We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dana Edwards. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dana below.
Dana, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
My mission is to create a collection of children’s books to increase the academic, social/emotional, and career development of all diverse students. It is very important for children to see themselves in books. It is a light that you can see in their eyes when they see a character that looks like them or experiences a situation similar to theirs. It gives them the motivation to read that book, put themselves in the story, and identify with those characters. Kids deserve to get lost in a good book. Providing diverse characters and storylines can increase their literacy skills. Ultimately, it provides them with a space where they feel inspired to take on the world and encourages them to reach their highest potential. Those revelations fueled me to provide a book like that for my students. In the words of Beverly Cleary, “If you don’t see the book you want on the shelves, write it.”
Dana, 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?
My inspiration for writing children’s books began with my love for education and interacting with students. I wanted to be an educator since I was in the second grade and I come from a long line of educators, including my father. This passion led me to become a school counselor. Currently, I serve as one of the school counselors at an elementary school and I have been in this capacity for six years. As a school counselor, you get to make connections with students from various grade levels, personalities, and walks of life.
During the pandemic, I noticed that a lot of students were losing family members at vast rates. Personally, I lost both of my grandmothers and close friends during that time period. It made me realize that there was one topic that no person could avoid: Grief and loss. When interacting with my students, I noticed that there were not a variety of books targeted for minority students when it came to this topic. Most of the stories either referenced animals or inanimate objects. This encouraged me to write Always and Forever: A Children’s Book to Cope with Grief and Loss. In a sense, writing Always and Forever was a coping strategy for me too.
Always and Forever is my first self-published book. I am immensely proud of my book. It has been a tedious journey to self-publish my first book, but a rewarding task nonetheless. The main thing that I want potential clients/followers to know about my work is that I want to create books that target student/children mental health. With everything going on in the world today, taking care of our mental health is imperative. I want to provide tools for students and parents to use to increase their social/emotional, academic, and career development. I want families to start having those conversations to promote growth in all areas.
How did you build your audience on social media?
The biggest advice that I can give someone who is trying build their audience on social media is to be consistent. It doesn’t matter if 3 people or 100 people interact with your posts, keep posting. The right audience will find you and your niche. Present your authentic self on social media and others will have no problem interacting with you or investing in your business/creative works. The more you post, the more you can get your product out there. That’s free exposure. Always remember to interact with those on your post who are interested. You never know where those connections will lead you. Keep pushing! You’ve got this!
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is watching others interact with my work. I love receiving feedback about how children resonated with my book or how much they enjoyed it. It also provides me with an opportunity to receive feedback on how I can improve things for my future books such as marketing or networking techniques. It’s a grateful experience!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://thecounselorscabinet.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/author_dr.edwards/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087421485676&mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Other: https://linktr.ee/dana_edwards