Meet Danie Wilks An Ohio native, mother, and hairstylist who’s spent 2 decades dedicated to grinding pretty, literally. While most were just excited to collect their diploma at the end of their most formative years, Wilks was collecting her cosmetology license too.
“..that kind of jumpstarted my career. [Going to cosmetology school, while I was still in high school,} cut that time in half for me.” Says Wilks.
Wilks attended college and got a degree in business and accounting. When she moved from Ohio to Atlanta, at 23-years-old, she was able to lock-down a full-time job while building her beauty career. For 3 years, Wilks worked 80 hour weeks, and raised her son with the help of her mother.
“My corporate job was 40 hours. I was doing hair full-time as well. I had 10 hour days, so I only worked [my corporate job] four days a week. And then the remaining days, and sometimes even after that 10 hour shift, I’d go to the salon to build my clientele. I was pretty much working seven days a week — some days until two or three in the morning, and then getting up and doing it all over again.”
In 2011, Wilks decided to let go of her responsibilities at her corporate job and focus solely on her brand, Danified Co.
Wilks’s brand was built with the idea of catering to the “ideal” business woman — someone who is comfortable in her skin and looking to take the “shame” of wanting more from her daily hair care off of the todo list for the day.
Whether customers desire more versatility, a color change, or a change in density and length, Danified Co. knows the value of enhancing natural beauty with hair extensions and lives by the motto “when you look great, you feel great.”
GP: Do you have a favorite quote or a quote that you live by?
Danie: “‘Being consistent is the only way to unlock new beginnings.’ [I like this quote because] consistency looks different to everybody. But we know one thing's for certain, you’re never gonna get to where you need to go if you [aren’t].
GP: Obviously, there were times where you were working several jobs and you're having around the clock hours. So, what has been something that's been really valuable to you to balance those two roles [of mom and business woman]?
Danie: “In the beginning, I barely saw my son; I had a lot of help, and that's just me being 100 percent transparent. Once I was able to quit my corporate job and just focus solely on hair, I was able to be 100 percent in charge of my schedule. I would just intentionally make sure that I had space to do family things. I made an intentional effort to make sure my schedule allowed me to drop him off at school. [At different stages of his life,] he still needed different parts of me. I still [am] building my business [after] all this time, so I just make sure that [I’m] intentional about things that I needed to do for him.”
GP: Do you have a one specific woman who has impacted your walk of life?
Danie: “Definitely my mom. That's probably cliche, but my mom literally moved down [to Atlanta]. She literally is one of the main reasons why I was able to continue my journey, because she helped a ton with my son. If she didn't move here, it definitely would've been a harder [journey]. I am forever, forever, forever, thankful.”
GP: What does it mean to you, personally, to “grind pretty”?
Danie: To show up forever and always. And what I mean by that is like days when you’re not your [best], you're still showing up, grinding, and doing what you need to do. Pretty is in the eye to beholder. So, it's like you can look at yourself in the mirror and be like, 'I got this’. I'm pretty in this state. I might not have my makeup done today. I might be tired, and only have one hour of sleep. It doesn't matter. You're just doing the best that you can do as yourself.
GP: What's something that you are most excited to experience at Grind Pretty Fest?
Danie: “Earlier this year, I made a promise that I'm gonna really just indulge in things that I'm not comfortable with. You know, whatever that looks like, just really putting my business out there. I'm excited about GP Fest and just the dynamic of it — bringing a lot of strong women together to tell their story and tell about their brand. Just kind of getting inspiration from others. Im really excited about that. I'm nervous, but I'm excited about it.”
For more information about Danified, you can follow @shopdanified and @_danified on Instagram.
By Sydney Davis
