DANI ST JAMES + NOT A PHASE

November 10, 2021

Trans Awareness Week runs from November 13th to November 19th and we wanted to do a deep dive and amplify the incredible work done by Crumb Human, DANI ST JAMES, with her charity Not A Phase and take a moment to understand more about Dani's career so far and what drives her to continue empowering and advocating for the trans+ and gender non conforming community.

After seeing an urgent need for support for the trans+ community, she founded Not A Phase to support trans+ adults around the UK by campaigning to raise awareness, devising diversity strategies for companies, and investing in trans+ owned businesses and organisations. Dani has worked with brands including Victoria Beckham, Missguided and Urban Outfitters and is available for consultancy, event appearances and social briefs through Crumb Agency.

Thanks for your time Dani!

Love,

Crumb x

As part of Trans Awareness Week, Not A Phase are hosting trans socials in London, Bristol + Manchester on the dates below :

Friday 12th November: Trans Social - London

Saturday 13th November: Trans Social - Bristol

Saturday 27th November: Trans Social - Manchester

Hey Dani! Firstly, tell us a bit about yourself and your work

Hey!!! Gosh, where to start... I'm Welsh, been here in London for nearly 10 years now, my life has taken so many turns during these years, I've done a little bit of everything really, I gained my network mainly through nightlife, meeting amazing, creative queer people and coming of age in the big smoke, all of the experiences have cultivated the person I am now, alongside modelling, I run a charity that supports trans adults called Not A Phase, which is my passion project, I love doing it! I have also just launched an underwear line called Zoah, which was always a dream, I'm super excited about it.

Who/what inspires you to carry on with the great work you do with Not A Phase?

Community, I just love my community so much, the resilience and courage of the people around me drive me to want to find ways to help, things that haven't been done before by a charity, I wanted us to break the mould and we are.

What's been a career-high for you?

Any time that I see a huge body of people in our merch, events like Trans Pride London, I saw hundreds if not thousands of people on the streets of Central London, tonnes of them adorned in our logo, it's just euphoric to know that everyone is behind me/us.

What are your hopes for the future of trans visibility/activism in the UK?

I just hope that we can make progress with the narrative that is currently out there, as time passes I hope we can move past the extremist conversations and create more of a sense of unity between those that are in the community and those outside of Not a Phase is in a constant upwards trajectory and so I also hope that we can support and encourage those that are leading the way in their activism.

Finally, what is making you smile at the moment? :)

I can't believe I'm saying this after everything, but being in busy sweaty spaces again! I didn't think I'd ever be able to go back after I gave up drinking and then the pandemic hit. But now I'm loving the chance to get out and be amongst a tonne of people.

To find out more about Not A Phase, click here!