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Daniella Blechner is the Founder of Conscious Dreams Publishing, Bestselling Author and Book Journey Mentor who is passionate about inspiring and empowering authors to transform their stories, messages and powerful journeys into books of impact and influence.
This South London based writer’s real writing journey began by writing comedy sketches for Youth Project Phenomenon ’98 featuring Gina Yashere and Richard Blackwood. She has always been a keen writer and penned her first book, All The Happy Animals and Lucille and her Great Adventure at just 8 years old. In 2002, she attended Ravensbourne College where she wrote, produced and directed her first short Connexions, which was Nominated for Best Screenplay at the BFM Short Film Awards in 2006 and won “Best Open Deck film” when screened at the Cutting East Festival.
Daniella won the 2007 Film Fund Award from Lewisham Film Initiative to complete her poetry based short drama “Hair We Are” for the Black History Month Short Film Challenge. “Hair We Are” won the 3rd Best Film at the Images of Black Women Film Festival and has been screened at Chicago International Children’s Film Festival, Pan African Film Festival, LA and BAMKids Film Festival in New York and was also screened on The Community Channel and www.itvlocal.com.Today, Daniella is the proud author of Bestselling book Mr Wrong, “A humorous and insightful exploration into why some women continually attract Mr Wrong.” This collection of empowering relationship stories, written by both women and men across the world, allows the reader to question, explore and challenge negative belief systems and set out on a positive path of self-discovery and self-worth. She is passionate about providing a platform for women to have their voices heard and stories shared in a space of empowerment. She runs an empowerment workshop called 7 Steps to Creating the Greatest Version of You for women who want to evolve, create and be empowered. She has also written and compiled poetry anthology 7 Shades of Love, a collection of poems written by women and men globally and feels honoured to be able to showcase work from a multitude of poets from different, ages, races, religions and backgrounds on the Universal subject of Love.
The enjoyment and inspiration behind writing comes from examining and reflecting on social issues often laced with a wicked sense of humour. Her conscious dream is to assist others to become the best version of themselves by drawing out their talents, gifts and purpose. Her mission and vision is to facilitate others using these unique talents and gifts and to live “in purpose” for the benefit and empowerment of others.
RB: What major challenges did you face when setting up your business and how did you overcome them?
DB: When I first published my book Mr Wrong in 2014, I applied for agents and traditional publishers writing query letter after query letter and then…I waited. I waited and waited until I realised that what I was waiting for was someone to tell me that my book was good enough. While I waited, I stopped writing and this is something many writers do. I was finally offered a publishing deal, however by this time I had worked out, through extensive research, how to set up my own publishing brand and publish myself. This is what I did and as a result of creating a water tight book strategy, I became an Amazon Bestseller in 3 categories on the day of publish beating Steve Harvey’s Think Like A Man, Act Like a Lady, The Joy of Sex and the infamous The Rules. I enjoyed success in the Press such as “The Voice” “BEN TV” “The Daily Mail/Mail Online,” and have recently been asked to appear on “The Lorraine Kelly Show.” The biggest challenge at the beginning, was believing in my own capabilities and taking that leap and plunge into the unknown. My advice to anyone who wants to set up their own business is to equip yourself with as much knowledge and possible but remember, whilst knowledge is power, it is only truly power when we take action. Life is too short to wait. If you have a vision and a dream we must take conscious steps to create it. Other hurdles were creating balance within my life that enabled me to focus on all key areas of my life. I overcame this by setting daily standards that allowed me to clearly monitor what aspects of my business I needed to focus on each day, each week, each month and helped me prioritise my time. With help from my partner, Dean Williams and his company Exclusive Visions, I learnt how to structure a business plan and have now applied for a Virgin Start Up loan. Being a creative soul, whose talents lie in writing, mentoring and artistry, learning the practical side of business has proved challenging but one I have been determined to learn and master with the right support and assistance.
RB: Who has been the greatest influence on you since starting your venture and why?
DB: Without a doubt, Dean Williams, my partner has been the greatest influence on me. Being an entrepreneur can be a lonely world and he has given me such invaluable advice, insight and encouragement. Being a Business Consultant himself and Founder of a business consultancy called Exclusive Visions, he has equipped me with so much knowledge and insight into business. When we first met, my business was just taking off. I was coaching fellow Rare Bird Siana Bangura through the publishing process and from this point Dean immediately fell in love with my business idea (and me!) and helped me develop it. We brainstormed concepts, packages and names; planned events together and hosted each other’s launches. For so many years, I’d worked alone so it has been great to have not just a partner who supports me in the fulfilment of my dreams, but a partner who actively assists me in working on them with me. I feel blessed to have someone I can share a vision with and work together to manifest it to fruition.
RB: What is the vision for your business and where do you see yourself 5 years from now.
DB: The bigger picture is to go global with this. We want to find women across the world with powerful and impactful stories that educate, inspire and empower; ones that paint pictures of triumph over adversity and ones that connect women all over the world. At a larger scale, we will be organising global conferences providing a platform for women to share their stories and inspire women on an International scale.