Today, we’d like to introduce you to Danielle Soucy Mills.
Hi Danielle, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
I knew from a very young age–probably around 10–that I’d be a writer and a gymnastics coach.
Now that I am here, doing what I always felt I’d be doing all these years later, I am more confident in trusting the intuitive nudges I’ve been experiencing my whole life but always somewhat doubted. It’s been a journey of learning to step fully into self-belief, something I’m sure many people struggle with.
When it came time to “partially graduate into the real world,” I started undeclared as a major at one RI University, getting rejected from the gymnastics team there, but eventually transferred to a college where I was able to study creative writing and compete on their gymnastics team. The move eventually led me to graduate school in California, where I now live with the happiest of hearts as I look back and see how the serendipitous path I’ve taken has been guiding me to reach my full potential with complete confidence in what’s always been centered in my soul.
Today, I am about to publish my 4th book, Tina’s Gymnastics Hero, the third book in my I FLIP Over Books collection, which began with my picture book, Tina Tumbles. I am also simultaneously(ish) working on editing my second novel, writing my first memoir about my ancestral connection to poet Emily Dickinson, and pitching a few other manuscripts of different genres–on top of being a mom and a wife and a gymnastics coach.
It’s a balancing act for sure, but it’s also a beautiful one, and I enjoy every minute of it.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road most certainly has not been smooth at all times, but I totally believe that there are reasons for any construction on the road of life… There is this quote from Gabby Bernstein, which I think sums up everything: “Obstacles are detours in the right direction.” I believe they are also always learning experiences.
So, when I got rejected from what I thought was the perfect school (after my first choice of schools cut their gymnastics team the year I wanted to attend), I was re-routed to an even better school, which eventually led me to where I am now. I couldn’t have gotten here without those detours.
When I was searching for graduate schools in California and found Chapman University, I knew with every fiber of my being that this was where I’d go. And despite my mother’s resistance to moving far away and spending money on grad school for writing (something she didn’t think I needed to do at the time), I was generously gifted an easy road to get there.
A young woman transferred to my school in Rhode Island whose family lived near my school. This enabled me to visit; I received a fellowship at Chapman, I already had a job at the gym that my friend attended, and I found the perfect house to rent with amazing roommates close to my school and workplace. When I moved a thousand miles from the place where I grew up, everyone I met was connected in the most brilliant ways. The synchronicities were so powerful, and the road was smooth. I ended up writing my first novel as my thesis in grad school, and my professors gave me nods of encouragement.
The journey to publication, though, may be considered a bumpy one–I found a small, independent publishing company interested in both my picture book and my novel. Because of that book deal, I met my illustrator, but the contract ended up falling through. We decided to self-publish using Kickstarter to help fund our efforts and resources I’d been miraculously guided to after meeting one of my publishing mentors, Sheri Fink. A year later, after publishing, Tina Tumbles ended up in Us Weekly Magazine and on People.com, endorsed by a big celebrity, without my knowledge until a high school friend pointed it out to me.
Ironically, this led to the realization that I did not have the best means of distribution. My book was out of stock constantly after that, making it difficult for Amazon to fulfill orders quickly and efficiently; the discount Amazon had been giving the book disappeared. On top of that, I was about to become a first-time mom. I remember a dad at the gym telling me, “You made it!” but for some reason, hearing him say this filled me with dread. It didn’t feel like I’d made it because the books shared by other celebrities didn’t have the same issue as mine. I couldn’t understand why this incredibly amazing gift had turned things upside down.
I remember emailing another writer friend a couple of years later, and she said, “If getting a big endorsement helps, then do that!” I remember thinking, well, the last endorsement was totally random. How could I even do that again? No joke, two hours later, I got an email from a guy working with an Olympian on her sock line. My friend recommended that I write a book with the Olympian in it, and eventually, the story led to my working with my literary agency, Serendipity Lit. Unfortunately, things did not exactly work out “as planned.” The manuscript was rejected by publishers, and I wasn’t exactly sure what to do next.
I eventually realized the events “not working out” were again just detours. I discovered that the picture book manuscript actually wanted to be for an older audience, so it was made into a reader meant for older children. I ended up doing a second print run for Tina Tumbles, along with the A-Z Gymnastics Coloring Book and Tina’s Gymnastics Hero, which will be released soon, just in time for the Olympics. I was also able to create fun products like shirts and leotards that inspire kids to “stretch their reading muscles” and “always try their best” — important mottos for the I FLIP Over Books Collection.
I am sure the detours will continue… but on what I now call “the magical path to publication,” it is all about trusting in the path each book is meant to take and paying attention to the guidance that appears as signs and synchronicities along the way.
When we learn to understand, follow, and fully trust in the signs and synchronicities lighting our path, we realize that life is a gift we get to unwrap every day. It’s a story we’re writing, and we’re never really writing it alone. Obstacles and challenges may appear, but they are by no means roadblocks. They are often just blessings in disguise, reminding us to try again, to forge a new path, and that things may very well work out better than we ever could have imagined.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am an author and a [gymnastics] coach, but I write pretty much everything from children’s books to novels, to short stories, to poetry, and I even recently submitted an oracle book to a publisher. I feel as though my work is meant to give people a different perspective on life, to open them up to the intuitive guidance they’ve always been experiencing but may have doubted–something I’ve experienced prominently on my journey.
I may be known first for my gymnastics books, but I am opening myself up beyond that, beyond my novel, too. I decided to call my publishing imprint Aerial Awareness Media because, in gymnastics, I learned that the best way to get over your fears is to teach yourself to be fully aware in every moment, even while upside down. When I was afraid of certain skills in gymnastics, improving my aerial awareness helped tremendously. Awareness is also key when it comes to personal growth. You can’t improve on certain aspects of yourself if you’re not aware of them. I also believe this means understanding situations from an outside perspective… like stepping out of “a problem” to observe that maybe it’s just our mind that is making us feel stuck.
I am most proud of the fruits that have grown from fully trusting what I’ve always known deep down to be true. I realize it took experience for that reality to hit home. Meaning that things I knew were going to happen needed to happen to show me how powerful I was at creating the life I was born to live from a soul perspective.
Networking and finding a mentor can have a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
For me, following the signs and synchronicities has helped me significantly when it comes to meeting both mentors and incredible people on my journey. Because of my move across the country and experiencing the wildest connections so far away from home where I literally knew no one, I came to recognize that these connections were always important to pay attention to–they were like clues to taking the next step on the “magical path.”
This was how I met my mentor Sheri Fink as well, hearing her speak at a Publishers and Writers of San Diego meeting after three people told me I needed to go to the event, even though I’d been scheduled to work that day. I took the day off, and that meeting certainly changed the trajectory of where I thought I was supposed to go.
My most recent story about finding a mentor began a couple of years ago as I was exploring more of the “memoir” I felt like I was supposed to write. I had no idea how to write a memoir, and the idea terrified me downright. I discovered The Beautiful Writers Podcast by Linda Sivertsen because I had Googled “How does [NYT best-selling author and spiritual teacher] Gabby Bernstein know [popular memoirist/novelist] Dani Shapiro” and found an episode where Linda interviewed them both together.
I was blown away by Linda’s story of how she’d received a letter from an angel–a topic that connected to the novel I was also currently writing at the time. Listening to Gabby and Dani speak with Linda and then hearing other episodes where inspiring people she’d interviewed spoke about their writing successes was all so beyond magical. This led me to join Linda’s membership group and to look into some other resources she offered.
I thought maybe I’d only be there for a month or two, but the years have flown by, and I’ve only looked back to see how I’d been guided there. I’ve experienced SO many mind-blowing connections because of this group I can’t even go into them all. A few months before I found the podcast, I’d done another writing mastermind group with medium Thomas John and Michelle Barr.
Thomas shared the book proposal he’d used to publish his book Never Argue with a Dead Person, and in that proposal, Arielle Ford’s book, Hot Chocolate for the Mystical Soul: 101 True Stories of Angels, Miracles, and Healings, was listed as a comp title. At the same time, I was using another book proposal sample that referenced Debbie Ford’s book Dark Side of the Light Chasers. I’d never heard of Arielle or Debbie, but I eventually made the connection that they were sisters after I’d bought both books.
In Arielle’s book, there were stories by people I’d been synchronically connected to–one of them being author Tom Youngholm. I’d just learned from another writer friend that Tom had miraculously helped heal her, so she was able to conceive a child after being told it was nearly impossible. At a book event I’d done, the owner of the shop had given me Tom’s book randomly–once I met my friend Peggy, I knew why.
Anyway, Arielle’s entire book was filled with stories by authors I felt drawn to in miraculous ways. It wasn’t until months after I’d joined the Beautiful Writer’s Group that I learned Linda and Arielle were friends and that both Linda AND her sister Carol Tisch Allen’s story had been featured in the book as well. Linda’s story was also a clue to a part of my memoir that I hadn’t understood fully until other synchronistic events I experienced while writing.
So, my overall advice? Always pay attention! One of the “downloads” I got at 4:30 am was that “Synchronicities are like signposts, quietly reminding us that our Earthly path is aligning with our higher purpose.” I am constantly being reminded how this line reflects so many experiences in my life.
Pricing:
- Signed Hardcover Tina Tumbles ($10.99 plus tax/shipping)
- A-Z Gymnastics Coloring Book – $8.99
- Always Try Your Best Leotard – $45
- Illusion of an Ending – $10
- Contact me for Special prices on book/merch bundles.
Contact Info:
- Website: daniellesoucymills.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/daniellesoucymills
- Facebook: Facebook.com/authordaniellesoucymills ; http://facebook.com/TinaTumbles
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellesoucymills/
- Twitter: x.com/dsoucymills
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@daniellesoucymills?si=vjSH89KmL1OCl2k5 ; https://www.youtube.com/@aerialawarenessmedia2978
- Other: amazon.com/author/daniellesoucymills
Image Credits
Brendan Carolin and Kim Soderberg
