Danielle Wilks, the sassy redhead on VH1’s fourth season of “Tough Love,” says would be entrepreneurs need to be prepared to work hard to enjoy the kind of success she has gained through the reality TV series that aims to get eight single women “ready for love.”
“It’s like if you don’t grind you don’t get to eat or play. Nobody is going to do it for you,” she told Atlanta Black Star in an exclusive interview following an appearance at a local Atlanta fashion boutique where she hosted a special networking event called Cocktails and Conversations.
Before Wilks joined “Tough Love,” she was a well-known Atlanta hair stylist at the Spoiled Opulence Salon, specializing in sew-ins, color, quick weaves, silk presses, and so much more. In addition to being a stylist, however, Wilks set herself apart by being an entrepreneur as well.
Wilks said she made it a priority not only to do what she loves, but to also brand herself. “I most definitely will always be building the ‘I am DANIE’ brand no matter what entrepreneur task I take on,” she told ABS. Wilks said she hopes to open her own salons across Atlanta and hopes that “Tough Love” won’t be the last time she’ll be seen on television. The Atlanta stylist said she would love to do reality television again but “maybe something a little different.”
Sunday’s Cocktails and Conversations networking event at the Forever Young fashion boutique brought together representatives from Mary Kay, the publisher of “Nyah Magazine,” sports and entertainment agents, and many more successful faces from the Atlanta area. The event focused on business and networking, but Danie’s fun personality still had guests erupting in laughter throughout the night.
The single mother of one admitted that she learned a lot from being on the show.
“Tough Love was definitely a different and challenging experience. I learned many things about myself that I kind of knew already but the experience did help me grow as an individual professionally and personally,” Wilks said.
So far she hasn’t had a problem getting along with the other women in the house, and on several occasions she was the source of laughter among the other single ladies.
Because this season is still airing, even though taping is finished, Wilks could not disclose whether she is still in contact with any of the men she dated on the show, but she was more than willing to open up about the most important man in her life—her 7-year-old son.
“I love being a mother, whatever I do I always keep him first,” said Wilks. She went on to share that her son is the reason behind everything she does.
Tough Love: New Orleans viewers may remember Wilks for her incredible fashion sense and she certainly kept up the fashion forward trends at the event, sporting a beige jumpsuit with a pair of gold studded wedge heels that exaggerated her gorgeous long legs.
