Captive to Captain--My Real-Life Culture Story

Updated: an hour ago

Do you understand CULTURE? The culture in your home, your family, your workplace, your church, your town, or your country? Do you know why it exists and where it comes from? The truth is, culture is a myth! It is a powerful story that we write, and as leaders, we inspire or convince others to live within its concepts.

I’m Daniella Young, and I’ve got one hell of a crazy life story! I am only 30 years old, but based on the lives that I have lived, you might think that I am 102. The story that I am about to tell you is going to blow your mind.

I was born in a cult. Yes, I can imagine what you might be thinking, “That is really crazy. Do those things even still exist? I thought that was just something you watched in Netflix documentaries. Real life bona-fide religious cults still exist today, and I’m living proof. If you think I am talking about communes, ‘prophets of God’, polyamorous or polygamous relationships, and families with 12+ children each, then you would be right. This cult was called “The Children of God. It was started in California in the 60s and spread all over the world.

If you did not grow up there, it can be hard to understand how a 100,000 normal, intelligent people, could have fallen prey to some of the most twisted religious doctrines ever. They lived in communes hidden away from the world, giving up freedoms, and believing that their leader was the Prophet of God brought here for the end of the world. They really believed that their culture story was the right way, the best way, the only way to live. the leader, corrupted by power and truly believing his own twisted culture story, created an environment where children suffered physical, sexual and religious abuses.

If you did grow up there, you have a hard time understanding the rest of the world—at least until you get out there and try. At 15 years old, that is just what I did. I escaped that world, and came to America, and immediately found I had to set aside everything that I knew and try to learn everything I could about normal life. So, I would study people, always watching, trying to figure out what made them tick. I had to change my entire mindset, to understand and care for people that I could not, at first, relate to at all.

Before I tell you all the details, I will jump ahead to the end of the story, just to give you a peek of how it has all turned out.  If you are wondering if I am okay, I totally am. In fact, I love my life. I went on to escape that cult and the future that was planned for me, graduate summa cum laude from college, became a Captain in the US Army, married the love of my life who is the coolest Army helicopter pilot ever, and we have an adorable, precocious, tri-lingual little girl.  Now I run my own company, Cultural Forte, where I get to help business leaders understand culture, and write their own culture story--creating stronger teams and a happier workplace.

My whole life experience has been about changing my mindset over and over, dealing with culture shock, and then making it my new normal. I have lived through a whole lot of giant cultural shifts and huge story changes. I have had to constantly adapt, reset my mindset, and learn to think in new ways. From a that childhood in a religious cult in South America, I became an US Army officer. There, as a 23-year-old woman, I was one of the first to participate on ground combat teams with my ‘Band of Brothers’, (the 101st Airborne Division). Later, as a Captain, I was responsible for leading a large, diverse group of military intelligence professionals whose job it was to generate intelligence across a wide swath of a hostile combat zone. In both situations, our company culture was key to achieving our mission.

Now, I want to tell you a culture story. This is a story of constant learning--from good and bad. It is a story of growing, changing mindsets and helping to rewrite the culture of one of the oldest and largest organizations in our country’s history. I am going to share what I have learned about building amazing, high performing teams, and why your culture story is what matters most.

DANIELLA YOUNG IS A MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER AND WRITER, COMBAT VETERAN, CULT SURVIVOR AND THE FOUNDER AND CEO OF CULTURAL FORTE, A CULTURE AND INNOVATION CONSULTING FIRM. 

WANT TO BOOK DANIELLA AS A SPEAKER? CLICK HERE TO SCHEDULE AN INTRO CALL.

Next in Series:

In The Beginning

Behind Commune Walls

Escaping God

To Socialize or Suicide

Outside the Wire

Make Culture Your Forte