Today we’d like to introduce you to Danny Valdes.
Hi Danny, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My path has been anything but conventional. I was born in Memphis. I left school in the tenth grade and went into construction, so I did not begin with a clear roadmap into media, business, or the arts. At seventeen, I experienced a personal and spiritual awakening that completely changed how I saw myself and what I believed my life could become.
Over time, I discovered that storytelling was the thread connecting nearly everything I loved. I found my way onto the stage, began speaking, co-hosted what became the number one health podcast of 2018, and wrote my book, “What If You Could?” I also pursued acting, appearing in national commercials and television projects including Hulu’s Class of ’09 and 9-1-1: Nashville. At the same time, I built a career as a creative director and brand storyteller, helping companies clarify their message and turn meaningful ideas into campaigns that actually produce results.
None of it happened in a straight line. I have had to reinvent myself several times, often while raising four children and carrying the responsibility of providing for my family. That tension has shaped me. It taught me that pursuing a calling is not just about taking bold risks. It is also about building something sustainable enough to support the people you love.
Today, I work at the intersection of creativity, communication, and entrepreneurship. I am continuing to act, write, speak, develop brands, and build businesses. On the surface, those may look like separate pursuits, but they are all expressions of the same purpose: helping people see beyond the identities and limitations they have inherited, recognize what is possible, and take responsibility for creating a more intentional life.
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?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. Because I left school in the tenth grade and entered construction, I did not begin with credentials, industry connections, or a clear path into creative work. Much of my journey has involved learning things after I had already committed to doing them. Writing and publishing my first book, for example, meant teaching myself everything from editing and production to printing and distribution.
The creative industries also come with a tremendous amount of rejection and uncertainty. I have spent years auditioning, building projects, and pursuing opportunities that did not always work out. There have been seasons when I felt incredibly confident about what I was building, followed by seasons when I questioned whether I was fooling myself. Honestly, one of my greatest struggles has been overcoming my own conditioning, self-doubt, distraction, and tendency to measure my progress against someone else’s timeline.
The most difficult tension has been pursuing meaningful work while remaining responsible for a wife and four children. Dreams require risk, but fatherhood requires stability. I have experienced financial pressure, career changes, the loss of a job, and several moments when I had to reinvent myself much faster than I would have preferred.
Those experiences have taught me that resilience is not simply refusing to quit. Sometimes it means changing strategies, taking responsibility for what is not working, and building a new path without abandoning the deeper purpose behind it. I am still in that process, but I have learned that the rough parts of the road often reveal who you are becoming.
We’ve been impressed with BEHUMAN, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My business is built around storytelling, transformation, and the ability to make an idea feel real. My work takes several forms, including speaking, writing, acting, creative direction, brand strategy, and entrepreneurship. While those disciplines may appear separate, the common thread is communication. I help people and organizations uncover what they are truly trying to say, then translate that into a story people can understand, feel, and act upon.
As a creative director, I specialize in seeing the whole picture. I have developed brand identities, marketing strategies, television and radio campaigns, scripts, digital content, and customer journeys. Because I am also an actor, writer, and speaker, I do not approach a brand only through data or design. I think about human emotion, performance, language, visual atmosphere, and the experience someone has when encountering the brand. I understand both sides of the camera and both sides of the business conversation.
My personal work centers on a similar idea. Through my book, *What If You Could?*, my speaking, and the content I am developing, I challenge people to examine the identities, fears, and patterns quietly directing their lives. I am less interested in generic motivation than I am in creating moments of genuine awakening, when someone sees what has been controlling them and realizes they can choose differently.
What sets me apart is that I am not simply a strategist advising from the outside. I have built businesses, led creative teams, performed on stage and screen, faced rejection, lost jobs, carried financial responsibility, and repeatedly had to apply these ideas to my own life. I know what it means to pursue a meaningful vision while also needing that vision to work in the real world.
Brand-wise, I am most proud that the work feels like me. It is thoughtful, cinematic, emotionally honest, and unwilling to separate beauty from substance. Whether I am helping build a company, developing a campaign, performing a role, or speaking to an audience, my goal is the same: make the invisible visible, help people recognize what is possible, and create something meaningful enough to move them.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
When I get conscious and intentional about who i am and what I’m doing down here (on earth), I get really lucky. When I get anxious and non-intentional, I have the worst luck. U 2 right?
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @dannyvaldes
- Facebook: @dannyvaldes4real
