We were lucky to catch up with Daniella Medina recently and have shared our conversation below.

Daniella, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s jump right into how you came up with the idea?

After becoming disabled from Vascular Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, I realized how many businesses aren’t accessible for dynamic disabilities and how many jobs underestimate or don’t bother to become educated on a disabled individual. Having half a million followers across social media platforms gave me the opportunity to “rate” the accessibility of these places to let other disabled people or the loved ones of disabled people know what places are safe and accessible or ableist and inaccessible. For that I created a title for myself as an Accessibility Critic, rating places and events depending how I’m able to get around with a mobility aid without causing harm to myself. When I’m not doing that, I manage the social media for locally owned businesses that let disabled individuals work from home and allow the required time off for health related scenarios.

Daniella, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I originally went viral on TikTok for completing my bucket-list while battling a fatal “mystery” illness that I eventually got diagnosed. With my life expectancy and that platform I have, I wanted to give back to my community. Both locally and my fellow disabled individuals. By publicly rating local businesses as Accessible I have given disabled Arizonans and visitors safe, fun places to visit. As well as expanding these businesses customer demographic. I’m extremely proud to provide a free service like this to my disabled community and give these Arizona businesses more exposure and praise. What I want people to know about my brand and what I do as a creative is that I in no way intend to tarnish reputations unless they are blatantly ableist or claim to be accessible when they in fact aren’t. My job as a creative is to provide accessibility for terminally ill and disabled people in an already inaccessible world, while showing support for businesses I am extremely fond of.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Everything I do currently is completely funded by managing the social media for local disability friendly organizations. These are organizations that have history of hiring disabled individuals and that have given me the time off for medical care. The money I make on TikTok goes towards my own medical expenses and funeral services. But when I first started going out to review the accessibility of businesses and purchasing the programs and cameras I use for those, it was funded through my revenue from TikTok.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I like to believe my outlook on a life with a fatal genetic condition and keeping a genuine connection with my audience is what built my social media to what it is today and that gave me the opportunity to do what I do with that platform now. My advice to building a social media presence is when you put yourself out there, make sure you are putting YOU out there. Not a cookie cutter, sugar coated, fabricated version of you. You want your audience to relate to you, trust you, and connect with you. The best way to ensure that is to be true to yourself.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://beacons.ai/daniellescats/?fbclid=PAAabBbHUMmB9s6wHvv4-u3mTk7Xphueg9JbzkDqxl2ZnKLUFaKGr48-_z9C8
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/the.dani.adventure?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Other: www.tiktok.com/@daniellescats

Image Credits
Theresa Bowman