1077: Pain to Purpose and Your Destiny with Real Estate Agent, Published Author, Speaker, Actress and Film Producer Danielle Forbes

Robert Plank 0:04 Author, she's a filmmaker, and she has time to assist people finding their dream homes as a real estate agent in South Florida. And if that was not enough, she's also a flight attendant at American Airlines. So if you're the kind of person that says, I'm always running out of time, I never, I can't find enough time to complete my tasks or follow my dreams, and you want some advice to get around these obstacles and adversities, then Danielle Forbes is your person. And we're going to find out all about our filmmaking, her real thing and everything in between. So Danielle, glad to be speaking with you. Thank

Danielle Forbes 0:36 you so much. It's great to be speaking with you. First of all, let me thank you so much for this opportunity. Thanks for finding me. And I just want to apologize in advance. Normally, I'm all dolled up. But sometimes, you know, when you have all those things going on just you just named, it's kind of hard to find the time. So here I am it raw, uncut. This is the raw uncut glasses and all.

Robert Plank 1:02 Real you Yes. So you have to show up as you are. And so as far as introducing you and what you're all about, do we leave anything out? Like what are you what makes you tick? And what's the kind of the big message right from the source itself?

Speaker 1 1:17 Oh, man, what makes me tick? Oh, I don't I don't think 20 minutes is going to be enough. But I will say what makes me tick in a good way just just waking up, you know, just just waking up because somebody somewhere did it. So I always say just waking up that's that's half the battle. That's God giving you another opportunity to step into your purpose and his his perfect purpose and will for your life so that in and of itself, I would say breath in my body is what makes me tick and makes me go. Yeah, wonderful.

Robert Plank 1:53 So just waking up just showing up just being there. I think about that a lot. This idea that it's really easy. It's way too easy to compare yourself to others to talk about about yourself. And you think that the only people that are giving up are the only people that kind of lose are the ones that are not pursuing their dreams, right? The ones that have dropped out, but ones that say, Well, I can't do it. So why even try. So even if you're still struggling and things are not ideal to where you want them to be, then you're as long as you're still on the path, and you're still making progress. And you're still doing great. And so what do you do we listed things like author, filmmaker, realtor flight attendant. So out of all those Is there a hierarchy? Is there like the I'm number one, this and number two, that are they all equally distributed?

Speaker 1 2:42 Well, I will go back to what you said really quick before I answer that, waking up really is half the battle. So if you can do that, that will allow you to do all those things that you just named. For me as far as number 1234 Number one, I would say you know, you have to be true to yourself before anything, I am a woman I'm a woman of God, a God fearing woman, I am a mom of two grown up daughters, I was a teenage mom. So I have two grown up daughters 33 and 30 which is so hard to believe I have five grandchildren. So before I am a flight attendant, a real estate agent, and author a filmmaker, I am a like I said a woman of God I'm a mom. So I would say after that everything else kind of comes into play God has definitely giving me the strength to to do it all. So I would say that you know, being a flight attendant is my bread and butter but I do enjoy I've been in the aviation industry for well over 20 years I started back when I was 22 so I enjoy flying I enjoy serving people you have to you know have a passion for for people It sounds cliche, but you really do because things have changed so much from 20 years ago, you know flying and the customer has changed the companies have changed things have merged there's been a pandemic so there's definitely been a lot of changes throughout that time. So I've definitely been able to been able to weather the storm and roll with the punches in that regard but I still love it but more so you know then that I'll send the people it's very flexible so I thank God for the flexibility to be able to have a career that allows me to bring money in while I am pursuing my passions as writing and filmmaking and you know my newfound real estate career so it's great so you will hear me give God the glory for everything because you know through him I get my being I get my you know I get life so with without that without the breath in my body and my fate, which is honestly brought me this far obviously thy faith without works is dead. But it is my faith that's been, you know, that has allowed me to, to do all of these things. So that's my answer to that.

Robert Plank 5:11 And that's a great answer and a wonderful message that your faith in your higher power, something bigger than yourself pulls you up towards your dreams and your destiny and you have this flight attendant career, that way you have that time flexibility to I imagine some days at a time be off doing this, but then be right back. It's not like you clock into a nine to five and have to squeeze in the other passion projects. And so what are these passion projects? Like? What are you writing? What have you written? What is the filmmaking all about?

Speaker 1 5:44 Awesome. Well, thank you so much. So I have written I wrote a book back in 2017. Called Destiny A Love Story gone wrong. It is a fiction thriller with an urban twist. So destiny was something that it started off as a fun conversation. It started off as is actually a conversation. That wasn't wasn't a joke. But it was kind of like I was telling a story about something that happened years ago in my hometown, and I just started to build upon it. As a child, I was an only child for about 12 years before my mom had my brother. So a lot of only children have imaginary friends. So years ago, I think probably I was six or seven, I had an imaginary friend and I would make up these stories. And so obviously, back then I didn't know it was a gift. But you know, fast forward to 2017 when you know that passion, that imaginary friend came back to help me reignite my imagination, and create destiny. So Destiny went from just a fun conversation, to a to therapy, because I was engaged back in 20 2016, the engagement broke in 2017. So when I started writing the book, I was engaged and you know, I had the motivation, the encouragement from, you know, my ex fiance, to when it broke, the engagement broke, I was able to take that pain and kind of transmute it into Destiny, which is the main character of the book. So that book that was written in 2017, was published in 2019. I did my first book signing at books and books in Miami International Airport. So my career definitely helped play a part in that and the book sold out in two days. And it was between Michelle Obama's book and Rick Ross it by book sold out. So it was amazing. But then shortly after that, a pandemic hit and it shut the whole world down. So instead of me looking at it, as if, you know, woe is me, I'm like, wow, I must really have something special that the enemy had to shut the whole world down just to stop me because we all know that if he doesn't break into an empty house, so that let me know that I'm really onto something. So instead of allowing that to stop me, I just continued in that time when the world has shut down, to think and use my creative powers and my creative juices to connect with my now producer. His name is James Hunter. He's at first dibs films. We ended up taking my book and transforming it into a script I met. It's crazy. I wanted an independent boat ride back in 2017, for filmmakers, where I met my my producers distributor, and he called him on the phone right away and said, I met this amazing young lady, you have to meet her, you have to talk to her. She's writing a book. She wants to turn it into a film. So we actually just completed the film we filmed in Atlanta, Georgia. We wrapped on January 12. We have the trailer for it. We are you know going to wait to put it out there. But we have a premiere scheduled in Orlando, Florida for May 8. I don't have the theater, but destiny will have a red carpet premiere. So we'll definitely share that with you later. And everybody is welcome. It's actually a double premiere for another movie that my investors took place. And so I'm very excited about that. Destiny has already secured a distribution deal with indie rights movies. So this movie is phenomenal. Seeing the trailer it exceeded my expectations. And one of my favorite scriptures is God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we can ask her think and my producer and the entire cast and crew exceeded my expectations like my expectations were here you know for lower budget film and then He just took them here. So I am just, you know, to the moon for that book becoming a film, and it happened in a short period of time. So it's just, it was just favor, you know, favor isn't there, but God show me favor, and I'm grateful. And I'm so excited that I can share this message to people that think that they could never do it. Because when I was writing the book, I know that what was in my heart that this film will one day be a movie I didn't have any funds to put towards it, didn't even put any funds toward it this time, like I had someone believed in me, and they saw the script, they read it, and they were like, we have to do this film, like this movie is going to touch so many people, you know, with the storyline. And so you know, I just want to encourage anyone that's, you know, thinking along the same lines, like it's possible, don't be afraid to dream big, be afraid to dream small. So that would be my message to people.

Robert Plank 10:59 I like that a lot that the dreaming small, that's the real killer. And also, it's interesting to, to kind of play with this idea in our mind of the higher power and you give the glory to God. Because if you're selfish, and you say, Hey, I'm some I'm such a amazing, smart, fantastic person, I deserve all this credit, then that really plays tricks on your own mind, right, because then maybe you have the inflated ego, and then when another failure comes along, then that hurts a lot more than remaining humble. And there's this idea that your higher power gives you what you need, maybe not what you want. And there's some kind of cooperation in place where like things are not just necessarily handed to you, you also have to work for them. And then you might have to be a little flexible. And then the gift that you get may not necessarily be the exact thing that you asked for or expected. But all that added up makes for an interesting journey of many twists and turns. And what I'm getting a lot from you is that you you have these big goals, and you have this perseverance. And even as you said, as you're writing the book, you were saying, Okay, I want this to be a movie someday. But also there's that aspect of the networking, right? The people skills just like you and me here on our podcast. And we don't necessarily have to be here. But it's a good habit to have just to speak to who you need to speak to. And then all that adds up. And that gives you the the benefits later. And even to get this movie made. It's not like you were just sitting at home hoping that some filmmaker would knock on your door and walk in, you went out and you were doing some networking there. And so what were the struggles and the failures, like in order to get this movie made, because sometimes you hear about the struggles of getting funding or you have to get all these noes to get one yes or compromise on your dreams. So what had to happen to go from you wrote the book and met the Met the filmmaker and got the funding, like what were the struggles in that process?

Speaker 1 13:04 Oh, I love it. That's a great question, Robert. And as you were speaking, it's it's amazing I you will i You will never you will get tired of me giving God the glory. But when I tell you, and anyone that has that same belief system as me, the Holy Spirit is very real. So as you were speaking, one of my favorite scriptures was just staring in my spirit, it says, and we know that all things work together for good for those who love God and called according to His purpose. And so what that means is, God doesn't waste anything. So you know, you talk about the networking, and you know, how you and I met, you know, over LinkedIn, and, you know, just the struggles and not having the money, but having the dream and not understanding how it's going to come into play. God doesn't waste anything. So everything that that I that I, you know, struggled with or was challenged by, you know, having the dream but not having the funds, you know, having champagne dreams, but you know, but a beer budget it. I knew that what God had showed me that if he showed me to if he showed it to me, he was going to provide a way I was going to be we're equipped for a battle we are God's not going to give us a dream and a purpose and not equip us for it. So all of those things that we have and that we want to do in life. We already have the resources people go and they look far and they look high, and it's right in front of you. So the very person that I met on that independent boat ride. He made a phone call right in front of me. We're on a boat, he calls his producer James, and he tells him about you know, my film and my book and you know what a wonderful storyline it is. Well, James had a pool of investors. And what's so crazy about it, those same investors that invested in Destiny now and are so excited, they turned my script down the first time, because they wanted to do another film, which was a horror film. So they saw how well James was doing with his movies that they said, You know what we believe in you. So whatever film you want to do, we'll do it. So when James actually put that post on Facebook, I saw it, and I caught him right away, like, Let's do destiny. And he said, you know, if you're okay, with a smaller budget, we can do it. I'm like, You know what, I wouldn't care if it was a $500 budget, I know that this is a great story. And it's going to change people's lives. And I want to be able to encourage everyone. And so we went from having a small budget to it going over budget, and then just fully supporting it. Because once they read that script, they knew we had to make this movie. So I say all that to say like, it didn't happen overnight. But there are people that have the same dream as me that wrote a book and would like to turn it into a film and it took them 20 years to do it. Or you know, it never happened. So for me to had written that book in 2017. And for it to get published in 2019, and had been able to wrap a film up, just you know, a couple of months ago, that was very quick. And so you know, I always say favor isn't fair. And God chooses whom he wants to bring, you know, his his word. So I always say, you know, this is not about me, I get God's glory, because I never had a desire to write a book. I never took one writing class, it was something that I never wanted to do. So people, when they read the book, they thought, Oh, you want to be a writer, and you took classes, I never did God, put that in my spirit and said, you're going to write this book, you're going to give me the glory and bring people to me. So this is not about me, gloating or bragging, like it has humbled me, and it's humbled me to share the Word and spread the good news, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ. And basically, you know, through Him, we can do all things without him, I would not have had the idea to write the book, you know, or the resources to bring that book to a film. So, you know, without going on and on and on which I can because I'm very passionate about it. It's just such a blessing to be able to share that, and encourage people with that message that it's all possible through through Jesus that strengthens you, or that strengthens me.

Robert Plank 17:33 Wonderful. And you mentioned about how maybe someone out there has an idea for a film, or maybe they have a book that just is incomplete or is not yet published. And it's always interesting to think about this idea that there's like, the products that you make, whatever that is, right book, movie, whatever. And there's the creation of it, which That in itself is a while, but then there's the marketing of it. There's the promotion, which that is so much harder, right? And sometimes takes so much more work so much more time. And it feels inverse, because sometimes you expect in your mind, like, Oh, I'll spend 80% of my time making this really good film and 20% of the time, Caronia, but it's like you have to spend like unimaginable amounts of time and effort and money in order to get just to get a little bit of the word out. And so what's your thought process on that, like when you did the book signing? Or when you were putting out the movie here? Like there's some people say, Well, I have like a six month plan, or put in two hours a day, or I'll talk to 25 people per day. So what is your thought process mindset? As far as? How do you even figure out the work that is to be done for promotion? And then what do you do in order to sell out books in order to make movies successful? What goes into the marketing?

Speaker 1 18:54 Great question. And I'm actually still working on that. It's actually a work in progress. Because as you just said, marketing is everything. Marketing is everything. It can be very expensive, obviously. Because you know, one of my favorite, I love quotes. And one of my favorite quotes is if a tree falls in the forest, and no one hears it, you know, did a tree really fall so you can have all these great ideas, and you know, all these wonderful projects that you put out there, but if no one's seen it or heard it, like, did it really even happen? So even till this day, even with the book currently being out in the movie, I've actually am relaunching the book since the movie has been made to really develop the characters. And so still to this day, I am constantly my book, didn't get the chance or didn't get the opportunity that I know it could have because of the pandemic it came in and halted you know, but everything to a screeching halt. So right now I am having The book re edited so I can relaunch it before the the actual premiere of destiny on major platforms, digital streaming platforms. So it's something to where I am actually interviewing some publicists to help me to get the word out there. Because it's a team, you know, it's a team effort, I can write the book and have the all, you know, all the great ideas I want. But there's an expert for everything, there's, you know, I can be the expert in writing, you know, but then there's a producer, an executive producer that has the money, there's publicists that help you get the word out. So you have to be able to, you know, have that team and trust people to help you bring your dream to life. So I'm still every day, I'm thinking of a different idea to get the word out there and finding someone that I can trust that, you know, won't take my money, because there's a lot of scams out there. So it's all about doing the research, which, you know, I'm learning to do a lot of because, you know, on social media, there's constantly an ad and clicking on an ad. So as soon as they see what it is that you like, there's, you know, an ad for that, and you click on it, and they want to take your money. So it's just about doing your research and listening to listening to your spirit. And again, you know, it's when it's a god project, he will bring all of those people to you, just like he sent me all the actors and the producers and the distributors, he will continue to send me those people that will help me to get that word out. That will help me to get the book relaunched and hopefully make it to the New York Times bestseller. Like that's what I woke up with, in my mind, this morning, like, Destiny didn't have a chance to get it back then because of the pandemic. But now like with the movie being out, I feel like it's unstoppable. So marketing. And

Robert Plank 21:53 now you're circling back and getting all the pieces in place the book plus the film at the same time. And so what is sort of the sales pitch for the film, what's the quick synopsis to get us excited to see it?

Speaker 1 22:06 Oh, my goodness, wow. This book is so amazing. So again, although it's a Christian, it's a it's a fiction thriller. It's a fiction thriller book, a Christian based book with an urban spin. So it's super relatable to every genre, if you're a mom, if you're a teenager, if you had a bad rap in life. Or if you just like to read this book is so relatable, so without giving too much of it away, Destiny was raised by a single mom that had some very unforeseen circumstances. Like most mothers, you know, most young mothers, myself and many others in the world, obviously, you want to give your, your child your son, your daughter, you know, the life that you didn't have and the opportunities you didn't have. So Maureen, which was Destiny's mother, she wanted that for destiny, and they didn't live in a great part of town. So she was aspiring to give her daughter the better the better life. So she was blessed with a new home outside of that, you know, poverty stricken area, that destiny, you know, it's you know, they're saying you can take the child out of her hometown, but you can't take the hometown out of the child, right? So destiny had a longing back there, she had something that she was very interested in, was with a boy. So when Destiny got a day, she kind of found her way back to that, you know, that, that, that hometown that, you know, a lot of pain was originated from, and she entered into a toxic relationship with Romeo. So it takes a lot of twists and turns. But then destiny has a moment throughout, you know, this toxic relationship to remember the mother, the young lady that her mother raised her to be, and she finds her way back. And just when you think it's a happily ever after, the story takes a turn that you never saw coming. So it is a roller coaster ride. I mean, from start to finish, you will never be able to figure out how this book ends, or this movie. And so I'm so excited for people to see it. So if you love suspense, if you love thrillers, if you you know, just love to read and just to like to be taken on an emotional roller coaster. This book, this film will definitely do that for you and more.

Robert Plank 24:40 Yeah, I mean, who doesn't love a good roller coaster and exciting adventure? And so and how do we how do we find it like you said that there was like you're figuring out like the theater, but then again, a lot of the distribution these days is streaming. So will we just be able to go to like any specific plot Corman searching like how do we find the movie when it's out?

Speaker 1 25:02 Okay, so you can find the book right now. The book is out on Amazon, you can order destiny, A Love Story gone wrong by Daniel Forbes that is available on Amazon, I will be relaunching the book, you know, and that will be on it. So it'll be called Destiny relaunched. I'm actually already in the works for part two of the book and of the film. But the film, like I said, we just got a distribution deal. So we are not sure as of yet. Where exactly it will be shown. However, it will release probably mid May. So if you put in Destiny, I believe this film is going to be so big, you will be able to it won't be hard to find. So hopefully you and I will be able to circle back and I can give you an update on everything. And then people will be able to find the you know, find the film and buy the book and the Destiny relaunched and follow me on this on this destiny journey. I'm looking to even making it a series because there's these characters all diff have all different lives, some late maybe looking to do a series and spin off of the characters Destiny Romeo, Maureen and talk about their lives. So yeah, so the book is on Amazon. And in May, you will be able to plug it into Google and you'll be able to watch the film.

Robert Plank 26:28 All right, looking forward to it. And what I get a lot out of from what you do is we can't just do one thing, right? We can't just be a one hit wonder or one note character. We have to have the career and the project like we don't have the passion project. And also as far as even you being an author, you're not just saying Oh, put out the one book and everything right on that you put out the book, you re launched it, you made the film, you're doing the sequels and the spin off books. It's great to have that forward momentum and say, say, you know, I'm not just going to be doing this and then calling it quits even I mean, how many like 50 Shades of Grey books are there? How many Harry Potter books are there? And the the prequels and sequels and spin off and Hunger Games books and Maze Runner like no one stops it just one? Because if it's good, why wouldn't you continuously innovate and create more what people want? Because you spent all this time building this audience create more things for your audience to digest. So that's very nice to think about destiny, A Love Story gone wrong on Amazon? And is there a website or a central hub where we can keep track of all these amazing adventures and opportunities that you're pursuing? Absolutely,

Speaker 1 27:44 absolutely. So if you want to follow my my Instagram, author, Daniel Forbes, you can see everything destiny and get a little bit of my personality on there as well. My website is under construction right now. But it will be back up as soon as we have some solid information in play as far as where the premiere will be in Orlando, it will be there on May 8, which is Wednesday. So and then as far as where the movie will be launched. So that is Daniel Forbes productions.com. That is my website. And you can also follow the Daniel Forbes Show on Facebook, or my private page, which is Daniel Forbes. And so I will be updating that, you know, in the very near future with with all of these important dates, and always welcome. Absolutely. Very

Robert Plank 28:44 exciting. And I can say that I knew you when I can, I knew you before you really blew up and created all these amazing things. And so whether you're an Instagram person, Facebook person, website person, then check out Danielle Forbes, get the book, look into the film, starting May 8 when it goes live. And we'll be excited to find out where you go from here, Danielle and as we wrap up our conversation, you're an author, and you're well spoken and well read. Is there an appropriate quote or lesson that you feel like sharing at the very end here to really help us out energize us send us on our way?

Speaker 1 29:21 Oh, I love that. Thank you so much. My favorite quote and this is a Daniel Forbes original. I faced many forms of adversity but none of which has allowed to stop me from being all that God has created me to be. So I say that for to myself, and to everyone watching. I don't care what you go through. It's all working together for your good God does not waste anything no matter how big how small. How good how that is all a part of your destiny. Your purpose Donal Allow it to stop you from being all that God has created you to be. You can do all things through Christ that strengthens you. Even if you're not a believer, if you are a believer, if you're on the fence, whatever it is you if you wake up every day, your Creator has placed a greater purpose in us. So whether you're doing it, you're thinking about it. Go for it. That's the word I filled my spirit. Go forth. Don't be afraid. Be afraid to dream small. Not big.

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