Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ellisa Brown. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ellisa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?

I don’t remember the first story my parents read to me or the first time I opened a book, but as early as I can remember, I have been a sucker for a good story. I remember begging my grandparents to regale me with tales of bygone eras, of struggles and joys long gone. Stories brought me to life. However, early on, I realized the books offered in school and libraries didn’t star characters that looked like me. On the rare occasion they did, they were not the tales of adventures, knights, or humorous animal sidekicks but stories of history or struggle or pain.

I felt like all the books had gotten what it meant to be young and Black skewed – or at least they focused on all the wrong things. Don’t misunderstand, these books were beautiful and necessary, but there was a gap where all the funny, magical stories starring Black characters should have been.

Books misunderstood me and my experience, so I knew they must also be misunderstanding others. So, now I write children’s stories about the Black identities I don’t see represented and support literacy and authorship among young people, so they can write more stories to fill the gaps they see.

Currently, I am hosting Instagram Live panels with local authors to create community and provide transparency into the industry. These candid conversations dive into the writing process, authorial intent, motivation, purpose, and the most surprising lessons learned about the publishing industry.

With my work, I focus on impact – not an arrow straight career path or the quickest ladder to a pretty title. As a result, the projects I contribute to range from writing children’s books to building an experienced-based civic education curriculum to participating in the local spoken word scene in Dallas to volunteering throughout my community. I stay outside the box.

This approach doesn’t make sense to many. I am consistently told: “You are doing too much.” “Pick a niche and stick to it.” “You can’t do it all.”

Those pieces of advice, while well-meaning, don’t work for me. In short, I’m a professional multitasker who needs to pour into my community to feel fulfilled in my work.

Is this the path for everyone? No. Is it messy? Yes. Do I juggle every project perfectly all the time? Of course not. But I need to stretch the muscles of all my passions and exercise all my God-given gifts. After all, if you don’t use it, you lose it.

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

I’m a Texas native, professional multitasker, and innate storyteller who pursues my purpose every day.

My current projects are as varied as they are exciting and impactful: As the Founder of Civic Essentials Education Fund, I work to innovate traditional civic education by building a practical, engaging, and experience-based civics education curriculum.

In my “spare time,” I authored Meet Cairo, the first in a series of books on my fun-loving, stubborn puppy Cairo. You can check her out @cairothecocoyorkie on Instagram. My experience publishing my first book inspired me to start a publishing company of my own, Books by Cairo (www.booksbycairo.com), to publish and promote literary fiction for all ages that fill gaps in cultural and social representation. (Keep an eye out for our first published project later this year.)

My work has been featured on Fox 4 Dallas and WFAA Dallas–Fort Worth. I also regularly perform at open mics across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, including those at Black and Bitter Coffee, Black LIT Bookstore, and the Farr Best Theater. I have been a featured poet at the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Luncheon and the Arlington Art Museum.

I earned my bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University in Political Science and my master’s degree from Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris in Politics and Public Policy. As a result, it should be no surprise that I have dabbled in the political scene.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I’m driven by the giants whose work and metaphorical shoulders I stand upon. Throughout my upbringing and academic journey, my community poured into me. Family, friends, and strangers saw potential in me.

My mission is to realize that potential, repay my community’s investment in me 10-fold, and pour into as many people as possible along the way.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

To date, the most rewarding part of my journey has been seeing young readers’ smiles and hope-lit eyes when they read Meet Cairo. I don’t see any milestone surpassing that anytime soon.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ebessentials.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mscivicsncoffee/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellisabrown/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/MsCivicsNCoffee