The Faces Behind: Danielle ‘Dani’ Hawthorne

When two-time business owner Danielle Hawthorne saw a gap in the market she didn’t hesitate to answer the call. Her hope was that fellow bonnet-obsessed individuals would find their individuality within her products, and she did just that. 

Hawthorne, 19, a communications and media major at Fordham University, started Scotch Bonnets by Dani at only 15 during her sophomore year of high school. At the time, she noticed bonnets and hair care products in the neighborhood beauty supply lacked variety,  

“I had a weird obsession with bonnets, and I wanted to find the most exclusive bonnets whenever I went to the beauty supply store…but the selection was not giving so I was like let me try and make them on my own.”

Hawthorne places an emphasis on her support system and her social media presence as a large factor in the success of her business. Once Hawthorne created her first bonnet and posted it on her Snapchat, she blew up in her high school catching the attention of everyone. With the help of her mom and her cousins, they turned her living room into the temporary Scotch Bonnet factory. 

It was later in her high school experience though that she gained attention outside of school and with this newfound success she gained so much traction and ended up making her first six figures at only 17.

“My senior year of high school, I went viral on Tiktok and that brought a lot [of attention], I had like a million views on the video and so many orders came in, it was crazy.”

With the success of Scotch Bonnets, Hawthorne decided to start a second business in photography and production called Dani D Productions. Being the creative director of photoshoots for her business gave her an interest in creative directing and solidified once she started helping out friends with their creative projects as well. 

“I’m a planner. I am a big planner for everything, so I really wanted to direct and put together ideas but didn’t want to pay a photographer every time I wanted to do a shoot.” 

Hawthorne then used some of the money from her first business to invest in her photography. She bought herself a nice camera, an amazon lighting kit, some lighting, and other items in order to help kickstart her newfound interest. Hawthorne credits the experience so far as a journey definitely starting from new beginnings.

“From there it’s really been just me experimenting with different things like lighting and posing and other stuff. Everything I’m learning right now I’m teaching myself. So there’s definitely a lot of trial and error.” 

Some of the recent work she has done with her photography business includes doing some BTS photos for Maiya the Don, a rap artist known for her song “Telfy” which recently gained the attention of Tik Tok. Hawthorne explains that this opportunity ended up getting her photos presented in a way she could never imagine. 

“Maiya called me and at first I had no clue who it was because the only Maiya I knew had a different area code, so I was in shock when I realized it was her. She called and was like ‘you can take charge and do whatever you need to in order to get your shots’ and so I did and the photo shoot came out great! The photos I took of her ended up being on a promo billboard in Times Square which was so cool.” 

When asked about her focuses and strategies towards her success, Hawthorne believes that she wouldn’t have made it this far if she didn’t believe in herself and therefore invest in herself. She explains her small beginnings and reassures anyone who may be trying to pursue a business to start small and that they will grow from there. 

“You have to start somewhere, I feel like a lot of people want to rush and get to the big parts but that is not how I started at all… I literally had my little SYEP [Summer Youth Employment Program] job and it turned into a six-figure company. I feel like people think off-rip that you have to be up there but you have to put in the work in order to reap the benefits.” 

Hawthorne pleads that if you want to do something, remember that it takes discipline and drive but if you really want it, you can do it. She gives even more tips on marketing yourself and your interests to the maximum and how to possibly gain success from that.

“It was definitely easier when I first started…Covid hadn’t hit yet so everything was moving faster and getting things out there using word of mouth was easier…I had a lot of people on my Snapchat at the time and my mom was posting my stuff on Facebook…Once I had made my Instagram my mom was telling me ‘you need to post more!’ So I started promoting more there.”

She also explains that consistency is key and posting more often will get you more attention which is what you want for a creative platform. She also says interacting with customers is important to her, as that is who you are catering to so building those relationships is important in keeping them coming back. 

Although Hawthorne and her business have seen so much success so far, she of course wants to go bigger and eventually get her bonnets in retail stores or even sold in the beauty supplies that she once looked in.