Today we’d like to introduce you to Gina Doost.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, how did you get started?
Acclaimed by Vanity Fair as a top lifestyle-content creator, Gina Doost is impacting the world. Focusing on travel, style, and culture that inspires insiders and luxury audiences. Doost means “love” and “friend” in her first language, Farsi, and she brings this to her blog WhatTheDoost.com and social accounts with an audience she considers her ‘doosts.’ Gina was born in Europe, raised in LA, and is based in NYC today. At age 14, Gina hosted an international television show before earning her Journalism degree in Los Angeles, California. She worked at CBS and Penguin Random House, in New York City, before going full-time with WTD and converting it into a marketing agency managing social media for luxury hotels and restaurants.
You wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
The struggles built me, diving into the unknown shaped me, and staying grateful saved me. I moved to NYC on a one-way ticket with $300 to my name. With tremendous ambition and great education, I landed a role at Inside Edition, CBS, within my first week. While there, I started an anonymous blog as I was under contract. The blog started getting picked up, and girls from places I didn’t know about started writing to me. That’s when I realized my voice could be more impactful than I imagined. Forming a life in NYC came with all the struggles one can imagine, but it also came with epic once-in-a-lifetime experiences I wouldn’t change for the world. Here, I formed the career I wanted, which still needed to be created. I believed in uplifting people and places and connecting communities, and I knew my journalism background would help guide me. So when blogs jumped to social media – I took my leap. I snuck into NYFW and started broadcasting, focusing on inspirations and designers’ struggles to follow their passion. Their stories would inspire others to stay on the path of what set their souls on fire, love. I left a mark on fashion week that is still implanted today. With that, I advanced to travel and food. Owners and marketing directors of prestigious hotels and restaurants started asking me if I could build a social presence for them as I have for myself. So the agency began and grew. My services have always come through word of mouth, never advertised. I’m proud of that and my team.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
The experience was an opportunity that aligned with my life’s timeline. Most of my friends were getting married, and most weddings were out of town; I had nine or ten weddings in one year. My lease was up, so I decided to move my belongings to storage – downsize – and focus on the experience. I spent a year traveling and living in hotels, like a true nomad. I learned what travelers seek when deciding where to stay and how to spend their time. So I mastered the art of its storytelling and used that to increase bookings while advancing travelers’ lives. By putting good and positive information into the world, my success grew.
How do you define success?
I used to think success meant financial freedom. Now I understand that there is more to this notion. True success lies within one’s happiness and inner growth, which is a constant, never-ending journey and not the draining kind, but the type that greets you with excitement and exposes you to better versions of yourself (ultimately). The type of reunion that uplifts you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://whatthedoost.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatthedoost/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDoost/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ginadoost/
