Hi, I’m Daanish

I was born in 1998 in England, the second eldest child. I was raised in England too and went through the public British schooling system. Since childhood I have always been into organisation, to-do lists and creativity. I also grew up loving school, especially maths, a nerd at heart.

Childhood

At 17, I worked my first job as a waiter in Pizza Hut, getting paid £3.72/hour (+ tips). Yes, that was the legal wage at the time. My second job was at McDonalds, I love looking back on these days. Simpler times.

Working at McDonald’s

For my A levels I studied chemistry, biology, economics and maths in hopes of going to medical school, but life had other plans, and despite my best efforts, I didn't quite hit the grades I needed. So, I took a detour and chose to study Biomedical Science.

2016

Studying at Aston University was my first time living away from home. I actually deactivated all social media for 2 years and transformed my life. I started going to the gym, discovered the world of self-development, TED Talks, and non-fiction books. This is where I had the idea of becoming a Psychiatrist and a public speaker. I started praying properly and taking my faith seriously — this was a transformational period, Alhamdulillah.

Graduation · Aston University

After graduation I took a gap year to apply to medical school (again) and go travelling…until the COVID lockdown cancelled my travel plans. During COVID I was accepted into medical school and had 7 months of lockdown to go, so I bought my first camera, started a newsletter and uploaded my first YouTube video. I spent all of lockdown learning about photography, video editing and content creation. I ended 2020 with 43 subscribers.

My first camera: FujiFilm XT-1001 / 4

I moved to Aberdeen and started my journey to Dr Daanish studying Medicine (MBBS). I continued making content on Instagram, YouTube, and my newsletter while studying full-time. I also worked as a healthcare assistant (for a week), a medicine application mentor and an American football medic part-time.

Medical school placement1 / 4

This was the year that changed everything. I told my mom I was going to make content with a 'business mindset' and started taking it all seriously. I downloaded TikTok and took my account from 0 to 100,000 in just under 3 months. Shortly after I quit my jobs and worked as a self employed creator.

Growing my online community1 / 3

I stayed consistent and learnt lessons along the way. In 2023, I expanded my audience from 100,000 to 700,000 and turned my passion into a business. I increased my income significantly this year and solo travelled for the first time — I had one of the best years of my life, Alhamdulillah.

Solo travel · Valencia, Spain1 / 2

This year I appeared on my first podcast, completed my first public speaking event, I performed Umrah in the last 10 nights of Ramadan, passed the UKMLA exam and I ended the year by travelling to Jordan for my first humanitarian deployment trip followed by a solo Umrah (again, Alhamdulillah).

Humanitarian deployment · Jordan1 / 4

I spent 2 months in USA and Canada for my medical elective and travelling to 5 different states. I came back and completed my final year of medical school and officially became Dr Daanish, Alhamdulillah. I took a huge risk and rejected my FY1 job offer, instead I travelled across the UK giving talks at universities and kickstarted my public speaking career. I changed my handle from @daanish.medic → @doctordaanish and redesigned my personal brand.

Medical school graduation · 20251 / 6

I started the year in Qatar with my first international speaking event at the Globally Empowered Muslim (GEM) summit, followed by my 2nd humanitarian deployment in Jordan. I travelled and worked with global brands like AMBOSS, HLTH and Muslim Tech Fest across USA & Europe. I launched my Personal Branding and Anki Masterclass platforms, hosted a MedTech Workshop at Muslim Tech Fest Bosnia, spoke on a panel at The MedNex Conference in London and presented research in the Canadian Psychiatric Association (CPA) in Montreal. I also re-learned how to ride a bike.

HealthTech Workshop · Muslim Tech Fest Bosnia1 / 7