Brand Voice Guide: Dani Donovan (Done on Spec)
Shanifa Marohombsar
Dani Donovan’s Brand Voice Guide
Brand Positioning
A community of inclusivity through shared language
It is possible to create a world with enough room for all our shapes and sizes. By sharing my stories and my unique brand of different, I hope to normalize and destigmatize neurodivergence while providing resources to support my fellow neurodivergents.
Power Values
Inclusivity
I believe that we should recognize and, most importantly, celebrate all our wonderful differences. There is no beauty and purpose in seeing the world in black and white when it exists as a multi-colored spectrum.
As a neurodivergent, I see self-acceptance as the cornerstone of accepting the many versions of human beings and their unique stories and realities. My work is driven by empathy and the consideration and inclusion of difference.
Authenticity
I believe in the power of honest self-expression. In the freedom our willingness to be seen brings us and other people, and in the bravery that inspires.
This journey started with the courage of a coworker in sharing her story and the encouragement that gave me to share mine. It continues with me hoping to inspire the same in my community, and is fueled by the dream of creating a reality where we no longer need to be so brave just to be seen.
Creativity
I believe in coloring outside the lines. There is strength in recognizing when something doesn't serve us and finding—even creating—our version of normal. There is too much variation among us for us to be confined in arbitrary boxes.
I see in my work a movement towards ongoing experimentation and endless possibilities. I see in it the shared realization that it doesn't matter if it doesn't exist—we can create what we need.
Service
I believe that consideration is the purest form of community. To take into account the plight of others and care enough to create space for them. We share our humanity with other people. We share this world and our lives with them. Is it not better to nurture that connection instead of resenting it?
When I started this journey, I was doing it for myself, but then I realized that anything that helped me would also help others. And what began as a by-product soon became the driving force.
Brand Mission
I'm on a mission to eradicate the belief that there's only one kind of normal. I aim to dismantle stereotypes that harm those associated with them and to cultivate a culture of consideration and inclusion by continuing to share my story.
Brand Archetype
Archetype: The Caregiver
Core Value: Service
Desire: To create a nurturing, empowering space for those who need it
Drives: Empathy and compassion
Greatest Fear: Inconsideration and selfishness
Current Challenges
I'm disheartened by some people's lack of consideration. They dismiss what their worldview can't accommodate and close themselves off to anything that remotely challenges it.
I'm frustrated by the media’s inaccurate representation of ADHD and other stigmatized disorders that leads to harmful stereotypes.
I'm tired of trying to work and behave in ways that do not suit me, tired of shrinking myself to fit what small space I'm given, and most of all, I'm tired of seeing the same thing happen to others like me.
Desired Changes
I want to contribute to creating a community that nurtures and celebrates our differences, a community where people like me can feel seen and understood.
I want to create content that destigmatizes ADHD and neurodivergence, to create a shared language we can use to communicate our lived experiences with others.
I want to provide people with ADHD and those experiencing similar struggles with the resources they need to make life work for them.
Brand Profile
I'm a Caregiver.
I value service above all else.
I stand against closed-mindedness and a narrow worldview of humanity that fails to consider those who don't fit in neatly.
I strive to help create a community for people with ADHD and those experiencing similar issues, a community they can share their lived experiences with and find empowerment in through a better understanding of themselves.
Brand Promise
I create content and resources to help people, like those with ADHD and other disorders, understand their unique brand of different and realize there is no better way to be, all in the hopes of creating a community with a shared language of empathy and empowerment.
Customer Archetype
Archetype: The Every(wo)man
Core Value: Belonging
Desire: To connect with others, feel understood, feel like they're a valid part of this world
Drives: Sense of belonging, of validity
Greatest Fear: To be left out, dismissed or rejected
Current Frustrations
They struggle to feel a sense of connection with most of the people around them. They feel different. Worse, they feel unseen.
They don't understand themselves and lack adequate knowledge to effectively sort through and make sense of their thoughts and emotions.
They're weary and ashamed of being unable to function like "normal" people, of not meeting expectations and letting everyone, especially themselves, down.
Desired Benefits
They want to be part of a community that sees, considers, and accepts them.
They want to equip themselves with the knowledge to understand themselves fully and why they are the way they are.
They want to learn the methods and strategies that best suit them and allow them to show up in the world as their most authentic selves.
Customer Profile
Meet Sarah, the Every(wo)man.
She values belonging above all else.
She struggles to connect with the people around her and doesn't seem to know how to live life properly. She wishes she could understand all these overwhelming thoughts and emotions but has no way to process or channel them.
She wants a community to connect with and access to resources and knowledge to help her better understand herself and better live her life.
Brand Story
A life undiagnosed
When I was in 5th grade, my mom asked my teacher if I could have ADHD. My teacher said no. I was too smart.
Never mind that I was always a little too chatty, never stopped fidgeting, and had impulsively cut my hair in 1st grade because it was the first time I had been introduced to scissors.
I did well in school, so of course I didn't have ADHD.
And so years of undiagnosed existence went by, with me struggling but managing to keep my head above water.
Then came college, and sh-stuff finally hit the fan. Managing myself did not go as well as managing my school work. Between doing laundry, remembering to eat, and waking up early for class, how was a girl expected to thrive? Or even survive (unscathed, that is)?
And so I took myself to a psychiatrist, who noticed how fast I talked and how quickly I changed subjects and promptly told me about ADHD. Like recognizes like, I guess.
My initial thought? I couldn't possibly have ADHD! Wasn't that for boys with no friends?
But a later diagnosis proved my psychiatrist right and me wrong. And finally—finally—I felt the embers of understanding flickering to life. I could now navigate this world.
Right?
When the path is thorny still
Well, it's one thing to get a diagnosis and get on medication and quite another to learn the skills and strategies needed to work with a disorder.
I still had a long way to go, and boy, was the road thorny.
I continued to find it difficult to get stuff done and frequently experienced meltdowns because of that. Feelings of failure, shame, and anger—so much anger—at myself were constantly raging inside me.
And worse, I had no way of vocalizing all of it because, at that time, you just didn't talk about your mental health. Too much baggage and risk were attached to it.
At least that's what I thought.
As it turned out, some people did talk about it. And in my case, it was my coworker.
There we were on the couch with our laptops, when she casually began to talk about what she'd been working on in therapy. And immediately, I thought of how cool it was that she was so open about it.
Her being brave enough to share her struggles allowed me to see how that was okay and gave me the strength to post my own comic about my ADHD on Twitter. And lo and behold, that took off and forever changed the trajectory of my life.
It was always the power of a story
People nowadays dream of becoming content creators, but I stumbled across it.
At first I did it for myself. Content creation allowed me to express and work through my experiences, and the response I got from it was tremendously validating and reassuring. I wasn't alone. I wasn't defective. I was exactly as I should be.
Soon, I began to realize that by helping myself, I was also helping others. That improving my conditions would only be possible if I improved the conditions of those like me. It imbued a sense of community I had never felt before and has since become my primary motivation.
Now, I'm happy to say that I'm one of hundreds, thousands even, who are sharing their stories and participating in a language and community of inclusion.
Bit by bit, I'm confident we are changing the landscape of a society that has gotten so used to just one way of being.
It took a story to change my life. If just one story of mine does the same for someone else, that is enough.
Brand Voice Tone
Kind
Understanding
Straightforward
Empowering
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Posted Feb 24, 2025
I created a detailed brand voice guide for Dani Donovan's brand. This was done on spec, and I'm in no way associated with Dani.
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