Tag: Storytelling

  • Carol Black-Lemon

    Carol Black-Lemon

    Interview

    Transcript

    Carol Black-Lemon 

    Sarah Jane Thomas  00:00 

    Hello, my name is Sarah Jane Thomas, and today we are talking with Carol Black-Lemon, a professional creative working from and within South Carolina. So, as we get started, can you tell us your current career and where you’re from? 

    Carol Black-Lemon  00:12 

    Sure. I’m originally from New Jersey, born in Newark, raised in Brooklyn, and my husband and I retired recently and moved to Florence, South Carolina. 

    Sarah Jane Thomas  00:24 

    Wonderful. Before we go into details of your profession, we have a brief section of the interview called “One Career, Sixty Seconds” where you describe your job in sixty seconds or less, similar to an elevator pitch. And we can start whenever you’re ready. 

    Carol Black-Lemon  00:38 

    Okay. So I consider myself a solopreneur, and that I do pretty much everything on my own. I’ve always been that type of person where I multitask. But four years ago, almost four years ago, I retired, and from my job as a marketing administrator for a law firm. I was there for twenty years, and I built a lot of experiences working on web design and marketing.  

    So now I do that for myself, and my business is Black-Lemon Art, aka Carol Black-Lemon Art, and I am a multidisciplinary artist, where my mainstay is creating artwork and storytelling through my art, and that’s my passion. Always been, always will be, and now I represent a new generation of artists who are at a certain age point, and for me, I’m still becoming, and it’s me letting younger folks know that even when you get a certain age, it doesn’t end. It’s where your passion lies. Just keep going with it, and that’s what life is all about. 

    Sarah Jane Thomas  02:08 

    I love the term solopreneur. I think that’s so fun and exciting. That was perfect. So, what would you consider your official job title? 

    Carol Black-Lemon  02:20 

    Creator. I’m a creator. I just feel very, very blessed to be creating whatever, whatever comes to mind. But painter, for sure, storyteller through my art. I love doing web design. They make it pretty easy today, so I don’t have to get into coding. But I can fiddle around with that as well. And what was the question?  

    Sarah Jane Thomas  02:55 

    I was just wondering what you would consider your professional job title, but creator just sums it all up. So, as a creative creator, is there anything in South Carolina that you feel you bring into your work, as opposed to people who may not live in South Carolina? 

    Carol Black-Lemon  03:17 

    Something that I bring into my work…I would say communicating with other like-minded or other folks that that want to tap into their creativity. I’m all about that. It’s like folks that I know work on nine-to-five jobs and under fluorescent lighting and the watchful eye; they don’t have freedom. They may be in a creative job, which is wonderful, but for a lot of people, they have their jobs that don’t really give them an opportunity to be creative. You have to follow the pattern and the hierarchy and so forth. But tapping into your creativity allows you to find your voice, allows you to be your authentic self. So, I like to help people to do that, and I founded a group called Creative Connection here in Florence, and it was a call out to anyone who wants to tap into that and talk about their creative process. 

    Sarah Jane Thomas  04:33 

    That’s beautiful. Do you think that there was a defining moment in your life that really had an impact on your creative journey? 

    Carol Black-Lemon  04:43 

    A defining moment in my life on my creative journey….it’s a good question. Defining moment….I think I had many defining moments, and which was just letting me know that I can control my creative voice, so I had to find time for that. When I had a nine-to-five and raising a family, it wasn’t just about me. It was about what I have to give to my job, what I have to give to my family. But at some point, I’m like, well, what about me? Who am I? And I tapped into that little girl that was just curious about everything, and so that little girl still lives in me, and I keep reminding myself who she was. And now, I was proud of her, and she would be proud of me that I’m still doing that. 

    Sarah Jane Thomas  05:45 

    You mentioned your own initiative, your own little startup. Do you think that there was a particular project that you worked on that allowed you to express that creativity in a way that hadn’t really been something that you’ve done before? 

    Carol Black-Lemon  06:03 

    I think that might be. There was a point where I was designing my own website, and I went with the DIY. I’m like, okay, I’m that type of person. I’m gonna figure it out, and I really enjoyed it. I had fun with it, and my website was great. And then I thought, “I can do this for other people,” so I looked at some other folks’ websites, some friends, or just people that I knew, and I’m like, “Would you like me to improve your website?” And I did like three of them for free. I’m like, “let me do this so that I can put it on my portfolio,” and that led to a client. So, I said after six months, I’m like, “okay, I’ll help you to navigate it.” Ultimately, and this is going back maybe twenty years now, but that led to fifteen website clients, and for me, that’s why I say I’m a solopreneur. I didn’t have anyone helping me, and by the way, I was doing a nine-to-five job. 

    Sarah Jane Thomas  07:16 

    So, you mentioned this nine-to-five job. So, before you stepped away from that and became a creative strictly in your professional life, did you have any fears about that? 

    Carol Black-Lemon  07:34 

    Yeah, absolutely. I had to learn about just the business setup and taxes, all the accountability what goes with being a legitimate business and calling yourself a business. So, I had to learn all that, and I was always afraid if I was doing that correctly. My fears of starting up is just learning how to prioritize and not getting ahead of myself, and because then I became responsible for other people, and then I learned that people were counting on me. I’ll never forget a call on Easter Sunday because there was something that they wanted on their website, and I was like, “Wait a minute, it’s Easter. I didn’t sign up for that.” But that was when I understood that the criteria that I had to set forth and letting folks know this is a business, and you have to go by these terms and so that was a real learning experience for me to set those guidelines. 

    Sarah Jane Thomas  09:00 

    Was there anything in particular that helped you move beyond these fears? 

    Carol Black-Lemon  09:07 

    Anything in particular that helped me move beyond these fears….what got me moving beyond the fears was this understanding the complexity of ownership and accountability, and that if I were to call myself the boss lady, that I needed to step up and take better notes and just be better at what I was doing, what I was being called to do. So it was that I need to step up. That was like pivoting to the next level of being a professional. 

    Sarah Jane Thomas  09:59 

    Do you have any advice for young adults or students who have an interest in becoming a creative professional and maybe starting up their own business, as you have? 

    Carol Black-Lemon  10:08 

    Yeah, I would say tap into what’s already out there. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. The information is at our fingertips now. I mean between Google and ChatGPT and Claude, it’s all there. Like, what do I do? They can even build your own website. You know, push the button. There’s your website already. But I’m a hands-on kind of person, and I always want to make sure that if I do use AI to help me, which why not, it’s there. Make sure that it’s at least 80% you and maybe 20% AI, if that makes sense. Yeah, it’s a great tool and it really helps to get things done. But don’t let AI do more of your work than you, and then talking to seasoned professionals and talking to your peers, especially those that are transparent, that are willing to share.  

    There are some folks that they’re not maybe willing to tell you what they use. I’m like, well, those aren’t your people. If I find something that’s working for me, I’m going to tell my friends, “look, don’t waste your time there. This is a better tool.” But talking to seasoned professionals who are doing it, who will give you the real lowdown in terms of what you need? Make good use of your resources. 

    Sarah Jane Thomas  11:50 

    So, you mentioned utilizing AI and utilizing the internet and just like all the information that’s out there now. Do you think that there are any particular skills, either within that or apart from that, that one should practice before trying the same things? 

    Carol Black-Lemon  12:12 

    Right, before trying the same things for sure, and that is having just being more hands-on with your own work in your own occupation, meaning taking notes. Every thought that comes into your mind, some of them are good, and some you need to trash. So, prioritizing your vision for yourself, like what do you need to do right now? And that’s doing your homework. So, and if you’re a student, that’s like the greatest place to be tapping into all the resources available to you. Because at a certain point, those resources and those mentors may go away.For me, it’s organization for sure.  

    Just you know, and there’s a lot of folks [who have it]. I don’t like the term ADHD. A lot of people are like, “I have ADHD.” It’s like if you got a lot going on in your head, there’s a lot of attention deficit because you’re managing so many different things that you are that you have to be accountable for. You’re a student, but you may have a part-time job, and you may have other responsibilities. So, time management is really key. And for someone like me, who’s a multitasker, which I’ve had to tone down. I’m at a certain age right now, and I can’t remember everything, but my mind is still going and going. I wake up with thoughts and ideas, and I don’t want to lose track of it. So having a wonderful calendar, I have this great, beautiful calendar that I use that may even have two years versus an annual calendar and files that I can reference. Organization is definitely key. 

    Sarah Jane Thomas  14:16 

    Well, I want to thank you so much for just sharing your story and your experience and your advice and I really–listening to you talk is it just fills me with happiness for some reason. You have such a way of expressing yourself in a way that’s very genuine, and I really loved it. 

    Carol Black-Lemon  14:36 

    Thank you. I appreciate that. 

  • Aldrena Hicks

    Aldrena Hicks

    Interview

    Transcript 

    00:00 Victoria Bartolotto

    Hello everyone. My name is Victoria, and today we are talking with Aldrena Hicks. She’s a professional creative working from and within South Carolina.

    As we get started, can you tell us your current career and where you’re from?

    00:13 Aldrena Hicks

    Yes. So, my name is Aldrena Hicks, as she said. I am a maker, artist, creative director, and founder of Only Lovely Creative. So, I’ve spent the last 20 years working across higher education, nonprofits and cultural organizations, leading design work that blends strategy, storytelling, brand, and design thinking.

    My work ranges from large-scale public projects like the Briggs v. Elliott case. That’s a case that led to the big paved the way for the Brown v. Board of Education. Then to editorial work, like the stitch cover I did for Louisville Magazine, honoring Breanna Taylor.

    At the core of it, I’m always making, and it’s through Only Lovely. I do design weddings and experiences that feel personal and lasting. It’s things that people actually want to keep.

    So one of the things that is near and dear to my heart is also making sure I care deeply. I care deeply about who gets to be in these rooms. So, making sure the next generation of creatives, especially those that look like me, see a path forward and know that this space is a viable career.

    01:32 Victoria Bartolotto

    Wow, that’s awesome. That’s amazing work.

    Before we go into the nitty gritty details, we have a brief section of our interview called “One Career, Sixty Seconds,” where you kind of describe your job in an elevator pitch style.

    01:47 Aldrena Hicks

    Oh, that’s what I just did.

    01:49 Victoria Bartolotto

    Oh! Oh! It’s okay. If that was your script, that’s totally fine. We can continue, but that was great. I didn’t know if you had anything else.

    02:00 Aldrena Hicks

    No.

    02:01 Victoria Bartolotto

    No, okay. That’s perfect. Thank you so much. So as a graphic designer, as a maker, is there anything about South Carolina or your region in particular that brings some uniqueness to your work?

    Does it have any kind of influence on you?

    02:18 Aldrena Hicks

    Yeah, that’s a great question. So of course, I grew up in South Carolina, Somerville, Charleston area. Everybody knows Charleston, right?

    I come from a long line of makers. So, my grandfather was a brick mason. He’s actually paved some of the walkways with brick work in some of the plantations when they’ve needed somebody to redesign some or fix it up. Then also some of the walkways in the downtown Charleston area, I remember going. My dad would take us to visit him while he was laying bricks on those special pave ways and stuff. So that was nice. My grandmother was a seamstress, very well-known and well respected. Then of course, a family of musicians. All of that I bring into the things that I do.

    I’ve always been around creatives growing up. So just having that flair. What I try to do is then incorporate that identity into little nuggets here and there in the work that I do. But that’s why I’m hyper focused on when I’m doing stories, especially when I’m working with brides or organizations. I want to hear the story because that’s important, incorporating that into whatever we’re going to create for them.

    03:43 Victoria Bartolotto

    Definitely. I feel it really depends on who the person is in order to continue the project.

    03:48 Aldrena Hicks

    Yeah.

    03:50 Victoria Bartolotto

    Was there a defining moment in your life that had an impact on your creative journey, whether in education or just personal life? Was there anything that kind of marked that?

    04:00 Aldrena Hicks

    Oh, there’s so many. Which one do I choose?

    04:06 Victoria Bartolotto

    Any one! Any one!

    04:08 Aldrena Hicks

    I will probably say my experience with my graduate work. I am a graduate of Vermont College of Fine Arts, and I majored in graphic design. That was my concentration, of course, the MFA in graphic design. When I started there, I applied sight unseen.

    I was already in some other graduate programs. I bounced around a little bit, but nothing felt personal. Nothing felt like this is what I want to do. There was nothing wrong with those other programs, but I didn’t want to lean into the corporate world like that. I’ve already felt I was losing a sense of self because, as you know, when you’re designing and you’re doing work, it is about who you’re designing for. So, you kind of lose that, and I didn’t want that to happen.

    When I got to VCFA, I immediately fell in love because the school focuses on the work, the creative, who you are, and then that comes through. That typically doesn’t happen in this case, in cases of grad school work.

    So, the probably the pivotal moment is when, I was in a two-year track. Probably after my year and a half review, they’re like, “Aldrena, listen, girl, we love you, but we don’t see you. We don’t see, you’re giving us all the polish and that’s cute, but we’re here to discover the messy and you know, who are you?”

    After that little talk, I had my little cry and all that stuff. I realized, “Okay. This is the time where I need to shine and show and dig deep into who I am, my roots, my culture, and be proud of that.”

    From that came my thesis work, which has paved the way for other things that I’ve done since then. I will say that was probably the most transformative experience. I’m very proud to be a part of that legacy.

    06:08 Victoria Bartolotto

    That’s amazing. So, speaking of your thesis project, was that something particular that you produced that maybe showcased your creativity in a way that it never had before? What about it was different compared to previous work?

    06:28 Aldrena Hicks

    Yeah. So, I took the approach. I did weave in some research because that’s part of the requirements. I took the approach of creating a storytelling experience, because I told you storytelling is part of my thing. What I did was I explored how the media portrays black women and how we’ve influenced the media and culture. I wove certain pieces of history and then turned it back on to how it affected me personally, how it did as a creative.

    I studied and talked about hair, respectability, politics, and then skin, colorism and all that stuff. I then found ways to remember how those things affected me growing up and how I now advocate for, especially young black women and my daughter, to be proud of who they are.

    So yeah, the approach was different because I did a personal narrative, but I wove in some history and some research in that. It has won a few awards. I’ve written a children, a self-published children’s book out of that. So yeah.

    07:56 Victoria Bartolotto

    That’s really awesome. Especially just seeing that I’m a writer too. A lot of the times that I’m working on projects, it’s like seeing something grow from a tiny little seed into this huge thing. You have to step back and be like, “Wow. I did that. You know?”

    08:14 Aldrena Hicks

    Yeah.

    08:16 Victoria Bartolotto

    So before entering your field, maybe in your education process, did you have any fears about becoming a creative professional? If there were some fears, what inspired you to keep going beyond them?

    08:30 Aldrena Hicks

    I knew I wanted to do creative work. Like I said, grew up with musicians, makers and all that stuff. I never knew graphic design was an actual thing. I’ve been doing that, just didn’t know that’s what it was.

    So, I was at my undergrad, working at Columbia College, SC, not Chicago. When I discovered graphic design, I was like, “People make money doing this?” They’re like, “yeah.”

    So, I don’t think I was ever afraid of being a creative in this space. It was more of finding the right place to let that talent grow. Of course, through trial and error and all the careers and stuff, I quickly found out that advertising work is not my scene. I met some wonderful people and did a lot of things. But again, going back to the why behind things, the history behind things. So, then I veered into the nonprofit world. Now what’s scary now is that I’m doing this full time. So, it’s more like, “who’s going to get these invitations? Who wants to have brand work done?”

    09:53 Victoria Bartolotto

    Oh, wow. Do you have any advice for young adults or students who may have an interest in pursuing becoming a graphic designer? Are there any particular skills that you think someone should practice or at least have before entering the industry?

    10:08 Aldrena Hicks

    Yeah. One of the things I want to say is that, and I know people have different networks and all of that, all of that is great.

    I read a book along, I think I might have mentioned in my pre-interview, one of the books I recommend is reading is Talent is Not Enough, because a lot of people think talent will get you all the places, but it really is the soft skills, building these connections and learning how to relate with folks. It will show up in your work. So, make as many connections as you can.

    I know it’s hard because a lot of times you feel like people aren’t going to respond to you. But there are a lot of us out here who really love and want to reach back and help. I mentor. I’m still in touch with many of the students that I taught during my time as a professor.

    Do not discount your people skills. I know it’s hard when folks like love the internet, love being on Chat and all that stuff. That’s great. Still learning how to write with and without AI. Learning how to write, learning how to speak, learning how to read the room, that will get you further than just having a talent because you can be the most talented person in the

    world. If you don’t know how to relate to folks, you don’t know how to talk with them, get with them on a personal level or at least be professional about things; you won’t last long.

    11:45 Victoria Bartolotto

    Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me today. This has been an amazing interview. Have a great day.

    11:51 Aldrena Hicks

    Thank you so much. You too.

    11:53 Victoria Bartolotto

    Bye.

    11:53 Aldrena Hicks

    Bye.

  • Meg Reid

    Meg Reid

    Interview

    Transcript

    00:00 Victoria Bartolotto 

    To start, can you introduce yourself? Tell us where you’re from. Spell out your name. Just kind of, like a general overview, I guess. 

    00:09 Meg Reid 

    Sure! I’m Meg Reid and I am in Spartanburg, South Carolina and I am the executive director of the Hub City Writers Project and as well as the publisher of Hub City Press. I was born in Canada and raised in Maine. I went to school in North Carolina at University of Wilmington, in North Carolina, Wilmington, and then I moved to Spartanburg for a job at Hub City Press, and I’ve been here for the last 10 or 11 years. 

    00:38 Victoria Bartolotto 

    Oh wow. Per the Hub City press, overall, I was doing a little bit of research. It sounds like you guys have an amazing initiative. It’s an independent – indepe –, excuse me. It’s an independent publishing firm, isn’t it? Or is it more like traditional? 

    00:53 Meg Reid 

    It is — It’s a, we’re traditional publisher, but we’re a nonprofit literary prep. So, we’re a 501-C3 organization, and that means that we have a mission, and everything we do in the publishing relates to our mission. 

    01:08 Victoria Bartolotto 

    Could you describe the mission a little bit?  

    01:13 Meg Reid 

    Yeah! Our mission is publishing new and extraordinary writers from the American South, and we are the only publisher in the world, really, that only publishes southern writers, and we define that it, you know it, it’s a little bit loose, but usually from the D.C./Virginia area to Texas. We publish fiction, nonfiction and poetry, and books of regional interest, and this year is our 30th anniversary.  

    And though we published books about the American South, so we are like a regional press. We do so to a national audience and international audience. And our books are routinely in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal and places like that. And so, we’ve been in Spartanburg since 1995, and we’re still very embedded in this community. And then we do national work from Spartanburg. 

    02:06 Victoria Bartolotto 

    Oh, wow. Congratulations on 30 years! 

    02:09 Meg Reid 

    Thank you! It is, it’s quite the quite the achievement. So, we’re very excited. We’ve kind of been celebrating all year long. So… 

    02:18 Victoria Bartolotto 

    Awesome. Speaking of the South and South Carolina in particular, is there anything you think about either Spartanburg, or South Carolina as a state, that brings something unique to the table in publishing that other houses anywhere else don’t really have? Do you think there is anything special about South Carolina or Spartanburg? 

    02:38 Meg Reid 

    Yeah! I think that Hub City could only exist in Spartanburg. We are very much built from the people who started it and who have supported it. We have had hundreds of people in Spartanburg who have given money every year to support what we’re doing. So, we’ve been community-vested and community-grounded since we started, so you can’t separate our community from what we’re doing.  

    But also just I think that we’re big proponents at Hub City of something that we call, like “decentralizing publishing.” Most of publishing occurs in New York, in big cities, and specifically in New York. And it occurs, you know, with one of five big conglomerate companies. And so those big 5 companies have so many imprints underneath them. But they all funnel to five companies. 

    We think that our model is kind of like local foodways or other kinds of celebrations of local culture. It’s saying that we’re doing something that is different from the consolidated model. And we are doing something that’s really grounded in our place and where we’re from. And so, we really think that’s scalable and that if somebody wants to start, like they’re like, “oh, I want to start publishing books.” If it feels really daunting because it’s a really big system, it’s really good to think about: What does my community need? What does my town need? What can I celebrate here with the people around me? And starting from there and growing from that local community aspect. And so that’s what we’ve done and that’s a really integral to our identity as a press. 

    I think that we can do a lot of the stuff we do because we’re not in New York. We’re in South Carolina, and I think people don’t have as high expectations overall from a small city in South Carolina. So, it’s very fun, surprising people and reminding people that books and literary culture can exist anywhere, not just in one city. 

    04:42 Victoria Bartolotto 

    Yeah, I think that’s really important to think about, especially with like New York. And also, I think also in California like I know so many writers just come out of there and I’m actually an English student studying writing, studying how to write books and do poetry and things like that. So hearing that, oh, I have to be in New York, or I have to be in L.A. to publish. It is kind of daunting like you said. 

     05:06 Meg Reid 

    Yeah, well, we just want people to remember that they can. And the great thing about independent publishing is that there are independent publishers everywhere. There’s independent publishers in, you know, Minnesota and Texas and Kansas City, big ones, really good ones. So, it there is something about independent publishing that works, can kind of work anywhere. So, I think that once people find that out, it opens up the whole world for them. It’s not like publishing is just six buildings in New York City. It’s a lot broader than that. And it includes a lot more people. 

     05:42 Victoria Bartolotto 

    Throughout your own personal journey, becoming the executive director, was there anything that you think was a defining moment that made you want to go into publishing, made you want to get into this industry and kind of like, make your mark on it? Was there any kind of ‘something’ that propelled you into it? 

     06:00  Meg Reid 

    Yeah, I think I always had an interest in publishing, and I didn’t know how to go about it. The same problem. You know, I grew up in, as I said, Maine and I was kind of far from any publishing activities and so. But I did go; I went to UNCW for my MFA and they have a publishing laboratory program which is like a student-run press. I decided to take classes in the pub-lab because I had that interest. I’m a book designer as well and I learned how to do book design at UNCW and that was something I had never done. I have no artistic inclination. They had this book building class where you learn about how cover design works and how the insides of books work, and that it’s required to work for the publisher. You have to have a background and like how books are put together and that was really fascinating to me, and I found out I was really good at it, even though I cannot draw. I have no artistic ability. But putting type and photos together made sense for my brain, and that was really exciting and it was a skill that I didn’t know I had until I was in grad school. At Hub City, we’ve always tried to really make our books with a lot of care and we don’t do that many books. We do 8 to 10 books a year and we’ve kept that really small, so that we can keep producing them at the quality that we want to produce them. And I think that idea got set at that point and that’s how I decided to do things because I really wanted them always to make an impression of being objects of art and objects that the people who made them cared about them. It’s not just like we’re cranking out a million books; very opposite of Kindle and Ebook, you know, like high volume stuff, which is just a totally different model. But I think that that got set very early that we would, that I would do things in a different way that was more sustainable and more based on care and cultivation. 

    08:04 Victoria Bartolotto 

    I think that’s really important, and I really appreciate the work that you described because I know so many big publishers they’ll put out like a book and people will get copies in the mail and they’ll be damaged or they’ll be, you know, like printing was wrong. And I’ve heard so many stories, and I’ve experienced a few myself, so I really appreciate that you guys do that. When you were going through your education, when you were starting out, was there any kind of fear that you had when you first decided to pursue getting into the industry? 

    08:38 Meg Reid 

    I definitely didn’t know. So, I graduated from UNCW and I was working at a coffee shop and I didn’t know how I was going to stay in publishing and not go to New York. I wasn’t necessarily committed to staying in the South, but then this job at Hub City came up, and so that’s why it’s become really important for us to like as part of our mission, to remind people that they don’t need to feel like they need to leave, their home or their region or wherever to in order to do publishing that doesn’t exist only in one place. But I definitely was, because I knew that I just could not afford to move to New York and do the unpaid internship, at that point, it’s all unpaid. And so that was a little scary because it was kind of what I thought I wanted to do and now I know that there are a bunch of publishers nationwide, like I said, and I should have been kind of like looking more broadly.   

    Kate McMullen, who also went to UNCW, she works here, she’s the managing editor. She and I both whenever we talk to students or talked to any sort of education settings, we’re always trying to remind people like, you know, there could be a publisher in the city you grew up in and you might not know about it because they’re not Penguin Random House but they’re doing something, you know? So, I think that’s really become important to me, is reminding people to do that digging and see and not feel despondent that they have to go to New York or California. 

    10:10 Victoria Bartolotto 

    Yeah, popping off of that. Do you think that for students who want to get into publishing, who want to get into this kind of career, do you think there are any specific skills that they should have? Any kind of niche interests or something you think that they should explore before getting into publishing or that would help propel them into it? 

    10:30 Meg Reid 

    Well, I think you know the general interest in books, and reading obviously is really important. I don’t think you can do it without that. And so I think career writing and English students tend to kind of have that.  

    But I think publishing has a really the reverse way; I think publishing skills are also very applicable to other things. That’s why I always tell people if you’re going to do a program at well while you’re in school, publishing programs are really useful because even if you don’t end up going into publishing, it teaches you how to like, take large amounts of information and like, summarize them really quickly. Like, say, what is this book about in one sentence. Or say why somebody should read a book like be more persuasive and argumentative, in terms of being able to persuade people while you’re speaking. So those are skills that I definitely think are developed in publishing. And so, I think if you’re not interested in those skills, then I think that publishing wouldn’t be a great fit for you.  

    But I think really just an interest in books, and an interest in, everybody that I know that has really loved publishing, this is including the people that work here and that have worked here, have an interested in how things are made and how putting things together. Because books take eighteen months to put together and a bunch of people work on it from manuscript to final product.  

    If you’re looking for really like quick, instant gratification, it’s not that kind of job necessarily. It’s a very, very slow burn job. But if you like that feeling of assembling something with the team, I think those are, that’s really the skill that you need along with interest and love of books, in order to do well and succeed in publishing. 

    12:16 Victoria Bartolotto 

    Awesome. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak me today. As we wrap up, would you be open to talking with our team again? I can let you know when the interview is published on our website. There may be an opportunity for another conversation for a podcast that we have here with the Atheneum Press. Just kind of general stuff like that. Any updates. 

    12:36 Meg Reid 

    Absolutely. Yeah. I’d be happy too. And I’m really interested in what you guys are doing over there. I like how multidisciplinary it is and everything different from the Wilmington program, but like, you know, similar ethos. And so, what have you been doing in the program? 

    12:56 Victoria Bartolotto 

    So mostly I’ve been working well, I’ve actually mostly been doing this: organizing interviews with the Uncharted initiative, which is just like being able to showcase people across l different creative careers to students who didn’t know that those careers were an option. So that’s one of the things I’ve been working on this summer.  

    And then another thing is our Communal Pen initiative, which is our writing workshops across South Carolina to get local voices and local stories and tell them to people who wouldn’t have known. So those are the two main projects I’m working on right now.  

    We do also have a third initiative. It is a food-ways project with the Gullah Geechee community. I’m not so much involved on that, but it’s a really cool thing. We’re putting together a bunch of different boxes and there have been interviews done with Gullah Geechee makers for either they’re farmers or the people who work with yarn, or just overall artisan craftsmanship. It’s a really cool project, and I’ve been watching it kind of grow over the summer. And everyone who’s worked on it has done a phenomenal job. And, yeah.  

    14:04 Meg Reid 

    Well, that’s awesome. Well, yeah, happy, happy to be involved. And yeah, if you guys need anything else for me, just shoot me an e-mail. I’m happy to help. 

  • Angela Thomas Smith

    Angela Thomas Smith

    “You determine your worth and set your success. Don’t allow your success to be set on what others think of you and how others perceive you. You determine that, so you won’t have expectations from the world, but you can set your own guidelines and your own expectations.”

    Angela Thomas Smith is an entrepreneur who helps authors publish their books in addition to having a podcast and a magazine based in Georgia. 

    Interview

    Transcript

    Emma Plutnicki  00:02 

    So, to start, what do you do for work and where are you currently working from?  

    Angela Smith 00:24 

    I work from wherever my computer allows me.  

    Emma Plutnicki  00:31 

    Amazing and where is home for you? 

    Angela Smith 00:34 

    So, home right now is Georgia.  

    Emma Plutnicki  00:37 

    Okay, 

    Angela Smith 00:38 

    I actually just moved from Myrtle Beach. 

    Emma Plutnicki  00:41 

    Oh, Amazing! Um, so how long have you been doing that? How long have you been an entrepreneur? How long have you been helping with publishing and all that? 

    Angela Smith 00:50 

    I’ve been doing this since 2012. I started in 2012, I really stepped out in 2016 it really picked up the during the pandemic, and it’s just been going amazing. And I published my first client. Um, we’re having a book signing in Georgia this weekend, so I’m excited about that. Amazing! congratulations. That’ll be so fun and so how has your work shifted at all living in South Carolina to now Georgia has done South Carolina has any influence on your work, as opposed to now living in Georgia? So, I am originally from South Carolina. I’m originally from upstate South Carolina Anderson, South Carolina. Actually, nothing has shifted. It is the same because, I have established a virtual community. So, I’m able to connect with people virtually, um, so we’re able to connect globally. I have individuals that’s not here in the US, and we’re connected with individuals in the UK, Africa, the Virgin Islands. I have a host from one of my podcasts that she’s a professor at University of Virgin Islands. So, we are connected globally, and during the pandemic, I was able to establish that platform. So, I’m grateful for that. Yeah, it’s great to have that flexibility. So, if you’re working with people from different time zones, and you’re on your computer conducting these tasks. Is it ever hard to have a good work life balance, because you’re able to work at any time at your fingertips? Is it ever hard to shut the laptop and kind of get away and have some time for yourself? It was at first, but when you learn how to balance, when you learn that if you don’t take care of yourself, then you’re not going to be any good for anyone else. So, when you learn how to incorporate self-care into your daily life, it makes everything so much easier. Just having that time to, you know, escape from the computer, you know, because sometimes you can get overwhelmed and you can get consumed with what you’re doing, and you get caught up.  So just having that time to escape, it’s necessary, I encourage everyone to have that for sure. So, what does a typical day look like for you now? What’s expected of you on a daily basis, and what kind of things do you get into? Okay, so first thing I’m usually up at 4am I normally take Angel, who is my mom, my God, mom’s little baby. For a baby, I usually take her out. And I do a 5am prayer. I am a spiritual person, so I am part of a prayer call. We’ve been doing it now for five years. So, I do that every morning, and it starts my day. It encourages me, it uplifts me, it gets me started. And then, I own the computer doing whatever that task is for the day, and it can range from today, I’m working on a magazine. We have a special edition of the magazine that’s dropping to honor poets, celebrating our new poet of the year out of Dallas, so I’m excited about that. She’s from Dallas, Texas, and we get opportunity to really connect, collaborate and be creative, and build a community where people can come and have that safe space to be creative and to allow that express side of them to come forth, whether it’s through books, whether it’s through podcasting, whether it’s through magazine, whatever it is, we want to be that space that allow you to be able to create, yeah, for sure.  

    Emma Plutnicki  04:31 

    And so, your podcast, how often do you film those and what kind of topics do you cover? 

    Angela Smith 04:36 

    So, we stream live, and we stream on from Sunday to Friday. We have nine hosts, and they all have two shows a month. So, say one may come on every first and third Wednesday, like doctor chin, she comes on every first and third. Thursday, we have a young lady that comes. On first, no second, Sundays and fourth Thursday. So, they have different days that they may come on, but we have someone on every day, Sunday through Friday, at 8pm and they talk about different things because they come from different walks of life.  We have individuals that have disabilities. They have a young lady that was born with spina bifida and hydro syphilis. She has a podcast called delayed but not deny. So, she not only focused on disabilities and showing people that you can overcome disabilities, but she allowed anybody that has a story that wants to share it to come on her podcast. Individuals that work in social work and librarians. We have a young lady from Toss in South Carolina. She’s a librarian, um, she hosts a podcast that focuses on authors and anything in the literary world, creative side, she likes to focus on that. So, we are a diverse group, and we’re from all over. We have South Carolina, we have New York, we have the Virginia area, California, Texas. So, we have a variety of individuals as a part of what we do amazingly. 

    Emma Plutnicki  06:08 

    And so, with a career like this, is it hard to kind of quantify success? Because, you know, in a creative career, it can be hard to figure out what success looks like, whether it’s financial or ideological. So, in your role, how do you define personal and professional success? Is it how many viewers you have on your podcast? Is it the stories and of people saying that they’ve been touched? Or how do you how do you kind of define that? 

    Angela Smith 06:36 

    So, that is something that is just like beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So, that will be something that each individual person will have to say. But for me, success, to me, is seeing individuals that I’ve worked with go to the next level and seeing them excel and go beyond what they thought they could do to me, that’s success. Seeing articles about me, seeing interviews, seeing different things, where people acknowledge the things that I’ve done to me. That’s success, and you know, it’s measured upon the person that is doing it. It is in the eye of the beholder.  So, you determine your work, and you set your success. Don’t allow your success to be based on what others think of you and how others perceive you. You determine that…So, you won’t have expectations from the world, but you can set your own guidelines, and you can set your own expectations so that’s my, that’s my take on that. Yeah, that’s a great way of framing that.  

    Emma Plutnicki  07:46 

    Did you have any fears when you were coming into this career?  

    Angela Smith 07:49 

    I had a lot of fears but had to step out on faith. I had to believe in myself and knowing that I had all these dreams and I was doing things that I didn’t want to do, and I never thought I would be doing the stuff that I’m doing. But when I stepped out and believed in me and believed in what I felt was on the inside of me, things came forth, and I just began to Just go and things just begin to open up, and the more and more I did, the more and more things opened up. And I tell anybody, if you take that first step, that is the most important thing, get rid of fear. Because fear is not something that we are supposed to have. Because if you’re a believer, whatever your belief is, it has to lead to you not having a spirit of fear but having that spirit to do what you’ve been purposed to do. And how do you do that? Go forth, step into it. Do it boldly. You know, I’m reminded of when I was a child, and all the things that I did when I was a child, and how I enjoyed those things. You know, I got back to doing those things. You know, sometimes we get caught up in trying to live up to expectations of other people, where we lose those things that we’re passionate about by chasing after the things that everybody around us want us to do, but if we hold on to those things that we’re passionate about, it will allow us to be creative, and it will allow us to be who we are, and it allowed that true spirit of us to come forth. 

    Emma Plutnicki  09:35 

    I love that. Yeah, and along the way, was there anybody offering you advice, or was this something that you just kind of figured out on your own?  

    Angela Smith 09:44 

    Well, there were a lot of people that were in and out of my life, and people that probably didn’t realize that they were pouring into me and giving me advice and encouraging me, like my sister. For example, for those that know my story, I lost my mom to a day after my 16th birthday. So, my sister was very important in my life. She was a very inspirational person. She was one of those people that no matter what, she always encouraged me, she always uplifted me, she always pushed me to go beyond. She always believed in me. And she was one of those people that no matter what you did, she would tell you, you did wrong, but she didn’t hold it against you.  She always solved the good in you, and that was one of my inspirations. But there have been so many people, and I can’t begin to name them. Because I would definitely lead someone out, and I don’t want to do that, because there have been so many people that have been inspirational to me, even giving credit to my high school coach, Monica Denise Davis, she was someone that if I never come across her, I never would have played basketball. I never would have had that opportunity to go to college. I ended up in North Greenville for one year. I ended up at Morris Brown College. We had the opportunity to play basketball, meet, some individuals, had the opportunity to travel and do some things that I never would have done. So, there’s been a lot of people and just allowing those people to pour into your life. So, take those mentors. If you have an opportunity to be mentored, take that mentorship.  Allow individuals to pour into you.  

    Emma Plutnicki  11:19 

    Yeah, for sure. And so last kind of question, has there been one significant project that you’ve worked on, or something that you’ve done that kind of sticks out as being particularly significant throughout your career? Maybe it’s a project or someone you worked with, or something that stands out as kind of like the pinnacle of your creativity or of your career.  

    Angela Smith 11:42 

    Wow, I can say right now what we’re doing the 100 authors movement, the 100 authors to watch being able to work with a diverse group of authors that are trying to make an impact, that are trying to leave a legacy, that are trying to allow their voice to speak and touch on different things that they’re passionate about. I am grateful for that opportunity that right now is the most, I mean, pivotal thing, and to hear I’ve had the opportunity to sit and interview all of these authors, a part of this movement right now, and every last one of them, they have a spirit of gratitude. They’re grateful for the opportunity, and it’s based on four seeds, connection, collaboration, creativity and community. That is truly what is based on and being able to give individuals a platform where they can be supportive, where they can feel comfortable and open to support.  There was a young guy, he was getting ready to release a book. He was having writer’s block. He came inside the chat. We have a chat room on Facebook. We have a group on Facebook, so we have a chat. He comes inside the chat, and he just said he was having a bad day, and he explained what was going on. One of the group leaders immediately responded to his post. She posted some things that he could do. Just willingly. Posted things that he could do. He incorporated those things, he came back, he gave his testimony, he wrote his book. His book dropped, and that’s what we’re doing. We share resources. We are pulling on each other. We’re letting each other know that we’re there, that you don’t have to do this alone.  Because a lot of people start a podcast, they start a magazine, they start a book, they do whatever they do, and then they get stuck after they’ve done this thing, like, what do I do now? Now you have a community that’s there to support you, that’s helped, to push you, that’s there to help promote your stuff, that’s helped, and we just want to be a family so that, I think right now, that is the most pivotal thing. And just having all these individuals from different backgrounds, you know, when I say different backgrounds, we have professors involved. We have a professor right now that’s being honored out at miles University, a part of the movement. We have Doctor Chen. We have teachers, elementary and middle school teachers. We even have a high school teacher. I forgot about him down in Texas. We have men and we have women a part of the project. So, we are a diverse group of individuals just wanting to be a voice, um, wanting individuals to know that, yes, you can. We are not respective people, just as we did it. You can do it too.  So that’s what, that’s what I’m doing, and I’m excited about that, that project.  

    Emma Plutnicki  14:38 

    Yeah, I love that. That’s amazing. Thank you for sharing all that. And just as we wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to say about your career? Any advice or anything else you’d like to add? 

    Angela Smith 14:50 

    Well, I just want to tell everybody. As I turn, I’m turning 50 in a couple of days, I would say, what? 12 days I’ll be 50. I’m going to be dropping another book. It’s never too late. Um, because I didn’t start until 2016 and it took me almost losing my life. Because I’m a domestic violence survivor. And it took me almost losing my life for me to really step out and do the things that I wanted to do.  Don’t allow something to be the reason that you step out and do something. Do it because you’re passionate about it, and it’s something that you just want to do, and you want to leave your impact. Because we are our legacy. We are our brand. We are the ones that must tell our story. So, we can tell that in the form of written. We can tell in the form of audio, like we’re doing now, visuals, different things, where we can archive the great works that we’re doing. Because if you are a believer, and you are a word, when you know that the words say we should do greater works, and if we should do greater works, how will they know?  Because we can’t alter none of the things that have come before us. So, we have to leave the evidence and how we do it through our works, our works just speak even when we’re not here, and we want to leave something that the next generation can pull off because someone did something for us before we got here, and those things that they did for us allow us to be in place to do the things that we’re doing now. So, I just tell anybody, believe in yourself, know your worth, know that you have power because you were positioned to be an overcomer, because you didn’t get dropped out of the sky. You are a willing investor to move forth and allow that thing to come forth out of you. And how do we do that? By educating, empowering, encouraging others.  Through our resilience, we can’t give up. You can’t quit, no matter what it looked like. I just completed it on Monday. I just turned in a 40-page document for my last class. I just completed my master’s, so I will walk with my MBA. So, I’m excited about this. 30 years after graduating high school, I went back and I got my Bachelor’s, and now I can walk 12 days before my birthday. I now am a master holder, so I’m excited about, you know, what we have in store, you know? And I say to anybody, chase after your dream, don’t stop chasing your dream, because dreams still come true.  

    Emma Plutnicki  17:40 

    Yeah. Thank you so much. Thank you for sharing.