Exploring Life & Business with Danielle SeeWalker of Fortune 500 company

Today we’d like to introduce you to Danielle SeeWalker.

Hi Danielle, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I’ve been a creative spirit since forever. My dad was an artist, many of his siblings were artists. I’ve just always been naturally drawn to creating. In high school, I used to skip classes and hide out in the art room to get my hands on clay, paint, or be in the darkroom making photos.

It was healing medicine for me to create because I came from a very unhealthy and destructive home environment and my escape was through art. There was a period of time in my young adulthood that I lost touch with creating and simultaneously lost touch with myself. Eventually, I found my way back to creating as I was doing my own self-discovery and realized art was my lifeline; it is part of me and I’m lost without it. I am a multidisciplinary artist and work with various materials and styles. Today, most of my artwork is directly linked to my identity as an Indigenous woman and I story tell and advocate injustices through my art.

I create pieces from fine art on canvas, to illustration, beadwork, leatherwork and recently got into public murals. Aside from art, I am heavily involved in the Native American community. I am co-chair of the Denver American Indian Commission, founder of The Red Road Project, and co-founder of Creative Nations, an Indigenous arts collective.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I don’t know anyone that has ever said life has been nothing but smooth sailing. I don’t believe we can continue to learn or grow without facing challenges and I have had my fair share. As mentioned before, I had a difficult upbringing and faced a lot of generational trauma.

Art was my medicine to heal from that and I continue to heal. Being a woman in the art world is a challenge in itself but being a Native American woman brings up even bigger challenges. However, I have been given some pretty awesome opportunities and I am forever grateful. Sometimes all a person needs is to be given that one chance.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Apart from being an artist, activist, and community leader, I am also a businesswoman working for a Fortune 500 global company. I work in a very male-dominated industry and it’s been an interesting road the past decade working in the industry I am in. However, I am proud to say I have broken through several glass ceilings in terms of consistently being promoted and often being the only woman at the table in a room full of men.

I want to set a good example to my sons that women, especially BIPOC women, are sacred and powerful in so many ways. We are life-givers and nurturers but we are also intelligent, powerful, and can take any seat, at any table, right next to anyone else, and have a voice.

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
My dad once told me “if you don’t speak up, no one will do it for you.” That has stuck with me ever since. I have learned that using our voice, whether it’s vocal, through writing, or even through art, can be an extremely powerful tool and can be very risky at times too.

I have used my voice in various ways through art, activism, and in other public settings to speak up about injustices or to offer a voice for those that cannot. There have been many times I’ll say to myself “do I want to risk saying that or speaking up?” But then I always remind myself what my dad told me and I realize no one else will speak up for me.

I also believe that taking risks, in general, can be scary, but it’s a way to push ourselves beyond our comfort and is how we grow and evolve. Some of my biggest risks have been my biggest rewards.

Contact Info:

• Email: hello@seewalker.com
• Website: www.seewalker.com
• Instagram: www.Instagram.com/seewalker_ART