We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mea Lawrence a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Mea thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

I genuinely hope that I build a legacy where people know that I am honest, I am real and I am known for sharing my love of reading with others. Whether it’s through making bookish content, having conversations with people who love to read or helping people find books that match their interests, I want to do something that feels good and help people too.

Mea, 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 started doing bookish content as a way to just get my thoughts out and connect with people who also love to read after I rediscovered my love for reading in 2022. I never thought I’d dive back in so quickly, but I’m so glad I did. Reading has brought me so much peace and joy, and I just want to share that with everyone. I also want to remind people you don’t have to have a massive personal library or anything to read or make content. There are so many free resources that give people access to books, so I try to show that as well. What sets me apart from other creators is I don’t follow the aesthetic trends through my channels. I also focus mostly on reading diversely where I try to feature mostly black and brown authors because there was a point in time where I couldn’t go into the store and see very many books about characters who look like me. Recently, I’ve started creating Blind Date with a Books where I offer either a book or book box and all books I provide are stories about Black people written by Black authors. It’s a new and challenging journey that is helping me promote Black stories while introducing myself and other people to new Black authors.

How did you build your audience on social media?

So starting out I was so nervous to record myself and put myself out there because I felt like I’d look crazy, nobody will actually care what I have to say or I don’t even have the followers to really build a bookish community of my own. I fought with myself for so long behind the screen because I really enjoyed Booktok and Bookstagram content, but didn’t know where to start. I had reposted a few videos here and there but nothing serious. Then one day I just picked up my phone, hit record and started talking about why I wanted to start making content as I rediscovered my love for reading and finding more book recommendations. Now, my content is growing and so never ending TBR!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding part for me has been knowing I’ve found something I’m truly passionate about. I fell in love with reading at a very young age, but around high school I stopped reading because I was stressed about figuring out what my next steps were going to be. I also felt like school took the fun out of reading for a while so I would only read every so often. Once I picked up books again, I felt like I found my community of people who understands that sometimes I don’t want to talk unless it’s about books, sometimes I want to stay up until 3am because I’m so locked in with the story, and finding more people reading stories about people who look like me. Over time I’ve finally felt like I found a career path I want to work towards that will actually be fulfilling, which is becoming a librarian and bookstore owner. I joke with my family and fiancé about it all the time, but being a librarian was something I never knew could be an option for me until now. I’m excited to see where this journey continues to take me and who I can touch along the way.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @book_meaplease27
• Other: Follow me in Storygraph and TikTok as well! Storygraph – @readtomea97 TikTok – @meaandmybooks