Darriel Roy: Journalist and Entrepreneur (The Business Blast Podcast)

All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Darielle Roy with us. She is a journalist and entrepreneur, so welcome to the show.

Thank you for having me.

Of course, grateful to have you on. So the first one we ask on this show is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?

Sure, well, that's a bit of a long story, but yeah, let's get into it. So I graduated from journalism broadcasting here in Canada, and upon graduating, I really wanted to get a job in the States. So what happened was I moved to Arizona to scout local TV stations, and I actually met with the news director at NBC. So he told me he wasn't hiring, but he would just meet with me So I basically went in and I was super passionate and I convinced him to hire me. So fast forward, what happened was he did hire me, but, and it was very surreal because he showed me, you know, where I'd be anchoring the 6 o'clock news. I would also be a production assistant and a fill-in anchor. And what happened was my visa didn't end up working out. So I was extremely, extremely discouraged, obviously, and I had to come back to Toronto and I lost my passion for a long time just because, you know, that was a big blow. And after that, I actually had the opportunity to be at the CTV election party. So CTV is a television station here in Canada. And I had the opportunity to meet, like, he's basically a veteran anchor. His name is Lloyd Robertson. And I met him and he said some encouraging words to me and basically He inspired me, and from that moment onwards, I had an event called Dare to Dream where I had media personalities talk about how they overcame obstacles to follow their dreams. And that event was a huge success. It was broadcast here on Rogers TV. And basically the underlying message was that I took something really negative and I made it into something positive. And I inspired myself and I inspired other people. So it was just a great experience. So, and that was definitely a milestone that led me to where I am now.

Yes, I love it. Thank you for sharing that with us. So the next one I got for you is what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?

Yeah, well, I'm a journalist and I'm an entrepreneur and I think this piece of advice goes for both fields. And it's basically that, you know, there's gonna be a ton of rejection. You know, in the entertainment industry and journalism, it's basically there's not a lot of jobs available. So you're gonna have to take a ton of rejection over and over, but you will succeed. But if you don't have a thick skin or grit, you're not gonna make it. And entrepreneurship is the same thing. You're gonna get— like, my thing is no means next opportunity. So if I get a no—

oh, I like that, that's good.

I heard it somewhere, I'm not— it's not mine, but I was gonna say you gotta trademark that. That's good. It's just something that, you know, anytime I get a no, whether it's in entrepreneurship or in my business or if it's even in the field, I always just kind of, you know, take it as a grain of salt and I move forward because rejection is just part of it. And if you're not able to take that, then you're in the wrong industry.

Yeah, absolutely. I will never forget that. Next opportunity. That is very good. I love that. So I think it applies for my next question, but the next one is, what's your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific.

Yeah, I would say believing in yourself. I think that, you know, so many times we don't go for our dreams because we don't believe in ourselves. And, you know, in the beginning when I first started in the industry, I was passionate, but I didn't necessarily believe in myself. I wanted the job and I was hungry for it. But when it came down to actually, you know, you know, reporting or anything or being in the field, I was always scared and my heart was always racing and I always like, even my station manager at a TV station that I was working for, he told me, you know, you have to believe in yourself. That's the main thing. Everyone else can believe in you, but if you don't believe in yourself, then, you know, then it doesn't matter. So I think just believing in yourself because if you believe in yourself, you'll be able to sell yourself, you know, you'll be confident in the skills you bring to the table. So I think believe believing in yourself is really important. And then again, as I said before, being able to have grit and take failure as just something that's gonna, you know, gonna happen, but you know, always persevere forward.

Yeah, I always say failure is a part of success. Like, I don't think you can have success without it, or that would be like a perfect life. I don't know.

It really changes you, right? It humbles you, it changes you.

Yeah.

That's where you learn the lesson. But some people, I feel, especially in my field, especially when you're in journalism or entertainment and of course entrepreneurship, that's really where people get discouraged really fast. And I think the people that stick on or that become successful are the ones that can take rejection over and over and, you know, use personal development to get motivated and inspired and continue. So yeah, I definitely would say believing in yourself and being able to take no. Yeah.

And then so the next one is if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?

I would say it would be going back to being bold and being confident. You know, I did pageants, I've done a lot in my career, but when I was younger, I was a lot more shy. I think the hungrier you get in your field, the more you you're able to make bold moves and you realize you have to take risks. You know, when it comes to networking, I would be scared to talk to that person that could, you know, get me a job. Or if there was a celebrity on a red carpet that I wanted to interview, I might not be the first person to, you know, talk to them. So I think being bold is really important. And if it was, you know, if I give my old self or my younger self a piece of advice, it would just be to make bold moves and not be afraid what people think.

Mm-hmm. And then so next one's a little bit going down a different path. In your opinion, what's the key to happiness?

I think that the key to happiness actually is progress, because I feel that if you don't progress, you're not going to be happy, whether that's in your relationship or your job or anything you do. You know, even that little bit of progress, whether it's a meeting— if you're an entrepreneur, if you get a meeting, or someone email you back, or if it's in your job, you know, if you keep growing, or if it's in a relationship where it gets better— I think that progress is so important and the key to happiness really is progress because even if you improve 1% per week, you will be happy because you have something more to look forward to. But if you don't progress, I think that, you know, that's where bad stuff happens.

Yeah.

They get sad, they get discouraged. So just progressing even a little bit, I think, is definitely the key to happiness.

I agree. I love that. So next one is, what's the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing that you learned from it?

Yeah, I really like Tony Robbins, and there's a book, Awaken the Giant Within, and that's such a great book. It was one of the first books I read, you know, just getting out of college, and that was something really inspiring. And it's all about, you know, finding that personal power within yourself and that giant within, because, you know, so many people are afraid of that greatness within, and they don't ever tap into it because they're too afraid. And I think that the book is all about, you know, finding your personal power, being able to use how to use that personal power in hard times and persevering and basically just believing in yourself. So I think that that book was really inspiring for me. And anytime I'm in a hard period or there's obstacles, I always tap back into that personal power and then I'm able to get through it. But when I forget, then things feel hopeless, right?

I'm a big fan of Tony as well, so I love that. Next one is, what's your favorite quote and why?

So my mom would put quotes all over my house and there was one that was on my fridge and it used to say, "Failure is not an option." And it basically means, it doesn't mean that you're not going to fail. I think that there's a really like a negative connotation to the word failure. It basically means, when I say failure is not an option, it basically means that just because you failed, that's not, you know, final. You know, so it means that I might fail over and over, but I'm going to succeed at some point. I'm going to keep trying. So I always think of that, you know, if I'm, again, if I'm in a bad place or I get a no, then I'm always thinking failure is not an option. I'm going to keep trying until I win.

So absolutely. Well, listen, thank you so much for coming on. The last one that I got for you is where can our listeners find you online?

You can find me at www.derialroy.com. Which is my website, and on my social handles on Instagram, it's @officialdario.

Perfect. Thanks again for coming on.

Yeah, thank you so much for having me. It's been great.