We were lucky to catch up with Damon Davis recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Damon thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
The most fulfilling work I’ve ever done is hosting the “Who Am I Really?” podcast where I interview adopted people about their experience as and adoptee, and their attempts to find their biological family members. I’m adopted and I had several lived experiences that led me to launch the podcast.
After a well-adjusted, happy childhood in adoption went to Hampton University, got married, then adopted my niece and nephew. When my son was born he was the first blood relative I had ever known. It hit me hard that he was the first branch on my family tree that I knew, but that I didn’t know what biological tree I was connected to?
After a short reunion search, I had a wonderful reunion with my biological mother, Ann, who also went to Hampton University and worked only two blocks from me in Washington, D.C. during my time in the Obama Administration.
When I asked my birth mother, Ann, who my biological father was, she openly gave me the man’s identity, But after her death an Ancestry DNA test revealed the man she thought was my birth father was incorrect, she conceived me with another man while she was in graduate school. Luckily after the misattributed parentage was identified I was able to locate and connect with my birth father, Bill. We had a wonderful reunion too, even though he didn’t know I existed.
I often share my story of adoption and reunion and I frequently receive congratulations on my family’s heartwarming story. But occasionally I would meet other adoptees who appreciated my journey’s outcomes, but shared they would never have the same happy experience. Adoptees told me their adoptive family did not support their search for their family of origin, they had found their birth family and their biological relatives didn’t want to know them, or their birth records were sealed in the state they were born in so their search felt impossible.
I realized that adoption and reunion stories aren’t always heart-warming with a happy ending. The have ups and downs, twists and turns, and the adoptions and reunions can be positive and negative experiences. The desire burned within me to expose the reality of adoption and dispel the false narratives people hold in their minds about adoption. I launched the
“Who Am I Really?” podcast in 2017 after my reunion with Ann.
Damon, 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?
When I started the podcast I had no experience broadcasting or hosting a show. I’ve always loved storytelling and I’m famously curious about people’s personal stories. So when the idea hit me to start an adoptee focused podcast I dove in head first learning as much as I could from my mentor, Charlie Birney of Podcast Village.
The show brings adoptee stories to light in the voice of the adopted person. I set out to educate other adoptees, adoptive parents, birth parents, and the general public (who might not be involved in adoption) what the adopted person thinks and feels at different stages of their life.
Most people don’t think about the core of what adoption is: something unexpected has happened in a family and a child is removed from their family of origin, and placed with another family. They are torn from their roots for better or for worse, and they grow up not knowing their parents, grandparents, and the rest of their birth family, most times.
So I’m humbled that adopted people trust me with helping them share the intimate thoughts they’ve had about adoption as they open up about their lived experiences. And I’m proud that the adoptee community values the podcast for its transparency and honesty about the adoption experience.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect of podcasting adoptee stories is I know I’m supporting others in the adoption community to empathize with each other about the adoption experience. Adopted people are everywhere, but we don’t always connect with one another, so the podcast allows adoptees to learn from one another’s stories. If I can help one podcast guest to share their story, and that story helps just one adopted person who listened my mission for the podcast is accomplished.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
I don’t think people appreciate the amount of hard work that goes into making a podcast come to life. Of course the show is a passion project and for most creatives (artists, musicians, writers, etc) we spend hours experimenting with the correct mix of our talents, tools, and resources that will bring our work to life.
We work hard day after day, night after night, just to produce one piece of our extensive body of work, and we repeat the cycle for years.
Creatives, like me, are driven by our passion, we’re fulfilled by the audience’s appreciation for our work, and we are reimbursed for our time and efforts by the contributions of our followers and supporters. If you’re following a podcast, online channel, artist, writer, or educator and they’ve suggested you could support their work with contributions to keep their work going, please make your best effort to pay a little something for their work. You don’t realize how fulfilling it is to receive praise for your work and payments to podcasts really do keep the show going.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.whoamireallypodcast.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/waireally
- Facebook: facebook.com/waireally
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/damonldavis/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@whoamireallypodcast3325
- Other: instagram.com/damonldavis
Image Credits
forgot the photographers name.