We were lucky to catch up with Laquita Parks recently and have shared our conversation below.

Laquita, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?

In February 2020, after four trips to the Mayo Clinic, the doctor looked at me and said, “while you are not dying, you are suffering!” I honestly did not even hear the diagnosis, all I heard was “while you are not dying, you are suffering!” The last four months had been tremendously long and very difficult. While going through months of labs and medical test, I had people reaching out to me for help to publish their stories. In my mind I was screaming, “REALLY, you are asking me to help you???” “I am at the Mayo Clinic; you should be asking me how I am doing and how can you help me!” Instead of saying this to them, I kept my thoughts to myself and while at the Mayo Clinic, I started working on people’s stories.

During my time at the Mayo Clinic, I started publishing and it was GREAT. I found that it was the distraction I didn’t know I needed. It helped me cope with what I was going through. When that doctor told me that I wasn’t dying but I was suffering, I knew that my life was going to change, and I was no longer going to be able to continue working my corporate job. After publishing a couple of books, one of my good friends said, “LaQuita, since you already do a mentoring program, a job readiness training program and a women’s group, you might as well add publishing to the list.”

Initially I thought about just adding publishing under my mentoring umbrella until I was riding down the street with one of my first authors and he said, “what about pa-pro-vi for your publishing name?” My response was a quick NO. I said “no, that doesn’t roll off the tongue. About thirty seconds later, curiosity got the better of me and I said, “what does pa-pro-vi mean?” My author said pain, progress, victory! Without hesitation I said, I LOVE IT, that’s the story of my life! That was the moment Pa-Pro-Vi Publishing was born. Pa-Pro-Vi means pain, progress, victory because I believe that without pain there is no progress and without progress there can be no victory. At Pa-Pro-Vi Publishing, I help people take their stories from a “thought to a realization!”

Laquita, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

In November of 2019, I had to spend some time at the Mayo Clinic (still dealing with the medical Sunami) and while I was there, I had people calling me and asking me if I could help them with their book project. My first thought was “I’m at the Mayo Clinic, I can’t help you with your book” but instead of saying what I was thinking, I said yes. I ended up publishing a couple of books while I was making trips back and forth to the Mayo Clinic and I found that it took my mind off of what I was going through. On my last trip to the Mayo Clinic in February 2020, my doctor looked at me and said that he was sorry for the pain that I have endured and will continue to endure, but while I may be suffering, the good news was that I wasn’t dying. Although this was good news and bad news at the same time, I knew that suffering could not be my life.

There was nothing I could do about my condition, what happened to me was not my fault and I could have sat down and had myself quite the pity party, but I wanted more for my life. I wanted a quality life. In the midst of all this, my phone continued to ring with people wanting me to help them write and publish their stories. In August 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, Pa-Pro-Vi Publishing LLC was born.

Pa-Pro-Vi means Pain, Progress, Victory because I believe that without pain, there is no progress and without progress, there can be no victory. I help people take their stories from a “thought to a realization!” 100% of everyone living and dead has a story. At Pa-Pro-Vi, I provide a professional, productive platform for these individuals to share their story and start the healing process.

In two years, I have been able to successfully help nearly clients take their stories from a “thought to a realization!” While recognizing that authors needed platforms for exposure, I started my own podcast show called, My Heart on Pages where I interview author on the “why” behind their book journey. I also have a radio show that I host through Trivia’s Inspirational Radio called The Power of YOUR Story that I host weekly, I also co-host a weekly show on Clubhouse called The Power of YOUR Story, In addition to all that (I know it’s a lot but I love it! :)) I host another show the 2nd Tuesday of each month called the Bookslam where I feature authors and they get to read from their book projects and get real time feedback.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

My story started when I was a little four-year-old girl who went into the hospital to have her tonsils removed. It was supposed to be a “simple procedure!” While I was recovering overnight from the successful tonsillectomy, a nurse came into my room and jabbed me in the thigh with a needle filled with penicillin. I was the wrong patient! By the time my mother got back to the hospital from checking on my two sisters, they were rushing me to the OR to amputate my leg. This started a medical Sunami that has affected my life for the last forty-eight years and will affect my life for the rest of my life. My life has been filled with chronic.

In 2016, I wrote and published my first book titled “Walking Limitations” by Other People’s Definition!” This is my true story of how I was crippled for life at the hands of a nurse. To quote my favorite verse in the poem by Langston Hughes called “Mother to Son”, “life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.” Life for me was tough but there was something inside of me that would not allow me to quit, no matter how difficult things got. As I got older, I started to realize that there was healing in sharing, so I started to share my story as I listened to others share theirs. I also began to recognize that I was behaving like a victim (even though I was) I didn’t like people to have pity on me because it made me feel like I was a weak link, so I became even more determined to help others.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

First of all, the leader is the head and has to be the light for the team. They have to have an energy that is contagious. I fully believe that the personality of the team comes from the leader. I am very personable, and I honestly like to know how my team is doing. I want to know how the family is doing, what fun things they are doing for the holidays, birthday, etc. My advice is to listen to the team, make sure they understand that their input is wanted and appreciated. Being flexible is important when it comes to maintaining high morale. Running a publishing company means I have to manage a team that I encourage to use their talents and their creative abilities to do what they do best. Laughter…did I forget, LOTS of LAUGHTER!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.paprovipublishing.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paprovipublishing/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laquita.parks.3
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laquita-parks-a03647a/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/AFTC_LaQuita
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK5HfhwZ8XtCaTsdmNReLVQ
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=Fao94p2J7e6rh01bM0RKPQ
• Other: https://www.clubhouse.com/club/the-impact-of-your-story