An Interview with the Founder of thatsrealtalk.com
Dahye Jung is U3 Accounting and Marketing student at the McGill Desautels Faculty of Management, and the founder/Editor –in-Chief of thatsrealtalk.com, a site dedicated to the motto “real talk by real women, for real women.” With 15,000 followers on Instagram and 21,000 on Youtube, Dahye has the singular focus of providing brutally honest, relatable and no bullshit content for young women. So sit down, drop that avo’ toast, and have a listen.
https://youtu.be/12FhKEFP6Kc
Bull & Bear (B&B): Thank you so much for meeting with the Bull & Bear. To get started, what is the backstory behind That’s the Real Talk and how it came to be?
Dahye Jung (DJ): Where I got inspired for this was really by my first blog, HeyDahye.com. From ages 15 – 22 I was running this fashion lifestyle blog, and that was a great platform for me to learn the ropes of publishing and editing. But as far as content goes, naturally as time went on I changed as a person and got a lot of perspective just from things like school and growing up, so eventually I felt limited by the content that I could publish on this fashion and lifestyle blog. It came really out of my own personal frustration of wanting to publish more about things like the struggle I was having at school, finding an internship, or with relationships. I took a pause from heydahye.com for about one semester, just to kind of ruminate over this decision and eventually the decision was made, thanks to my readers who had started emailing me asking me questions about what I did outside of my blog. At a certain point I just realized “Wow, this is what I need to write about.”
B&B: Your mission statement stresses the importance of “realness” and this blog being a “no bullshit zone,” what do these terms mean to you and why are they central to your blog?
DJ: Honestly, I just really wanted this blog to be real. There is so much content online that is over edited and unrealistic. I have met a lot of bloggers who do this full time and when you meet them, you realize their job is so stressful, they are grinding and hustling, but they don’t share that hustle side of their career online, you know? It’s part of their job to create this image, but there is a whole backstory to how the image is created. For example, when they go to fashion week, they change in random places, sometimes in alleys. It’s stressful but they don’t share that, and I find that really interesting. The thought is: “OK, in order to make this look effortless and beautiful, there is all this backwork(sic) that goes into it, why are we not talking about that?” I want to show that side, and that is a large part in trying to make this blog “real.”
On the side of no bullshit, when I was growing up, I moved around a lot, and with the internet growing and social media, I found a lot of comfort in this online community where I could talk to people with common interests. But I found that if I Googled these major life questions, like “What should I major in in university?” blogs for women would all just show you this beautiful sunset picture with vague advice like “follow your heart.” I mean yes, follow your heart, but what are some more specific and tactical tips that people currently in a position I want to be in have followed? What did they actually do? What are some real, non-bullshit tips that you can give me? I wanted to try and fill that space.
Although we all live different lives, what we share in common is the desire to achieve our potential and feel fulfilled in our health, work, and relationships.
– How to make 2018 your B*tch + GOAL SETTING SHEETS. (01/01/2018). thatsrealtalk.com
B&B: Along with providing these no bullshit tips and emphasizing relatable content, your articles often seem to be written with a dry sense of humour. Why is humour such an important component of the message you are providing?
DJ: At the end of the day, humour breaks the ice between anyone. If you are able to share a laugh, you are on the same wavelength, and then everything else becomes more relatable, more likeable. Humour in life is important because yes, while school and careers and life can be serious, at the end of the day you have to enjoy it and just laugh. If you go down to the core of a blog, it is a source of entertainment, so you have to make it enjoyable. I want all the contributors to have fun with it and show off their own personalities.
I believe the best way to tell you all this without preaching is with a story. Honey, if you’re reading this, I love you and goodluck.
– How to love without compromise. (02/02/2018). thatsrealtalk.com
B&B: The style of writing you have on your blog is really cool, it genuinely feels like a friend is sitting you down for coffee and spilling the beans on some good old-fashioned advice. Between six contributors, how did you get such a cohesive theme and style of writing with all these different voices in the mix?
DJ: As far as getting the team together, I had advertised it a little bit online but mostly applications just came from people reaching out to me. They loved the blog, loved the mission, they were looking for a platform to share their thoughts, and wanted to start working together. It was a two-way street, not just me telling people they could write for us. It was more that I had created this platform with this audience and already existing following that I wanted to share. I know there are so many talented people out there and more brains are always better than one. What I looked for when interviewing people was understanding why they wanted to join. They needed to resonate with the mission, and I think because they resonated with the no bullshit, the realness, the vibe and the tone that we are going for, that eventually translated into the same style. At the same time I try to keep it as cohesive as possible, so every month the blog centers around a theme, and all the contributors write around that theme.
Screw perfection! The best way to moderate fluctuation in your weight is to have a healthy and respectful relationship with your body.
– Dear Denim Blue. (30/12/2017). thatsrealtalk.com
B&B: Why did you organize your content around monthly themes?
DJ: It’s always a work in progress. I am consistently learning as I go. That being said, I wanted the blog to be something that people could write together, and despite everyone working remotely, I do want us to feel like a team. I want everyone to feel centred every month, brainstorm together, talk about different topics surrounding this theme, and then we can branch off and be creative.
B&B: Finally, to wrap things up, after reading some pieces on your blog, what would you want someone to walk away with? Is there any main feeling/message you hope to provide people?
DJ: That is so hard because I guess there isn’t one single thing. The overarching reason why I do this is to share with women that whatever you want to do in life, you can do it. There are so many women out there hustling in different ways, but we are in it together. So, you can come on the blog, read things on the entertaining side, the fashion and beauty side, but there are also things that are more personal, like a relationship post we put up that Deanna wrote. It’s very touching, and her situation is unique to her life, but the aspects of whether to do long distance, choosing school over a relationship, and other questions like these are ones a lot of us have gone through. I want this to be a place you can find what you’re seeking, be it helpful tips on random things or just a sense of feeling less alone and scared to pursue what you want. If you could walk away having gained at the very least one of those things, that would be amazing for me.
Courtesy of: Dahye Jung
