Doralys Britto Believes Society Pressures Women to Try to Meet Often Unattainable Standards.
Doralys Britto was born in the Dominican Republic as the second of three children to a doctor and a chemist. She had always gravitated towards communications, marketing and computer sciences, and by the age of 17 was hosting a live radio show. Soon thereafter, she began her television career, as master of ceremonies for televised national events in her country of origin. She also began hosting a daily news show, and was responsible for a majority of the re- search, coordination and content production. After several years in the broadcast industry, she was offered the position of managing the professional calendar for international celebrity Julio Iglesias. Over the next few years, she traveled extensively all over the world with Julio and his team. She eventually returned to the Dominican Republic and created, directed and managed Miss Femme, a very successful series of beauty contests.
Then, she opened a modeling agency and created a YouTube channel focusing on beauty tips for Latinas. The channel began as a hobby, yet Doralys ended up realizing the potential of her platform and became a full-time YouTuber. Her channel currently focuses on lifestyle, beauty, and content that empowers women.
Congratulations on being chosen as one of our LatinX of Impact this year. How do you hope to continue to create impact in our community?
My focus for several years has been to empower women to live their best lives. I certainly want to press ahead with that. There are subtle societal norms that place enormous pressure on women to meet certain standards that are often unattainable. When young women fall short of these standards, often their self-esteem suffers, and that impacts their ability to be their very best. I want to keep providing content that empowers women, whether it is through self-improvement, self-acceptance or self-empowerment. I get so much energy from the letters I receive from young women who have found personal answers in my work. So, I want to continue that work and help as many people as I can!
It is vital to see real women like us being represented in media and inspiring younger generations. What advice can you give a woman who doubts her power?
Listen to your gut. Intuition is a powerful thing, and the answers we seek are often within ourselves. We’re just too distracted to listen, or too scared to act on what we hear. New things are always scary, and that makes them hard; it is easier to do what you know, even if it isn’t working. Yet doing new things is what brings ALEGRIA!
Was there a key moment for you when you finally decided to own your power?
When I moved to the United States many years ago. I didn’t have any friends or family here, didn’t have a job, felt uncomfortable speaking English, and soon found myself completely alone in a strange country as my marriage began to fail. It was a very bad long-term relationship and we had decided to go our own separate ways. It was a difficult and scary time. I found a teeny-tiny apartment and an entry-level job, however, and I persevered. Slowly things improved as I made friends and began having professional success. Over time, everything worked out great, but having no one to rely upon during a very difficult period made me recognize my own inner strength. Like with many bad things that happen to us, with the passage of time those things often turn out to be the best thing that could have happened to us.
What’s the main lesson 2019 taught you?
Balance. Work has been crazy busy this year, and at times I lost my work/life balance — I wasn’t spending as much quality time with my husband as I wanted, I wasn’t working out as much as I should have, and I of- ten didn’t take as much personal time for myself as I should have. As the year progressed, I got better at prioritizing and things improved. I recognized that a lot of professional responsibilities just aren’t that important in the big picture, and that I should focus on the stuff that really matters.
What are you looking forward to in 2020?
Travel! I have so many amazing trips planned in 2020. I wish it were January 1st already.
What brings you ALEGRIA?
Time with people I love. My friends, my family, my husband, my dog…
What is a quote that you love?
“Never apologize for being a powerful woman.”
Follow Doralys on Instagram @doralysbritto
