Influential Woman · Magazine
Raiko Dai
Founder and Editor-in-Chief, MonDai Magazine
Washington, DC
Her Story
About Raiko
I launched my magazine, Monday (spelled D-A-I), almost a year ago during one of the most challenging periods of my life. I was going through a tumultuous divorce, leaving an abusive marriage, and my finances weren't looking great, but I did it anyways. With every interview I conducted, especially in that first edition when I was wearing all the hats, I felt so good. The same way I was able to hear these individuals' stories, they were pouring into me the same way I wanted their stories to pour into our readers. It was a beautiful thing. The magazine is named as a play on my last name, Dai, but it's also what we called my grandmother growing up. She was unique and one-of-a-kind, a big visionary and dynamic creative who could envision anything and bring it into reality. So much of her flows through me. The magazine serves three purposes: it's a legacy story combining some of her and some of me, it allows me to share stories of dynamic people on a bigger scale as a storyteller, and it's based on the principle that everyone walking in their purpose and doing what they truly love doesn't hate Mondays. I'm intentionally targeting people who aren't high-level influencers or celebrities but are making big impacts and having cultural influence in their respective industries.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Raiko
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Just start. I think that if you have been blessed with an idea and a passion for something, then there's something unique about the vision that you have that the world needs to see, no matter how saturated you feel an industry may be. Don't let other people get in your ear to try to talk you out of your vision. It wasn't given to them, it was given to you. Do it. It may not make sense to everyone else, but all it has to do is make sense to you. It only needs to make sense to you. It really matters who you surround yourself with, because if you surround yourself with individuals who don't have audacious dreams, then they will try to talk you down to the level in which they dream. You want to be around people that have bold, audacious dreams and goals, because they'll be like, yes, or they'll tell you you're not dreaming big enough. Those are the type of people that you want to have in your ear.
02What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge was getting started and pulling the trigger to do it. I kept delaying the launch because I was waiting until everything was perfect, waiting until things were smoothed out. Finally, I just decided to do it now, even though it didn't make sense. I took that first step even though I didn't see the full staircase. Doing it scared was the big challenge. Some of the people I was reaching out to were people I didn't know personally, but I had admired them for so long from a distance. When I reached out to them, they were immediately enthusiastic about sitting down for an interview. All of the challenges that I thought I might face, there was none of that, because I was met with so much support from people that I knew and those that I would come to know.
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