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| Daria DiGiovanni |
I’ve known Daria for about 5 years. We were both
contributing writers to Parcbench.com. We were fast friends. She had just
published her first novel, Watersigns, and I had just published Reptiles.... Her
knowledge and passion for politics impressed me.
She was living the life of a typical “struggling writer,” when I met her, working several side jobs to make ends meet. Now she spends her days doing exactly what she wants, writing and marketing full-time.
She was living the life of a typical “struggling writer,” when I met her, working several side jobs to make ends meet. Now she spends her days doing exactly what she wants, writing and marketing full-time.
She’s had a lot of successes, made a lot of mistakes, but
counts everything as experience. She wouldn’t trade writing for a “normal”
career any day.
What does a typical
day look like for you?
Lately
a typical day consists of planning and executing weekly twitter chats for The Peoples Vote, blogging about the upcoming launch and latest developments with
the company (e.g. our upcoming meetings with reps in Washington D.C.), then putting out the content on all TPV
social media platforms (twitter, FB, LinkedIn, etc). I also spend a lot of time
reaching out to radio hosts, bloggers and journalists, to book interviews and
secure features about the company and its founder Chuck Kirkpatrick.
I
also maintain my own blog www.dariadigiovanni.com where I write about politics, current events, family happenings
and other things like book and restaurant reviews. I'm also attempting to
finish my sequel to Water Signs, Sea To Shining Sea, and am still stuck in
Chapter 5!
As
you can imagine, I probably spend way too much time on the computer!
But
I do find time for Leslie Sansone's 4-mile Walk At Home workout, which keeps me
in shape mentally and physically.
You mention how sometimes you have to do things you don't enjoy to
gain experience or exposure [like working for free, working unrelated jobs,
etc.]. How do you keep sane when feelings of exhaustion, or under-appreciation
creep in?
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| Order Water Signs on Amazon |
Other than
that, daily journaling, praying, meditating and exercising also help. I love to
bike ride and power walk, preferable outside but I also love Leslie Sansone's
Walk At Home Power Walk DVDs. Her four-mile walk always helps get the
adrenaline rushing, which in turn, helps to improve my mood. Plus, it tones
muscle....what more could I want! LOL
You actually picked up and moved from cold Pennsylvania to sunny
Florida at a rather young age to make your dreams come true; something not a lot of people could do. Have you always
been a risk taker?
It's funny but
as a kid I was very outspoken and had no problem expressing myself, possibly
because I was the youngest in my family. I used to try to boss my older
brothers around, which they always found pretty amusing and dubbed me with the
nickname "Mother", which eventually transformed into "Moth"
and finally "Muzz" -- a name they still call me to this day! I was
tough, unafraid and determined but as I matured and went though the awkward
elementary/high school years I lost a lot of that self-confidence mainly due to
a persistent weight issue. I was never obese, but had just enough extra
poundage to be teased. My close friends and I were never part of the "cool
crowd" either and often found ourselves on the receiving end of other
kids' cruelty. I never even had a boyfriend in high school or attended my
Senior Prom. Ditto for college. So even through college and beyond that lack of
self-confidence remained though I eventually overcame it through work
experience, self-improvement efforts and family support.
Tell me a little about your career history. You always wanted to
be a writer. What sorts of things, besides writing your book, were you doing
before that?
Although I'd
been a passionate reader/writer from a very young age, encouraged by my mother
who was always buying me books and reading to me, due to the self-esteem issues
I mentioned above it took me a long time to pursue it as a career. Throughout
my schooling, I'd earned straight A's in all subjects relating to English and
language, and have plenty of "Blue Book" exams and collegiate papers
as proof of my writing ability. Many of my college professors also encouraged
me to pursue writing, recognizing I had the talent but by the time I graduated
I didn't believe in myself enough to do it. So I worked a lot of jobs unrelated
to writing to pay my bills and get experience. For example, I worked for a
large national bank out of college, opening accounts and providing customer
service before becoming an outside sales rep for an employment agency. It was
that sales position that helped me to overcome fears of dealing with other
people and learning to communicate effectively. I got thrown out of a lot of
buildings for "soliciting" but it certainly toughened me up!
Then in 1997
while working as a development director for a nonprofit, I began freelance
writing for a local South Florida paper called The Happy Herald. Although it
was a "volunteer" position, it gave me the invaluable opportunity to
build a writing portfolio and hone my interviewing skills. Eventually that led
to employment in my preferred creative field where I could not only employ my
writing skills, but also marketing, communication and organizational abilities
too.
You are a fantastic writer and a passionate political activist.
You are able to meld these two passions seamlessly. Which came first, or did
one stem out of the other?
I grew up in a
close, traditional family with a very strong moral/ethical foundation. My mom
especially has always been a passionate political activist and a self-described
constitutional conservative from the time she was a young girl, thanks to her
pharmacist father. He'd emigrated to the USA at the age of eight and fully
embraced the opportunities here, graduating from Temple Pharmacy School in 1919
-- an almost unheard of accomplishment for an immigrant. He was an avid
anti-communist, pro-constitution American who had a huge influence on my
mother, who in turn influenced me. At a very young age I can remember
sign-waving for various candidates at polling locations. At the dinner table,
we always talked about politics and national events so it was a normal part of
our daily routine. My parents instilled a good work ethic, love of country and
respect for the US military in all of us. During the days of Ronald Reagan's
presidency it was like watching a football game whenever he gave a speech --
we'd jump up and down at cheer at different things he'd say!
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| Conservative Diva co-hosts, Daria and Ellen Snyder |
Have you ever tried to fit yourself into a job that just didn’t
work because you weren’t passionate about it? Describe the difference for you?
Too many times!
But remember, while you are pursuing your dreams there's also a little thing
called reality which demands that you pay your bills and be a productive member
of society. So I've always tried to pull something valuable out of every job
experience whether it was learning a new skill or meeting new people. My
biggest piece of advice learned the hard way? No matter how much you hate your
job, DO NOT leave until you line something else up! As much as you despise the
drudgery, you'll despise even more the monthly effort to reconcile your bills when
there's not enough income. And while you're working your "pay the
bills"job, be sure to cultivate plenty of enjoyable extracurricular
activities to balance it all out. This will also keep you sane. :)
Tell me about the Conservative Diva, and what you do for them.
The
Conservative Diva started out as nickname, believe it or not! I dubbed my good
friend and relentless activist Ellen Snyder with that name because she is such
a warm, outgoing, passionate and influential
person with a TON of good friends. From there, we got the idea to start a
Facebook Page called The Conservative Diva where we bascially share information
and post commentary about what's going on politically. We're also making an
effort to reach what I call "low-information" voters -- those who
aren't political junkies who are nevertheless open to hearing the truth and
interested in making an informed decision. The hardcore 30% of the country that
has bought into the progressive agenda will never be swayed; it's the people in
the so-called middle we're trying to reach, along with conservatives.
c. 2012
Daria is one of the handful of people I know who is truly living their
dream. She incorporates her values, her talents and her passions, which makes
every day rewarding. Working for yourself can be challenging and tough at
times, but anything but boring.
c. 2012
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