We were lucky to catch up with Deonte’ Towner recently and have shared our conversation below.
Deonte’, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One deeply underappreciated facet of being an entrepreneur or creative is the kind of crazy stuff that happens from time to time. It could be anything from a disgruntled client attacking an employee or waking up to find out a celebrity gave you a shoutout on TikTok – the sudden, unexpected hits (both positive and negative) make the profession both exhilarating and exhausting. Can you share one of your craziest stories?
I will never forget when I woke up to a phone call at 5:25 am in 2017 to let me know that my father has been rushed to the hospital in Santa Cruz. It was reported that he was suffering from the worst type of stroke that you can have. His co workers found him on the cold ground at work, eyes closed and he wouldn’t wake up. I drove 6 hours to Santa Cruz rushing to get to him because my family members didn’t know if he was going to make it or not. On the way to Santa Cruz, Ca I was crying and singing the song Hear My Prayer. As soon as I got to the hospital I ran out the car and the doctor said that he was in a coma and didn’t know if he would make it. As I was in the waiting room I was in shock. I began walking up and down the hallways at the hospital and I saw different families crying because their loved one didn’t make it. My mom told me that earlier a boy was at work and while he was doing construction on his first day material hit him in the head and shortly after he was rushed to the hospital and died. I became emotional on the inside because death was all around me and the boy that died was so close to my age. I was at the hospital for a whole week pleading with God and hoping to get a prayer through. My dad ended up surviving but he is still learning how to walk and talk after all these years while my mother takes care of him. While I was in the cold waiting room I realized that everyday someone is being born, someone is fighting for their life and someone is dying. I kept putting my writing skills on hold. I kept thinking I had all the time in the world, but seeing so many people die that week made me realize that I must go after my dreams of becoming a writer. I ended up publishing my first book in 2017, and now I am working on my fourth book. My first book is called Pieces in the Dark, the next book is called Secretly Unhappy: Please don’t tell and the third Fading Into the Clouds. All of them are available on Amazon. Sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking that we have all the time in the world and that we can keep pushing things into the next day, but tomorrow is not promised.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Many of us have gone through trials and tribulations that we don’t share with others. Some of us have become so guarded that we don’t feel comfortable opening up to anyone. We put on a mask and tell people that we are fine even though we are suffering on the inside. I decided to publish my own poetry books in 2017. In my books you can find short stories, letters and poetry about suffering, longing, fighting depression, heartbreak, struggling relationships, loneliness and all the emotions that humans go through. Many people don’t realize that we are more alike than different. We would never know that because many of us do not share our stories with others.
After people have read my books so many souls reach out and tell me how they got emotional reading in the books because they’ve never connected to a piece of literature that made them feel less alone. I had to dig in a super vulnerable space in my life to talk about all these things. Writing books is therapeutic to me. Sometimes in the midst of me writing I get lost in the work I am doing and forget that others will connect to what I am saying. I also pray that others are inspired to begin writing their own novels, shorts stories or poetry books. One of my students back in 2018 mentioned that he wanted to start writing and so I gave him all of my resources to begin the process and now he has his own book published on Amazon and he is currently working on his second piece. Also, different people on instagram have reached out to me as well and some of them have decided to start working on a book. I pray that more people become inspired to write books because we should all leave something behind to help the next generation from our stories.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I remember when I had TikTok back in 2020. I grew to a following of 538,00 people. I was making content based on comedy and commentary. This was during the time everyone worked from home and we had time on our hands. I was producing about six videos a day. I began praying and God mentioned to me that he needed my full attention and therefore needed me to get rid of my Tiktok. I was confused and baffled because I worked really hard on the content that I was producing.This was a huge decision that I needed to make because I have never had that many followers in my life. God is always right and I always look to him for guidance. Most people would say “You can do both Tiktok and writing books. Use your Tiktok to publicize your next book.” When you write a book your mind has to be clear of everything. God knew and I understood that I couldn’t be one hundred percent focused if I was still on TikTok, and it wouldn’t be fair to my audience if they purchased a book that didn’t have my full attention. I prayed hard again and I ended up deleting my Tiktok. My first love is writing and that’s what I had to get back to. When I deleted my account it was also to show God that I am depending on you with everything, it is still hard for people to understand but I know I made the right decision. When God speaks we must listen. I ended up publishing my third book Fading Into the Clouds and it became an Amazon Best Seller for the first month. I was rejoicing because I put so much emotion behind that book especially during the pandemic. It pays to listen to God. All the glory be to God. Many creatives that I met on Tiktok were shocked that I left the platform. They were very supportive and mentioned to me that they too wanted to walk away because of how much time they were spending on the app. Many people dm’d me and said that I was brave for walking away from such a huge audience but I take no credit. All I want to do is listen to God and allow him to lead and guide me even when I don’t fully understand what is going on. When I left the platform I began to feel so much peace on the inside and clarity. When you are where God wants you to be peace follows.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
Back in college I began watching a motivational speaker by the name of Eric Thomas. A video that changed my life forever is How Bad Do You Want It.” I show my students that video in the beginning of each school year. On nights where I got tired of studying and felt like giving up it motivated me to keep going. The first two books that I published didn’t get the same recognition that my third book received but it wasn’t about the applause it was about helping others with the spiritual and emotional challenges that they are facing in their life. Eric Thomas has taught me the power of never giving up. He mentioned in the video that we must learn to make sacrifices and let things go in order for us to obtain the greatness that God has in store for us. For the last 7 years I have been watching that video and it still means something to me till this day.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.deontetowner.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/deontetowner
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deonte-towner-791745190?challengeId=AQHTtE8iiP9qCQAAAYJkrNRyUpcZESTf2NZP2DI85RoA9DnpeGwotOsM18PVyyYDV_80NkOnweKpMEhNL9a_vmH3k79q8ulVpA&submissionId=42a40b10-aee4-0717-5b62-ee710944b801&challengeSource=AgEuL2ISqAOlawAAAYJkrQXFCgEB11nDUvFbAT-4SZKu5fHss8SLK1pPbCBYSUg&challegeType=AgE-WSXmYZOlSgAAAYJkrQXIxXGie7wOpAqVf-uJUcKVSIjAzeBrL7Q&memberId=AgEq3nIJOlJ18QAAAYJkrQXL571Edg6HSjIPY35xRO2MchE&recognizeDevice=AgEGaV2RGejkSAAAAYJkrQXOyEYTJ-bvk7nAPX_yLQDXJi9jb0DE