We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Danielle Denicola. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Danielle below.

Danielle, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

I’m fortunate enough to Cosplay and Stream full time and live comfortably from my earnings in these fields, though it definitely wasn’t the case in the beginning. I graduated from college in 2014 in Creative Advertising and I was working various Social Media management jobs while I began my career in Cosplay.

It started as a hobby, but soon I realized that there were conventions all around Florida that needed Cosplay guests and judges for their Costume Competitions. A group of friends and I started emailing every convention we could find to pitch ourselves, and I was working on my costumes at home and sometimes even behind my desk at my job. Eventually in 2018 I was earning the same amount doing Cosplay as I did at my corporate job, and luckily I had it as a stable and growing option because around the same time my job laid off the entire marketing team to outsource it instead.

Ever since then I’ve been sustaining myself on creating content with my costumes on the internet, guesting at different conventions around the world, and live streaming on Twitch.

Danielle, 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?

My “nerd” roots run very deep into my childhood. Some of my earliest memories are playing video games with my brother, picking out new games at Blockbuster, and playing board games with all my neighbors.

As I got older, my adoration for video games only grew with time. I went from 10 person co-op neighborhood Halo tournaments, to carrying my Game Boy with me everywhere to play Pokemon, to an intense obsession with Blizzard games- specifically World of Warcraft.

Once I started college, and started finding people around me that loved the same hobbies I did, I started going to a bunch of pop culture conventions and saw all the people dressing up as the characters. I always felt too shy to do it myself, but appreciated the craftsmanship (who doesn’t like a fun diy?). It wasn’t until a good friend made me my first cosplay that I realized how much fun it really was and how fast you find a community of people who adore the same things you do, that I fell in love with the art of cosplay.

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

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is the communities of people that are built around you. One thing I’ve learned about being a self-proclaimed “nerd” all my life, is that many of us are viewed as weird, different, or even outcasts. One thing a lot of us are missing is a tangible community of people around us who look, think, and act like we do, and the convention scene blessed us with a central hub of friendship that I will always be grateful for.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I’m actually doing this right now!

After 10+ years of cosplaying and social media content creation, I realized that I needed something fresh and new in my life to feel like I was progressing forward instead of laterally. Cosplay by itself is such a new, budding industry that there isn’t a clear path to success or retirement. You can branch into different categories such as accepting costume commissions for other people, making online tutorials and content, live streaming, etc. I love cosplay, but I realized recently that that stems from a very intense love for video games, which led me to begin voice acting in 2024.

Alongside my cosplay and streaming responsibilities, I have been taking voice acting classes for around 4 months now, and have been working hard to work on improving my abilities to add “Voice Actor,” to my arsenal of titles. So far I’ve been working on a few projects, with one slated to debut on Steam later this year!

Contact Info:

• Website: Danielledenicola.com and Danielledenicolavoice.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/danielledenicola
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/danielledenicolaofficial
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/daniellednicola
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/danielledenicola
• Other: https://twitch.tv/danielledenicola

Image Credits

David Love Photography and Martin Wong Photography