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itsdanielsmith.com · Tampa, Florida

Daniel J. Smith II

Girl dad. Veteran. Founder. State director. One front door for everything I build, lead, and create.

  • ◆Girl Dad
  • ◆Founder, Awkward Media Group
  • ◆29th FL State Director, ΦΒΣ
  • ◆U.S. Air Force Veteran
  • ◆Digital Creative
Start a project See what's coming
Daniel Smith in a navy suit and plaid tie, smiling — studio portrait
Now booking Q4 2026 — keynotes, men's-health panels, brand deals & UGC. Tampa-based, will travel. If the room needs it real, I'm your speaker.
4,538
Instagram followers
15+
Years of Sigma brotherhood · since 2010
100+
Avg. likes, recent posts
2020
Awkward Media founded

@djs1914 audience snapshot — October 3, 2026.

01

The bio

The official version — where I'm from, what I've carried, and why I talk about the hard parts out loud.

Full-body portrait of Daniel Smith in a royal-blue suit standing in a Tampa executive office with the downtown skyline behind him

Tampa is home now — downtown skyline behind me, executive mindset in front of me. Same city where I lead, build, and raise my daughter.

"I wasn't supposed to end up here. That's exactly why my story works in rooms — and on camera."

Daniel J. Smith II was born in Junction City, Kansas, and raised in Bainbridge, Georgia, where he moved at one year old. When his parents split during his third-grade year, Daniel grew up in the hood — and learned life's hardest lessons early: how to read a room, respect the grind, and never let your circumstances write your ending.

Read the full story

He graduated in 2005 and enlisted in the United States Air Force that July, landing at F.E. Warren AFB in Cheyenne, Wyoming — a Georgia kid learning to survive a long way from everybody he loved. In August 2010 he was reassigned to MacDill AFB in Tampa, and that December he joined Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. He collected degrees along the way: an associate's in Criminal Justice from the Community College of the Air Force, then a bachelor's in Entertainment Business and a master's in Public Relations from Full Sail University. Medically separated in November 2017, he bounced through the early civilian years — and found his grounding point in Sigma, serving in leadership since 2012 at the local, state, regional, and national levels. Today he serves as Florida State Director of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. and sits on the Board of Supervisors of the Panther Trails Community Development District.

A present father to a beautiful daughter, Daniel started at GEICO in July 2025 through the Leadership Development Program (LDP), earned a promotion to Supervisor in Service in January 2026, and has since been promoted again to Supervisor in Retention. He is also a vocal mental-health advocate living with anxiety, depression, and ADHD — proof that the kid from Bainbridge who had to figure life out the hard way is exactly who somebody out there needs to hear from.

  • ◆Born: Junction City, KS
  • ◆Raised: Bainbridge, GA
  • ◆USAF 2005–2017
  • ◆ΦΒΣ since Dec 2010
  • ◆3 degrees earned
  • ◆FL State Director
  • ◆Girl Dad
02

Everything I do

Four lanes, one standard: show up prepared, do the work in public, and leave people better than you found them. Pick a lane — each one is a way in.

Daniel Smith in a navy blazer seated behind a laptop at a desk in a Tampa high-rise with the skyline behind him
BusinessFounder · since 2020

Awkward Media Group

My Tampa-based creative company. We build brands people actually remember — identity, content, and campaigns for businesses, artists, and organizations that are done blending in.

  • Brand identity
  • Social content
  • Campaigns
  • Creator partnerships
Start a brand project →
Daniel Smith in a graphic CREATE t-shirt setting up a ring light and phone tripod in a Tampa high-rise with the downtown skyline behind him
Creator@djs1914 · Tampa/Brandon, FL

Creator & UGC Partner

Content brands can use and audiences actually watch — travel, family experiences, Tampa culture, and the real-life moments in between. Booking brand deals, UGC, and PR partnerships for Q4 2026.

  • UGC video
  • Brand deals
  • PR packages
  • Travel features
instagram.com/djs1914 →
Daniel Smith in a royal blue Phi Beta Sigma suit with fraternity crest, composited on a royal-blue halftone backdrop
LeadershipMember since Dec 2010

Phi Beta Sigma — Florida

I serve as the 29th Florida State Director of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. — supporting chapters statewide on intake, programming, and the business of brotherhood. Culture for service, service for humanity.

  • Chapter support
  • State programming
  • Mentorship
  • Community service
How I got here →
The stone Carriage Pointe entrance sign in Gibsonton, Florida — the community served by the Panther Trails Community Development District
Career & ServiceDay job + civic duty

Corporate Leadership & Community

By day I lead a retention team at GEICO as a supervisor. At home in Tampa/Brandon, I serve on the Panther Trails Community Development District board — and I carry the standard from my years in U.S. Air Force Security Forces into everything above.

  • GEICO Retention Supervisor
  • Chairman, Panther Trails CDD Board
  • USAF Veteran
  • Mental-health advocate
The advocacy work →
03

The titles

Titles are just receipts. These are the four rooms I answer for — a company, a brotherhood, a team, and a neighborhood. Same standard in every one: show up prepared, do the work in public, leave it better than you found it.

Daniel Smith in a navy blazer seated behind a laptop at a desk in a Tampa high-rise with the skyline behind him
Awkward Media Group · Tampa, FL

Founder & CEO

Since 2020, my creative company has built brands people actually remember — identity, content, and campaigns for businesses, artists, and organizations that are done blending in.

Daniel Smith in a royal blue Phi Beta Sigma suit and striped tie with the fraternity crest embroidered on the jacket and a Sigma pin on the lapel — official portrait
Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.

29th Florida State Director

Leading Florida's Sigma chapters statewide — intake, programming, mentorship, and the business of brotherhood. A brother since December 2010, financially active every year since.

A polished executive desk at golden hour — laptop, open journal, coffee, phone, and a gold watch
GEICO · Retention

Supervisor

Started through GEICO's Leadership Development Program in July 2025, promoted to Supervisor in Service in January 2026, and now Supervisor in Retention — coaching reps, keeping customers, and carrying the service standard I learned in an Air Force uniform into corporate leadership.

Aerial view of the Carriage Pointe amenity center in Gibsonton, Florida — the community pool, clubhouse, tennis and basketball courts the Panther Trails CDD maintains
Panther Trails CDD · Carriage Pointe, Gibsonton

Board Chairman

Chairing the Community Development District board that runs our neighborhood's shared spaces — the unglamorous, necessary work of showing up for the place you live.

Full-body portrait of Daniel Smith in a royal-blue suit standing among palm trees in downtown Tampa
@djs1914 · Tampa Bay

Digital Creative

Travel, family experiences, and local Florida culture — content shot where I live, for brands that want Tampa with a pulse and a point of view.

Full-body portrait of Daniel Smith in a royal-blue suit on a Tampa rooftop at dusk with the city skyline behind him
Mental Health Advocacy

Saying It Out Loud

ADHD, anxiety, and depression talked about in public — in rooms, on rooftops, and on camera — so the next man doesn't have to carry it alone.

04

The short version

Kansas roots, Georgia raised, Florida built. The through-line is service — to country, to community, to family, and to the work.

Daniel Smith and his daughter smiling on the steps of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s childhood home in Atlanta, Daniel in an Awkward Culture tee

Bringing my daughter to Dr. King's childhood home in Atlanta — that history gets handed down in person, or it doesn't get handed down at all.

  1. 1987

    Born in Junction City, Kansas

    Raised in Bainbridge, Georgia — small-town values, big-city plans. Bainbridge High School, class of 2005.

  2. 2010

    Joined Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.

    December 2010. Financially active every year since — brotherhood, scholarship, and service became the blueprint.

  3. 2017

    U.S. Air Force — Security Forces

    Served until November 21, 2017. Earned a bachelor's in Entertainment Business and a master's in Public Relations from Full Sail University while in uniform.

  4. 2020

    Founded Awkward Media Group

    Turned a creative skill set into a Tampa company — branding and digital media for clients who refuse to be forgettable.

  5. 2025

    Started the journey at 291 lbs

    July 2025. No announcement, no photo shoot — just a decision to show up for myself. Down to 233 and pushing for 220; the full story lives in the journal below.

  6. 2026

    GEICO Supervisor in Retention · 29th Florida State Director

    At GEICO since July 2025 — up through the LDP program to Supervisor in Service in January 2026, then Supervisor in Retention — and serving Florida's Sigma chapters statewide, while raising a teenage daughter and building the @djs1914 creator brand.

05

The voice

I don't just post about mental health — I stand in rooms and talk about it. A late ADHD diagnosis at 39, years of anxiety and depression carried quietly, and a decision to say it out loud so the next man doesn't have to carry it alone.

Daniel Smith in a black suit throwing the Sigma hand sign on the main stage at Phi Beta Sigma Conclave Tampa 2025, with the Dream Big Act Bold backdrop
Conclave Tampa 2025 — the big stage, on home turf. Dream big, act bold, always believe.
Daniel Smith speaking at a podium during Tampa General Hospital's Men's Health and Mental Health Month lunch and learn
Tampa General Hospital · June 2026

Men's Health & Mental Health Month

Shared my mental health journey at Tampa General Hospital's lunch-and-learn — what it took to get help, and why asking for it is strength, not weakness.

Daniel Smith in academic regalia smiling before delivering a commencement keynote
Keynote Speaker · 2026

Commencement & Founders' Day Keynotes

Keynote speaker for an 8th-grade graduating class and a Founders' Day address for my fraternity brothers — same message for every room: your story is not your ceiling.

Daniel Smith in a blue suit holding a microphone in front of a Florida Memorial University backdrop
Florida Memorial University

Mic in Hand

Speaking to students at Florida Memorial University — some messages only land when the person delivering them has actually lived them.

Daniel Smith speaking at a workshop in a blue Phi Beta Sigma polo with a name badge
State Trainings & Chapter Workshops

The Workshop Room

Breakout rooms and chapter trainings are where the real building happens — name badge on, sleeves up, doing the work with people, not just at them.

Daniel Smith presenting at a podium with a projector screen behind him
Keynotes & Presentations

On the Podium

From commencement stages to conference general sessions — prepared, personal, and built to leave the room different than it walked in.

Mental health & ADHD advocacy Men's health Living with anxiety & depression Leadership through service Youth mentorship Building a brand with purpose
Daniel Smith mic'd up mid-conversation at a Phi Beta Sigma Conclave session, gesturing as he makes a point
Now booking · Q4 2026

Put me in the room

Keynotes, commencement addresses, men's-health panels, corporate lunch-and-learns, fraternity programming. One talk or a full session — if the room needs honesty with a pulse, I bring it.

Book Daniel to speak All contact options
06

Word on the street

Rooms talk after the talk. This is where their words will live — event bookers, brand partners, brothers, and community leaders, in their own words.

Event booker

“The one line the room kept repeating after he left — it goes right here.”

Read the full quote

The full quote goes here — two or three sentences with the detail that makes it believable: the room, the moment, the result.

— Name Title, Organization
Brand partner

“What the content did for the campaign, in the brand’s own words — it drops in here.”

Read the full quote

The full quote goes here — what was delivered, how it performed, and why they’d book him again.

— Name Title, Brand
Chapter leader

“How the brothers responded to the talk, straight from chapter leadership — right here.”

Read the full quote

The full quote goes here — the session, the standard it set, and what the chapter did with it afterward.

— Name Title, Chapter
Men’s-health panel

“What changed for the men in the room, in one honest sentence — right here.”

Read the full quote

The full quote goes here — what it meant to hear a man say the quiet part out loud, and what it opened up.

— Name Title, Organization
07

Media / press kit

Everything an event booker or producer asks for, in one place — the one-sheet, both bios ready to copy, and headshots ready to download. No email tag required.

Daniel Smith in a royal blue Phi Beta Sigma suit and striped tie with the fraternity crest embroidered on the jacket — official portrait
Speaker one-sheet

Book the story, not just the talk

Daniel J. Smith II is a U.S. Air Force veteran, Tampa-based founder of Awkward Media Group, and Florida State Director of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. A GEICO retention supervisor and girl dad, he speaks on mental health, leadership through service, and turning a hard start into momentum.

The credentials, line by line
  • U.S. Air Force, Security Forces — 2005 to November 2017
  • Phi Beta Sigma since Dec 2010 · leadership since 2012
  • GEICO: LDP Jul 2025 → Supervisor in Retention
  • Chairman, Panther Trails CDD Board · Gibsonton, FL
  • Now booking Q4 2026 · Tampa-based, will travel
Download one-sheet (PDF) Full press kit (HTML) Book Daniel
For programs & intros · 48 words

Short bio

Read the short bio

Daniel J. Smith II is a U.S. Air Force veteran, Tampa-based founder of Awkward Media Group, and Florida State Director of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. A GEICO retention supervisor and girl dad, he speaks on mental health, leadership through service, and turning a hard start into momentum.

For event pages & press

Long bio

Read the long bio

Daniel J. Smith II was born in Junction City, Kansas, and raised in Bainbridge, Georgia, where he moved at one year old. When his parents split during his third-grade year, Daniel grew up in the hood — and learned life's hardest lessons early: how to read a room, respect the grind, and never let your circumstances write your ending.

He graduated in 2005 and enlisted in the United States Air Force that July, landing at F.E. Warren AFB in Cheyenne, Wyoming. In August 2010 he was reassigned to MacDill AFB in Tampa, and that December he joined Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. He earned an associate's in Criminal Justice from the Community College of the Air Force, then a bachelor's in Entertainment Business and a master's in Public Relations from Full Sail University. Medically separated in November 2017, he found his grounding point in Sigma, serving in leadership since 2012 at the local, state, regional, and national levels. Today he serves as Florida State Director of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. and sits on the Board of Supervisors of the Panther Trails Community Development District.

A present father to a beautiful daughter, Daniel started at GEICO in July 2025 through the Leadership Development Program (LDP), earned a promotion to Supervisor in Service in January 2026, and has since been promoted again to Supervisor in Retention. He is also a vocal mental-health advocate living with anxiety, depression, and ADHD — proof that the kid from Bainbridge who had to figure life out the hard way is exactly who somebody out there needs to hear from.

Headshots — four downloads, pick your crop
Official portrait of Daniel Smith in a royal blue Phi Beta Sigma suit

Official portrait

Royal-blue Sigma suit · JPG · 1196 × 1315 Download JPG
Studio cutout of Daniel Smith in a navy suit with a transparent background

Studio cutout

Navy suit, transparent · WebP · 1173 × 1272 Download WebP
Daniel Smith at the MIC Conference in Tampa wearing an Awkward Media Group polo

Conference floor

MIC Conference, Tampa · JPG · 1320 × 1760 Download JPG
Daniel Smith speaking into a microphone at a Phi Beta Sigma Conclave session

On stage

Conclave session · JPG · 1400 × 933 Download JPG

Need a different crop, a print-resolution file, or a topic tailored to your audience? Email danielsmith@itsdanielsmith.com or use the booking form and say what the room needs.

08

Booking FAQ

The questions every event booker and brand partner asks before they reach out — answered straight, so the first message can be short.

What does Daniel speak about?

Mental health & ADHD advocacy leads the list. I got a late ADHD diagnosis at 39 after years of carrying anxiety and depression quietly — now I say it out loud so the next man doesn't have to carry it alone. From there: men's health, leadership through service, youth mentorship, and building a brand with purpose.

Keynotes, commencement addresses, men's-health panels, corporate lunch-and-learns, and fraternity programming — every talk is built from a road I've actually walked. No borrowed stories.

Will Daniel travel for an event?

Yes. I'm based in Tampa/Brandon, Florida, and I book on the road — "Tampa-based, will travel" is on the speaker one-sheet for a reason. Put your city and date in the booking form and travel gets built into the quote.

How does booking work?

One form covers everything. Pick speaking, UGC content, a brand deal or PR package — or a mix — then add your name, the audience, and the date or deadline. It lands in my inbox as a ready-to-talk email, and I come back with next steps and a quote built for the job. No 12-email thread.

Prefer email? danielsmith@itsdanielsmith.com — say what it's about up front.

What does a UGC collaboration look like?

Content shot in my voice, made for your channels: talking-head reviews, product demos, unboxings & first impressions, travel & family features, event coverage, and testimonial-style ads.

You also get the audience behind it — Tampa Bay travel, family experiences, and local Florida culture, plus a brotherhood and leadership community most creators can't offer. Deliverables and usage get spelled out in the reply, before anything is shot.

How far ahead should we book?

I'm now booking Q4 2026. For speaking, lock your date as early as you can — conference and fraternity season fills the calendar fast. For content, put your launch date or deadline in the form's date field and I'll confirm the turnaround in the reply, before we agree on anything.

Short on time? Ask anyway — the date field is exactly where to say so.

Start a booking Grab the press kit
09

The journal

Notes from the work — the weight journey, the mental-health road, leadership, brotherhood, and girl-dad chronicles. New entries land here first, written the way I'd say them out loud.

Split photo of Daniel Smith at Raymond James Stadium: in the stands in a red Bucs shirt, and leaner on the Bucs field with a credential around his neck
The Journey Entry No. 1 · October 2026

291 → 233: I'm Not Done Yet

July 2025 I stepped on the scale at 291 pounds and decided I was done negotiating with myself. Fifteen months later I'm at 233 — and what changed wasn't just the food.

Start · 291 lbs (Jul 2025) Today · 233 lbs Next stop · 220 by Thanksgiving
Read the full entry

Let me be honest about where this started. July 2025, I was 291 pounds. Air Force veteran, fraternity state director, running a company, raising my daughter — holding it down for everybody except the man in the mirror. The discipline I used to live by in uniform had quietly slipped, and my mental health went with it.

So I stopped waiting to feel motivated. Motivation is weather; discipline is climate. I built boring, repeatable systems: structure on the plate, movement I could sustain, and Sunday check-ins — scale and waist, every week, no lying to the notebook. As of October 2026 I'm on a chicken-and-fish plan, pushing from 233 to 220 by Thanksgiving.

Here's the part people don't post: the weight was never just weight. Anxiety and depression had me eating my stress and calling it a long day. Working on my mind and my body at the same time — that's when it finally moved. It's also why the mental-health community app I'm building matters so much to me. I know what 2 a.m. feels like at 291.

I'm not done yet. 220 is the next stop, not the finish line. If you're somewhere on this road, you're not behind — you just haven't started your count yet. Start it today. I'll be right here, checking in on Sundays.

— Daniel

10

The vision

Coming soonAnimated Awkward Culture character sticker flashing a peace sign

"Nobody should have to figure out ADHD, anxiety, or depression alone at 2 a.m. So I'm building the room I needed — a community app where people connect, check in, and actually support each other."

  • 01

    Real community connection

    Peer circles and moderated spaces where people walking the same road can find each other — not followers, community.

  • 02

    Built for ADHD, anxiety & depression

    Support tracks shaped around each — focus tools for ADHD minds, grounding for anxious days, and gentle structure for the heavy ones.

  • 03

    Check-ins that meet you where you are

    Low-pressure daily check-ins and honest prompts. No streak guilt, no toxic positivity — just a record of showing up.

  • 04

    Stories & resources that help

    Real stories from real journeys, plus practical resources — because representation is a form of medicine.

Join the waitlist

Be first to know when the app opens its doors. One email when we launch — no spam, no noise.

Goes straight to my inbox at danielsmith@itsdanielsmith.com.

11

Creator & UGC

Tampa Bay creator covering travel, family experiences, and local Florida culture — with a leadership audience most creators can't offer. Content styles I shoot:

Awkward Culture logo

The brand behind the man

Awkward Culture is the universe all of this lives in — the content series, the merch, the mental-health conversation, and the community being built around all three. When a brand works with me, this is the energy that comes with the booking.

Daniel Smith in a graphic CREATE t-shirt setting up a ring light and phone tripod in a Tampa high-rise with the downtown skyline behind him
Creator setup · Tampa skyline

Shot where I live

Ring lights up, Tampa skyline behind me, and the camera rolling — this is how the UGC gets made. Travel, family, and Florida culture, shot in the city I actually call home.

01Talking-head reviews 02Product demos 03Unboxings & first impressions 04Travel & family features 05Event coverage 06Testimonial-style ads
Why book me

The story is the selling point

Brands and event planners don't book Daniel for a deliverable — they book him for what the content carries. Air Force discipline. A State Director's credibility. A father's heart. A man who talks about anxiety, depression, and ADHD out loud. When he puts your product on camera or your audience in a seat, that trust comes with it.

Lived it, not scripted it

Veteran, Florida State Director, CEO, girl dad — none of it is an act, and audiences can tell the difference.

Trust that transfers

A decade of earned credibility across brotherhood, corporate, and community rooms — your brand borrows all of it.

One story, every format

The same journey powers a 45-second UGC video, a keynote, or a panel. Book the story once; use it everywhere.

Start a booking See him speak
Daniel Smith in a navy suit holding his Meeting the Moment award at a Tampa event
Recognition · May 2026"Meeting the Moment" AwardHonored for philanthropic and community work.
Daniel Smith in a red Buccaneers shirt at Raymond James Stadium on game night, field and lights behind him
Game Day · TampaGo BucsRaymond James Stadium is a second office.
Daniel Smith in a black suit standing beside giant illuminated Phi Beta Sigma Greek letters with blue and silver balloons
Sigma PrideΦΒΣ, alwaysBlue and white runs deep.
Daniel Smith with a sorority sister at a formal fraternity event, both throwing their hand signs
Formal NightBrotherhood & sisterhoodDivine Nine, dressed for the occasion.
Daniel Smith with a fraternity brother outside the Tampa Convention Center, palm trees behind them
Conclave TampaHome-field brotherhoodThe convention center is our house too.
Daniel Smith smiling in a white PROUD BLACK t-shirt and gray shorts in a modern space with blue geometric wall art
Awkward CultureProud, alwaysThe brand in its natural habitat.
Daniel Smith standing with fellow Phi Beta Sigma brothers in matching blue-and-white quarter-zips at a fraternity gathering
The BrotherhoodShoulder to shoulderMatching quarter-zips, one standard.
A large group of Phi Beta Sigma brothers posing together on a cruise ship staircase
Brotherhood TravelsSigma at seaThe work is serious. The brotherhood travels well.
Daniel Smith being interviewed on a beach, speaking into a news microphone in a Sigma Florida tee
In the PressBeachside, on the recordTalking Sigma Florida where the cameras are.
12

Work with me

Four doors in. Pick the one that matches what you're building.

A. Need a brand built?

Comment BRAND on any of my branding posts on Instagram and the Awkward Media discovery form lands in your DMs automatically — basics, goals, audience, creative direction, budget.

Go to @djs1914

B. UGC, brand deal, PR — or speaking?

One booking form covers all of it. Tell me the product or the event, the audience, and the date, and I'll come back with next steps and a quote built for the job — no 12-email thread.

Fill out the booking form danielsmith@itsdanielsmith.com

C. Speaking or community?

Keynotes, chapter business, event hosting, or a real conversation about mental health — email me or DM me on Instagram and say what it's about up front.

Use the booking form

D. Just want everything in one place?

Every link that matters, kept current on my Beacons page.

beacons.ai/djs1914

Book Daniel

UGC content, speaking, brand deals, PR — one form covers all of it. Fill it in and it lands in my inbox ready to talk.

Goes straight to my inbox at danielsmith@itsdanielsmith.com.