We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jessica Bennett a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Jessica thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
When my son Jeremiah was diagnosed with Autism at just 18months. I felt like my world was turned upside down. As a mom instantly all these negative thoughts came into my brain such as how will the world treat him, will he have friends will he be able to communicate. After I processed everything and realized Jeremiah was still my precious baby boy and no diagnosis would ever change that I was able to move forward. Jeremiah has a typical twin sister who wanted to engage with him but was often unsuccessful. I started to search for children’s books that were developmentally appropriate for her age to help her understand her brother. As a special education teacher and a mother of a child with autism I realize there weren’t many books. This had to change! I put all my feelings into creating the books children deserve to read. Currently I have 6 books out and my 7th will be released in December. 3 of the books are about autism awareness using Jeremiah and his twins sister harmony as the main characters. 1 of the books is about Down syndrome awareness and the other two are about self love and being whatever you want to be when you grow up. I still have so many books to write and look forward to covering topics that our children deserve to read. Jeremiah and Harmony are now 6 1/2 and Jeremiah is still nonverbal and we are working with him everyday to reach goals we have for him.
Jessica , 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?
As an educator and mother of a special needs child I realize writing books was just not enough. I have recently expanded my business Jeremiah’s Corner. As a special education consultant I can support families, businesses and schools support individuals with disabilities through advocacy, training, IEP support, tutoring and so much more. There is no reason families should feel alone as they tackle their child’s needs. As a parent we need to identify our village and that’s how I see myself. Being apart of families team and village. I’m very passionate about what I do and see the magic in team work.
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
I have been a teacher for 10 years however taught at the same school for the last 6 years. During my time teaching I would offer tutoring to children in the evenings and weekends. On the side I worked on creating and selling my books using various online platforms. I would attend vendor events in the evenings and weekends as well. Though I loved teaching in a classroom full time I felt like I was suppose to be doing something more. Taking a leap of faith and quitting my job to do Jeremiah’s Corner fill time was not only very scary but also extremely exciting. I am so happy I made this decision.
Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?
So currently my books are sold on various platforms such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, LuLu books, Etsy, Walmart and on my personal website. I love that my consumers have so many different ways to access my books however I would prefer my books only be sold on my website as the other platforms take such a huge cut from my profits.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.jeremiahscorner.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/jeremiahs_corner?igshid=MmIzYWVlNDQ5Yg==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tacklingautism?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-bennett-60920046
- Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/@jeremiahscorner3767