Deborah, with her thirty years of being an ltrepreneur and creating over seven companies, knows exactly what it means to accept the mission. When you make that decision, when you accept the mission to become a solopreneur, to take yourself and your talents to market, then you embrace a life of not only unlimited possibilities, but also the unknown. It's an elixir of fear and bravery that
only someone who's taken the leap really understands. On our show, deb digs deep with her guests to highlight what you the listener wants to know, the stories, the whys, and the hows to navigate the journey to success. Get ready to hear from some of the most incredible mission takers from Generation Z to boomers. So sit up, perk up, and get ready to be blown away. Now here is your host, Deborah Drummond. Oh my goodness, I am excited, and so are you. You guys are the most
excited audience. I got to tell you, you know, I just get in trouble. I get in trouble when the camera goes off because I have these incredible people that come on that also have podcasts, and I sit here in front of them and tell them that you are the best podcast audience ever and they're like, what what? My people are kind of cool and we're like, they can come on over to this tribe if they like, would you guys share and you shout it out and you let me know who's done
something for you and you follow and you guys are active. Now what could I say about you guys? You guys are like rock stars. Hmmm. I wonder that that's a lead in. I'm sure you know by now that that is to look at. If you're like, what the heck? You're on mission accepted today? So good for you. Good for you because your other probably on one. If this happened by accident, you're going to be on one. You know. That's at the universe. It's like universe is
telling you a little something. There might be something inside. So maybe this is going to help you make that decision to join the Craig Crag. Okay, So I have Betta be Raka Okay, I was like, I got to make sure I say that right. Betta be rock on with us today and she absolutely is a rock star. So if you want to expand your rock star ability, you are in the right host today. This woman is
an executive film director, producer, writer, and international recording artist. She has some things that she's going to share today that surprised her in her career, and we want to hear all about what you're doing, what you're currently working on, how you got there. Thank you so much for coming on
to mission accepted today. Thank you for having me. I truly appreciate it, absolutely absolutely so like you guys have been hearing me talk a little bit for a little while, in a little while longer about this incredible two sixty two project where we have thank you, attracted and connected with incredible women to join the two hundred and sixty two project, which is a global project of solidarity ce and helping us remember about International Women's Day. And this incredible woman
is going to be speaking in December. She's also going to be speaking again when we get into twenty twenty four. And she is also in the book, so you get to see and hear and you know she's got some events that go on. There's nothing wrong with taking that book and getting her to sign it live. That's what I would do if I was you. But enough about that, let's talk about you know, you took a mission. How did it come to you? What did did you always know? Like,
tell us the beginning of how this started for you? Oh man, it started in church. It started with music. Music has always been a part of my life. And I got the book very quickly when I saw Diana or also on TV when I was a little kid, and I knew then that that's something that I wanted to inspire to do one day. And then I started professionally at age thirteen touring. We started working with us coming back and forth to Atlanta, Georgia. We was working with Bobby Brown's camp.
My mom was our manager, and I mean it just really took off. I came from the era of artist development where you know, you had the dance moves, everything was precise, you know, and everything, and we came out swinging. I mean, you would start off in the different talent shows and of course, as you're new, you're gonna get you're not gonna win. So what what you do is you go back, you look
at the videos. We was using cassette tapes in those times, and you know, VCRs and stuff, and you would look at the footage of what you was doing and what you need to do and how you could correct it and everything. So at a very early age, I learned about plan, do and review. You look at what you plan ahead, you review it, and you do it. You know. So it was, you know, it's just been it's been an amazing journey of music and now films.
It's just been an amazing journey altogether. So let's talk about that, because you see that you started when you're thirteen, and you know, I have a son who announced me at twelve that he was a sneakerhead and a hype beast. I'm like, what do you know? What are you doing online? And then I soon found out that that is all in the clothing sector, right, And so at fifteen he sat me down and he's like, I'm doing this. This is let's so let's start. You had a mom
at thirteen. You just said that was kind of sounds like acting like you're I call him mammagers, you know, so she was like your mom and your manager, and so tell us a little bit about that. Was like, because that is unusual maybe for a certain generation, but it's not so unusual now, right, Yeah, yeah, what was that about? What was that like having your mom. You know, that was the best feeling. My mom has been my biggest supporter, and I can really say that
I'm blessed because I've had a mom that anything. She's always told me anything that I can conjure up in my mind, if I can see it, then I can do it. And so I always look at if you get those visions, those are your blueprints, you know, to what you can achieve. And so she's always been the cheerleader on the side, like, yep, if you see it in your brain, let's go for it. And so with music, I mean, this lady used to take us up
and down the road. We stayed in Tanfa at the moment, at that time frame, and we woulcome up and down the road every weekend to Atlanta, Georgia, working with Bobby Brown and working with us. He had just got his record deal, doing all these studio sessions and stuff like that, and I mean we was getting groomed, you know, and we had to do a lot of the behind the scenes stuff of learning choreography, vocal lessons,
exercising because you have to keep you stamming up and everything. And my mom was right there with us every step of the way incredible, Okay, so we now know how you got started. And so there's always a couple there's a couple of things about the mission, right. I always say, sometimes we get thrown at it. Sometimes it shows up. Sometimes we say no when it comes back ten years later. Sometimes our you know, our
friends drag us into the mission. There's one thing about going in, right, and it can be super scary and super exciting and all of that, But staying in the mission, like what some of the stuff that you kind of have come up against. Has there ever been that time where you're like, man, I don't know, this is this is funky. This is funky, right, Maybe because it's one thing that people people see it sounds good, so you don't mind. Yeah, I don't mind. Honestly,
this is one of the hardest industries ever for me. Back in the day, I had two deals on a table, one with oneer brothers, one with Sony. I ended up getting into a car accident as I was headed to my attorney's office and I had to drink from a straw for six months. Stitches in my mouth. They did surgery through my mouth and it took me a year to come back out and when I came back out, the deals were no longer on the table. Warner had revamped, Sony had just
signed someone else. And then we went to the third label. And at this time, I'm around eighteen, about to term nineteen. We had just we went to the third label, and the third label literally told me that I was too old and I missed the boat, because at that moment they was signing the Britney Spears, the thirteen to twelve year olds, and so here I am eighteen, thinking I'm grea to have this longevity career in the industry, and the door gets shut in my face, and so, you
know, you go through depression. And then at that time, I have my friends and people that I've been working with who when we first started all of our careers, we kind of all like started around the same time, got deal offers around the same time. But now they are women, when Grammys and doing all this stuff, and not that you have to pull me up and bring me along with you, but you would hope that they would.
So then you start having you start thinking, well, maybe I'm not good enough, maybe I did miss the boat, maybe I am too old. Let me go get a job. You know, so you start thinking all of these things because you're like, man, because this is all I've ever wanted to do was do music, and now you've just been told Nope, you're not doing that, and so it was it was really tough for
me. It got to a point where one of my my our co manager was aj Alexander, who's who's also Usher's co manager, and one day he saw me. I went to an event and he saw me and he was like, you know, you should get your own band, do your own thing, and had I had literally just went into the background. I started doing backgrounds for TLC, start doing backgrounds for all these different people. But
I was just in the background. And he said, you should really start doing your own thing, and I was, you know, I thought about it. And then one day I was in the studio and there was a guitar player there, and of course I'm dating myself. He had a cassette tape and he handed it to one of the producers and he said, you know, outside of me being a guitar player, I'm also an artist. And he was like, I would love you to listen to my music. And when the guy was like okay, cool, and when he left,
they started laughing at him. They was like, man, people need to stay in a lane. And you played the guitar, just played the guitar. And it was then that I said, Okay, I can't stay here, you know what I mean, because if I stay here, that's the only thing you're going to see me as as just a background singer. And there's nothing wrong with being a background singer. If you want to just be a background singer, there's nothing wrong with that. But I didn't want I
had more in me, you know that. I wanted to get out. So yeah, it's been a journey for sure. Well look, thanks for sharing that story, because it's that step and no one unless you were in that industry would understand that experience on the inside without hearing it. And I think that many times we come up against strain or stress or experiences that happen
or accidents that happen or that delay us. And that one incident, you know, kind of changed, you know, change things, And it's not about what you do, it's about how you come back from what you do. And and like you said, just like it's a pivot like entrepreneurship, creativity that you know, whatever sector you're in. It is really, it really is a pivot, even whether you had signed that deal. I mean there's still pivots to be had and still pivots to be said, but no
one would understand that. It's kind of like they understand it in dance. My daughter was in dance and she had to Ingrade twelve make a decision are you going to go pro Grade twelve seventeen you other go pro And then she decided I'm not going to go pro because she loved background, even though they wanted her on front. She's like, they're like, you're gleaming too much from the back, you're overshadowing. She's like, I like that. I
want to do this. And then she was like, but I also want to be a lawyer for the un and they're like, you're not going to have a chance to come back. You go a lawyer. You're not coming back, girl, And she's like, I'm seventeen. She's they're like, you're not coming back. And so she went to be a lawyer and then she decided to change and go into something else, but she wasn't going back. What a What an interesting conversation to have with yourself at seventeen to make
those life decisions. Right. So in dance it's very age, particularly ballet and all those kinds of its age. It's technically aged and music even now. But now, no, I'm not going to say now because now we don't care. Now We're like, it doesn't matter our age. If I want to come out at fifty years old and do an album, I'm going to do it, you know. So yeah, very cool, very cool. So you talk about directing, you talk about producing, take us down
that road a little bit, Okay. So I ended up leaving corporate in two thousand and seven to pursue music full time. I have toured the world working with from Janet Jackson, Acon TLC, Zach Brown Collective, so all these people, all these different countries. I've been touring, right, And then another setback happened twenty nineteen. I was getting ready for a show. I was here in Atlanta, but I was getting ready to go overseas to
Qatar and Tormniscus, torn Aco dislocated my shoulder. I fell, tried to catch the fall, and hence all of the different things that I just mentioned happened, and I still had to go to I still had to go to Vegas, I had to go to LA for a show. I had to go to Mexico and chill. By the time I came back from Chile, it went from being a partial tear, which would have only been a six week recovery time, it ended up being a full tear, which was a
year recovery time. So I had to pivot again. Did not expect that. I didn't see this coming. You know, as an artist, you don't have a backup plan. You can't you can't take time off to and get and get paid for it, you know, because you heard, because you see, you know, there's no there's no plan. And so I
got I I ended up having to pivot. But what was crazy about that moment is when I went to LA to perform, that was the time that I performed with Less Brown, Wesley Snipes, Will Ferrell and all these other VIX stars, right and from that incident, me and Less exchange phone numbers. I was at the breakfast area and I listened to him all the time, and I I was at this breakfast and it just so happened my show
was going to be that day and I had came in early. I flew in earlier that Thursday, and my show wasn't until Sunday, so I, you know, you're networking with different people and all the other speakers and and everything, and so all these people start coming up to me, and I know he was like, well, dang, well who is she? Because I know he had to because like it was big, big people, like really big people coming up to me, wanting to take pictures and talking to
me about, you know, the show and everything. So make a long story short. I go over to him. I introduced myself. I tell him I listen. I really do. I listen to him every morning. And I said, by the way, doctor Barlett told me to tell you hello. He says, you know doctor Barlett. I said, yes, Sir, I said, she flew me over to Bahamas to perform for the prime Minister. He said, oh, he said, I don't have her
number anymore, send it to me. So then he says, are you you live here in LA I said, no, Sir, I live in Atlanta. He said, I live in Alpharetta. I said oh. He said, take down my number and get in contact with me. I want to hear some of your stuff. So I'm like, okay, So take this information. And as I'm walking to my seat, I really did. I accidentally called him. I didn't realize I pushed the number. Right.
So now fast forward, I'm in my I'm in my room, getting ready, trying to call myself, to call my nerves because this is a big night for me. Right, and he calls me on the phone and I said, oh, I am so sorry. He said, hello, this is Less Brown. I said, oh, I'm so sorry, mister Brown. I said, I called you by accident. He said, well, you called me by accident, but I'm calling you on purpose. And I love that I did too. It was really cool. He said, are
you in the Are you in the hotel? I said yes, sirday put me up in the hotel. He says, well, I'm in the hotel too. I want you to come to my room. I want you to meet my daughter. I want her to make some dress for you. So I go meet his daughter, meet his team, and everything. We changed information and his daughter makes me some dresses. I mean, it became a whole big thing. So now fast forward. I gotta have this surgery. Because I didn't tell anybody there that I was hurt. Because you still you
still got to perform, you know what I mean. So usually I would wear heels, but I had to wear flats. But I wear some really cute you know, flashy and I had on long dresses. And what I would do is I would get to the locations early so nobody could see me walk. So I didn't do the Red Carpet because I was in so much pain. No, Lie, I was in so much pain. But I did the show and afterwards, we you know, we started contacting each other.
And so now fast forward, it's time for my knee surgery. And I woke up to them saying, hey, it's going to be a year for your knee and your recovery time and all this type of stuff. I ended up having to do three times a week physical therapy. It took me three months walking with a walker, two months on a cane. But when I got home from hearing that, I was going to bed and I started
crying. And he called me on the phone and he says, I know that you feel like this is a setback, but this is a setup for something greater. And I was like, I don't know what I'm going to do, because again, music has been everything to me, and so what ended up happening is I wrote a book. My book became an Amazon bestseller in seven hours, started a podcast with a podcast. I started a magazine
company with my boys called The Finant Once Team Magazine. Then we started, we started each of our podcasts, and I mean, just things, just start rolling. I didn't expect any of this, and then twenty twenty hits, I got released to be able to go back on tour. I was great ahead to Africa and now it's COVID right, So now I'm really sitting there like, okay, But I'm a creative being. I have to create things. And so I always wanted to write a film. I had wrote
a play before. I had six national recording artists in my play and I but I never did a film, and I started writing. I ended up writing thirteen episodes. Was going to turn to a web series, but then I found out how much it was going to cost to do the web series, and I said, okay, I'm gonna have to do a feature film. And see, so I just started, like I died writing in I'm a very hands on person and I executive produced, wrote direct starting, you
know, put my own music in it. And it was so many ups and down challenges, you're dealing with, personalities, you're dealing with not knowing what you're doing. Every day, I'm learning something new, you know. I'm going on YouTube University to learn how to produce and direct and everything. And it was the best. It was the best feeling ever to finally, you know, have the project project out. I just had in April my release of the film Finding the Perfect Guy. I did a premiere at Studio
Movie Girl here in Atlanta. I bought out the biggest night. I bought the biggest room and it was completely star studied. Les Brown came and people from Black Panther, all these big executive BT executives came out. I mean, people showed me a lot of love. At that time, I did not have distribution. Again, I'm brand new to filming. I didn't have distribution. But by the time we got different write ups and everything, I
ended up getting six distribution offers. And my film has officially been out now for two and a half months, and it is on fifteen platforms including thank You, including Amazon Prime. It's on to b It's on Reveal, It's on Plex. I'm out in India on a channel called a nookie. I'm in Africa on a channel called African Dysperia Network. I'm on all of these you know. So yeah, I had to pivot, but I didn't connect it. I didn't expect it at all. And I'm so glad that I
was open to the possibilities. You know. Here here, I am just in my head, I am back at that. You know, set up not set back. Yep, you know, set up not set back. I mean that is a big part of this whole taking on the mission, right, I mean, it's hard enough to follow what you know you're supposed to do inside. That's hard enough. That's hard enough. That has its
own dance, right, that has its own dance. Particularly, I think if it's not not in your wheel, you've never that's not you've never had that impression you want to be you know, you want to be an engineer in a and you're born in a family of I don't know, people that make pottery, do you know what I mean? Like like there can be like just so many different dynamics things that you don't even have the skills for.
That's one thing. But staying on the mission, and we've heard lots of the word pivot in the last few years of how people have had to pivot and renavigate and reinvent themselves. And it's a tough inner, inner game. Like I know that you said that you listen to us, What did you do to get yourself through the I don knows and should I and up against having to learn something new, because that's the interesting thing. When you're
seeing people assume you know everything, right. You know, you're you're in. You're a celebrity, so you know everything about being a celebrity. Sometimes you're like, no, I don't know about that, right, So what do you do personally inside to keep that fire? To keep that fire burning? For me, I do a lot of self help books. I listen to a lot of people's stories and listen to the Tony Robbins and Eric Thomas and I listen to all these different people to stay motivated. You know,
it's the Steve Harvey's story, all these stories. They helped me to pick up the pieces because sometimes you'll get in your head and think that you're alone and think that no one else is going through this. We might not be going through the exact same thing, but we all are going through things. We all have struggles. We all have different things, and you're right.
What I noticed is, you know, because I've done I've worked with all these people, and people see me on all these shows and you know, on all these platforms, they think that like like we don't have like we don't go through things as well, and we do. We do. It's just harder to talk about. It is harder to talk about, right, It is harder to talk about. And I think that's I think that's really important to acknowledge and recognize because sometimes it can be the thing that stops you
from reaching out as well. It's like I can't be there there, I can't be there there and finding that really inner circle you know that place people do masterminding, or they have the private circles of those people that they can really say oh, by the way, you know no and get their support from wow, well congratulations, like really congratulations, that's incredible news and that's
incredible success. So I imagine that you and Less are friends. Now, Yes, what ended up happening, you know, because I had to take that whole year off and everything. One day he was like, you know, you should come work for me. I said, I ain't worked for nobody in a long time. I don't know about that. And I said, but I can help you, and he says, well, I understand that, and so I will go over there. And for eight months I ran. I got him on the stream yard. I used to do all
his videos and editing, and you know, I'm sharp with it. I have a degree in computer information systems and also a degree in marketing and PR, so you know, I'm fluent with a few things. So you know, we got to work. But I got to see him in the light of doing so many things, and he started working with me, started working with my boys with speaking and different things like that. So it was really
cool. That's very cool. So, I mean, I don't know to ask this question now whether what you're working on currently is this incredible film that's getting picked up from stations everywhere, But is that what you're currently working on right now? Is there something else that you're doing so the film? Oh and I didn't say the name of of my film. My film is called Finding a Perfect Guy. It's a romantic comedy that is out and it is
available everywhere. But what I'm currently working on as it's going through the circuits now and it's you know, it's like I said, it's just got out. So we're in the marketing stage of you know, keeping the word out there a little more and more people can see it. Right. So in the meantime, I've started I have seven other ips. I've started writing on two of them, and I also just started BBR Indie Films because of course I'm now doing films. So of course I started my own production company.
Sob I get it, Okay, hello up, it's like BBR. I was actually thinking BBR, BBR. BBR was like, of course it's BBR all right, right. So I have BBR Media Group and within that my event is called BBR Indie Films. And so we just had our very first screening where I am highlighting other other filmmakers and their films and so, because the big the best feeling in the world is to have your film on the big screen in the movie theater, you know what I mean. So we
opened that up to all these different filmmakers. We had one hundred and forty four submissions. It was insane looking through it, but we just had our very first event. It was sold out, it was completely star studied. It was so nice and We're great to start promoting and telling people about it. But the very next one is that's coming up is January tenth. Initially I was going to try to do it monthly, but it's a lot of behind the scenes that you gotta handle, so it's going to be right,
So it's gonna be every other month. And yeah, so the next one it was January tenth, and people can find out more about it at bbrmediagroup dot com. Now is that a live event an online event? It is a live event. You go to the movie theater, we have guest panelists. I'm I'm doing a little bit different because of the different screenings that I would see. You would just see the films, more films, more films,
more films. So what we're doing is we're speaking to or you would see panels, but it'll be it'll be all the same type of people. It'll be you know, a room the panelist is all actors or panelists is all you know. So we did. We had this first one. We had a music supervisor. We had a major, major casting director that was
on there. We had a film production company that has over eighty thousand square feet who is actually the third largest black filmmaker production company in Georgia, so we had him there, and then we had a big actor that was on The Wonder Years, The Wire, BMF and some else it's black lightning, so we had them to give different perspectives. But I didn't want to just talk about the stuff that we already know. We're trying to figure out how
we get cast. You know, I'm asking the real questions that I'm thinking about, and I know these people are thinking about too. You know, it's cute to be like you did this, and you did this, you did this film. Now how did you get on this film? Who are you going through do distribution? Because this is what I need to know.
Yeah, all right, all right. So the if someone is want if someone has a film and they want that, those are the people that are that are want that you're wanting to hear for those of the people that are submitting, they're like, I've got a film, I need to know how to get it here to here? Okay, So then they contacting BBR and now we are accepting let me let me make sure I say this, We are accepting short films because we can't sit there and look at twelve films,
you know for an hour. You know, your films are like our feature films are like an hour and thirty minutes. You can't look at all of those. You get through two films only. So we're accepting the short films up to twenty minutes. And they can go to b DR Media Group for more information. Wow what what not not? Hey? You know, I my knee is up here and I could and walk and you know, decided to write a book and then get back into what a pivot? What big
pivot? You know? What's so cool about it? I'm able to still put my music in it. So that's what's even more. I really like this little this lane, this new lane because I put in my film. I'm singing in my film literally live, and then I got my music in the soundtrack. Yeah, you know, that's the book worlds for me. Oh my gosh. Look, I know we're coming a little we're coming to a rap. We're coming to a rap on the show here. I'm you know, breathe that in, you guys, breathe that in. That's a
there is so much in there. I have a question that I'm going to ask you that for my listeners, they're like, oh, we can't wait for her to ask that question. But I'm going to ask you something else outside of all this really beautiful things that have happened and really things that you've had to pivot around and all that side. And like you said, everyone always assumes that you're you know, you've gotten everything you want, and you
get everything that you want. And I couldn't imagine your treasure boards because they're probably already all filled up or what have you, business aside, maybe personal aside, something from the inside. What is something that's still on your dream board? What's something that's still on your treasure map, What's something that's still on your chalkboard that you're like, I mean big or small? Put it
out for me. Let's put it out there well me. I mean, like you said, not music related or business related, but I'm going for the Oscars and the Grammys. Now that's where I see it. Okay, Yeah no, no, it just didn't have to be there, can be from anywhere. So let's hold that thought. I mean, I think it's super powerful to say it because you don't know who's listening. You just don't know who's listening something like oh, she's super happy, dank what she's doing.
But you you want an Oscar on your mantle? Do you want to Grammy on your man at least? Okay? Okay, see, see we're digging a little deeper. So we are all envisioning on your mantle, in your office, on your desk, your bathroom, cabinet, wherever it is, with your name on it. We want to see a Grammy with your name on it, and we want to see an Oscar with your name on it. Absolutely all right, So anyone knows anyone that knows anyone that knows
anyone there it is. Okay, my last question for you, and I'm sure my audience is like, are you really going to bring up and ask her? I'm like, yeah, I am. Okay. So now you're on your way to a desert island. Okay. You got one suitcase, okay, and you got room for one album. That's it, just one album. Now you can imagine. I've asked this to every single podcast guest, because you know I'm a music mean music count. You're taking one what
is one album? You? One album, one song, one artist that you could not imagine not listening to for the rest of your tropical days. Right now, I'm really feeling Jazzmine Elevant. That's that's who I would take with me because she has a range with her music. So say her name again, Jasmine Sullivan. All right, absolutely who I'm taking? Okay, well lucky her, Holy yeah, how's someone like you take her? Yeah, she's she's she's the vocal beast her. You know, she does alphabets
with the way she she's sings so effortlessly. You know, her notes in and her writing is extreme and she can flip different styles. So she's who I would take it, all right, My son would love that. So let's just do the hashtag vocal beast. I mean, there's the hashtag I haven't seen yet before. So yay, what an amazing experience to have with you today. And look, you guys know what to do, so please
just again say where people can go find you. Okay, you can find me everywhere at Buttabe Rockets, b U t t A b R O C KA buttab Raka. I am on all platforms under that name. You can also find my film information at BBR Media Group. Perfect there's and of course, as always it's in the show notes. We thank you so much for being with us. Today and look, audience, we thank you as well
as you know. You're so important to us. And I just kind of want to leave it that if anyone out there sees themselves sitting in the studio with us sharing their story, their pivot, you know where to read. This is not difficult. It's devadevdrummond dot com. You can go to dev Drummond dot com and you can find all sorts of cool and funky things and here it is. Go to the event page or just send out a today. I want to know when this incredible woman is speaking on the two sixty
two summit. We have over two hundred women sharing their inspiration, information stories, just it's incredible and it is for women and those that support women. So get on the show. Thank you so much for being with us today. Thank you guys, and until we see you again when we will be next week, give you well and staying by bye. Thank you so much for having me on a platform. Absolutely