at the time of her interview was sitting in her home office at 9am on a Monday morning and she was feeling positive about the week ahead. Debbie was born and raised in Moffat although she has moved around Scotland a little to return to her roots to raise her daughter. She is the founder and the one and currently only employee of DStar Bookings located in the UK. Debbie is quite "OCD" about planning and how things should be done, so she is tough on herself with work because it takes a lot of determination for her to want to stick to this industry.
She was 30 when she started officially working in the field, “I’d dabbled in the past but never thrown myself in 100% due to myself lacking the confidence in my ability to make it. It’s a tough industry and I’m just a small town country girl" quoted Debbie. She has been inspired by many although, the main person who inspired her into her line of work was a gentleman named Kurt Yaeger. Kurt has battled many demons including becoming a below the knee amputee. Although, that did not slow him down, he still works hard to achieve his dreams and keeps on pushing. Having the business located in the UK has it’s advantages and disadvantages. The advantages being that networking and tour planning can be simpler as travel and venues are closer. The disadvantages (as with anywhere) is that you keep running into the same unprofessional people looking to ride on the back of others success.
What challenges did you face while moving forward at DStar Bookings? “I guess I have the same challenges as everyone in the field, maintaining enough work to make a go of things. Passion and hard work are very important but aren’t always enough to keep a dream alive. You need fellow dreamers willing to take the ride with you and believe in your ability to help them" stated Debbie.
If an actor, author or musician from the US wanted to be represented can they reach out
to you? If yes, how? If no, why?
"Yes, I am
always happy to
hear from new
people. In fact,
I love it when
people get in
touch. I can be
reached by email:
dstarbookings@
gmail.com or over on Facebook and Twitter" says Debbie. Even though they are located in the UK, they currently already work with a few people in the US and one day might expand to having a US representative, but for now she likes dealing with everyone directly and having occasional business trips to the US. Debbie currently works very closely with Nick J. Townsend on their Clingfilm project where they interview people in the entertainment field and showcase their stories in a documentary film. Their last footage filmed in July 2015 has just been accepted to Birmingham Film Festival in the UK. Nick and herself are planning a return visit to LA in September 2016 and she's currently working on the schedule of interviews for that.
Any advice you would like to share to anyone interested in working in the music or entertainment industry? "The main advice I would give is to always remain realistic, everyone has a dream they want to reach to its full potential, but don’t be blind to thinking the dream and passion are enough. You need to work your ass off, take rejections and grow from them, don’t let them break you." states Debbie.
Debbie's motto is "Go Big Or Go Home" because you’ll never achieve what you want unless you give your all!
Any shout outs or anything I missed that you would like to add?
Photo by Rachel Tijou
By: Rag House
Photo By: Rachel Tijou
DStar Bookings
Debbie Stewart