We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dominique Howard a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Dominique, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you walk us through some of the key steps that allowed you move beyond an idea and actually launch?
First off thank you for this opportunity! Like most, I’ve watched some of the original YouTube girls from their beginning and thought that as an introverted person maybe this creative outlet would help my people to connect with. I also felt like my life was boring so I kept putting off starting my channel until I had my daughter; then I felt like I couldn’t tell her to go after her dreams if I kept putting off mine, so I created my first video. To be honest, I don’t even remember what my first video was about, but I made it, and little by little the nerves and self-doubt weren’t so loud anymore. My first year was focused on trial and error, learning how to edit my videos and what software I liked most, how to post, and what my viewers wanted to see from me. I then had to change my mindset as far as how I moved on social media and create pages under my “stage name” if you will. I’ve had several usernames since 2018 when I made my first post.
Dominique, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Hey Babe,
I you’re new here I’m Dom also known as ON Simone. I’m a digital content creator whose focus is affordable beauty & fashion as well as lifestyle. I posted my first video in 2018 back then my channel was more of just hair content. As a creative who was a mom and working minimum wage, I had to learn to do a lot of the editing myself. I now have OnBrandbySimone where I create digital art for an affordable price or offer one-on-ones to teach those who aren’t as tech-savvy how to edit and create add-ins and popups for reels, TikTok, and long-form content.
The main thing that I am proud of myself for is giving myself grace. This isn’t an easy journey nor is it always rewarding. It’s time-consuming and sometimes you will find yourself second-guessing or comparing your journey to others; when in fact your journey is only meant for you no one else can walk that path but you.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
My goal is my tag line “Stay Blessed Stay True Stay You (me).” I want to stay covered, faithful, and thankful to God for blessing me with my platform. Stay true to myself and humble and never forget where I started and stay me. We have all seen at least one person we looked up to let money or success completely shift who they were. I want to stay true to myself and do what feels right to me, authenticity is what viewers are looking for now in creatives’ honest thoughts, ideas, and opinions.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
To me, the best part about being creative is finding my community and my community finding me. There is someone for everyone on YouTube and if not people become who they wish they had seen. Being told I added value or brightened someone’s day makes me feel like I’ve done more than enough.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.linktr.ee/ONSimone
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_onsimone_/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOfPP4HmeqTr1-NHrPJnspg