We recently had the chance to connect with Dee White and have shared our conversation below.
Good morning Dee, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What is a normal day like for you right now?
Right now a normal day looks like controlled chaos but that’s what keeps me sane. I’m always doing something and or multiple things at once. I’m never just sitting still, I’m never just stationary, now I do have my days where I get to lounge around but normally from the beginning of April until the end of November my calendar is full. From days with multiple shoots wether that be photo or video’s that can range from acting to modeling to improv, creating my own content, hosting events, curating events, doing livestreams, styling looks for myself and others, creative directing, editing videos & stream clips, networking events, all the while trying to retain a regular social life as well as be an active family member… There’s no telling what my day may consist of.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Dee White but people can just call me Dee. I like to consider myself a creative swiss army knife, i have my hand in a lot of different things but i’m most known for my work as a model. I’m also am a content creator, actor, host, curator, director, and just overall personality, if there’s anything that needs to be done I can either do it or have a direct connect to someone who’s amazing at it. Overall my goal and my message with everything that i do is to bring good energy and good vibes that everyone can feel and feel welcomed to and not outcasted.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
That I was only good for 1 thing, that i was only supposed to play Basketball because I was a tall black kid. Coming from where I’m from that’s all people knew as a way to make it out of the hood and out of poverty or middle class living. From elementary school all the way until i graduated high school my family always said ” Don’t forget about me when you go to the NBA ” so much so to the point that i legit believed that was my only option, that it was destined to happen! Not until I got to college and experienced injury did i start to even explore the thought of other things that I liked to do outside of basketball, and although it took me a while once i finally found my footing I was able to take those same lessons and core fundamentals from basketball into the things that I do now.
What fear has held you back the most in your life?
The fear of acceptance, the fear of being an outcast, an odd ball, being ” weird “. In the black community especially when I was growing up in the 2000’s-2010’s it was less acceptable to go against the grain and be anything other than what we see on the daily. So i’ve always been into art, i’ve always loved watching people do skits, i’ve always loved fashion, a lot of elements of who I am today have been things that i’ve been interested in since I was 12 but never could see myself doing because where I come from people don’t do that. I’m from downriver Michigan, an area just south of Detroit that Henry Ford based his plant’s at because the space was open and it was near the water so he could get materials easily. Leading to generations of people that only knew of 3 ways to be successful, to get a job in the plant, go to college and get a job with that degree or play sports. Once I gave up basketball, I had 0 life direction and since I spent most of my time playing basketball growing up, I spent most of my early 20’s being a kid and doing all the things i never got to do. After I got past that phase and sat down and started really thinking about who I am and who I wanted to be is when I started going in the direction I am now but it wasn’t until Covid happened that I had time to really sit down and think about how much fear has been holding me back because I had never REALLY put myself out there because of fear of what people might say or think. Thank God I took that leap of faith because I really have a love and a passion for the things that I’m involved in now.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Is the public version of you the real you?
Yes and no, they co-exist because there is no Dee White without Damarco White. But Damarco isn’t remotely as confident, talkative, cool, and expressive as Dee is. When i’m at home or with family and close friends, I try to blend in as much as possible, i am not the main character, i’m to myself, i watch podcast and twitch streams all day, hell there’s days where I wont say a word out loud until the sun goes down. But when Dee walks in the room, everybody knows it, it’s honestly hard for me to explain from the first person perspective but there’s a presence. Dee is who Damarco was always scared to be.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What will you regret not doing?
It earlier. As far as being willing to put myself out there, get out of my own way and do things that I wanted to do but didn’t have the courage to. If I took the leap of faith that I took in 2021 back in 2017, there is literally no telling where I would be, but I was so focused on not being the guy and playing the background that i literally was holding myself back. I feel like I’m advanced now but I could only imagine what things would look like, the relationship’s I may have made, the young crazy ideas younger me would’ve put out that might’ve changed my life. But we can’t live in the past so I just do the best and the most that I can now and don’t look back.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dee_whitee/?igsh=OHRzNng4Z2xyaGcz&utm_source=qr#
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Deewhite3
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@dee_whitee4?_t=ZP-8yoplwS0m2Y&_r=1
Image Credits
Pic 1 @Whereisdevv.__
Pic 2 @bigpinklovesyou
Pic 3 @Justbrotherly
Pic 4 @Big_Tunch
Pic 5 Ft. @sofiamoussier
Pic 6 shot by @Big_tunch Edited by @Dee_whitee
Pic 7 @Lo_cayne
Pic 8 @Big_tunch
