Dani DiPirro is an author, blogger, and designer living in a suburb of Washington, DC. In 2009, she launched the website PositivelyPresent.com with the intention of sharing personal experiences and insights on positivity, awareness, and self-love — things that didn’t always come easy to her! Since the launch of the site, Positively Present has grown into a global, go-to destination for positive personal development inspiration and resources. In 2012, Dani left her full-time job to focus her attention on growing the brand. Since then, Dani has expanded the blog into many new ventures, including books, a YouTube channel, and online courses.
How did you come up with the name ‘Positively Present’?
She was going through a tough phase in her life. She was unhappy with her job and her relationships were in a mess. This was way back in 2009 and she did a little research online. She came across this website of self-help and they talked about listing down all the things you want to feel or things you wanted in life on a paper – and see which ones were the most important. Dani made a list of those things and was surprised by two specific things she found on that list. She mentioned in the list that she needed to be more positive in her life and wanted to be more present. She thinks she used to worry a lot back then and fill up her head with all the negative thoughts. She started her blog for the purpose of becoming more positive and more present in her life. That is how she came up with the name ‘Positively Present’ for her blog.
What were you doing at that time for work?
She had a marketing job in a Biotech company and Dani felt her job lacked creativity. She likes to be creative in her work and she felt stuck in that job because she was not able to explore her creative abilities. It was her first job after graduate school. She did not quit her job right after she started her blog. She took her time and for a few years she would look at other people’s blogs who wrote about self-improvement, about being happy and present.
How hard was it to relate yourself to the blog and come out open in public?
It took her a little while to put her name on the blog. The turning point was when she realized that visitors on her blog were increasing on daily basis and her content was being read consistently by the public. She felt accepted through her work, it helped her believe more in her work.
How did you manage to grow your audience?
Back when Dani started her blog, social media was nowhere around. She mainly promoted her blog by talking to people about it, sharing it with her friends who in turn would promote her blog. Ever since the evolution of social media, Dani has changed her ways of growing her audience. She uses Instagram on regular basis to connect with her followers and increase her visibility. When she started out, she was writing every day. Now she makes sure to write on Mondays and Fridays. Somewhere in 2010, she thought she could make a job out of it. She saw other people doing the same, who were able to launch their own products and create business opportunities out of their blogs. It took her a lot of time from a simple idea to be able to quit her job and rely solely on this work. She managed to save money before quitting her job.
How has your life changed as a result of Positively Present?
She believes almost everything has changed in her life since she started her entrepreneurial journey. She feels happy and content in her life. She loves her work and is passionate about it. Dani says she has also made a significant change in her relationships. She tries not to surround herself with people who have a negative influence in her life.
Did you at any point felt you could not change your life?
She felt that way prior to starting Positively Present. She was known as a very grumpy and gloomy kid among her friends. She would always analyze a situation to avoid any difficulties later on. She developed this thought as a kid that she was a very negative person. As a child, she felt she could not bring a positive impact in her life and take on challenges.
What was the first thing you changed about yourself?
The first thing she changed about herself was that she got sober. By being sober, she was not able to escape her feelings that she had been doing in her past. She started to accept the way she felt. She started to look at her relations that were based on real substance. From personal change, she was able to change her relationships and get more control over her life.
Tell us about your artwork and design.
She started out with writing blogs but later got into design and art work. She usually designs stuff for her website on her own rather than finding other people to do it for her. She has always been interested in art. It is one of the biggest part of her business now.
Do you think creativity is linked with happiness?
Dani strongly believes that happiness is linked with being creative and innovate in life. The word creativity feels limiting to people who do not consider themselves artistically creative. Creativity has nothing to do with art though. It could be linked to cooking, raising children or even how well you manage your job. There are all sorts of ways to be creative. It is all about thinking differently.
What is the best advice you have ever been given?
The best advice she has been given is to pay attention to her thoughts. If you really start to focus on your thoughts, you can filter out all the negative thoughts and make sure you get a positive outlook on life. Many times we occupy our brain with ridiculous thoughts that are not even true. We are influenced by some past events or personal stories/history.
How can we connect with you?
You can find more about her through her website.
Her website’s URL is
DaniDiPirro.com
https://www.instagram.com/positivelypresent/