We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tiphané Purnell, MBA a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Tiphané , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright – so having the idea is one thing, but going from idea to execution is where countless people drop the ball. Can you talk to us about your journey from idea to execution?
From pandemic to published was an idea I got after I initially internalized the announcement of the world shutting down from the COVID-19 outbreak. The entire vision hit me at once, but I knew I had to slow down and create manageable steps. So, the first thing I did was decide on a name (which dropped in my spirit and came pretty easy). I’ve had an alias “Pen-It” that I never fully embraced. I’ve always excelled in writing, but I always thought there was a better name that could be given for it. God definitely works all things together for the good and in the right timing because during the pandemic The Pen-It Project was birthed to provide a D.O.P.E. experience to teach aspiring authors how to have a competitive edge in the indie book industry.
The idea came from wanting to take a group of people on a journey with me to write a book in 30 days. My first thought was to vlog it, but I thought it would be more engaging to have active group participation. I’ve always been well networked so I sat down and wrote out a list of names of friends and/or colleagues I knew operated in positions to match the various aspects of the publishing process. After reaching out and/or texting the team was established and we launched (It pays to work hard and be known for being an ambitious creative).
With the team in place, I moved on to recruiting. Since I didn’t have a business page set up yet all my advertising came from going live on my personal FB page and circulating Canva graphics across my social media pages. Every day leading up to the launch of the course, I would post how many spaces were left in the cohort, how many days left and/or go live about writing (sometimes doing live Q&A for those who had questions but didn’t want to commit to the course). Once I started gaining traction in responses I started business social media pages. I set a goal of 10 clients and enrolled 14 with 9 finishing the entire course successfully.
Since I didn’t have anything in place for this venture, I created a free website similar to a landing page to drive interested traffic. Then I set up an Eventbrite to take payments and secured an IRS EIN Tax ID Number.
My personal journey during this time was to focus on writing a children’s book while simultaneously coaching a cohort to write their book(s). On March 30, 2020, The Pen-It Project Cohort 1 began their 5 week journey and it’s been up from there! Since the implementation of this idea I’ve trademarked the parent company Success Dealers International as well as our kids line Cayden Chronicles. To date we have helped sell thousands of books, given the blueprint to land speaking engagements and soar as authorpreneurs.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My name is Tiphane’ L.M Purnell, a cutting edge millenial powerhouse author, speaker, empowerment coach, writing consultant, advocate and editor, ready to curate your dreams into profitable realiities. I started writing freelance at the age of six and started my first business at the age of nine. By the time I was 10, I received my first scholarship for one of my writing submissions. I went on to win writing and oratorical contest throughout middle and high school. My life-long passion for literature, service, teaching and business led to the establishment of my own business, True Vision Enterprises, Inc. (and my nonprofit True Women of Virtue) at the age of 24. Fast forwarding a few years we evolved and establish a new business and brand, Success Dealers International, LLC (also home of Cayden Chronicles children’s literature and clothing line). This company embodies several umbrellas of my passions, including face-to-face and eCourses, a publishing company, podcast (coming soon), grant writing and business consulting. All of our clients are dope in their own respect and we create a D.O.P.E. plan for their personal, professional and business life while on their journey to become published: D – Dedicated
O – Optimistic
P – Persistent
E – Effective
My natural talent for writing and love for literature, my commitment to community service, and my gift of organizing and producing amazing events are all aspects of me that have been utilized on the journey to building this empire.
Although I wrote my first song at the age of 6, I didn’t become a published writer until I was 30. A couple years later I wrote and released my 2nd book My Mind Is A Milkshake. This is a fantastic book about learning to use your mind to produce something great at an early age. How we think as adults starts with how we think as children, so it is important the right thoughts are formed. This story is for anyone of any age who has ever had thoughts that seemed too big, too small, too hard, or not good enough. All your thoughts matter, just like every ingredient in a milkshake matters to make a yummy treat. Sometimes all you need is a little help and encouragement. Give your mind space to grow, be creative, make mistakes, and win. It starts with your mindset! This book is dedicated to every first-generation child creative who has felt left out, counted out, not good enough, and overwhelmed by the amazing thoughts in their minds. As a first generation creative and entrepreneur, I wanted to reach kids whose parents may not know how to manifest their gifts, talents and ideas.
I hold a Masters degree in Business Administration and my most recent professional role was serving as the Project Director in partnership with a U.S. Department of Justice federal grant. In 2018, I added the role of mother onto my robust resume as I welcomed my baby boy Cayden (now 6). I am a proud member of the illustrious Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. where I serve as the executive board as the Chair of the Arts & Letters Committee. This committee is part of a National Commission that was established in 1973 by a former National President. We strive to advance the black experience by highlighting the artistic contributions of African-American people of the past and present by elevating them to public attention through the medium of music, dance, drama, and poetry. Our signature events are our Annual Black Children’s Book Week, Annual Poetry Verzuz and Annual Black Wall Street events.
My colleagues and peers often refer to me as the next Oprah and are excitedly awaiting my successful leap to fame through one of my multi-faceted talents. But in the meantime, I’m enjoying the journey of learning and growing. As a writer and event planner, I spend a lot of time behind the scenes, but I enjoy helping my clients build their confidence to come from the shadows and shine their light. One of my most memorable coaching stories was a photoshoot I attended with a client. I’m big on building authorpreneurs not just writers, so branding is a big part of that. Seeing this lady boss go from a cocoon to a butterfly in front of the camera made my heart smile. She asked me to get in a few of the shots as well. That day I wasn’t her coach/consultant, I was her creative director. According to one of my client’s, I am, “very understanding, a great motivator and coach. Very knowledgeable about writing and will help you achieve your goals if you are #resultdriven”. Another client from a speaking engagement said, “An amazing and engaging speaker. You leave her presentation feeling equipped with the knowledge that she shared. Highly recommended for all audiences”.
What sets me apart is the connection I build with each person. I pour into them what they multiply and pour into others. One thing I will say is if you book me come ready to work because we are #resultsdriven! In the early stages of researching my craft, I saw an article online that stated self published authors average 250 copies sold. Our goaI is to defy that odd with every client. I give each client a goal to sell at least 100 books in the first 24 hours of their book launch. I have one client who sold over 350 copies in that timeframe by being coachable and following the system I gave her. I tell my clients, “Your success is in your story, so be true to your dreams, stay true to yourself and watch your vision(s) manifest”.
How did you build your audience on social media?
The pandemic was a time filled with physical, emotional and mental highs and lows for many around the world. But it was also a time of opportunity if you seized it. During this time there was also a nationwide uptick in The Black Lives Matter movement which created the establishment of virtual platforms for African Americans to elevate the voice and support of our community. Due to the desire for reciprocal support and collaboration, I was able to grow my @successdealersintl instagram account following from 35 followers to nearly 3k followers in 10 days.
With advanced technology and the value of the dollar being able to advance everyday people to influencer level, it was important for me to grow my following organically. Every day during that sprint to grow my audience, I spent time connecting with people. I went beyond the basics of content and reciprocal likes to a virtual shoulder tap approach of connecting. During this time I was able to collaborate and build an external team to aide the goals of my rapidly growing business and gain book sales. As I pivoted to grow my son’s @caydenchronicles account, we received several requests for school visits, virtual events and brand ambassadors.
As a solo entrepreneur, my focus was on new and revolving clients so I stopped the aggressive dedication to grow my following, but I plan to go back and apply some of the strategies I learned and create a system for continued growth and sustainability. I’m pleased to say that I have maintained about 85% of the following I grew during that time.
Any advice for managing a team?
I was going to keep this answer short and say relationship building. But I’ll dig a little deeper since we have the time and space. Most of my clients are coachable and achieve the goal of writing their book in 5 weeks. However, time waits for no one and life happens. In these moments I’ve remained compassionate towards my clients. While this is a business and results are a priority for this company, achieving the goal is also important. Our prevention method to keep moral high was implementing what we call a daily dose. However, we give our clients this dose in various ways as everyone receives in a different language and learns differently, which is why we curate a plan for each client’s needs. As the owner I make it my personal goal to attend as many book launches and/or signings as I can. It’s nice to travel and priceless to see the reactions of my clients meeting me in person for the first time. I have clients in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Indiana, North Carolina, Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland and Georgia to name a few. To recap step one; we build a relationship with our clients because they are an important part of the team.
Secondly, we create a competitive yet supportive environment. Depending upon client volume and genre, once our clients reach a certain point in the process they are assigned an accountability partner. This is where it really gets fun. Some keep their partner until they complete their first book signing while others have formed life long friendships and participated in each other’s weddings.
Lastly, we support. This doesn’t stop at the book launch and/or signing. We’ve had clients go on to write more books, launch speaking platforms, create merchandise, etc. and we support! I also make sure everyone is connected from our vendor team to our clients. We all support each other and keep the circle going, which how we continue to circulate the dollar with each other.
Contact Info:
- Website: Successdealersintl.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/successdealersintl/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/successdealersintl?mibextid=JRoKGi
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiphane-south-mba-aaab8125/
Image Credits
Michael Nichols-Pierce Enoch Purnell Austin Weatherspoon Client Cam