My Chat with Danielle Frank Author of A Wine Lover's Guide to Parenting

In this episode of The Mommy Pod, we sit down with Danielle Frank, author of A Wine Lover’s Guide to Parenting and a woman who built a powerful career across industries—from Hollywood publicity at Miramax to leadership roles in the wine and spirits world with Bacardi and Moët Hennessy.

But this conversation goes deeper than titles.

We talk honestly about:
💛 What it really takes to build your life from the ground up
💛 Navigating career pivots, and stepping into new spaces
💛 Redefining motherhood when it doesn’t look traditional
💛 The emotional reality of being a bonus mom, aunt, and nurturer
💛 Letting go of perfection and finding what actually works for YOU

Danielle opens up about her journey—what people didn’t see behind the success, how she found her footing, and what she’s learned about parenting, identity, and showing up in a messy, real way.

This episode is for anyone who is:
✨ trying to rebuild
✨ feeling overwhelmed
✨ questioning their path
✨ or learning to define parenthood on her own terms

Because there is no perfect parent—just real people figuring it out.

🎧 Tune in, take what you need, and remember… you’re doing better than you think.

Danielle Frank traded red carpets for red wine—and never looked back. After starting her career in Hollywood publicity at Miramax International, she pivoted into the wine and spirits world, where she’s spent more than 21 years building luxury brands at Bacardi and Moët Hennessy, working with legendary champagne and wine houses including Dom Pérignon, Moët & Chandon, and Veuve Clicquot.

In 2025, she uncorked her debut humor book, A Wine Lover’s Guide to Parenting, a witty take on family life inspired by her role as a proud aunt and professional observer of chaos. With a background spanning entertainment, luxury hospitality, and publishing, Danielle brings humor, heart, and a sharp point of view to everything she does—always reminding us to savor the moment.Instagram: @createagreatstory.  Website: www.daniellefrankauthor.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey moms and dads, welcome back to the MommyPad. This is a space for real conversations and not just highlight reels, and not just design my book, but how did you actually get through it? Because a lot of us are out here trying to survive and rebuild and raise kids and copy it and make money and still figure out who we are. And today's guest I am excited for. Today we have Danielle Frank, and her story is a layer. She started in Hollywood publicity at Merrimax, then transitioned into the wine and spirit industry, building luxury brands with the companies like Licardi, Hennessy, Mollier, and I'm probably saying these names all wrong. And Vouvet. You can correct me. Very nice. I've always seen it like on the Housewives.

SPEAKER_01 1:00

You know what? On my interview with Moet Hennessy, I said Moe, and it's really Moet, and I said Vuv and it's Vov. So it happens to everybody.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

And you're also the author of A Wine Lover's Guide to Parenting. But today we're not just going to talk about your book. We are going to talk about your book, but we're we're actually going to talk about how you built this life, what parenting looks like from your perspective as a bonus mom, um, money, career pivots, and real struggles, and what it takes to stand on your own too. Danielle, I want to start with um with this, because a lot of people hear your background and think successful luxury brands in Hollywood. But let's strip that down a little bit. What did your life actually look like in the early days for you?

SPEAKER_01 1:47

Yeah, absolutely. Well, first and foremost, thank you so much for having me on your great podcast. Um, yeah, you know, I um, you know, my story is sort of rooted in transformation, right? It's, you know, we all kind of grew up imagining you're on this one path, this one journey. And um, for me, it was I was gonna work in the entertainment industry. I loved um film and TV, and that was gonna be my path. And I was living in New York. Uh I'm from New York and, you know, uh with the eye on the prize of get married by this age, you know, late 20s, early 30s, have kids soon thereafter. Um, but you know, slowly uh um life started to present itself, um, as I'd like to say, because you know, that's what happens, right? Isn't there that joke, uh that saying that um, you know, God's joke is when when you make plans or something, something like that. But, you know, I with my job at Miramax, I started working at Miramax Films, which is the only studio in New York, and it's where you wanted to be. And I was there at the heyday, and I worked in international PR, traveling the world, the globe, going, you know, the Cannes Film Festival, Venice Film Festival to Tokyo to promote this film with this actor and you know, living a life. And I think part of that, I mean, I've always been somebody who's curious about the world. I studied abroad in college, but I think, you know, having had those opportunities, that was sort of the first awakening to, oh, wait, you know what? There's there's a lot of interesting things out there. Um, I still have a lot I want to do. Um, and I started to kind of refocus and reposition, you know, the idea that, like, wait, maybe I'm not ready to be married right away. There's still a lot I want to do. And one of those things was I wanted to move to LA. And I moved to LA and I quit my job, and there were no studio jobs at the time. So I signed with a personal PR agency, which, you know, I kind of knew that was not my, not my journey, but it just, I was so ready to get to LA at this point that I was like, I talked myself into it. I was like, no, it's gonna be great being a personal publicist. You know, kudos to personal publicists, no disrespect to them. It's not my, it's not my thing. I don't care more about, you know, somebody else's life and their schedule ahead of mine, you know, canceling my plans because my dinner plans because they call for something last minute. Um, that's just not me. And, you know, to boot, I had signed with an agency that is very toxic. I mean, I showed up the first day and three of the publicists were crying in the office. And yeah, and so um, you know, longer story short, um, you know, I started to in my three months there, you know, I always say, like, in my time in Mirimax, sure, you know, in my 20s, did I go out the night before? And, you know, I woke up and I was like, oh, I wish I didn't have to go to work. Yeah. But there was never a day where I had that angst in my stomach, that pit in my stomach about, oh, I really, I just don't want to go to work, that ulcer-inducing feeling. And when I was at this PR agency, I had that feeling many mornings. And, you know, that was another sort of light bulb moment, an aha moment that like, you know, my personal peace was being sacrificed. And we spend half of our lives at work. Um, you know, and and my personal happiness was more important in my health. And so I quit without having another job, which is very unlike me. But, you know, I say it comes with a little bit of naivety. I mean, I was, you know, 30 years old and didn't have a mortgage, didn't have kids that I had to, you know, feed and all that, uh, didn't even have a dog yet. So um, yeah, I, you know, I just thought I'll be fine. And uh, and then, you know, somebody told me about this job working for Bacardi. And I thought it'd be temporary. I took a big step back. It was very elementary and you know, took a 50% pay cut. And uh I was like, oh, this will be great until I figure out what it is I want to do. Um, and there again, you know, life presented itself to me in a new journey and a new path and a new plan that it turns out, you know, the wine and spirits industry is a fantastic industry and um, you know, representing fantastic brands. Uh luck, you know, I've been fortunate to work with great companies. Um now I've been here, you know, going on 22 years in this industry. And uh and here we are. And then last year I brought my book to life, A Wine Lover's Guide to Parenting, which we'll chat about how it marries all these things from my life, you know, the the not getting to have motherhood aspect, but still um wanting a seat at the table and combining my love for wine and spirits, um, all in one package.

SPEAKER_00 6:31

Thank you so much for uh all of that. That was really great. You answered all of my first few questions, like what was your turning point moment? Your turning point moment moment was getting that pit in your stomach on your way to work. And I think that that is something that's tangible that a lot of people can relate to and understand. So if ever anybody's listening and you get that pit in your stomach, that feeling, it might be time to move on. And that's really great that you were introduced to something different and you took that leap. Some of us might be scared to take that leap to hear that you get a pay cut and it's elementary from where you've been. That was a big leap of faith. And that's really great that you did it and it paid off.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

Yeah. I mean, sometimes, you know, the most empowering decision is to acknowledge that not just the job or, like you said, the relationship or the version of the life that you're clinging to is costing you peace. And when you pause long enough just to listen, you know, pivots can be invitations, not endings. You know, they can lead us towards work and lives that feel more aligned, honest, and and what I've learned, frankly, more fulfilling.

SPEAKER_00 7:47

Let's talk about uh the non-traditional motherhood. So, one thing I really respect about your story is that motherhood didn't look traditional for you. Can you talk about that? Um, the emotional side of um that and what you may have expected.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

Yeah, I mean, I, you know, I had planned on being a mother and great with kids, and I was engaged to be married, and my ex has kids from his first marriage. So I was a bonus mom for many years. Um, and I'm, you know, I was I'm an auntie to my niece and nephew. Um, and I'm Aunt Danielle to so many of my friends' kids. So um, you know, but when I was with my ex, I just started to realize that ultimately he didn't want more kids. And, you know, we were together six plus years, and you know, he pretty much told me that from the start and sort of waffled back and forth. Um, but it wasn't until we got engaged, and we weren't engaged that long, maybe less than six months, is when I really started to, you know, sometimes I say you you need to go through it to get out of it. And I feel like I needed to get to that point to finally open my eyes and see as we were planning the wedding, you know, he just everything was like, oh, let's have a long engagement. Oh, do you really want kids? And so it just sort of gave me that aha moment that this guy really doesn't want our kids. He said he'd have a kid, but do I really want that? I want to, I want to be with somebody that is dying to have a kid with me. And so I broke it off and I was, you know, late 30s at this point. And so I, you know, realized that path of motherhood might not happen for me. Um, but it doesn't mean the nurturing goes away, you know, it's you know, and so that's where this kind of all came together because um, you know, I as I said, you know, I'm I'm I'm a glass half full kind of person and I just want to make the world a better place. And so even though, you know, I might not be able to have direct impact on um kids that I'm raising, you know, I still want to seat at the table to how kids are raised well, um, you know, how the next generation of human beings are, you know, being raised with decency. Um, you know, I have a vested interest in how my niece and nephew are being raised and how my friends' kids. Um, so, you know, I think that, you know, as as an anti-unofficial, I sort of get the best seat in the house, you know, I I witness the chaos, the triumphs, the tantrums, um, but all, you know, without the 3 a.m. wake-up calls or the carpool duty. Um, but you know, from the sidelines, I can, I can cheer, I can laugh, I can love. I mean, it gives me a lighter lens to see parenthood with humor, with compassion. Um, because sometimes when you're so into it, you know, it's hard to see what's right in front of you. And, you know, I always say that I've heard parents trade war stories like battle-hardened soldiers, you know, in the trenches. And like I said, when you're in it, sometimes it's not so easy that that grape juice that you're drinking can one day turn into a fine cabernet. Um, you know, and I also say that, you know, everything in my book is it's about human decency, like teaching kids manners, teaching kids not to be a bully, basic human behavior. And you don't need to be a parent to know big human behavior, you know, what that needs to be exhibited by all human beings. Um, so yeah, all that kind of, you know, coupled with um, you know, all those things came together for me to create this love letter um to parents everywhere on just, you know, raising good human beings, but related to wine terminology, because again, as somebody who works in the wine and spirits industry and a lover of wine, it was easy for me to see just sort of the fun parallels to wine terminology and how you can equate it to um to to human behavior.

SPEAKER_00 11:22

That does sound super fun. So let's go. Thank you for sharing and thank you. I bet you're like the best auntie. And I feel I feel that uh it's really great when you can spend so much time and love on them and have fun and then give them back.

SPEAKER_01 11:40

Exactly. And you know, I I take them to escape rooms, I dope them up on sugar and then send them home with, you know, where they're bouncing off the walls and not going to bed.

SPEAKER_00 11:49

Oh goodness. Yeah, Andy. All right, let's talk about your book. So, your book, A Wine Lover's Guide to Parenting, um what made you write it right now? Or when did you write it and what made you write it?

SPEAKER_01 12:05

So I actually wrote it about 14 years ago. Um, you know, it was right at the time um I broke off my engagement. And at that time, my niece and nephew were little kids, and I was watching them. And although they're great kids, um, of course, every kid has the propensity to whine. And um they were whining about something, and I said, uh-uh, Auntie Annelle drinks wine. She doesn't listen to wine. And so the wheels all started turning. Um, you know, again, it was right when I broke off my engagement. So I had this sort of um urge in me to, you know, um, again, have the seat at the table to help shape how kids, kids are raised. Um, also, you know, again, as you know, somebody who works in the wine industry, I love the idea of making wine knowledge easy and accessible. Um, you know, it shouldn't be daunting. You know, people get so intimidated by wine. And, you know, if they see the wine list, it's it doesn't have to be intimidating and is, you know, you don't need to be an expert. What I like, you might not like, and vice versa. It's all, you know, um, we all have different palettes, we all have different memories of what a wine evokes out of us and reminds us of. Um, so I, you know, and and right at this time, also a book came out by Adam Mansbach called Go the F to Sleep. Wildly popular, written like a children's book, but made for adults. So it sort of opened up this avenue for this new genre of adult children's books. So that all came together with this idea that I had because I love to rhyme and I love the idea of rhyming and making it like a children's book. So it's illustrated, it rhymes. Every time I use wine terminology, it gives the definition, but it's definitely not made for kids.

SPEAKER_00 13:42

I love that. That sounds so fun. I can't wait to read it. I'm not a big wine drinker, I love wine. However, I get sick, like the acid. So I have to either drink organic wines I find are okay within my body, or just non-alcoholic wine. Um, but yes, I can't wait to read that. So writing that book right after your uh right after you called off your engagement, that must have been really hard, but was it also a healing for you to like pour yourself into that work?

SPEAKER_01 14:13

Yeah, absolutely. And that's what it is. Writing for me is therapeutic. Um you know, sometimes I'll just like, you know, even when I broke up with him, like I would just write um write to myself sometime letters. Like, you know, I know it sounds weird, but you know, therapy, I I tried therapy once and it works for many people. For me, I found it didn't work because I was lying to my therapist and I was like, there's something wrong with this that totally defeats, obviously defeats the purpose. But I know the concept of therapy is, you know, they're not supposed to give you the answers, they're supposed to ask the questions so that you're bringing the answers outside of yourself and you're hearing it for yourself and you're you're you're bringing, you know, what's inside to the surface. Um and that's what writing does for me. So even just writing to myself, you know, it's sort of like me talking out loud and talking about, you know, what's inside and how I'm feeling and so forth. Um, so it is very therapeutic for me. And yeah, so this became sort of um part of that therapy as well. Um, like I said, you know, realizing motherhood, that path might not happen for me, but I like the idea of having that seat at the table of being a contributor to how kids are raised well. Um, so yeah, it's sort of a love letter to parents out there and a mash to all the great jobs they're doing.

SPEAKER_00 15:29

What do you hope a parent feels when they are reading your book?

SPEAKER_01 15:35

I hope they feel, I mean, I hope they laugh, you know, a little levity, right? I mean, you know, parents have the toughest job in the world. And, you know, it's a very serious job. And sometimes you just you need a pause, you need a breather, and you need to laugh. Um, but also, you know, I've heard some parents say, um, you know, there's a there's a chapter in there about is your kid a mold wine? So mold wines are heated up, they're spiced, um, sometimes served in a punch bowl. So this chapter is about is your kid a mold wine? Is he spiced? Is he heated? Basically, is he a bully outside of the home? And it's important that you know that. So I really love that a lot of parents have said to me that resonated with them that chapter, because, you know, we've all been guilty of it, like not my kid, you know, it's hard to imagine that it's your kid that might actually be the bully. Um, and a few parents have said, you know, that reading that chapter was just a light way and and a serious way to remind them, like, oh, you know what, I really need to understand who my kid is outside the home. It might be sweet as pie here, but if there's even an inkling of them, you know, bullying any kid, I need to nip that in the bud. And, you know, when I hear that, it's it makes me um know that I've done my job, right? You know, parents, like I said, it's basic human behavior. I'm not for claiming to be like a clinical psychologist who studied parenting and all that. It's all basic, you know, teaching kids manners not to be a bully. And, you know, some parents have said, like, sometimes you just need a gentle reminder about that, or sometimes you need a gentle reminder, like the chapter about, you know, giving, letting them breathe, letting them learn to fall to get back up. Um, you know, because of course it's it's easy to want to coddle your kids. And so, you know, it's it's nice to just sometimes get a little um humorous light way of you know, a nudge to be like, yeah, I do need to need to let my kid breathe. I do need to, you know, make them worldly and and all that.

SPEAKER_00 17:31

My goodness. Thank you so much. Can we go into um you reading a little bit from your book?

SPEAKER_01 17:38

Yeah, I'd love to read a chapter. So this one is you don't want your kids to ferment. So in wine terminology, in winemaking, the fermentation process is when you turn sugar into alcohol. And so obviously, we think of sugar as something sweet. Alcohol, we think is something harsh and biting. So this is about you want to teach your kids manners so they don't turn into someone harsh and biting. Manners, manners, manners are the key to it all. These lessons need to start even when they're small. Teach them this from day one before they start to crawl. You don't want your kid to be the sour grape in the bunch, turn into a spoiled brat that kids want to punch. When they start talking, make sure they know thank you and please, and to always say bless you when they hear someone sneeze. Please and thank you are an absolute must. Without that, your child's a total must. There's nothing worse than a child who has behavior that is crude, because it'll continue as they're older and become someone who's rude. People don't take kindly to and aren't nice to those with attitude because it's very off-putting and puts others in a bad mood. Oftentimes causing confrontation and leads to a nasty feud, wanting to put a little bit of poison in your child's food. Is it really how you want your kids to be viewed? Wouldn't you prefer that there's someone who's rude? Without manners, they'll ferment and turn into someone harsh and biting. They may turn into a kid who's rude, obnoxious, and always fighting. So teach your kids some manners and to have some heart and soul. Without that, your kid may well turn into an a-hole.

SPEAKER_00 18:57

That's so great. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 18:59

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 19:00

That is so good.

SPEAKER_01 19:02

Thank you. The book is available on Amazon.com and Barnesandoble.com.

SPEAKER_00 19:12

Amazing. And I will put a link in our show notes for closing us out. Um for the parents that are listening right now that are stressed, drained, or trying to rebuild, or doesn't feel put together. What would you say?

SPEAKER_01 19:30

I say just like, you know, think about when you are opening a bottle of wine, you pour that glass, um, you just take a moment to breathe it in, right? And that's what parents need to do. Sometimes you just need to take some, not even just parents, we all sometimes just need a moment to breathe it in, you know, take it all in, take a moment. I mean, how many times have I said, you know, stop and breathe before you send off that email response? You know, things like that. We all just can, you know, take that pause to savor the moment, to, you know, take a beat, to refresh, um, and regroup. And there's, you know, there's no, uh, there's nothing wrong with taking that pause and breathing it in.

SPEAKER_00 20:13

That is very good advice. Very, very good. This episode, this is what the Mummy Pot is about. Not perfection, not curated success, but real people like figuring it out and creating something amazing for the world to enjoy and for our children to learn from. This is so great. Um, Danielle, thank you so much for being honest and for being here with us today and for reminding us that parenting and nurturing don't have to look one way.

SPEAKER_01 20:46

Thank you so much for having me. It was lovely to chat with you.

SPEAKER_00 20:49

Thank you.