We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dan Pele (formerly Dan Stanford). We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dan below.
Alright, Dan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the story of how you went from this being just an idea to making it into something real.
Tnahpele was an artist name that I had chosen while I was in high school. I decided on that artist name knowing that I wouldn’t do anything with it right away necessarily, but I knew that name was unique and special for me as Tnahpele is “elephant” spelled backwards and that had always been my favorite animal, my spirit animal. I locked down the name as far as internet accounts, but I didn’t release any music under it till 2017. After releasing my EP, I released a couple of singles and moved to Texas and created my first album. After doing music I realized that I could bring my other talents forward and build the brand up not just as a vocalist, but as an organizing strategist, public speaker, and curriculum developer. Anyone could do a 9-5 job and in most cases I always say it’s good to have some backing as long as you can give energy and focus on building your own brand and business. I decided to integrate my other talents under Tnahpele and now Tnahpele is registered as Tnahpele LLC. I’m excited to bring these other things underneath an umbrella that is me. Just like the first single started off as a thought and a few words on paper I took everything one step at a time and created a work of art. I decided to take the same 1 step at a time approach to Tnahpele as an LLC and have the website show all of the services Tnahpele can be booked for.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Tnahpele is a music artist with an expansion of public speaking, strategic organizing, curriculum development and group facilitation. Tnahpele Dan Stanford is a Chicago native with a BA, MS, and QMHP-CS under his belt, Tnahpele has been a part and learned from groups such as toast masters and has an extensive background in public speaking, social work, case management, group facilitation, and mental health. Tnahpele was created from Dan’s love of singing and music. While Tnahpele was solely identified as a music artist, inspiration hit and Dan began to have visions of expanding his brand of transforming Tnahpele to Tnahpele LLC to encompass his other talents and other entrepreneurial goals. You can find Tnahpele’s music on every digital platform and find all his music and services on his website Tnahpele.org.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
The pivot I had to make was one I made this year. I knew that I could do more and bring more business to Tnahpele if I put everything I had to offer on the table, not just my voice. It seemed like an unconventional idea to mix the two but at the end of the day that’s the reason I decided to make Tnahpele an LLC so that my gig payments and public speaking payments could be streamlined and hopefully one day soon I could be my own boss completely. Sometimes you have to realize what you’re doing is good, but changes… even the ones you don’t think mix can open up a wider world of possibilities for your path.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
The goal and mission driving my creative journey is a simple one *encouraging others to be the best versions of themselves as possible* When you listen to my music whether it be the potential beauty EP or the Every Kind of Love Album there are messages of encouragement, hope, strength, and inner power that is shared. The same tone is in the type of work that Dan Stanford does as a public speaker, group facilitator, and organizing strategist. You will receive my best in whatever service you book for and in return be inspired to be your best! Win Win services is what I like to call it.
Contact Info:
- Website: danjpele.org
- Instagram: instagram.com/tnahpelesings
- Facebook: Facebook.com/tnahpelesings
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-stanford-651b265a/
- Twitter: twitter.com/tnahpelesings
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwB11yCHApJWM9_vm6XRC_Q
- Other: Soundcloud.com/tnahpele
Image Credits
photography by Darren Calhoun with Quckclickmedia Album Artwork by J Will Cosby