Today we’d like to introduce you to Elaine Daneshrad.
Elaine, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Growing up in Los Angeles, CA, I was always fascinated by the world of entertainment which led me to working in every field from TV to event production and brand marketing at major firms to now, creating my own brand—”Elaine Chaya” (www.instagram.com/elainechaya).
Named by LA Weekly as one of 2019’s top LA Influencers, over the past seven years I’ve worked with an array of companies and brands from SweeTARTS to Stella Artois, Nike, Macy’s and more to combine my artistic creativity in imagery along with my goal to inspire followers to embrace their unique individuality. For the past few years, I’ve really focused on making my platform a place to spread love, create community, inspire self-worth, and remind everyone to embrace being who they are.
Being heavily part of the social media world for 7+ years, I’ve seen the effects social media has had on feelings of self-worth and has led people to comparing to one another’s “highlight reels” as portrayed on social media. Thus I’ve made it a point to continually now more than ever to remind through my posts that life isn’t what it seems through a quick picture. This led me to creating the viral Instagram challenge that took place in June 2018 called #WokeUpThisWayChallenge” that asked people to “bring realness back to social media. The challenge partnered with Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation and involved numerous celebrity participation from cast members of Glee, 90210, Pitch Perfect, Pretty Little Liars, and more and was featured on KTLA, E! News, Fox to name a few.
To continue the authentic conversation further, I this year launched the Podcast “Behind The Rainbow” where I feature different people who speak about their journeys and struggles they have faced in life.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road has been anything BUT smooth. Being a digital content creator has no rulebook to success. What to do? What to post? How to gain a following? How to network? All questions I have had to find the answers to on my own. My job is something that can be a 24/7 duty as there’s always something to do. So even today, seven years later, I’m grinding more than ever to continually stay on top and figure out what do I do next.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I am a blogger and digital content creator. I do everything from creating brand campaigns promoting everything from events to products, hotels, experiences on my social media to being a motivationalist by creating “Monday Motivation” videos. I also now have entered the podcasting world with “Behind The Rainbow” where I’m creating a space for a community to come to where they can feel like they’re not alone in the struggles they are facing in life.
I am known for “bringing color to the world,” as I say, through the colorful images I post on my social media to the positive messaging I put out with my motivational posts. What sets me apart is being a girl who initially started as a “fashion blogger” to becoming a girl whose focus is on continually reminding others to be their best selves.
I’m so blessed to say that I am proud of so many great things I have been able to do in my career, but one of the biggest highlights must be the Instagram viral campaign I mentioned previously that I created called #WokeUpThisWayChallenge. It spread all over the world and got so many people of different ages, backgrounds, and geographic locations involved which was touching and moving to see.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was always very high-energy, perky, peppy, and excited– there was a reason why I won “Most Spirited” in my high school polls. I always worked really hard in school and was an A student taking every honors and AP class I could. I was always super friendly and friends with people from all different groups as well as an incredibly involved in array of clubs and organizations. I always loved the world of entertainment and celebrities–I could tell you every fact of every celeb and what they ate for breakfast the day before and loved going to all the concerts.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.elainechaya.com
- Email: elaine@elainechaya.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/elainechaya
- Other: Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/behind-the-rainbow/id1475602421
YouTube: www.youtube.com/elainechaya
Image Credit:
Mayra Lozano
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