Rising Stars: Meet Daunessy Penn

Today we’d like to introduce you to Daunessy Penn.

Hi Daunessy, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Whew! It has been so many starts, stops, ups, and downs; it’s hard to pick a true start to my journey. I can remember being a child and having so many questions about life, my environment, the normality of generational curses, and wanting to connect deeper with God to make sense of the harm that was ever present in so many of the life/pain cycles so many of us get entrapped by and wanting more out of the experience of being alive than what my surroundings was settling for. My beginning is filled with heartbreak, teenage homelessness, suicide attempts, and self-harm. I grew up in a life that has molded to aid others in freeing themselves from a “start” that sometimes can be perceived as a setup to “stop”. I’ve been a writer my entire life, curious over the power and difference words could make, and I wanted to use my gifts to empower because for so long, I was wounded by others and didn’t want that to be my story to another person. I chose to take the introspection journey further when I was about 16 years old, I grew up in tumultuous conditions with my relationship with my mother and my family, which forced me into a season of isolation, leaving no choice but for me to go within and seek insight and God. My father was murdered when I was three years old, my mother incarcerated by the time I hit 5, I remember being picked up by a stranger on the night she got arrested, roaming around looking for any adult I would usually see. I remember the police coming to get me from that woman’s house and showing my mother’s mug shot, and feeling me slip from their grip, I ran through the precinct calling for her. That pain of being left, abandoned, and alone stayed with me for some years. I was about ten years old when I moved back with her, and I thought it would heaven, but we went to war instead.

In that experience, I learned a lot about pain, learned a lot how hurt people hurt others, I learned a lot about myself. My trauma presented itself in the form of stealing when I was younger, that void I felt made me feel justified in my taking, even if out of survival. That path and my anger led me to places I didn’t think I could come back from and around people living a little more dangerous than myself. I remember the day just looking up and realizing this wasn’t my life and asking God for a way out of the pain, the cycles, and the problems I so easily found myself in. From that day, I told myself no one will ever feel so low in their lives that they endanger it in any way being connected to me. I started the journey of healing, of facing my pain, facing my demons, and speaking my truth. It didn’t always fair well for those who felt attacked in my truth, but it set me free from the shame and anguish I fell victim to. It’s crazy how we often focus on the bad parts of our story and overlook the little silver linings we are given, even though while in high school I was homeless, God sent so many women in my school district to show me the possibilities that I actually, and sometimes push me into them. In these moments was my belief that could become something more was solidified. I moved from my hometown to quiet the internal noise I could no longer hear being surrounded by the same external noise, when I moved is when the real healing began. Not that cute Instagram healing we see, but the ugly it hurts to breathe kind.

Releasing the energy of my old life came like a train off the tracks and I was given a safe love at the time to get me through, I didn’t understand, and it became too much. I was always crying, having explosive mood swings, or completely shutting down. I was diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety which together isn’t fun, I had to learn my triggers in order to literally save my life, so I did, and created systems internally and externally to aid in taking my power back over my story. I wrote my first book “Aligned Asf: Initiation Into Healing Vol 1” in response to being added to a family group chat, and being told, p.s. no one cares about you which I named my first podcast after because no one was ever going to have the power to make feel inferior. My initial start of releasing my book and starting my podcast was in response to those who tried to write my story for me as if I hadn’t lived, and it grew into connecting with others seeking their power and empowering them. I wake up every day praying to be better than the day before, praying that the pain had led me to purpose, and every day I get on the mic or I speak to a supporter and I’m reminded of my favorite Mark Twain quote: the two most important days of your life are; the day you are born and the day you find out why. I was born into pain, I was born to carry it in a way that I am able to find the healing in it, and I was born to give others that same strength. I have never been perfect and I’m not striving for it, but I strive for progress.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
As smooth as a teenager going through the worst stage of pimple puberty. One of the biggest struggles I have had to adjust to is that of letting go. For so long, I felt okay with the feelings I had based upon evidence, not an imagination. Not realizing that me drinking the poison even if it was the truth, was killing me and no one else. I was homeless and angry, they were together and laughing. I was n the outside looking in as a child and in my heart for a long time, I deserve to be angry, I deserve to yell out the sins of others. What would that have done for me? Nothing. So letting go of the hurt, the anger, the pain, the abandonment has been difficult. We like to think that once we are “healed” that it’s over, but trauma lays stored in our bodies, waiting to be activated. It wasn’t enough for me to heal, I had to learn how to transmute my own energy so whatever may be given to me or whatever may try to project onto my being, I no longer took on as my own.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am an author, motivational speaker, and digital content creator. I specialize in establishing boundaries with and within self, facing childhood traumas, and speaking your truth unapologetically. I’m known for being powerful in myself, I mean that as my strength has spoken for me in times my flesh wanted to bow out. I am most proud of having the courage to face this journey and believe in my ability to evolve within it. It’s so easy to give up n dreams and goals, wanting them so much, but I’m proud that I haven’t given into the doubt or fear. What sets me apart is being content with being myself. I think we live in a time where so many are trying to match energies, pump themselves up, or show perceptions rather than realities. I am okay with where I am, the steps I’m taking to get further, and letting it be known I sit on the toilet just like you and pray.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success is multilayer for me, there is the internal version, where I have peace within, joy within, and I’m grounded in God so that I’m not swayed by what the world may offer. Then there’s goal success where you accomplish the things you set out to, build what you desired, and reap the benefits of the work you’ve put in. I feel success should be sought within us first to create longevity for any success we obtain in the external life. If I’m laying my value on what I get and not how I feel, even when I get, I’ll still feel the same.

Contact Info:

• Website: Msha.ke/alignedas
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/alignedasf
• Facebook: www.Facebook.com/transformedbyfaith
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@DaunessyShaitaire

Image Credits
Hakim Zahir Daunessy Penn