Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Audrey Hinds. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Audrey , thanks for joining us today. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.
Having grown up in a small town, my parents did what they needed to do to survive. While my mom, graduated from a school for the hearing impaired and blind, my father was expected to leave school by the 8th grade to help on the family farm and earn income.
Interesting enough they both found themselves at the same place in life, which was working as custodians. I imagine both had bigger dreams, but they did what they were told from their parents, which was get an education and then work a job for 30 – 40 years until retirement age. Funny story, my dad did not even attend his retirement party because he decided to come to my softball game instead and he never looked back at that job.
When I grew working a job seemed like the normal route to take, but as an adult and mom I simply wanted more especially since neither were in the greatest heatlh after working those 9-5s all those years.
Sadly, my parents did not live to see me realize my dreams of becoming an author, but I did learn from their journeys that life is truly too short to not do what you love and that having a little faith can take you a long way.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
In the first year of business, Parker & Co. showed up to create disruption in the children’s book industry especially for diverse books and disability inclusion books. As an educator, parent and business owner our CEO quickly recognized there was a gap in the market for those types of books and she vowed to fill it. With a dedicated team and outstanding authors, she did this by publishing 28 books with more than half going Amazon bestseller or #1 New Release in less than 24 months.
We’re on a mission to…
Provide resources for mompreneurs to have a safe space to educate our youth with storytelling
Offer more inclusive and diverse books that resonate with a wider variety of families, homeschoolers and classrooms
Improve reading confidence, decrease the literary gap, and encourage self-love
Our CEO, Audrey O. Hinds is a bestselling, award winning author and a book consultant determined to change the world one book at a time.
Our books have been featured with newspapers, magazines, television, podcasts, radio, YouTube influencers, Books A Million, Wal-Mart, Target, Barnes & Noble, Macys and even a City Bus. We figured out the secret sauce and decided to run with it.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Becoming an author was truly a dream come true and passion project for me, but I was not aware that having a business also meant I was running a business since I had a product to sale. In hindsight, I am grateful I did not overthink the process in the beginning otherwise it’s possible I would have felt unequipped to follow through with writing my books and coaching others through the same process. But I must admit, having the learn the backend of the business while still building my business landed me right back at a 9-5 at one point and it was humbling to say the least. I remember being frustrated, humiliated and disappointed with my lack of progress.
I simply wanted to mimic and master the overnight success stories I had seen in my industry. But the closer I listened and more I paid attention, I began to realize everyone had to pay their dues at some point including me. I would encourage other business owners who either still work or had to pick up a job or career to not give up on your business especially if it’s purposeful for you. Instead use that 9-5 to create structure in your day and incorporate your money-making activities into your time blocking schedule outside of work. Also, I would say show yourself grace, keep praying and believing and lastly but most importantly use that job to pour into your business financially as your own investor. It’s a great way to build capital.
Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?
I keep in touch with clients usually the old-fashioned way via calls, but also since I have clients both nationally and internationally, I had to embrace technology such as Zoom, which is a game changer. The way I foster brand loyalty are in the following ways:
1. All of my authors are in a group chat where they can communicate with each other, encourage one another and offer advice as needed. It’s something they really appreciate because we all feel connected to a community of women who understand the highs and lows as an author.
2. I created a newsletter for the authors and aspiring authors to enjoy during their downtime. Its purpose is to keep them updated on what’s happening within the company, but also within our author community.
3. We recently started an affiliate marketing plan for those who refer business, as well.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.audreyhinds.com
- Instagram: the_kid_book_lady
- Facebook: Author Audrey Hinds
- Twitter: the_kid_book_lady
- Youtube: the_kid_book_lady
- Other: the_kid_book_lady (Tik Tok)
Image Credits
Saraellen Bagby with JBella Photography