We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dr. Marrielle Myers a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Dr. Marrielle, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
I fell in love with math at a young age. Throughout my life, people were surprised when I told them I majored in mathematics as an undergrad and got a Master’s and Ph.D. in mathematics. They would quickly tell me “they weren’t math people,” they “didn’t get the math gene,” or they “hated math ever since they had to take timed multiplication tests.” These responses saddened me because mathematics is not a skill or trait we inherit. Also, much of what people dislike about mathematics is “school mathematics” (e.g., testing, speed, perfection, abstraction).
Once people adopt this negative mathematics identity, they can quickly distance themselves from the content and convince themselves they don’t need math. I knew I had to change this. I also knew I had the power to be the change!
To do so, I wanted to start with the youngest learners and the adults caring for them. Reading picture books opens a world of opportunities. So, I knew that writing a mathematics children’s picture book could have the power to create math talk in homes and classrooms. The context of the book was an early childhood experience where my dad took us to feed the ducks every Saturday. I carefully weaved several mathematics topics into the book (e.g., counting by ones, counting by twos, problem-solving, pattern recognition, making predictions, etc.). The character, Marlee the Mathematician, is a brilliant brown girl who radiates inclusion by celebrating her kinky hair, representing body positivity, and being a girl who loves STEM. The result is a beautiful story about a character who uses math to help her think through “Operation Feed the Ducks.”
Marlee the Mathematician provides young learners with engaging stories highlighting how mathematics is a natural part of their lives. Through reading educational picture and activity books, children and adults will be amazed at how much mathematics they engage with daily. Through relevant books, author readings, professional development sessions, and community engagement, Marlee the Mathematician will ignite a lifelong love of number sense, critical thinking, problem-solving, and reading.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Marlee the Mathematician provides young learners with engaging stories highlighting how mathematics is a natural part of their lives. Through reading educational picture and activity books, children and adults will be amazed at how much mathematics they engage with daily. Through relevant books, author readings, professional development sessions, and community engagement, Marlee the Mathematician will ignite a lifelong love of number sense, critical thinking, problem-solving, and reading.
I am an award-winning professor, international speaker, lover of stories, math girlie, and former public school teacher. As a professor, I work with current and future elementary mathematics teachers to help them develop deep content knowledge, understand the role of creating culturally relevant mathematics spaces, and advocate for early math literacy by focusing on math talk, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills. My journey as a children’s book author is born from the intersection of her experiences as a young Black girl who loved mathematics but struggled to connect to reading due to a lack of relevant and representative texts. I blend my commitment to helping everyone see themselves as math people with my extensive mathematical expertise. By creating stories demonstrating how Marlee, the main character in the series, engages with mathematics through her everyday experiences, I hope all children can begin to see themselves as mathematicians. When I don’t have her professor, author, or consultant hat on, you can find me traveling the world, chasing sunrises and sunsets, shopping at farmers’ markets, enjoying Thai food, reading, and ballroom dancing.
What sets me apart is that I have over 20 years of experience teaching mathematics, preparing teachers to teach mathematics, and researching mathematics education. This unique background sets my author visits apart from others because I am able to customize every visit to teachers’ current mathematics content standards. I often read the book, teach a math lesson, and end with a challenge problem. Teachers, parents, and community members are surprised by my ability to weave mathematics and literature seamlessly. I help children and adults embrace being math people through engaging, relevant literature that de-centers speed, repetition, and standardized testing and replaces those ideas with exploration, joy, and whimsy.
How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.
In the years leading up to my launch, I began to follow other children’s book authors on social media. I paid attention to their branding, websites, email marketing campaigns, and more. I was also curious about their choices to do direct sales from their websites, sell on Amazon, how they got into local bookstores, etc. I did LOTS of research, read reviews, and asked questions in online indie author groups.
I became disillusioned with many online platforms as I did a deep dive into publishing and print-on-demand options. In addition to unfavorable splits (e.g., the platform taking 60-70% and giving the author 30-40%), I was not a fan of the lack of quality control, the platforms being able to adjust pricing, etc. Marlee the Mathematician was my baby and I did not feel comfortable birthing this creative work and handing over control to a third party.
Therefore, I saved, sacrificed, and saved some more to order a large print run of books and handle all shipping and fulfillment. I am SO glad I chose this option. It allowed me to connect with everyone who purchased a book in the first two months of my launch. I signed EVERY.SINGLE.BOOK (over 400 of them) and wrote an affirmation in them. I also included complimentary coloring pages, stickers, and a facilitation guide. This allowed me to bond with my book and ensure quality control.
As I approach my third month, I am now exploring various options that will help me increase awareness about my brand, expose Marlee to international contexts, and be nominated for awards. Whether I like it or not, my online presence at major retailers is considered a “stamp of approval” for many people, and housing my book somewhere other than my website will extend my credibility to those audiences.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Three words…Quality, Consistency, and Relatability!
Having a quality product or service is non-negotiable. This doesn’t mean your quality or service is perfect. But it should be clear to your market and consumers that you paid attention to detail, studied your craft, and invested in what you are offering them.
Be consistent! This includes email response times, shipping times, posting on and engaging with folks on social media, etc. Spontaneity can be fun, but when people are investing their time and money, they want safety and consistency. People will support you again and again when they know what to expect.
Relatability. We spend enough of our lives engaging with big box retailers where we are often just a number. So, when people engage with me, I want them to feel like I care about them and the little ones they are purchasing for. I do this by writing thank you notes on their invoices, engaging on social media, taking pictures at events, and more. I want people to know that I am human and birthed this book from my heart. As I open up and share parts of myself, I find ways to connect with my customers around our shared experiences. Ultimately, people believe in me before they read the book and believe in Marlee the Mathematician.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.marleelovesmath.com
- Instagram: @marleelovesmath (https://www.instagram.com/marleelovesmath/profilecard/?igsh=MWZiYWF6dzlpcWJkZQ%3D%3D)
- Facebook: Marleelovesmath (https://www.facebook.com/people/Marleelovesmath/61568324259128/#)
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marrielle-myers-894bab1b8
