We were lucky to catch up with Daniel Holland recently and have shared our conversation below.

Daniel, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

I wish I had started it sooner. In a world of technology and social media, content creation is still a somewhat new thing, but it evolves so quick. I figure if I would’ve started my creative journey sooner with other platforms rather than on TikTok where content creation is the only way of communicating on that app. Maybe I’d be farther in my journey.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I got my start in the cosmetics industry by taking a chance on myself. I first started dabbling in cosmetics when I was 18, I was a freshman in college, finding a lot out about myself, I had recently come out as gay to my family a month before.

I saw makeup as a creative outlet, a way to express myself. I had always been in choir and theater, but to me those things were always someone else’s art that I was performing. Makeup was finally that thing where I created everything from start to finish.

I would post my makeup looks on Instagram and would go live on Facebook doing the makeup looks. Of course I loved the attention so I continued doing it. As the years went on, Instagram and Facebook weren’t really successful, everything started being about more short form video content. Which is not what I was doing.

TikTok came around and I tried it and fell in love with it. It added another layer of creativity on my makeup, I could tell a story, educate, or just have fun! I’ve been actively working in the cosmetics industry for 4 years, but have 10 years of knowledge.

I left a full time job that I was successful in so that I could take a chance and work in the cosmetics industry. I am most proud of that by far. Because 4 years later, I am still working in cosmetics and am constantly evolving into my next step.

Everything I do is about fun, if there is anything I want people to take from this, it’s that not everything has to be so serious. Work can be fun if you love what you’re doing and my work IS fun.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect is seeing the reaction from my art. Whether that inspires someone or brings them joy for that moment, that is the most rewarding thing.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I went from a 40hr/week job where I was moving up the corporate ladder very quickly, to a 10-15hr/week job that paid minimum wage all because I wanted to chase my dream. I risked it all, but it paid off. 4 years later I’m in the same position I was when I worked at my previous job but now I’m in a field I love.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: instagram.com/dandan4thewin
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@dandan4thewin?_t=8gA6jvAGj51&_r=1 TikTok: @dandan4thewin