We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Danielle Blinka a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Danielle, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

I believe success looks different to everyone. To be successful is to live a life you find fulfilling, so each person really defines what success means to them. For some people, success means a high income or a lavish lifestyle. For others, success comes from following a passion or spending time with people who mean a lot to them. Some people feel most successful when they can pick up and move whenever they like. I think people are happiest when they can really hone in on what makes them feel success and go after it. I love the affirmation, “doing is succeeding” because, as long as you’re doing what you set out to do, you’re a success. That’s why it’s always best to only compare yourself against you—not someone else. No one else can define success for you.

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.

My name is Danielle Blinka, and I’m a podcaster, writer, and artist in Houston, Texas. I started my main podcast, Bad Acts: A True Crime Podcast back in November 2020, so we’re about to have our 4-year anniversary and have just surpassed 200 episodes. I also host a newer podcast called Be Witching. In addition to podcasting, I’m also a writer and have a poetry chapbook coming out in February 2025 through Finishing Line Press, a traditional publisher. It’s currently on pre-order until December 13 using the link https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/so-the-light-stays-by-danielle-blinka/.

My podcast focuses on true crime stories, and I usually choose cases that have received less coverage, including people in marginalized communities who don’t typically get as much attention. I believe that we can make a big difference in our society if we can admit the problems that we have and actually work to fix them, so that is definitely something we talk about on the podcast. As a writer, I enjoy telling people’s stories.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

When I first got started, I really struggled with feeling that I didn’t have enough to “add” to the podcasting world, especially since true crime is such a popular genre with tons of podcasts. I felt like everything I did or said had to be truly special, totally original—like nothing I’d ever seen before.

This also popped up frequently with my writing, to the extent that I would sometimes avoid books that caught my interest because they were similar to what I was writing, and I worried that reading them would make me feel like I could never produce something of my own. I think this feeling stemmed from constantly being asked “what makes you special/different” by someone important to me when I was young. I internalized the message that I had to be this shining star of uniqueness or I was nothing.

None of that is true, and we all bring something different to the table when we’re ourselves. You don’t have to reinvent everything to contribute something that is unique and original. Just put yourself into it, and you’ll be a success.

Whenever I start to question myself now, I remember how all the best books are marketed. They’ll usually say something like, “This book is [popular book] meets [popular movie].” It’s a unique idea because of what the writer put into it, not because it’s never been done.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding part of being a creative for me is the creative process. I love brainstorming and coming up with new ideas, and it’s so fun to see those ideas come alive. I’ve learned over the years that I can’t stop my creative drive. It always finds an outlet, so it’s best to channel that passion into something I care about, like my podcast, poetry, or novels.

I also thrive when I have a lot of flexibility, and being in a creative field facilitates that. Before I was focusing on my podcast and writing, I wrote for some publications that allowed me to work remotely on my own schedule, and it made me so much more productive than when I had a set schedule to follow.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://danielleblinka.com/; https://badactspod.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/badactspod/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/badactspod
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-blinka-456120249/
• Twitter: https://x.com/badactspod?lang=en&mx=2

Image Credits

Danielle Blinka