AMA: Ask the community staff anything - ongoing thread

[Harper]

Hi everyone!

It's been a while since we last hosted an AMA so I thought it would be nice to host an 'Ask the Staff Anything' AMA. Please keep this to general Ditch the Label related questions and we'll do our best to answer. If your question is for a specific member of the team, please tag them. Will keep this as an open AMA, so ask away!

- Harper 

[Megs-]

what took your liking to give you the idea to want to support young people here at DTL? 

Edited July 21 by Megs-
Worded wrong :-)

[Harper]

2 minutes ago, Megs- said:

what took your liking to give you the idea to want to support young people here at DTL? 

Part of my inspiration as a member of the team was having experienced some of the challenges we cover myself growing up, I wanted to help create a safe space where others could get support and not go through it alone! And also because it's a pretty cool place to work!

[Megs-]

Just now, Harper said:

Part of my inspiration as a member of the team was having experienced some of the challenges we cover myself growing up, I wanted to help create a safe space where others could get support and not go through it alone! And also because it's a pretty cool place to work!

love that! very inspirational 

[Emberfrost12]

How have you guys felt about keeping the same usernames for so long-and how did you decide on them?

[Megs-]

On 7/22/2023 at 7:03 PM, Emberfrost12 said:

How have you guys felt about keeping the same usernames for so long-and how did you decide on them?

@Duckie I’m interested to hear how you got your name!

[Emberfrost12]

I think we forgot about this thread...

[Emberfrost12]

On 7/25/2023 at 4:26 AM, Megs- said:

@Duckie I’m interested to hear how you got your name!

and also @Tokyo

[Tokyo]

26 minutes ago, Emberfrost12 said:

and also @Tokyo

Oh I got mine from a character of TV series: La Casa de Papel. I’m just really fascinated about its storyline

[Megs-]

Just now, Tokyo said:

Oh I got mine from a character of TV series: La Casa de Papel. I’m just really fascinated about its storyline

Oh you get to choose? Was going to say is it ur real name haha  

[Aurora]

I'm fascinated by the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) and I was lucky enough to see them once. It was one of the most humbling and spellbinding experiences I've ever had - it really felt truly magical. I also like the way Aurora sounds, so that's how I chose mine 

[Megs-]

2 hours ago, Aurora said:

I'm fascinated by the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) and I was lucky enough to see them once. It was one of the most humbling and spellbinding experiences I've ever had - it really felt truly magical. I also like the way Aurora sounds, so that's how I chose mine 

Aurora is a beautiful name! I love it! 

[Aurora]

31 minutes ago, Megs- said:

Aurora is a beautiful name! I love it! 

Aww, thank you 

[Emberfrost12]

8 hours ago, Aurora said:

I'm fascinated by the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) and I was lucky enough to see them once. It was one of the most humbling and spellbinding experiences I've ever had - it really felt truly magical. I also like the way Aurora sounds, so that's how I chose mine 

Oh yeah, that makes a lot of sense. 

Honestly, the name fits you.

I've seen the lights but I've never gotten a good view. I've seen them only as a little bit of green...still pretty though :)

[Aurora]

16 hours ago, Emberfrost12 said:

Oh yeah, that makes a lot of sense. 

Honestly, the name fits you.

I've seen the lights but I've never gotten a good view. I've seen them only as a little bit of green...still pretty though :)

Thanks so much 

When I saw them, it started off as a little bit of green as well and then the whole sky opened up. It was incredible. I hope you get to see them properly one day! 

[Duckie]

On 7/25/2023 at 11:26 AM, Megs- said:

@Duckie I’m interested to hear how you got your name!

Sorry it's taken me ages to reply to this! I think ducks have always been a theme in my life. When I was little we used to have this duck visiting our garden and splashing around in a bird bath. No one knew where it had come from but she visited us everyday for over a year. We called it "Anki" (Duckie in Swedish) and all my classmates came over to see it, thinking I was lying to them about it. I proved them wrong!

Later in life when I met my now husband I found out that he loves ducks too. When I was pregnant with my daughter, we chose not to find out her gender, so we referred to the baby as duckling :) Got lots of baby clothes with ducks on it, so it was our thing kind of. Now, Duckie is one of the many personas I use to entertain our little girl. I have a pair of socks that turns my hands into ducks (never actually worn them on my feet). So yeah, long story short, my daughter sometimes makes me wear a sock on my hand and calls me Duckie. Duckie is naughty to adults and nice to kids (I've had to pretend to bite myself with the sock at times). I also have Runnie the naughty emu, the hungry hoover, the friendly unicorn (another sock puppet) and coin grandma... omg, my daughter's laugh is so addictive I have lost my last ounce of dignity when I chase her around the playground pretending to be a naughty emu... xD

[Megs-]

12 minutes ago, Duckie said:

Sorry it's taken me ages to reply to this! I think ducks have always been a theme in my life. When I was little we used to have this duck visiting our garden and splashing around in a bird bath. No one knew where it had come from but she visited us everyday for over a year. We called it "Anki" (Duckie in Swedish) and all my classmates came over to see it, thinking I was lying to them about it. I proved them wrong!

Later in life when I met my now husband I found out that he loves ducks too. When I was pregnant with my daughter, we chose not to find out her gender, so we referred to the baby as duckling :) Got lots of baby clothes with ducks on it, so it was our thing kind of. Now, Duckie is one of the many personas I use to entertain our little girl. I have a pair of socks that turns my hands into ducks (never actually worn them on my feet). So yeah, long story short, my daughter sometimes makes me wear a sock on my hand and calls me Duckie. Duckie is naughty to adults and nice to kids (I've had to pretend to bite myself with the sock at times). I also have Runnie the naughty emu, the hungry hoover, the friendly unicorn (another sock puppet) and coin grandma... omg, my daughter's laugh is so addictive I have lost my last ounce of dignity when I chase her around the playground pretending to be a naughty emu... xD

Ooh nice haha ! Lol  

[Emberfrost12]

4 hours ago, Duckie said:

Sorry it's taken me ages to reply to this! I think ducks have always been a theme in my life. When I was little we used to have this duck visiting our garden and splashing around in a bird bath. No one knew where it had come from but she visited us everyday for over a year. We called it "Anki" (Duckie in Swedish) and all my classmates came over to see it, thinking I was lying to them about it. I proved them wrong!

Later in life when I met my now husband I found out that he loves ducks too. When I was pregnant with my daughter, we chose not to find out her gender, so we referred to the baby as duckling :) Got lots of baby clothes with ducks on it, so it was our thing kind of. Now, Duckie is one of the many personas I use to entertain our little girl. I have a pair of socks that turns my hands into ducks (never actually worn them on my feet). So yeah, long story short, my daughter sometimes makes me wear a sock on my hand and calls me Duckie. Duckie is naughty to adults and nice to kids (I've had to pretend to bite myself with the sock at times). I also have Runnie the naughty emu, the hungry hoover, the friendly unicorn (another sock puppet) and coin grandma... omg, my daughter's laugh is so addictive I have lost my last ounce of dignity when I chase her around the playground pretending to be a naughty emu... xD

Awwwwww that's so cute!!

[-Aussie-]

If you didn't start DTL what would you do in life?

[Duckie]

On 9/21/2023 at 9:42 PM, -Aussie- said:

If you didn't start DTL what would you do in life?

I've always wanted to work in a book shop :) I would love to recommend books to people and just do little things to make people visiting the bookshop feel welcome. I would offer tea and coffee and have kid's authors visit the shop and do a meet and greet. Would be really awesome, but probably not the most lucrative business as I would be giving away free coffees all the time 

[Aurora]

On 9/21/2023 at 9:42 PM, -Aussie- said:

If you didn't start DTL what would you do in life?

Good question! Do we need to give realistic answers or can it be a "if money was no object answer"? 

If money was no object I would like to set up a wellbeing farm. I think it would be great to have a place with lots of animals such as horses, chicken, ducks, dogs, rabbits, goats, gerbils, hamsters and it would be for anyone who is struggling with their mental health. I used to work in a riding school that offered equine therapy and I find that animals often are the best therapists . The horses I used to work with were incredibly intuitive and seemed to just to know what everyone needed. It would be a charity and people wouldn't have to pay to come but you would have to get involved with the care of the animals and e.g. muck out the stables etc. 

A more realistic answer is that I would set up a small little café with my friend. I love to bake but I'm really rubbish at decorating cakes/cupcakes (anything really) - whereas my friend is amazing at decorating but her cakes taste a bit dull (she says so herself ). I feel like we would be the perfect match (as long as I make and she decorates!). We would have small classes in the café, like sewing classes, cake decorating classes or maybe @Duckie could set up a reading club . And yes, knowing me there would probably be lots of free teas and coffees as well, as I would want everyone to feel welcome