We caught up with the brilliant and insightful LaWanda Lewis Burrell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
LaWanda , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s talk about keeping costs under control when growing. How have you managed to keep costs from getting out of control?
Our publishing company SUSU Entertainment LLC started on January 10, 2021. We are a husband and wife team that loves to read, write and publish books, bringing them to life and capturing its precious moments through words. Writing and publishing books is our passion, something that we enjoy doing. We conduct our business like we run our household, on a budget. A lot of people want to be entrepreneurs but don’t want to put in the hard work, time and effort to keep the business thriving. When my husband suggested that we start our own publishing company, we put ourselves through school in learning the business.
We started writing books for ourselves and later we were inspired to help others write their journey. We decided to market our business and set our own pace of how fast or slow we wanted to go, because we weren’t in competition with anyone else. We created a checklist of items needed to fully write and/or publish a book. Some people hire others to do task that they could easily do themselves. My husband and I are hands on with a lot of our responsibilities, this helps us learn, grow and keep our cost down. Budgeting and saving money is top priority for us. We only hire help with things that we aren’t gifted at doing, like creating illustrations for our books. Thankfully, our business has grown tremendously, and we are booked and busy with clients through the end of 2023. In any business, it helps to educate yourself as much as possible to help make money and keep the money you make.
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?
LaWanda Lewis Burrell is known as a small town girl from Greenville, Alabama with big city dreams. She resides in the Houston, Texas area with her husband DeMorris Burrell, happily married for almost 17 years and three beautiful children, Neziah 15, Nylah 13, and Nalin 11. LaWanda is a woman of faith, love, and inspiration. Her adulthood journey started in 1998, after graduating from Stillman College, quitting a job in the mental healthcare industry in Tuscaloosa, Alabama to move to Houston, Texas to no job, very little savings, but a huge DETERMINATION TO SUCCEED, FAITH IN GOD and a BIG DREAM!
Moving to a big city allowed her to have more exposure and job opportunities. There were many obstacles that presented itself within the first few months of relocating that could have easily discouraged her to give up and move back home, but she kept a positive attitude, trust in God, and was ready to continue moving forward. After 3 weeks of relocating she was blessed with a new job and her own apartment. A year later she was blessed with purchasing her first home at age 24.
Fast forward, it is 2016 and LaWanda had been working in Human Resources for nearly 15 years. She was happy to gain new employment as a HR Director for a private school in Houston. With LaWanda’s education and many years of HR experience, she was blessed to get this opportunity, but it was short-lived as she experienced harassment, discrimination and a termination after she respectfully spoke up for unethical behaviors in the workplace.
LaWanda was devastated because her integrity had been compromised for speaking up for herself and others. She went to her prayer closet and talked to God to show her her purpose. She reached for a box on a top shelf and out fell a journal that she had written 5 years prior that she forgotten about. LaWanda got her laptop and typed her life’s journey in two weeks, with a manuscript of over 250 pages, details in her first book, “Stand Up, Speak Up, Because Your Time’s Up.”
For months she applied for many other HR positions but kept getting rejections. She went back into her closet and asked God to forgive the ones that had mistreated her, calling their names one by one. Her husband read her manuscript and constantly persuaded her to submit it to a publishing company. After keeping her book in her laptop for 9 months, she finally released it to a publisher and was offered a book contract within a few days. Her pain turned into her passion and God revealed her purpose of writing and publishing books.
The vision of our publishing company, SUSU Entertainment LLC is to allow others to leave their legacy in a book and tell their own journey to inspire, educate, and entertain their readers. We are a black-owned publishing company that prides ourselves on having quality work, timely submission, friendly service and affordable prices. Our publications are relatable for all cultures from all ages and backgrounds.
We have been blessed to have our books sold worldwide on national platforms such as Walmart, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and many independent bookstores, and local libraries. Recently our children’s book, “The Adventures of Captain Midnight.” written by LaWanda and her 11-year-old son Nalin was accepted into her hometown, the Butler County, Alabama school district.
Our clients have been blessed from our gift of writing and publishing inspirational, well-written, thought-provoking books. We have poured a spirit of compassion and confidence into our clients that has birth a new attitude and brighter outlook on their lives. We’ve written self-help, biographies, and children’s books with topics such as, revealing the past to heal from the past, strengthening communication within a family, kindness and respect, increasing your faith in God, discussing mental health issues, roles of teachers, reading and financial literacy, love and compassion, healing from grief and loss, importance of education, healthy eating lifestyles, motivating yourself and others, self-care and self-love, and goals and aspirations.
Our books have gained the attention of political figures, such as the Mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner, my hometown of Greenville, Mayor Dexter McLendon, and city council members. On July 30, 2022, we were honored with our 1st Publishers Award by Tammie Lilly with KRC Bookstore in Houston. There have been several wins within our journey and a few losses but we’re most proud that our books have reconnected families, turned struggles into strengths, and helped clients that may have been consumed with suicidal thoughts. They now understand that their lives have purpose and they are looking forward to a happy and fearless life of possibilities.
Check out our website www.susuentertainmentllc.com for all of our publications.
How’d you meet your business partner?
My business partner, best friend and founder of our publishing company is my husband DeMorris Burrell. Our journey of love began at work on June 6, 2003. DeMorris worked as a security officer in Houston, Texas in a high rise building. We worked in the same building but for different companies. He approached one of my friends about me, and the rest was history. He quickly learned that his new assigned location had more than just cameras to watch, as he secures the heart of LaWanda, an HR Professional.
We share the same goals and aspirations, always wanted to strive for excellence and become our own bosses and leave a legacy for our children. Our publishing company SUSU Entertainment LLC is a book writing, audio book production, and book publishing company. Our Words of Wisdom: “We believe that your life is what you make it, whether you are single or married, it is important to love yourself, stay connected to the Most High God, live in your purpose and choose happiness.”
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Our business has prospered because of our hard work, faith in God, and authenticity. We treat our clients how we would want to be treated. We’re always open and honest, confidential and compassionate about helping our clients pursue their literary goals.
Our motivation is not making money, it is being given the opportunity to do what we love to do and inspire others. Everyone has a story to tell, and we want to help you tell yours. At SUSU Entertainment LLC you are not just a client but a lifelong friend. You will become a part of our literary family that will help us promote excellence in learning and growing in the book industry.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.susuentertainmentllc.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wandavision2020/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorlawandaburrell
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lawanda-lewis-burrell-58b80480/
- Other: Email: [email protected]
Image Credits
Thank you to our clients, family and friends that continue to support our business. Photo credits: DeMorris Burrell, Jr.