Writing Through The Storm

COVID didn’t just disrupt Franklin’s career, it cracked his life open and forced a choice: sink into the loss or finally write the book he’d been carrying since he was 19. He chose the page. What follows is a candid, human story about reinvention, rejection, and how creative work can become a lifeline when your “stable plan” disappears overnight.

Franklin Moya

• Website: https://jfranklin.eu/
• Email: j.franklin.art@hotmail.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jfranklinme/

Then the conversation turns personal development and a question that reshaped everything: what is success, for you? Franklin’s answer isn’t flashy, it’s durable. We also explore what it means to live across borders and languages, including the surprising detail that he dreams in Spanish, French, and English. Along the way we touch on a charity children’s book he illustrated to support disabled children in Spain, plus the reality of cabin crew life as both a dream job and a practical stepping stone toward public speaking, illustration, and long-term creative independence.

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Transcript

Show Opener And Setup

Voiceover 0:03

Tales from the Wild. Stories from the Heart. A journey into the mind and soul of five business professionals where they share their vision for the future. And hear from a different nonprofit organization every month as they create awareness of their goals and their needs. Dive into a world of untamed passion. As we join our host, Shireen Botha, for this month's episode of Friends from Wild Places.

Shireen Botha 0:34

Yeah, with that being said, you know what made you decide to write your first book?

Publishers Problems And Getting Rights Back

Redefining Success After COVID

Illustrating A Charity Children’s Book

Franklin Moya 0:40

Yeah, that's a good thing. The first book, El Arabol que nunca murió, that thing that you couldn't pronounce, it means the tree that never die. This is an idea that I always had in my mind since I was 19, living back in my country. And it happened that I applied coming back to Switzerland. I applied to the job in Switzerland and I was accepted. I started working as a cabin crew. Actually, I was I started doing the academy to have my cabin crew attestation, and guess what? COVID arrived. So since I I quit my job, the one that I had before, and I was an employee, I went in sort of a depression. It was too hard for me to accept the fact that I was having finally, after all of the sacrifices, all of those years of sacrifices, I got an established job, I quitted to start over again, and then I got fired because of COVID. It was too much for me. It was too much. And emotionally I was collapsed as well. And something clicked. I said, Franklin, you didn't move from your country to be depressed in another continent. It's time for you to do the things that you didn't have the time before. Because you didn't even have a weekend. It is time to write a book. That idea that you got long before. And that's how that El Arbolken Munkamurillo arrived. Those two years of COVID, I started writing and writing and writing. Of course, it was just like a first draft, and it wasn't like a it was not a good quality of writing. But in my opinion, the story was really good and all of it, which I still believe is a good story. The thing is, I started knocking the doors on um publishers in Spain because the book was written in Spain, in Spanish, and over 50 publishers, one accepted a small publisher, and of course I said yes, and of course I signed a contract with them. What I wasn't aware of is that that small publisher was going through a hard process. The owner was dying. She was facing cancer, and I didn't understand why everything was just so disorganized. When the book was published, a lot of mistakes were there, and I was asking them, please, let's correct these mistakes. I just I don't want this book to be published that way, and then no, we don't have time, we have we have to do it right now. Well, I didn't think Nochi was facing this. A few months after the book was published, the owner died. Just a few months later, and that was quite shocking because I wasn't the only author who was living those kind of experiences. There were others as well. And now I couldn't understand. And uh anyway, I just I got my book back, my rights, and I modified, I just got it better. I went to an editor, the person just, you know, made some few corrections, and now I got it translated into English, which I hope is going to be published in English, hopefully very soon. Meanwhile, I met uh all the authors who were publishing books, and you know, I was just involved in this atmosphere, and there's an the second book arrived. It was just a self-development book, and 20 authors, me included, decided to speak about or challenge about the thing that bothers us. So in chapter number seven of the book Vivir Mejor is Possible, as Living a Better Life is Possible, I speak about success because I have always been feeling like a failure, especially during COVID. It just took me one call over the telephone with a friend of mine who she asked, What is success to you? And I was like thinking, Well, it's obvious, this and that. But then she said, No, that's what everybody believes about success and what you think you but for you, what is success? And I was just started thinking, that question just took me nights and days of reflections. And finally, I could understand that for me, success is going to sleep with a clear conscience. Just go to sleep, not feeling guilty of anything, knowing that you've been doing your best and that you're gonna get better tomorrow. And it was so obvious. Of course, that changed. I published this in Living a Better Life is Possible and Vivir Mejor is Possible in chapter number seven, and I'm really proud about this. So I believe that I've been planting my seeds all over. At the same time, another publisher contacted me because there was an author who wanted to um some illustrations for his book. And well, we spoke about it. The guy, um Sergio Palomar, he's a professor, karate professor, and he works for an association in Spain for disabled children. So the book is a charity book, and he just needed an illustrator to um tell the story about the about the life of this little guy who struggled anyway. I say yes, and yeah, it's really beautiful. I say yes, I made the pictures, I sent the pictures to him. What he did is he printed or he scanned all of the pictures and then he put it on Amazon. And now the book is being it's being sold already, and he's helping this association, which is uh really, really cute. I mean, uh telling him just to translate this into English and do it in English, but I think he's very um shy to do that. But maybe in the future we'll do it. So these are the three books that are published. There was another one um that I published in English. I published in Spanish, then I translated it to English, but I took it out of the market only because I self-published only because I have other um, how did you say uh projects with this book?

Shireen Botha 7:39

Right.

Franklin Moya 7:39

It's um it's a children's book.

Shireen Botha 7:42

Another one that's amazing.

Franklin Moya 7:44

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just too much, uh talking too much. I'm sorry.

What Language Do You Dream In

Shireen Botha 7:47

No, no, no, please. This is that was you just uh that was one of my questions. Tanya and I wanted to know more about the different books that you actually wrote, and you've just told us not only are you an author, but you're a co-author and an illustrator of a children's book. Um, you're talented, of course you are. And so thank you so much for sharing that. Um, I'm super excited to actually take a little bit more of a look into those three books. Uh, that's amazing.

Tanya Scotece 8:16

Um I'm still amazed that you have three languages. That that's just that's amazing too. Three countries, three languages that you that you speak. Um, Franklin, I have a question. When you dream at night, you know, when you go to sleep and you dream, what language do you dream in?

Franklin Moya 8:33

You are not gonna believe it. Yeah, you're not gonna believe it because it's so funny. The three of them actually, of course, Spanish, because when I dream, I dream a lot of my mom when she passed away, of course, and then uh when I dream of her, it's all in Spanish. But then I dream a lot about my everyday life in France. Uh, things that happen, it's in French and uh English as well, because English is even though the accent, even though the little mistakes I will make, it's my second language, and um like it or not. So I do have the dreams in the three languages, pretty much.

Tanya Scotece 9:12

That's amazing, amazing, beautiful, what a beautiful journey that you've uh and I just like the the free spirit, like just to get up and uh move to another country and just immerse yourself. I mean, that talk about stepping out of fear, like I mean, if you can do that, that's a that's a whole culture. I mean, it's not even like you're going to a country with the language already in common, like that's the whole literally like immersing yourself.

Franklin Moya 9:40

Yeah, it's been quite of an adventure, I have to admit, of course.

Shireen Botha 9:46

I mean, yeah, sir, sorry to interrupt you, Franklin.

Franklin Moya 9:50

No, I wanted to I wanted to tell you that anytime you want to come to France, I have, of course, Switzerland just next to I'm living in frontiers to Switzerland. You are always invited to my house. I have place for guests and family, so please come on.

Tanya Scotece 10:05

Thank you. So, you know something my I think I've mentioned this on a previous podcast, so Shereen may have heard this. So my dad, he passed away um in 2022, but he was a travel agent, and you know, he had done you know lifelong travel, and his favorite place in the world was Switzerland that he had visited. He loved Switzerland, and I've never I've never um I've been, but more just like um for like a specific trip. So I've never really had the chance just to embrace Switzerland, you know, just to kind of go and just navigate and roam around. So yeah, you might find us there one of these days.

Franklin Moya 10:41

Please, please. I asked you, I'm begging you come.

Tanya Scotece 10:45

Yeah, it's beautiful, beautiful. And I was just, you know, it's so funny. Um, even before um we had scheduled your podcast, I was on YouTube, as Shereen knows. I don't have a TV, so I spend time on YouTube looking at our you know, crime scenes, different things, but there was something about travel, and it happened to be Switzerland, and it kind of keeps so and now you're on the show mentioning Switzerland. So the Switzerland theme keeps coming, yeah, keeps coming through through my uh vision here.

Franklin Moya 11:12

Tanya, this is a sign. Listen to that voice, it's calling you, yeah, and now you know what to do.

Tanya Scotece 11:20

Right, right, right. Thank you. Well, we may we I may be there, Franklin.

Franklin Moya 11:25

I'm voting for you already.

Cabin Crew Job Or Stepping Stone

Shireen Botha 11:27

Oh my gosh, I love that. I mean, Franklin, you know that I'm quite the traveler right now. I'm um in South Africa. Um, yeah, I have um the USA is where I'm lifting off to next. But I did mention to you that France and Italy, oh I can't actually remember where I was in Spain when I spoke to you, and I believe it was December 2025 that you and I had a Zoom meeting. And I said to you, as far as I know, my next trips were France as well as Switzerland. So they're both on my list, and I'm so glad that I now know somebody. But before we get carried away, um currently you're a cabin crew member with EasyJet, is that correct?

Franklin Moya 12:11

Exactly.

Shireen Botha 12:12

That which I know that job, inside out. Uh, I used to be one for over 10 years. Um, so with that being said, is that, you know, being a cabin crew member, is that your dream job or is it a means to an end? What does the end look like to you?

Franklin Moya 12:32

Terry, I believe that uh when I heard your story, because you've been a cabin crew and now that you are doing this, I believe that I can compare it with you. Cabin crew, just like living in France, or just like uh everything else I've been kind of doing, it's being a dream. Yes, it's being a dream job. But I do believe, in with the respect with uh my job that I loved, I believe that I can do something else as well that is more meaningful, just something like you are doing right now. You are inspiring so many lives right now, just with that program you have. You see, so you're you are not just a cabin crew, you are somebody who is inspiring. Look at me. This is my first podcast, and I'm here with you, thanks to you. So this is meaningful. You are changing life, and I believe that I'm meant to do the same, you know what I mean? So, yes, being a cabin crew has been a dream job, but actually, it's giving me the days off that I need, you know, just like when you're a cabin crew, you're gonna work it 25-7. It's too much. So I have like a quite a few days off to write, to to draw, to do my public speaking classes and all of it. So I do believe that this job is helping me to prepare to become the person that I'm gonna become next. That is a writer. I wanna keep writing. Like I said, I'm translating my my words into English to finally publish them, and I want to draw what I'm doing right now is I'm building the basis to become an illustrator, a public speaker, and an author. And this takes time. It's not because you have the talent that you are gonna be recognized. You have to be you have to pass through a series of you know of uh steps before getting in there. So I believe that I am getting in there thanks to my job, which I bless every day because I love it. Gonna be I gonna lie to you. I love my job.

Five Year Plan And Ten Year Vision

Shireen Botha 14:49

I did enjoy it, yes. I did enjoy it when I was still a cabin crew member. Um, it's so important, listeners, that I you really listen to what Franklin's saying here because we bring on guests month after month, you know, Saturday after Saturday, we talk about, you know, the different challenges these business owners and entrepreneurs have faced and how they've you know had successful businesses, how they've had failures as businesses. But it's not often that we actually come with a different way one can begin their entrepreneurship, you know, one can become their own boss. Here, Franklin has is using the job that he has on the sideline to build the foundations to be the speaker that he wants to be, the author that he wants to be, the illustrator that he wants to be. And that's that's also there's no right or wrong way of doing this, guys. You do it the way that it best suits you. Um, and um, you know, the cards that you were thrown, the this is the cards you have in your hand, uh, you've paved the way for yourself, Franklin. And I and uh I haven't known you for very long, but I am so proud of you, just the steps that you've made to get to where you are today. Um, and the fact that you're not giving up and you're just using the the cabin crew um dream job. There's nothing wrong with going, yes, I absolutely love being a cabin crew member. Is it what I want to do for the rest of my life? No, it's one of the dream jobs I'd like to have. I've had it, and hopefully one of these days I get to do my next dream job, which is, as you said, being an illustrator, an author, a speaker, which you are are doing already, you know, baby steps. Um, and I'm so excited to to see where you go with this, Franklin. And with that said, my you know, I want to have a follow-up question is how where do you see yourself in 10 years' time?

Franklin Moya 16:52

Wow, 10 years. Well, I believe I want to tell you something. In five years, in five years, I believe that I'm gonna do, I'm gonna be doing the things that I told you. I see myself giving speeches because I believe that I can share more of my experience. Not as somebody who just left the country, whatever. I just I believe that I could share more experience about my public relations with that, with the people. I believe that uh I could teach other cabin crew members how to deal with uh root passengers and uh how to upfront upside down in life. So yeah, I think I see myself giving speeches, public speeches, uh from here five years and doing my expositions, why not, with all of the uh cartoons that I'm making. I'm just building up that uh that kind of uh concept that hopefully is going to be released pretty soon. In five years, I see myself writing books, all the ideas that I have, and why not being a cabin, still being a cabin crew, but still working for myself, just like the way you are doing it. If I see myself here in five years doing all of this, I would say that in 10 years I'm gonna double all of those activities. So yeah.

Tanya Scotece 18:20

What a journey. What a I'm just I just sit back and just in in awe of you, Franklin, just because it's like you, it's not only you sit back and like dream about it, you actually put it into action, you actually do it, which I think so many people dream or they have things that they want to do, but it's almost like it never becomes a reality where you have manifested your reality, right? That's what it seems like.

Toxic Workplaces And Pandemic Turning Points

Franklin Moya 18:45

Yeah, I mean you girls, you know this pretty well because if you didn't know that, you wouldn't be here doing this either, right? So I I I believe that you are doing something that uh I'm a thing learning that it's just being in front of a camera, giving confidence to somebody else, cheering those people up. This is so beautiful. But you saw yourself doing this like years before, and now it looks at you.

Shireen Botha 19:14

Well, um, I mean, sorry to interrupt you, Franklin, but for me it was very different. I think when I was a cabin crew, I was frozen in the sense of I didn't I wasn't thinking about owning my own business, I wasn't thinking of starting my own podcast, I was just going to work, doing the shift, signing off, going to work, doing the shift, signing off. And in fact, the pandemic for me did me a mercy. It kicked me out of the business of aviation. It kicked me out because I lost my job. It kicked me out to the point where I was stuck with nothing and went, okay, I don't what do I do? Like, where do I go from here? You know, and thankfully I had a retrenchment package that I took and and used um as a stepping stone to start my own business. Um, and then eventually start my own podcast with Sanya, as you can see. But yes, my it's um again, no right or wrong way of doing it. It's just I had to be literally kicked up the butt out of the the aviation industry and say that this this is not for you anymore, Shireen. You need to move on, girl.

Franklin Moya 20:34

I got a I got a question for you. Are you grateful for this experience? You are, of course, you are.

Shireen Botha 20:41

Of course. Now looking back, I'm so grateful. Listen, it's it's when you're in the fire, it's not fun. It's not fun to be in the fire, it's not fun to have nothing, lost your job, it's not fun. It's not fun to have minute limited amounts of of funds, and oh my gosh, my funds are gonna run out. And what if I haven't built this properly, I haven't got clients to support me? Like it was it it was very scary when I was in the fire. Now looking back, of course, Franklin, I'm so grateful. The the company I was working for in the aviation industry was toxic, very toxic. So I was the cabin crew. Um it's called cabin controller, but I think they you know in the rest of the airlines they call it a purser, right? Or whatever. You know what I mean? So um I felt like I was coming to work trying to support three other cabin crews' negative attitudes. And I was already struggling to put myself in a positive light, in a mental health, positive mental health, go to work in a positive light, and then I have to support A, B, and C. These negative attitudes on the drum seat, and then go home after a 13-hour, 14-hour shift, and I'd be crashed and I'd be so dead emotionally, mental health was in the dumps. Like I didn't realize how much of a toxic environment until I was forcibly due to that of the industry. And then me being where I am today, I can look back and go, oh my God, that wasn't a good environment for me.

A Passenger Warning About Emotional Weight

Franklin Moya 22:29

You know, this is so beautiful. Just like Tanya, the signs that life is giving her to come to Switzerland. Something similar happened to me in a flight. I remember that day really well. Somebody, that's just one of the passengers, he came and he spoke with my cabin uh manager. She was just almost crying that day. She was insulted, she's being mistreated by somebody. I wasn't there, but she told me. Well, it was a busy day. And that passenger, he said, You must free yourself from all of this energy. Every day you come to work, you get those energy from angry people, busyness, uh, sick people, um, moods. You get this. And then when you are in your elderly years, you the your body is going to reclaim all of those emotions, and then you will have cancer, and then you have ulcers, and you have this and that. You have to do something right now to get rid of those emotions because you are going to suffer later. And then he said something that it was crucial. Who is going to pay for those medicaments on those years? Your company? Of course not, because you're gonna be old enough to be considered, you know. Uh so think about yourself right now. He got me. And I say, This is what I needed to hear. Um, I do not welcome those toxicity atmosphere, you know, with even with colleagues and and passengers. I can't. I don't see myself from here 30 years suffering from any kind of uh physical um whatever things. Uh I don't wanna I don't see myself with a cancer or something only because today somebody was mistreating me and I accept it. So these are signs that life is giving you, and your fire shiring was the sign, like it wasn't a sign, it was an evidence. It was just like uh, this is what you are meant to do. Thanks God that happened to you, and thanks God I listened to that passenger. And just to give you the end of the story, that cabin manager who was working with me, she's not long working uh uh in the company. She she's doing her dream right now, and I'm so proud of her. She's not my friend, but I have news from her, you know, some from time to time. Okay, I believe that we are meant to do something else. You can do your job, but do something else that you know fills you up, and not just yourself, but something somebody else help other people to achieve their dreams, inspire other people, give them tools to do what they're meant to do. Anyway, I'm just getting too philosophical here.

Tanya Scotece 25:35

We enjoy it, we enjoy it.

Part Three Tease And Subscribe

Shireen Botha 25:37

Yeah, no, absolutely. Um, tune in next week for part three of Friends from Wild Places.

Voiceover 25:45

You've been listening to Friends from Wild Places with Shireen Botha. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast from the links to catch every episode and unleash your passion.