We were lucky to catch up with Siyana Da’briel recently and have shared our conversation below.

Siyana, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What was one of the most important lessons you learned in school? Why did that lesson stick with you?

One lesson I recently learned during my academic career is that it is paramount to have a harmonic balance uniquely curated for yourself, rather than others. While just completing my first semester of college I have had the privilege of looking back on my semester and the people around me and being able to recognize and understand different things that led to my successes and failures of this year. While failure is natural and something we can learn from, striving for success is even more valuable.

Throughout my first semester I had 1,000 words paper due what felt like multiple times a week. While studying Government with an Emphasis in Legal Studies with the goal of becoming an attorney and going into politics, I am learning the value of time management and working to avoid burnout. When constantly pushing myself and trying to succeed and having everything I do be flawless this had led to a lack of me taking care of my mental health. One of the biggest discoveries I have had this year is finding out what I consider relaxing. This is important to know and recognize about myself because it helps me avoid that feeling of burnout I was explaining early.

Finding that harmonic balance was so pivotal to my success last semester. Realizing that getting off campus or going home and getting away from the competitive environment that can be toxic, is something that truly allows me to grow and reset. This “reset” not only allows me to physically escape but feels as if I am leaning down to smell freshly picked flowers.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a beauty and political content creator that shows lifestyle content, college content, and of course content discussing politics and beauty. I got started by simply just enjoying all things glamfrom hair, to nails, to face. However there were not a lot black content creators, especially not a lot with my hair texture and desire and depiction of success in school, and advocating for what they believe in. This inspired me to start creating my own content to show other black girls with coils like mine that they can be beautiful, love all things glam, and be the most educated person in the room.

When it comes to brand partnerships I make engaging content that depicts different things that girls like me may use in day to day life. Whether it’s a new lip gloss that will ensure hydration all day, or a new journal that can help the girlies plan out there day and rejuvenate through writing.

I also recently have started discussing things in recent politics. I truly enjoy learning and researching politics and an abundance of people in my age group do not enjoy watching the news or reading it. I helpo share headlines and book resources that discuss issues about the state of our justice system.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

When it comes to building an audience on social media posting means nothing if you have no community. One of the first things I considered when starting my journey as an influencer is what gravitated me to other influencers. The influencers and content creators that I engaged with typically engaged back by liking or replying to a comment that I left on their post. This made me feel like I was apart of something and had a place in a community on whatever social platform I was using.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My main goal with content creation is to create a community that embraces intelligence and encourages pride in beauty. As a young lady in our society women are encouraged to the boss or smart or pretty, not usually all of the above. My mission is almost like Barbie. You can do whatever you want, educate yourself, and feel good about yourself while doing. As a women of color our features are usually looked down upon, whether it is our juicy coils, or thick noises. A particular goal I have is to help other girls that look like me be proud of their intelligence and their beauty, not one or the other.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: siyanazyan
• Linkedin: Siyana Z. Da’Briel
• Youtube: siyanazyan
• Other: Lemon8, Red Note & TikTok: SiyanaZyan

Image Credits

N/A