Being real

0
633

Pinehaven’s Danielle Steynvaardt, owner of TA-DA! Theatre Arts and Drama Academy, certainly knows how to make lemonade when life hands her lemons. This 29-year-old beauty spills the beans on the entertainment industry, love and all things art.

I am a singer, musician, and actress and I’m currently studying to become a pastor, but my ultimate life goal is to help others through everything I do. I believe that God has sent many ups and downs my way so that I could grow as a person and help others by teaching them what I’ve learned, equipping them to handle everything life throws at them. I have to put food on the table, so I’m always busy with my business or some new project, but I use all of that to help people – that’s the best part of my career.

I have always been in love with singing and later discovered my talent for acting. Coming from a family where everybody has corporate jobs, it was quite a shock to the family when I said I wanted to study drama. My father asked me to draw up a business plan to show him how I would earn a steady income while pursuing this dream of mine, and that’s how TA-DA! got started in 2011.

Early in my career, I starred in shows like Muvhango, Binnelanders and Getroud met Rugby, but fame has never been a driving force for me. I want to work in the entertainment industry because it’s what I love, not to chase fame, because there will always be someone better or richer than you. TA-DA! is is an academy where people can chase their dreams; we prepare young people to step into the industry, fully equipped. TA-DA! specialises in acting, vocals, and dancing and I try my best to create amazing opportunities for my students so that one day they can be even more accomplished than I am.

Sometimes I think that I bite off more than I can chew, but God is my inspiration and motivation. You get a lot of rejection and criticism in this industry, but I know that God has a plan for me. The one thing I pray for every day is to have less of me and more of Him. Whatever happens in my life, God will help me reach my goals. We women tend to try and take care of everyone and everything around us, but we also need someone to care for us, and that’s what God does for me.

 

There will always be someone better or richer
than you.

One of the biggest struggles I have faced in my personal life is infertility, but God is helping me through it. My husband and I have been struggling to conceive for eight years and I’ve been hard on myself because it’s the one thing in my life that I can’t control. I still get very emotional about it but I have accepted that God has another big plan for me. I had to realise that our love and our marriage are enough. It gets especially hard when people ask us why we don’t have kids. Most of the time they assume we don’t want kids but we have to smile through the tears because we are looking at the bigger picture.

Fortunately, I have a big family and my siblings’ children are like my own. When my husband and I get lonely, we invite the kids over for a day of fun. Our whole family is very close and we meet up for a big family meal at least once a month. I’m also very close to my mother and can’t go a day without seeing her. When I’m down, she lifts me up, and when I’m excited, she is happy with me.

Through it all, my husband is my rock and my biggest supporter. Before we fell in love, he was one of my brother’s friends, so I didn’t pay him much attention. I used to introduce myself all over every time he came over! After I got out of a very bad relationship, I saw what had been right in front of my eyes the whole time and found myself falling head over heels in love with my brother’s best friend.

We have come a long way and I’ve learned so much from my husband – most importantly, how to prioritise. I’m a go-getter and when something doesn’t work out, I tend to get very disappointed. Always being in control is both my strength and my weakness. By Prioritising, I learned that not everything is equally important and that it’s okay if something fails. In my life, I put God first, my husband second, and then everything else. Your whole world doesn’t have to revolve around your husband, but you weren’t put on this earth to be alone.

We have gone through a rough patch lately but giving up and throwing it all away isn’t an option. My husband and I had to take another look at our relationship and realise where both of us had gone wrong. Now we have to pray and trust that God will help us get our marriage back on track. As long as we still have our love for each other, everything will work out as it should.

It’s a terrible feeling when something goes wrong in your marriage, but no one is perfect. We live in a world where everyone’s relationships look perfect on Instagram and Facebook, but we all have issues we don’t post about on social media. In November, my husband and I will be launching ‘Behind The Scenes – The Marriage’ where we will be producing YouTube videos and podcasts about everything in relationships that people don’t talk about, like fighting, infertility, sex and even the lack thereof. I believe that we can save the world, one marriage at a time, because if your relationships with God and your husband are healthy, everything else will fall into place.

I’m also busy with a Master’s degree at Team Impact Christian University, specialising in sex in marriage, because I feel that no one talks about sex. Not everyone knows what’s sinful and what’s right or wrong, but sex is the glue that keeps a husband and wife together. I want to help people realise how beautiful sex in a marriage can be. Next year, I will be speaking about this topic at women’s conferences around South Africa, putting the sex back into marriages – the way it should be.

When I’m not busy with my studies or my business, painting and making music are my favourite hobbies. I never watch TV; I’m either painting, planning, playing piano and ukulele or spending quality time with my husband when I have a bit of time off. There is always music playing in our house, because I can’t stand silence.

In the future, I hope to launch my own fabulous clothing line as well. When I was at university, I started a small but successful clothing line as a way to earn my own money. Making my own clothes has always been a dream of mine since I love fashion and putting outfits together. I know I can do whatever I set my mind to, because God is helping me.

This or that with Danielle:
Facebook or Instagram … Instagram
Ice cream or chocolate … Chocolate ice cream
Coffee or cocktails … Coffee
Indoors or outdoors … Outdoors
Online shopping or hitting the mall … Online
Classical art or modern art … Modern art

Details: 081 407 0288, www.iamdanielle.co.za or follow her on Facebook,
I am Danielle

Text: JACO-MARI HAASBROEK. Photographer: JACO BOTHMA. Hair: Tarryn Eksteen. Make-up: ANTOINETTE DE BEER. Dress by: ESTELLE VISSER.

Advertisement