Daily Inspiration: Meet Craijece Danielle

Today we’d like to introduce you to Craijece Danielle.

Hi Craijece, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Born on the highway, I like to believe I made my first debut to my city, most importantly to the world. My birth made the front page of the Richmond Times Dispatch newspaper. I was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia and have considered myself born ready ever since. As a child leading up until high school, I had the pleasure of gracing several stages from church to school to community events. Making the decision to pursue acting as a career, I majored in Communications and minored in Theatre receiving a BA from The Ohio State University. During my Ohio State days, I struggled so much financially mainly my freshmen year due to the outrageous cost of “out of state tuition.” Yes, I had a few scholarships from high school, but none nearly to cover the cost.

I was dropped from my classes several times and still decided to attend because I knew I was going to graduate from there. At the time, I didn’t know how I just kept my faith. I eventually saw a poster leaving a class one day that read “Join the US Army National Guard, 100% paid tuition and I knew that was my answer. The first thing I did was call my mom (my everything) and told her verbatim “Mom, I have the answer to all of our financial problems, I’m going to join the Army!” Her response was comical to say the least, I ended up hanging up on her, respectfully of course because my mind was made up. With that being said, I served three in a half years in The United States Army all while attending undergrad.

Shortly after, I moved to Los Angeles, CA to seek and obtain my Masters in Acting for Film from The New York Film Academy. Since Elementary school, I’ve always had good grades being an honor student but never had all A’s ever, believe it or not. It was a goal of mine to “master my Master’s program” by receiving all A’s and I accomplished exactly that even while battling my own personal trials and tribulations. Currently, I am managed by The Robb Company. Since being signed, I have been featured in several films such as “Body of Night”, “Acrylic”, “Heartbeat”, “Quarantine Girl”, “Kill Plan”, and lastly “A Christmas Love” which was my very first lead role in a film. I am looking forward to my career expanding in acting, but also writing, producing, and directing. My goal is help people through my art and I live to do just that.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I’ve always considered a lot of things like obstacles mental. Being raised the way I was, a proud veteran, and most importantly a child of God has taught me I can do all things and even when things are hard when you learn to train your mind to continue to speak life and not allow your circumstances to define you is what gets me through this thing called life. With that being said, my biggest obstacle in LA was when I experienced homelessness for an entire year (I’ve been here for a total of four). I was house/ couch hopping, sleeping in my car, and then eventually a homeless shelter for six months. During that time, I was placed “on hold” from my manager meaning she was not going to submit me for auditions since in her opinion I was “unstable.” Although I understand where she was coming from as my manager, it was heartbreaking because this is my dream and I know I could have still been successful under the circumstances (as far as auditioning).

Now my finances on the other hand, played a major role. I struggled financially out here a lot in LA. My family of course encouraged me to come move back home (Virginia) when I told them I was homeless, but I knew and still know that God has a plan for me and my life. I told my mother not to take this the wrong way, but I was prepared for what I experienced. Having served in the US Army, I have slept in way worse places than my car or the shelter. I am so grateful for my experience because during that time I wrote monologues, and I’m able to come from a real place if I ever have to play a role like that. That has always been my thought process and the way I go about “playing roles.” Acting is living truthfully under imaginary circumstances and what better way to have play a role with something you’ve actually experienced. I really pray this encourages someone.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am an artist in every sense of the word. I am an actress, writer, director, producer, script supervisor, praise dancer and so much more. I’ve had the pleasure of featuring in Body of Night”, “Acrylic”, “Heartbeat”, “Quarantine Girl”, “Kill Plan”, and lastly “A Christmas Love” which can all be viewed on Amazon Prime and Tubi. Upon graduating with my Masters, we were required to of course complete a thesis paper and “star in” a short film. I am most proud of my first short film “Army Strong” which I starred in, wrote, casted, and produced; it aired at Warner Brothers Studio on the big screen. It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and I will always cherish that. What sets me apart from others is my unwavering faith in God, being physically and mentally strong by not allowing my circumstances to define me or give up on my dreams.

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
In the next 5-10 years, I see me owning my own production studio, still acting of course, writing, producing, directing, and script supervising. I see me traveling the world telling people my story to encourage and inspire people. My grandmother used to say “you never know why you go through something, but you can always use what you’ve been through to help someone else” and I live by that. I see “…and the Oscar goes to Craijece Danielle” in my future!

Contact Info:

• Email: craijecedanielle@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craijecedanielle/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/craijece.danielle/
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/Mb1i_6OBckQ
• Other: www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B08QDHN4KJ/ref