We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Valerie Mcallister. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Valerie below.

Alright, Valerie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s jump right into how you came up with the idea?

Generational Words (GW) LLC is a family-owned business whose owners are a mother and her two daughters. Generationally Words LLC also DBA’s, Eyes of Your Heart Entertainment. The mission of Generational Words LLC is to support positive expression as a vehicle to uplift, empower and motivate people to be their most creative selves. GW achieves this mission through films, music, books, events and other platforms of artistic expression. We are “Expression Artist” that seeks to recreate the community “village” through the shared connection of the arts

Words are the primary form of expression. It is our desire to share purposeful words with the world. We follow this mission through supporting other new writers and film makers. We also host and sponsor healing events for women. We call these events, “Mask Down”. Women that attend our events are presented with love, fellowship, and tools to heal the trauma of their past to make room for the blessings of the future.

Valerie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am most proud of being a mother and grandmother, here are a few other achievements.

Valerie is the author of, “The Book Club” and “Carol’s Return, The Book Club 2” She co-wrote her first Anthology, entitled, “Make Pain Pay”, in 2018. Her most recent Anthology is “The Corona Chronical”, written about the onset of the COVID19 pandemic.

Valerie McAllister is an author, entrepreneur and the co-owner of Generational Words LLC and Eyes of Your Heart Entertainment, which she co-owns with her two daughters, Kia and Talia.

Additional Book Credits

Documentary – Tired (In process)
Web-series
The Ladies of the Book-club Web-series was inspired by Ms. McAllister’s self-published book series that depicts the lives of eight African American women who form a bond of sisterhood. The ladies are doing their best to navigate through their lives, loves, and drama with the help of their book-club sister-friends.

Valerie previously hosted Sistah-Talk with Valerie, a half hour radio talk show geared toward empowering women. Sistah-talk was aired on Rejoice Radio 101.3 FM
Ms. McAllister co-produced and acted in two short films under Eyes of Your Heart Entertainment, entitled “Legacy” and “Stays Together”. The two projects were produced and directed by her daughter, Kia Reed.
The film, “Legacy”, was entered into the Washington DC. 48 hour film festival and won the Impact Award and Audience Favorite.

Valerie’s repertoire also includes community activist, motivational speaker, and financial services coach.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

The thing that helped me to build my reputation is consistency, transparency, and being who I am. It never mattered to me whether I had 2 followers or 2,000 followers. I know that my message is for someone. When I first became a writer, I struggled alot. I didn’t know where to go or who to trust. I was approached by marketers that wanted to charge me thousands of dollars to help me to become a published author. I started down that path because I didn’t feel like I could do it for myself. One day I met a young lady that gave me all the information I needed to start self publishing for myself and she did it for free. After doing more research, I was able to learn the secrets to get my story out there on my own. Now, it is my goal to encourage everyone that feels they have a book inside of them to follow their dreams.

I think that I am a natural encourager. For two years I would post a word or phrase for the day. I was surprisingly shocked by how many people were following me. I also started networking in my community by finding events where like minded people would be. I attended book signings, conferences, social events and anything I felt would put me around people who had the skills to do what I was seeking after. It worked. Consistency and perseverance is the key to building your reputation and getting recognized in your market of choice.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I funded my projects from my own pocket. I self-published my books from the capital in my bank account. My first webseries was a blessing. All the actors volunteered hours of their personal time because they believed in my project. We had days of rehearsal and filming, but they all showed up. I fed them and treated them like family. I am not a woman that comes from financial means, but I believe that where there is a will, there is a way. I pinched pennies and sacrificed to achieve my goals.

I might not recommend all the sacrifices that I made to others, but I would also not discourage someone from their path because of lack of resources.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://genword.org
• Instagram: genwordsllc
• Facebook: Valerie Robinson-McAllister
• Youtube: Sistah-talk after dark