Today we’d like to introduce you to Doreen Caven.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Doreen. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I am a writer and creative director and currently co-founder of a community for women and nonbinary people called The Girls Like me (TGLM).
I am originally from Nigeria, and moved to Washington DC as a teenager for college, spent some years in NY as a creative director for a self -owned brand and moved to LA in 2018.
My community (TGLM) was co-founded alongside my sister, Joan (@joancaven) as a response to a lack of feminist spaces for African women. It was our intent to establish a space where African women could have the freedom to express themselves and have access to the stories of other women doing the same. We have a journal (www.thegirlslikeme.com) where African women send in their stories, and our intent is to amplify their voices, as it is our belief that representation does impact autonomy. To see other women like you, doing and say things that you believe, can move you to act, and that is what we champion.
Our community has expanded since it was established in the summer of 2018, and since then, we have women from all around the world who love the message of inspiration, wellness and empowerment that we push.
I wrote and published my first novel, a book of affirmations for extraordinary woman called Shine on, in the summer of 2020 and currently working on a screenplay with my sister about a young African feminist.
I moved to LA to get into film, with an intent to center stories of feminist African women. My sister and I are currently writing what will hopefully be our first TV series.
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?
No, it hasn’t. Before getting to where I am today, it took a lot of lows which allowed me to understand that life is just full of those.
I was in Dental school and dropped out because it wasn’t my passion before I started working as a creative director for a brand I co-created. We had some success, but ultimately we needed an investor to keep it afloat and decided to walk away from it when we found no partners who weren’t demanding more than we were ready to part with. Entering into the film industry is my new dream and one I know comes with a ton of obstacles, but I just believe in trying anyway and just giving it your best shot.
Please tell us about The Girls Like Me.
The Girls Like Me is community that provides wellness, inspiration, information and empowerment to women daily. We create a digestible framework of our philosophy for women to use as a guide to learning and unlearning conditioned ideas of society. We ask the question, “Who are you, outside of who you were taught you should be?”
What we are proud of is the women who are liberated by our community, who are making leaps in their lives that they wouldn’t have, had they not realized that prioritizing themselves was key to move themselves forward. We are happy to be the voice they need whenever self doubt sets in.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Interesting question. I don’t know how much luck has played, I think positive thinking has given me some interesting results. For one, in believing that I am meant to be great, which helps me keep pushing myself to keep trying even when it all seems impossible. I have been able to overcome a lot of moments in my life, by staying fixated on how much envisioning myself at my greatest potential, does propel me.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thegirlslikeme.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: thegirlslikeme
- Twitter: @doreenglm
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