Do you ever come home from a long day and can’t wait to kick off your shoes and shed that work “uniform”. Then your four-legged companion comes running to greet you … the unrelenting companionship and selfless love dogs provide is one of the purest forms of love that can be experienced. As humans age they accumulate “baggage” that they carry with them everywhere, it can become either a learning or truly a monkey on their back (stay tuned for another post on that topic).
Our four-legged companions love unconditionally with the truest love and purest heart … that is something to cherish in such a “dog eat dog world”. However, we get pissed at our four-legged creatures, when they eat something they are not supposed to, shed, drool or demonstrate inconsiderate behavior to a house guest … but we forgive them purely and unconditionally. Give that some thought!
As explained by a six-year old little boy … ”People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life– like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?” the boy continued… ”Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don’t have to stay for as long as we do.”
As I have navigated through my career, my best learning and advice is to approach life and work by thinking and acting like the “owner”. At times this will be hard for many colleagues to appreciate, as they are accustomed to being rewarded for protecting the “status quo”. There is not a business in history that survived with a status quo protection mindset. To the clique protecting and being rewarded for protecting the status quo, I say MOVE OUT … innovation, productivity and margin improvement are the only way to deliver breakthrough solutions to any type of customer.
Without a doubt I have always been entrepreneurial in every endeavor, whether inside or outside Corporate America. I am not one to ever “sit still”, which can be both a blessing and a curse. By looking at my LinkedIN profile you will quickly gather this sentiment. “Busy” is a lazy person’s excuse to continue living a life of BULLSHIT!
That brings me to share my journey of writing my first children’s book in a series, Adventures with Dolly and Jett, Always by my side. For months now, my network of friends and colleagues have ask me to share my inspiration and “process” for writing my first children’s book … here you go! Enjoy and feel free to shoot me any questions you may have.
Inspiration:
- My heart is soft for animals, especially dogs … the BIGGER the better. Big dogs have hearts and emotions like humans. The well being of animals and treating them with the respect they deserve is my commitment for the proceeds from our book. We give 100% of all proceeds to Midwest Mastiff Rescue and Best Friends Animal Society.
- Giving birth to my son at the age of 37 after being married for more than 10 years and thinking “my life is good, why do I need to have a child” … well, let me tell you as a strong and independent woman, there is no greater gift from God than seeing that smiling face each and every day. We call him our Angel here on Earth as everyone he meets experiences the pure joy in this child’s eyes and actions.
- Reading to Jett from day 0 – present, provided me inspiration from various children’s book authors. My favorite book I read to him as a baby and today is On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman. She is a talented children’s book author with many best selling titles all with heart warming messages. I reached out to Nancy and she was very gracious to provide guidance to a first time children’s author.
Process:
- Idea Formation: Each day and week I gathered ideas watching Dolly and Jett interact. Their interactions were pure and simple solidifying their instant bond. I jotted these ideas down either on my phone notes or in a journal.
- Pulling it together: Once I had a dozen or so basic pages/scenes for the book, I sat down to pull it all together in a document. As I went through this process, the wording kept getting refined and I described the images that would accompany the words.
- Continuous Improvement: When I felt like the book was in a “pretty good” place, I began letting friends and family read the story with the description of illustrations. Upon gathering their feedback, I made adjustments and began talking to other local authors to secure a publisher. This took several months … then I began working with the publisher, making further refinements to the content and layout. I initially hired an illustrator who was a fantastic artist, but her illustrations were too “heavy” and realistic … I wanted light and whimsical. I then spoke with several friends and colleagues looking for someone with experience and a style I desired. Halyna Ilyasevych Rauber shared a childhood friend of her’s work with me, who lives in the Ukraine. Inna Ruda is a talented freelance artist with a portfolio ranging from children’s clothing logo work to children’s book illustrations. Inna did a beautiful job bringing our story to life.
- Final Production Stage: Reviewing the final .pdf with layout, illustrations and front/back page detail is quite humbling. Detail and presentation is everything in life; especially when it comes to children’s books. It is worth noting, the book was to be released January 15; due to publisher issues and coordinating resources, the book release date was moved to April 4, 2018. The quicker you learn that you cannot be in control of everything, the easier the process becomes! The closer I got to finishing this “labor of love” it became even more frustrating and exciting, but until I held the tangible book in my hands it did not seem real (even though my checking account said otherwise).
- Final Product: The day I received shipment notification from the publisher was a mix of emotions from excitement to relief that all this hard work is actually coming to fruition. Seeing the pallet of books in the garage was pretty cool. The fun then begins to SELL, SELL, SELL! I should also mention, writing and publishing a book takes a large initial investment (think $$$$): illustrations, your time and patience, publisher services, social media presence, marketing materials, book signings and readings, etc.
The entire process from ideation to publication took nearly 2 years.
Check us out on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter … @dollyandjett
