you're watching in the c suite on britain community television hello everyone and welcome to in the c suite where we bring you tips tools and resources for small business owners entrepreneurs and other professionals who are thinking about starting their own business is my guest today i am more than excited to have her here she is an entrepreneur she's an author a published author we're going to talk about her current book series we're going to talk about some new books that she has on the horizon she also happens to be one of my former students or i am thrilled i mean thrilled to have her here she's a senior in college now so she's got some big players ahead of her in front of and behind the camera she's going to be making some big decisions and so glad we were able to work this out i'm so excited about what is getting ready to happen in your professional journey so i want to start and people who watch the show they know that i always kind of start with the back story i want people to kind of know what prompted you they age i loved to reading or writing and i loved watching cartoons but i didn't see many characters hill looks like me on television and with my mom's encouraging then i decided to create three of my own characters one girl named  deseret and two boys named chancy and stuart and my mom sent me to a writing camp when i was eleven years old and i don't know let's write about it first and then my mom reminded me right about those three characters that she have and i did and when i was at the camp i was able to publish this book the honeybunch kid woods and it's just about these kids they meet on the first day of sixth grade when they miss the bus and then the walk in the school in the rain and at this camp you write the book and then they mail the hard copy back to your house so this is what i received in the mail in two thousand and eight a very long time ago long ago it was but when i solace in the mail i was like wow this is a book that i've written and my mom was big on encouraging me to do things that a lot of other people my age weren't doing at the time so she inspired me to publish this book on a larger scale and at i didn't want to do it because i was eleven years old i didn't really think that my writing was that great i didn't think people would think it it was interesting to read but i was wrong in two thousand and ten i had turned thirteen years old and i self published this book and it became this book here honeybunch kids and it's the same story these three kids meet on the first day of sixth grade but they don't like each other at first but then they spend time getting to know one another and through trial and error they become friends and i started throwing this book and speaking to kids at different schools and libraries and churches and the main feedback i got from boys and girls but mainly boys was that it was funny and they wanted to see the characters interact more in school so i decided to write two more books to add to the series this is schools in session book one and in this book there are two new characters who are introduced korean and bubblegum boy  bubblegum boys class bully he thinks that he's cooler than everybody else and he tends to pick on people who he thinks are not at his level and after i wrote this book in two thousand and twelve the third book in the honeybunch kid series was published schools in session book two and the series is very funny it just follows these characters who do all kinds of stuff that kids do they try for fall baseball or somebody is not good at all to try out for the school talent show and somebody acts nervous and almost as an perform well on stage t right so i did incorporate might not a corporate i did get a business than a bunch of kids l l c and that was amazing because i was you know twelve thirteen at the time and it was a big step with the books so i started to sell them that books there is and then being opportunities my church but several other books and put them in the bookstore some schools and libraries of the books and gave them to their students and that is the business side of the kids so yes and it's big in what's happened is it started out with just the physical product of the books but what's happened beyond that is now it's taking you in front of the camera and in front of groups just this weekend you spoke to were three hundred students yet also a little bit about where we're going to talk more about it when we come back from the break and i want people to know that you're available i think that's actually how we met right i think i saw you you were given you know ward at an event we start at the same table do your mother and i did you to come and be a guest on a television show that my students ran away and they interviewed you and that's kind of how this whole journey started and now here you are going to read graduate college and talk a little bit about what you major in your college and where you go to college so i attend hampton university and a rising senior journalism major leadership studies minor and i'll be graduating in may twenty eight thousand so it's exciting it's excit mean it's like right around the corner and you're looking beyond that to talk a little bit about what's coming next right here so this summer i'll be interning at w m a r t v in baltimore it's a division of a b c news and i start on june fifth and they're excited to go be a working alongside reporters and photographers and camera operators and i'll just be really learning you know the behind the scenes on screen talents of being in television so i'm really excited because i know that oprah winfrey got her start at that same network so i'm really looking forward to following her media footsteps well i'm going to tell what you're already starting to follow in the media footsteps because you've been honored on bt honors about being first so i was a freshman at hampton university twenty fifteen and i received an email from a talent acquisition manager with in bt honors and she had heard about this literacy campaign that i started with these books and she wants to know if i wanted to be part of the show as an early riser as someone who is doing something in the community that's small right now but has the potential to become very big one day and it was at the warner  washington d c there were so many influential people there i had a chance to meet at the end of season who's a blackish today i got to meet glynn turman used to be on a different world and i will say that to me sure and that was really amazing today i'm part of the usher's new look foundation so it's like a nonprofit that helps students like me get opportunities in whatever career path that will and i go into some really grateful for that organization and then that same year in march i was invited to be on black girls rock as and making a difference girl and the theme that year was education so it was myself with the books and two other young ladies one hole she has an app called  jordan and she's just it was just great to be in the presence of those other young ladies and they had the chance to stand on the stage with the former first lady michelle obama and she have a some really really encouraging words and i was just an honor and a dream come true to be standing next to her on that states that was really wonderful not only was it an honor a thrill for you was an honor for all of us that were watching you know your mother is watching you and i know she was there too and i every time the camera would shoot over to you guys and pan over i was just so exciting to see that what you started here that people see the vision and that you found people that will help you because we know this we talk about this all the time we have to help each other in the business when you start a business you're often flying solo and it's not the easiest journey and so you've got to find people along that path that can kind of hope you get to success so it's so exciting to see it but you also are going to come and do some speaking with my current students which i'm totally excited about when and you're going to talk about your keynote presentation are call it passion and purpose right now i'm looking we still have about a minute or so toe a little bit about and then we come back on the other side of the break i'm going to help people series and writing more books in the future so i give this speech to kids no matter what age between ages seven and eighteen and i talk about how they can turn their love for math or science or art and how they can if they don't stop if they do something every day to work toward that goal they can turn that into their lifelong purpose and change the world for people change the world for people listen i'm so excited about it and you know what while we still have a minute or so talk a little bit about the next book series that you're working on because you told me about this the other day and i am so excited hope you get the word out about this book about it still or so right now i'm working on a manuscript for a near book it's a little bit different than the  series it's a more serious topic about bullying in middle school and it's how one person if they care enough can stop bullies from hurting other people and this book is different because it takes a look at the bully perspective and not the one who's getting hurt so i think it's equally as important to focus on the bully because if we're able to help them then they can you know stop before they hurt somebody else you know and in the future i'm looking to get that book published by a company such as scholastic or simon and schuster or random house and really get this new series off the ground and into the television screens the movie theater screens of millions across the country someday and that's exactly what's going to happen that's exactly what's going to happen in you have a literary agent this time around yeah there you really coming out in a more professional approach in this profession was well but you're more mature and you've taken it to another level but what i'm excited about when you were serious with me i think it's not only going to be a resource for students i think is going to be a resource for parents right and some of the issues that are facing young people right now sometimes the parents don't even know even if they're involved they still kind of miss a few things but i think it'll also spark a lot of dialogue in the classroom outside of the classroom so i'm excited about it and i'm glad you're here to talk about it this is why i do this show because i want you to be able to get more visibility for what you do and so with that when we come back on the other side of the break failures are necessary components of success because those hard times are what shaped you into the person you're meant to be and tonight we've got three young women here who are living breathing examples of that fundamental truth so let's welcome back to the stage this year's mad girls thomas shintoist song embry gavriel jordan import them are they are leading for the lives they are transforming in their communities but let me tell you something i am sure that in the process of achieving all that they've achieved that they have faced plenty  i am sure that they heard plenty of voices telling them that their dreams were too big or too hard or not the right kind of dreams for girls like them see with these girls  listen to those voices they listened to their own voices they held fast to their own dreams and most importantly they prepared themselves to achieve those dreams by working hard in school a occasion thank you unleash the genius and the power and the passion to rock your communities to rock our country  a visit staging exacts dot com today get your show me here get your business on the map and now back to the show my guest today i said tell song bambery she is a published author she is a profound nominal keynote speaker we're going to talk a lot about that today if you didn't catch the other segments we've done some other things where she goes a little bit more into detail about her book series called the honeybunch kids but what we're going to focus on now is the business side she has been running this business for many many years and she has a lot of other pursuits under her belt see how it so happens to be one of my former students so i am totally excited that he is here and i'm going to share all the things that are on her radar so i want people to know a little bit let's just talk a little bit get a little bit of background about your honeybunch kid series and you will go into the business they miss the bus walk to school they don't exactly like each other at first but through trial and error they learn to become friends and that is the gist of the honeybunch kids series a little bit and one new things that i want people to know you wrote that book at least the first book tell me how old you were when you wrote the first one right i wrote the first book when i was eleven and i got it published when i was thirteen so it took about two years to actually write the first book and then from that point on then you developed a business behind it's a talk a little bit about the process of you form your company beyond right my company is the honeybunch kids l l c and under that i sell copies of my three books i sel opportunities schools and libraries buy them and put in their you know schools to for the children to read also a book clubs have read my books and yeah that's my business i'm able to sell books i also did motivational speaking at different schools to kids all ages so you know i think even just this weekend you were here when you back from school and you here in new jersey and you were speaking to an audience of a least three hundred students talk a little bit about that because that's your keynote presentation and that's what i want to highlight to help you sprint word right just last week i was at arbor elementary school in the schedule a new jersey and i spoke to a roomful of fourth grade students and the topic of my speech was passion and purpose and this is a speech that i give fairly often whenever i visit a large group of kids in the speech i talk about how i use my passion for literacy to write the honeybunch kids and turn it into my purpose to become a media professional one day so when i speak to the kids i tell them if he finds thing that you're left still at an early age and you do something every day to work toward that goal you can become capable of some many amazing things that she would have never possible and that is the message that i give to kids in your living every ounce of that out and i want people to know because you know me i'm going to say no case until what you've already accomplished but you have an internship coming up this summer right that's going to give you even more i'll be working alongside reporters anchors photographers rob we're learning the behind the scenes of news production and i'm excited because i know that's the stationer mess over when first started her charity some excited to follow in her footsteps as well i knew  it was just coming to fruition we saw it when you first started you were a guest on one of our you told me the show be honest retentions television and they invited do i think you were and still in high school you had a ninth grade  a great year that's exactly thinking about going on to colorado and they interviewed you for your honey bunch kids series and even asked you and i'm going to ask you again what advice you would give to other young people that are thinking about pursuing not just their dreams but this is a business show what about the business side and vice want to share with them i would share that as you grow older things change so when i was first starting out with the honeybunch kids i had one thing in mind for the series but today i'm twenty years old i'm writing a new book this loosely based on the three books but it has some different tones to it and i like this book that i'm writing better than the version of three books so i would say to keep your mind open when it comes to your business because you will be capable of doing things that are just so amazing that she would have never expected so just know that everything will not always stay the same it's great advice and what i also like about it we were talking about this  little bit offline you're looking at the landscape the landscape has changed when you first wrote that book when you were a younger person and the seriousness of bowling is on a whole different level now we love about it so i think it's going to be a phenomenal tool not just for students or for parents who think they're engaged with the young people but maybe to open their eyes to see some other things but also it's going to spark a lot of dialogue so i'm excited about that you're going to really continue on you're not finishing you finishing up in hampton and maybe where you do and i'll be attending montclair state university and then i'll be getting my master's in marketing and i really want to use the marketing to help with that in your book that will be coming out because i really want this to get into the hands of schools across the country because the focus is now a heavier bullying and parents teachers students especially in the middle school age they need to understand the dangers of what bullying is and what it can do for the person that's doing the harm a the person that's getting harmed as well so that's what i want to use for my masters degree to do let me tell you why that's perfect a lot of people start businesses and lots of people they hang a shingle near ready to go but they don't know how to market and promote that's everything that's huge so that why i'm so excited that you told me that that's your next career yes really going to help you launch it and you have a literary engine so you may not apply and you're really taking this seriously i can really see what i love your big picture thinking you're thinking way beyond just your immediate circle right and so everyone i'm going to take a quick break here i'm not going to stop i'm actually going to just pull up some footage of sin tell that you can actually see her doing her presentation passion and purpose and if i'm going to allow her i'm going to ask her if she wouldn't mind to have the cameras right on you why don't you give people a little bit of a snippet we have about two minutes ok so that i want them to see what we see all the time and that's a quote by a man named louis past year and what that means is that your big opportunity won't come unless you are physically and mentally prepared to accept that challenge for example a great olympian like simone biles that chance for her was to go to the olympics last year and display her gymnastic talents and the favor for her was to receive the gold medal and to just show off all of her glory so for you all who want to do something you won't get it until you're ready to handle it if you want to be a football player you're not going to get to the n f l until you are big and strong enough to get on the field with those other guys if you want to be a ballerina you're not going to get to perform on stage unless you have the body and once you have the mindset unless you have the determination to get up there and do your stuff so chance they risk the prepared mind is a big quote that i want all of us to understand because once you accept what it is that you need to do to get see she's sitting here interview mode so i wanted to switch gears and let you see what we see and so i want to help you do everything that you can to get on a wider screen so let's talk a little bit about how people can contact you soon tell because you're available for feels the same exact way i am delighted to have you as a guest today and we're looking forward to what's next in your world so with that thank you everyone for tuning in thank you to all of the sponsors for this show and i want to again to reach out to share and tell them you can actually even come to our website and get more information staging exec's dot com we look forward to seeing you again next time in the states we