WhAT PEOPLE HAVE SAID:
"A propulsive memoir delivered in the honest tones of a woman who didn't always think she'd live to tell her story." --NYT
Rolling Stone Magazine featured chapter 3 of UNCULTURED, Daniella’s memoir, on their homepage
"Mestyanek Young searingly captures the fear and intensity that were her constant companions in the Children of God, and she draws smart parallels between the dogmatic 'indoctrination' she encountered in both the cult and the Army ... Readers won’t be able to put down this harrowing and enthralling memoir." —Publisher’s Weekly STARRED Review
“Affecting … and a deft portrait of the dangers of blindly following leaders of whatever stripe.”—Kirkus Rveview
UNCULTURED’s Audiobook was featured in the New York Times
Read about UNCULTURED and Intergenerational trauma in Ms Magazine
UNCULTURED has recently been named:
Daniella is, primarily, an amazing storyteller with some incredible stories to tell.
“Her insights into organizational and institutional dysfunction were among the most disturbing things I've ever decided to read at the pool.” —The Linden Review
“What Daniella does that is truly unforgettable is how she works in serious topics, ideas, themes, and behavioral science research into her fantastic stories.
”These concepts stick with your audience because story is the best way to understand things in new ways, to gain new perspectives, and to make those gains stick. Your friends, family, work teams, and organizations will be talking about these ideas long after Daniella takes her leave.” —A Satisfied Client
Daniella's Zone of Genius
Organizational Culture-building & Culture Change
Group behavior 101
Group norms & how they work for and against you
Creating Strong Teams
Innovation & Creativity
Banishing Imposter Syndrome
Leadership Development
Reducing Groupthink in Your Organization or Industry
Diversity & Inclusion
Power & Privilege
Incorporating Diverse Perspectives into Your Organization
Feminism for Men
create culture, for good
daniella’s media appearances:
Tedx: Lost in Transition
Daniella’s talk, Lost in Transition, will illuminate a compass that you can rely on to navigate any life transition.
The Jordan Harbinger Show
On this episode, Daniella shares the disturbing details of child sexual abuse that were encouraged by the cult’s leaders throughout its history, what this cult and others do to cultivate credibility among its followers and the outside world, how an organization with such well-documented transgressions manages to rake in millions of dollars every year even now, and the toll that life in a cult takes on those who are lucky enough to exit.
A Little Bit Culty
If hell is real, there is perhaps no circle of it as harrowing nor vile as the experience of growing up in the Children of God cult.
One would hope that growing up in COG would be the last coercive, abusive, and negligent experience for today’s guest, Daniella Mestyanek Young, who is an American author, keynote speaker, and previous Captain in the US Army. One would also hope for ponies and rainbows and a bigger tax return this year but HEY, life’s no cake walk. On today’s episode, Young discusses her book Uncultured: a Memoir, wherein she details her cult-riddled childhood and how, shockingly, the US Army reflected comparable practices.
On The Edge Podcast
Daniella talks about going from cult to army, toxic groups and how we are all liable to succumb to group think.
IndoctriNation Podcast
Daniella shares with Rachel some insights behind the stories in her book Uncultured, more than a memoir about an exceptional upbringing, but about a woman who, no matter the lack of tools given to her, is determined to overcome. Throughout her story, Daniella draws parallels between her life as a child in the Children of God commune and her time as an adult in the U.S. military. Pointing out the stunning similarities in rape culture in both organizations. She goes on to explain the dangerous deification of the U.S. Army, and the cult-like devotion and martyrdom expected of its soldiers
Cult Vault Podcast
Talk Beliefs
Daniella speaks with Mark from Talk Beliefs about growing up in the cult, performing in lewd videos as a youngster, and ultimately engineering her escape and joining the US Army. Free from the sect, she was shocked to find echoes of the cult within the military.
I Bounced Back Podcast
Getting Out of a Cult: Daniella speaks to being excommunicated from the cult and moving to the United States alone to rebuild her life in freedom.
The Inspired Women Podcast
Women of the Military Podcast
Inverse
To book Daniella to speak at your corporate or private event, please contact her speaking agent, Colleen Osborne, at colleen.osborne@macmillan.com
Office: (646) 307-5758 | Cell: (917)-697-2063
For Media appearances or inquiries, please contact Daniella's agent Michael Bourret at mbourret@dystel.com