#WomensMonth: Danny Painter on her new venture and why we need more women in the driver's seat
We spoke to Painter about this new venture and asked her to share her hopes for the future generations of women in the radio industry. She says for women’s month she wants us all to remember that:
There is enough sun for everyone and that if we are constantly breaking each other down and competing, none of us will ever truly rise. Your time will come. Just because you are using your energy this second to lift your sister up, takes absolutely nothing from your energy, your power, nor your future.
Please tell us more about yourself and what it is you do?I am Danny, a daughter, sister, friend, dog mom, lover, woman, human. But, I am also a creator, producer, speaker, businesswoman with anxiety and crippling phobias. Who at the same time is a very together, A-type person with insomnia who sometimes leaves clothes on the floor and sleeps for two days straight.
I am an actor, radio and TV presenter and voice artist who realised the importance of creating and owning her content but also the importance of being vulnerable and honest. This lead me onto a path I could never have imagined and has placed the most incredible opportunities in my life. I think what I do is spread love and kindness, or at least, that’s what I aim to do.
How did your passion for radio come about?
I had never even considered radio until I was about 25. I was a theatre kid through and through and wanted to spend my life in England acting in Shakespeare and reading Byron. It was during my kids TV days that I met someone who would suggest that I try my hand at radio. Ten years later I gave it a shot and fell in love. I absolutely love the medium because it’s the one true space that it’s still just 'you and I’, ‘us', we speak together, we laugh together and we cry together. I thrive on human connection and vulnerability and radio is a space where you can still have that if you are authentic and inclusive, which I am learning to be every, single day!
Tell us more about your latest passion project, The Jo and Danny Show.
This is more than just a show for me, and I think for Jo as well. This is a safe space for me to create and own my own content as a woman with a supportive group of people who value my ideas and vision. It’s been a space of immense learning and also a space of immense growth. Having been friends for years and seeing how each other values human connection and kindness over all else, Jo and I realised that together we could be unstoppable in our quest for saving the world through love and understanding.
It’s a platform that was born out of genuine love for learning and growing and hopefully can help one other person learn and grow. I also feel that it’s vitally important to remove the idea that a job or a career in entertainment somehow makes you 'better than'.
I hope to show that no matter who you are, Zac Effron to Oprah to my mom and your mom, we all have struggles, we are all broken and that is what makes us all so incredibly beautiful.
What has the feedback been like after the first few episodes?I have been blown away! I don’t think any of us were expecting the views that we received nor the flooding of positive emails and comments! I knew there was a space for this content, I just never knew how much it would impact, and these are just the first two shows of us fumbling, being awkward and finding our rhythm!
Why did you decide on a vodcast instead of a more traditional podcast?
This was Jo. I wanted a podcast, he wanted a video/vodcast. We compromised and we have a video/vodcast! No, jokes aside, all I wanted was the space to express, the space to create something I believed in and put it out into the world. It was Jo who suggested XOTV, through knowing them and their integrity and their dedication to the creator, not the platform. I met them, fell in love with the whole team and the videocast/vodcast was born!
On the topic of kindness, give us one of your greatest moments that you’ve experienced this year.
I experience so much kindness even single day, from listeners, friends, colleagues and strangers. I don’t think I could pinpoint a ‘greatest’ one, as it would take away from all the rest. I am truly grateful for all of them!
Do you have any exciting female guests scheduled for this month?
Hahahaha. On both our Jo and Danny Show and my Jacaranda FM show, yes!
On Jacaranda FM, I have taken the opportunity to use my platform and my privilege to truly educate myself around women’s issues, women’s rights, feminism and the like. Something that I am afraid to say, I have never done in 35 years, you can expect some very real conversations with very real women and me being brutally honest about my lack of knowledge, but we learn together and as long as we are learning, it's ok! Education is so important and I need us to allot use this month to learn!
On The Jo and Danny Show I can neither confirm nor deny the possibility of some phenomenal international women joining us, but for that, you will have to head to XOTV!
What are your personal tips on getting to the top in your industry, specifically as a woman?
Don’t apologise for what you want. Years ago I was taken apart for stating that I aimed to host a drive show ‘one day' and was made to apologise for the article, to about five men I had upset. It was in August, in Women's Month and I was terrified of losing my job, so I apologised. It will never happen again. I need you to know that you are worthy, your time costs just as much as your male counterparts and only you have the ability to write your future. A man recently told me a story of how he - happy in his high-up position - takes meetings with other companies just to take those offers to his employer, because he feels he deserves to. He feels like he has the right to. So do you!
What is your hope for the next or future generations of women in radio industry?
I see the industry moving towards a more inclusive space. I hope we can see women in positions of management, positions of creating their own content, and definitely more women in the driver's seat!
And what is your key message to fellow women this Women’s Month?I keep coming back to Zozi; take up space.
You can watch The Jo and Danny Show on XOTV and weekly on Jacaranda FM’s website. Engelbrecht will also join Painter on Jacaranda FM every Wednesday on air to chat about the episodes and the interviews. Also, catch ‘Love Songs with Danny Painter’ every Wednesday between 8pm and 9pm.
