You Can’t Do It

“You’re not a Children’s book author”

That was a loop running in my head daily back in 2012 after I had written most of my first children’s book.

Then I shelved it for 7 years. Why?

Inadequate and self-loathing Brian joined in on the party daily.

I kept telling myself I wasn’t good enough.

I wasn’t a writer, or an author and had any business thinking so.

Looking back it is laughable how much I let the “old Brian” control the steering wheel with that negative thinking.

What wasn’t I good enough for?

It wasn’t good enough for me because I put other people on these unimaginable pedestals that they were somehow so different and I needed to “stay in my lane.”

Do you know the only difference?

They started.

They put in the work.

They reaped the benefits of failure and then would iterate and expand on it.

They had the courage to create their life, not just let it happen.

They weren’t miles ahead of me.

They were on their own path.

Their journey was totally different.

They decided to put a line in the sand and cross over to the other side.

They made commitments to themselves and stuck with it.

It was non-negotiable.

That was the difference between 2012 and 2019 when I picked back up the project and decided to complete the book, “Luke’s 1st Round of Golf”

I “burned all of the boats.”

There was no turning back now.

I was done negotiating with myself.

I was done letting an old way of thinking control me.

I was done living in fear of the unknown.

I wasn’t ready to tackle all that was ahead but that didn’t stop me from starting.

It was the only choice I allowed myself to have.

You Can’t Do It2023-05-12T19:32:14-04:00
  • Alda P. Dobbs Profile Headshot

Alda P. Dobbs

Alda P. Dobbs Profile Headshot

APPLE

GOOGLE

SPOTIFY

iHEART

PODCHASER

Episode 318 features Alda P. Dobbs, the author of the historical novel Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna, and its follow-up, The Other Side of the River (September 2022). Her debut novel received a Pura Belpre Honor and is a Texas Bluebonnet Master List selection.

Find her books here: https://www.amazon.com/Alda-P-Dobbs/e/B08T66PS4M

Find Alda Online:

Website: https://www.aldapdobbs.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aldapdobbs/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aldapdobbs

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100072066612453

About Alda:

Alda P. Dobbs is the author of the historical novels Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna and its follow-up, The Other Side of the River (September 2022). Her debut novel received a Pura Belpre Honor and is a Texas Bluebonnet Master List selection. Alda was born in a small town in northern Mexico but moved to San Antonio, Texas as a child. She studied physics and worked as an engineer before pursuing her love of storytelling. She’s as passionate about connecting children to their past, their communities, different cultures, and nature as she is about writing. Alda lives with her husband and two children outside Houston, Texas.

……..

If you enjoyed this interview you may also like my Just Get Started Podcast Interview with Seth Godin, Author, Founder and Speaker

Share This Podcast - Choose Your Platform!

Sign Up For The Newsletter

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Review On Apple Podcasts

If you enjoy this episode I’d be grateful if you would leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, if you believe I’ve earned it.  Thanks for listening!

Alda P. Dobbs2022-12-23T17:59:19-04:00
  • Jessica Norwood Profile Headshot

Jessica Norwood

JESSICA NORWOOD

EPISODE 228: Global Sales Content Strategist & Children’s Book Author

Jessica Norwood Profile Headshot

APPLE

GOOGLE

SPOTIFY

iHEART

PODCHASER

Episode 228 features Jessica Norwood, Global Sales Content Strategist & Children’s Book Author.

Find Jessica Online:

Website: www.knottygirlpublishing.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicafnorwood/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knottygirlpublishing/

Facebook: hhttps://www.facebook.com/Knottygirlpublishing/

About Jessica:

Jessica Norwood works in Digital Sales Effectiveness at Cisco, as the Global Sales Content Strategist for Global Virtual Sales & Engineering. She is also the founder & owner of Knotty Girl Publishing, LLC, and author of the “Your Hair is Magic” line of children’s books.

In her “previous life,” she has served as a public-school teacher in South Carolina, teaching middle and high school students German, and developing state-wide foreign language curriculums. Since moving to North Carolina, she has held roles in the investment management space, assisting the world’s largest hedge funds, private equity firms, and consultancies in their due diligence processes.

She has led sales and recruiting teams and has helped lead an international office expansion project in Gdansk, Poland. She most recently served as Strategic Sales Manager for Business Development at BMC. Jessica earned her B.A. in German from the College of Charleston, her M.Ed. in Divergent Learning from Columbia College, and her M.Ed. in Educational Administration from the University of South Carolina, Columbia.

She serves on the board for Audacity Labs in Durham, NC, a non-profit focused on democratizing entrepreneurship for underrepresented 9-12th graders. She lives in Wake Forest, NC with her husband, two children, and a 14-year-old dappled dachshund.

……..

If you enjoyed this interview you may also like my Just Get Started Podcast Interview with Seth Godin, Author, Founder and Speaker

Share This Podcast - Choose Your Platform!

Sign Up For The Newsletter

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Review On Apple Podcasts

If you enjoy this episode I’d be grateful if you would leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, if you believe I’ve earned it.  Thanks for listening!

Jessica Norwood2022-04-16T19:05:23-04:00
  • Dustin Brady

Dustin Brady

Dustin Brady

APPLE

GOOGLE

SPOTIFY

iHEART

PODCHASER

Episode 212 features Dustin Brady a Middle-Grade Children’s Book Author widely known for his Trapped In A Video Game and Escape From A Video Game series.

His new book in his Escape From A Video Game series launches in April 2022. Pre-Order here

Find Dustin Online:

Website: dustinbradybooks.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dustinbradybooks

About Dustin:

Dustin Brady writes funny, action-packed books for kids who think they hate reading. Although he regularly gets locked out of his own accounts for forgetting passwords, Dustin still remembers the Super Mario Bros. 3 Game Genie code for infinite lives. It’s SLXPLOVS. Dustin lives in Cleveland, Ohio, with his wife, kids, and a small dog named Nugget. His Trapped in a Video Game series has sold over one million copies.

……..

If you enjoyed this interview you may also like my Just Get Started Podcast Interview with Seth Godin, Author, Founder and Speaker

Share This Podcast - Choose Your Platform!

Sign Up For The Newsletter

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Review On Apple Podcasts

If you enjoy this episode I’d be grateful if you would leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, if you believe I’ve earned it.  Thanks for listening!

Dustin Brady2022-01-29T17:38:16-04:00

Writing A Book In 30-Days

children’s books

Well, I knew it would happen at some point and my impulses to jump on a new idea would shake up my Dozen Months of Discovery.

It’s actually a great lesson to follow your feelings and passion and don’t be stuck in a certain path just because that’s what was initially scripted.

Originally, when I planned out my twelve months I had April slated as a month where I was going to learn the Ukelele. Solid choice and it was going to allow me to be that “beginner learner” again like I experienced in March learning Spanish. However, as I spoke with a friend and editor of a book I had been thinking about writing, it was determined that maybe the best thing to do was to put a time window into play and just get it done because it can be very easy to procrastinate especially when writing a book.

So, I took a short look into the future and said “Adios, Ukelele, and hello Book writing!”.

Little did I know the path it would take me down.

As I rounded out March and already had some ideas and notes down for the book I intended to write, one focused on the Just Get Started mission, I stopped myself and really thought about the path I was going down.

This is where self-awareness comes in.

My mission is to help the next generations of our world through earlier self-discovery about themselves and the world around them. This book idea was geared toward that but I had a change of heart.

So, I pivoted and started writing a fictional book taking the elements of the non-fiction book I was going to write and turn it into a story about a boy learning entrepreneurship at an earlier age. I had the idea finally and started writing. I scripted out notes, had the plot laid out, and began on my way. But there was just one problem…I couldn’t stop thinking about rhyming.

See, I am already in the process of publishing my first children’s book called “Luke’s First Round Of Golf” and finishing up on the illustrations as I type this. I couldn’t help but think; maybe this is my “thing.” Maybe someday I’ll write a longer story but I love the rhyming aspect of children’s books, I always have. I love rhyming, in general, having been a fan of the greats of Hip Hop all my life. It’s in my DNA.

So, after a second pivot one week into April I began freestyling on this book.

What did I learn through this process

  1. Go with your gut, sometimes it is always leading you in the right direction
  2. If you are not truly invested in something, you won’t get your best work. Don’t settle for something you deem so important
  3. Be patient – some days you don’t have your best stuff. Even Michael Jordan had off shooting nights. 
  4. Hold yourself accountable to finish – There are a lot of ways to weasel out of things and put it off until later but later sometimes never comes. Get back on the horse and ride and finish what you started. Parkinson’s Law works well here “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”

To listen to the audio version of this with some extra tangents and insights you can go here -> Writing A Book In 30 Days Podcast Episode or listen on any major podcasting platform you choose.

Writing A Book In 30-Days2021-03-19T10:42:27-04:00
  • The Fennell Family Profile Headshot

Fennell Family

The Fennell Family Profile Headshot

ALSO AVAILABLE ON THESE PLATFORMS

APPLE

GOOGLE

SPOTIFY

OVERCAST

PODCHASER

Episode 67 features the Fennell Family – Jennaye (Parent/Mother), Jiyah (15), Jace (11), Merl (10). I met this family at the Next Gen Summit and was impressed with their mission, work ethic, and positive attitude. The fact that all of them, especially the kids, have published books and are continuing to create great content goes to show that age really doesn’t matter and what matters most is bringing a positive mindset and strong work ethic to each and every day and never giving up!

Find the Fennell Family Online:

Website: www.fennelladventures.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fennelladventures/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT4VkOkkGuvcMuJsxCqmhKg

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Fennellbooks

About the Fennell Family:

An adventurous, loving family of strong faith that believes in the motto, “LIVE LIFE to the FULLEST!”

Currently featuring 3 young siblings; Jiyah 15, Jace 11, Merl 10 and Jennaye an inspirational mother that are authors of an AMAZING unique book series, professional face painters, speakers, rappers, podcasters, travelers with an inspirational cartoon!

Jiyah Fennell – 15-year old author

Jiyah started face painting when she was only 9 years old. She has painted for celebrities and she teaches face painting to other children to become entrepreneurs. Her first book, Princess Jiyah’s Face Painting Fairytale demonstrates her painting skills and teaches positive character traits. 

Jace Fennell – 11-year old author

Jacewas just 9 years old when he wrote his first book, Journey through Hawaii with Jace. He later wrote his second book, Journey through Cuba with Jace. He is an honor roll student in his 5th grade class and an inspiration to many. 

Merl Fennell – 10-year old author

Merl began his writing career when he was just 8 years old. He has written 2 books in the family series, Journey through Texas with Merl and Journey through New Orleans with Merl. The books can be read over 25 different ways, teaches learning concepts such as the alphabet, counting in English and Spanish, rhyming, and includes family pictures. 

……..

If you enjoyed this interview you may also like my Just Get Started Podcast Interview with Megan Chen of the Urban Garden Initiative

Share This Podcast - Choose Your Platform!

Sign Up For The Newsletter

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Review On Apple Podcasts

If you enjoy this episode I’d be grateful if you would leave a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, if you believe I’ve earned it.  Thanks for listening!

Fennell Family2020-01-20T18:05:05-04:00
Go to Top