised them 40acres and a mule in america and
never gave them even a mule.
Like we come from, lack, right,so everything influences how we
, how we, function in the world.
Now the key is to finding outquickly what's influencing your
decision making.
Right and like I'm, I'm beingopen and saying in 2025, I got
(52:27):
to whittle down, I got to youknow, reformulate how I do
things, because I'm realizingsome of those habits, some of
the bad habits that I got fromthe upbringing, that I got from
the fear based conversationsthat I got from how, you know,
parents move through this world,have influenced.
(52:48):
Right now, I'm trying to haveway more self-awareness than I
did in 10 years ago.
Right, just so that I can rejigmy formula Right in 10 years
ago.
Right, just so that I can rejigmy formula right.
Carlene (52:58):
Yeah, it's a journey together and it's a process, and
I think I agree with you too,because I have to change a lot
of like my bad habits withcertain things too, because it's
important as to who we are.
Yeah, like if we want to getbetter, like if you want to be a
better person and make betterdecisions and have be able to
retire you know better personand make better decisions and
(53:19):
have be able to retire, you knowwhat I mean.
Like it's all those things.
So it's important and this hasbeen a great conversation.
Denae, Thank you so much forsharing your journey to where
you are now and I wish younothing but the best for 2025.
It's been great.
I'm Carlene and this is DivaTonight with Denae Hurd.
Speaker 3 (53:39):
Diva Tonight with Carlene will be back.
Send us a message on Instagramat diva underscore tonight.
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