Dominique sat down with Postcards recently to talk about her career as a broadcast journalist and the passion behind her new ventures.
I was a sophomore in high school when MTV debuted. That was the first time I saw young people as broadcasters, and they were talking about content that mattered to me. Prior to that, all broadcasters were a certain age and demographic. My parents watched the nightly news, and I never saw myself in that way. But seeing these young people talk about music and interview the artists, I thought, “Wow, that’s amazing.” I was a natural communicator; loved to write and express myself, so I thought I would pursue music and entertainment television.
After I graduated from University of Houston, where I studied broadcast journalism, my first steps were with a company called Metro Traffic Control. I got a job as a traffic reporter part-time on the weekends for KLOL and KTRH. Then I would fill in for a variety of radio stations during the week. And so I got a regular slot on KHMX (which was Mix 96.5 at the time), and then I heard there was a position open for a disc jockey. So I went after that, and I pursued it and I became an overnight DJ at MIX from midnight to 5:30. I worked during the day as a production assistant. It was just a crazy start.
After two years of working as a DJ, I eventually made my way over to Channel 2, where I got hired as a traffic reporter. So that’s how I started there. Then I just worked my way through the ranks. It was an atypical path getting there, for sure, but I’m grateful for the journey. I’m grateful for the radio start to the journey, because I think it made me a better broadcaster in television news and maybe more comfortable in my own skin, and especially in breaking news situations.
You know how you just feel that internal tugging? I was beginning to feel that in the past couple of years. I had launched my YouTube channel in 2014, and I was really enjoying producing content that matters to me – producing content that connects to women of our age and demographic, and sort of carving out that lane. When I started, there weren’t many content creators for women 40 and 50 plus, so I felt like I sort of fell accidentally into this little niche. And it was really speaking to my heart.
I was kind of waning in the whole TV news industry and losing that hunger and appetite, that desire. At the same time, I was really loving what I was doing on the side, so I thought okay, it’s time for a shift. It’s time to move into something that really speaks to my heart, where I can pour all of my effort and energy into in terms of content creation.
As a female broadcast journalist, the questions you get are usually “Where’d you get that blouse? Who does your hair?” or “What did you wear?” Or “How do you create that makeup look?” You know, it’s all the physical, right? And so I would, at the time, answer everybody’s questions via email. It was very time consuming. So one day just out of the blue, I took my cell phone and I did a reverse video. I thought, “Okay, I’m just gonna show everybody how I do my makeup.”
So I’m sitting in my bathroom with my phone, and I’m blending and whisking like okay, so this is the color and this is how to do it. And I created a little video and I posted it to my KPRC Facebook page. And I thought, “Should I have done that? I don’t know if I should have done that!” But I did it. And it was so funny, because the questions that followed, were, “Wow, this is so cool” … now what about this, and what about that?” I mean, there were thousands of them. I get more questions and comments about that stinkin’ makeup tutorial than anything I have ever said or done!
A gal I knew who worked at my husband’s firm at the time had her own YouTube channel. She’s young, millennial, and a beauty fashion blogger. When she saw my video, she told me I needed a YouTube channel. So after doing a little bit of research and digging and whatnot, I decided it might be a really cool place for me to be, and I could start putting a lot of this information and this content out there. There was so much more that I had to offer besides the smoky eye, but that’s how it all began.
I would say it’s more of a full picture. It may have started with hair, makeup and wardrobe, but it’s really become about the whole woman. It’s about feeling good in your own skin. Yes, it’s about skin care and beauty, but also lifestyle, wellness, living your best life, relationships–all of that.
My platform is about serving and caring for the whole woman and letting her know we are not forgotten. We are an incredibly important part of this segment of society. We are the spenders in this society. We are the largest-growing population in this society, and it’s time for companies and retailers to realize we don’t want to see a 20-year-old selling skincare. We want accurate representation, accurate faces, accurate lives, accurate bodies … and there’s been a magnificent shift in that area, where finally somebody’s paying attention to who we are, realizing we want information, and we want quality products.
I don’t know why people use the word anti-aging. To me, it’s about pro-aging–to age gracefully, to age well, to be proactive in the choices we make and the products that are available. The thing is, every woman gets to decide what’s right and what’s best for her. Whether it’s absolutely nothing at all, or maybe it’s taking little baby steps, and that’s sufficient. Or maybe it’s a combination of skin cream and getting out of the sun and being diligent about your SPF, or maybe it’s a little bit more.
I love the fact there are so many options, and I think the neatest thing and the greatest gift we can all give ourselves is a judgment-free gift. Don’t judge yourself, and most certainly don’t judge another woman for what it is she chooses to do. We all have to walk our own walk, and I think it’s important we respect that within ourselves and each other.
I always joke that once upon a time, you went from face cream to facelift, right? There was nothing in between. But the cosmetology industry has expanded to the point where there are so many things you can do. If you don’t want the full-on extreme, like our mothers did – you know, yank it and pull it tight and call it a day – there are so many other choices besides surgery, like lasers, fillers, and collagen boosters. I’m seeing a huge shift in what’s available in terms of injectables and new products on the market, like Sculptra, which actually causes your body to create more collagen.
I kind of think of my social media as a way of bridging the gap between the Thursday YouTube videos and the book. It’s a continuum of the content and messaging. It came about because I had a lot of women who were starting to reach out to me and they would say, “It seems like you have so much to offer in a wide array of subjects. Have you ever thought about writing?” I would laugh and was like, oh, you’re funny. You know, between the news gig and the YouTube gig and parenting and stuff, like I really have time to write a book. But I’ll never forget there was one time in church – it was in the fall of 2018 – and a gal sitting behind me in the service tapped me on the shoulder and said, “You should write a book.” I’m a very strong believer in God, and I thought maybe he was speaking through her, so I figured okay, I’ll give it a shot.
The title of the book is called LIFE MAKEOVER: Embrace the bold, beautiful and blessed YOU. It’s about a woman grabbing hold of her life, where she is in the moment, and digging in her heels and saying I am worthy of time invested; I am worthy of feeling beautiful; I am worthy of feeling good in my own skin; I am a creative person. I am gifted with talents and ideas, and it’s important not to settle in a comfortable space, but to say, “You know what? I need to stretch; I need to grow; I need to expand myself. I need to be purpose driven.” The book is my life’s methodology of how I got there.
The model is sort of “beauty from the outside in” and that’s something I’ve coined in the book because I believe in the power of the visual, the power of the transformation. When you start seeing yourself differently, you want to start doing life differently. You’re thinking, “Okay, I’ve got this new look, I’ve got this new hairstyle, but maybe my wardrobe isn’t matching what I’ve got going on.” So you start dressing yourself differently. And then you start looking at your personal space, and you realize you should tackle some structure and organization. Or maybe you decide you should tackle how you approach food and exercise to have a more healthful, wellness-driven life.
There is. I talk about my faith journey, and I talk about the importance of faith in two ways: faith in yourself and faith in your God. And your belief system is your belief system. I’m not a proponent of a religion. I am a proponent of a faith system. My journey was a later-in-life epiphany for me. I was not a believer for most of my youth. But when I was in my 30s and trying to get pregnant, I had to go through in vitro fertilization, and I talk about that in the book.
It was during that time, out of the blue, I sort of felt compelled to pray. And it was a very foreign experience for me. I didn’t know what to do, how to do it, how to talk to God. I had no experience, so I just prayed and put it out there. I prayed for a child and for hope, and all of that. I found out a few days later I was pregnant. So I continued my prayer journey. It was a slow burn, as I say in the book. It was not a zero to 60, but it was something that grew in my life.
I started to attend the church later, and I learned how important that conversation with God is and how important it is to offer gratitude in all times, the good times and the bad times. There’s always something to be thankful for. That spiritual journey was so important for me and completely changed my life, so I felt it was worthy of a chapter in the book.
For more on Dominique and her new book, visit www.dominiquesachse.tv.
Postcards Magazine
936-293-1188
PO Box 690
Huntsville, TX 77342
