We recently connected with Marlena Banks and have shared our conversation below.

Marlena, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

My first book, Big Idea Food: A Weekly Devotional for Entrepreneurs, Side Hustlers & Dreamers was an extremely meaningful project for me. For almost a decade prior to its release, I had so much passion in my heart about pursuing my dreams and encouraging others to do the same. In many ways, I channeled that passion into my work as a graphic designer building identities for startup brands. But, my design work alone wasn’t quite capturing the entirety of my passion and my heart was still seeking for ways to express it. I spent several years of that prior decade exploring and researching other business ideas while also capturing all my most personal ideas in a notebook. One of those ideas was a blog and possibly a printed calendar that would give people “365 reasons to quit their job and follow their dreams”. Looking back, I believe this idea formed the foundation of what would become my book–along with my growing faith and all the God-inspired lessons I was learning along the way of building my graphic design business. As an avid journaler, I chronicled about 7 years of lessons in my journals–just for myself. One day, I sensed God asking me, “don’t you think other people could benefit from the lessons you’ve got collecting dust in your journals?”. That question prompted me to see my journals as content for the first time. It wasn’t long after that that the idea to create a devotional with that content came to mind. When I looked around the market for another devotional like the one I was envisioning, there was nothing like it. I knew this was MY special project, reserved just for me, and I had to jump on it. Not only would it allow me to encourage people to follow their passions in a dope way that I’ve always wanted to do, but it would also be my first real chance to express my Christian voice and perspective; another desire that had been brewing within me during this time. Creative directing the cover and interior design were also bonus ways I got to express my creative self in meaningful ways. I wrote, self-published & released Big Idea Food in about 12 months–the fastest I’ve ever taken a project of this magnitude from idea to execution. Not only was it such a personal triumph to complete this project, but the reception and impact it has had in the lives of thousands all over the world has been the most rewarding, unexpected blessing I never fully imagined experiencing.

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?

My biggest claim to fame is my best-selling devotional for entrepreneurs, Big Idea Food®, that has become a cult classic among faith-based creatives & tastemakers all over the globe, including Emmy-Nominated Actress Yvonne Orji who named it one of her favorite things. Since releasing the book in 2018, I’ve grown it into a suite of faith-fueling offerings for entrepreneurs, including a weekly newsletter, YouTube channel & community.

Entrepreneurship is HARD. As founders, we go through SO many trials daily that sap our energy, leaving us feeling worn down, defeated & ready to just give up. The Big Idea Food® platform exists to make it easier for weary entrepreneurs to recharge your faith & get back out there anytime you need it. Big Idea Food® is like Chicken Soup for the Soul, but exclusively for entrepreneurs & creatives. Our books & weekly newsletter contain relatable scripture-based devotions that speak specifically to the unique realities entrepreneurs face every single day. And unlike many media platforms out there that cater to entrepreneurs, our content is free from toxic grind culture narratives & deceptive sales foolery. We saturate your soul with safe, energizing content that centers the WHOLE entrepreneur–because, as we often need to be reminded, we are so much more than our businesses.

To date, I’ve received hundreds of testimonials from readers all over the world about how much Big Idea Food has blessed them. As a result of reading this book, people have ditched fears, started (and re-started) businesses, made wiser business decisions & connected with God in new ways they hadn’t been connecting with Him before. I’m endlessly proud to have produced something that has had this kind of impact in people’s lives. That’s why I’m very excited to release the next 2 books in the Big Idea Food series: Big Money Food and Big Love Food. Just like my first book, these two will feature relatable, scripture-based devotions from my journey in navigating business while figuring out money & love along the way. Big Money Food is already written and Big Love Food is in progress! I literally can’t wait to get these into your hands, they’re so good!

Get updates on the next Big Idea Food® releases and sign up for my free weekly devotional newsletter at bigideafood.com

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I wish I had more financial literacy earlier in my creative journey. I made a lot of poor decisions in service of building my creative dream that set me back significantly financially–things like quitting my 9-5 before I had any real viable income coming in and very little savings, liquidating my Roth IRA and not participating in my 9-5’s 401k plan. Had I known some of the basic things I know now, I would have made much smarter moves that positioned me to thrive in both my creative work and my retirement and lifestyle planning.

Have you ever had to pivot?

A lot of budding authors reached out to me after seeing the success of my first book wanting to learn how I did it. Eventually, I was getting so many that I decided to start a coaching program for authors. It went great and then evolved into a coaching program for anyone who had a “big idea” they wanted to launch. This program served me well for a few years until one day I woke up and realized I didn’t want to coach any more. As I looked ahead at what building a coaching company entailed, I knew that wasn’t the thing my heart most desired to build and the work to build it would veer me too far off the path of my passion–which is ultimately writing and developing more content for entrepreneurs. I evolved my coaching program into a community for a while, which was amazing. I still love the concept of that community. However, the call to write and produce more books has been stronger and I needed to create the space to pursue writing exclusively. I finally decided to shut down my community completely, one of the hardest, easiest decisions I’ve ever made. As hard as it was to close our doors after experiencing so many awesome connections inside our space, it felt so right in my soul.

One of the biggest lessons this pivot taught me is that, when you’re starting up, it can be really easy to let the people you serve with your art dictate what you should do with it. It can even make a lot of business and financial sense to follow what the people are asking you to create. But, if there’s any part of you that is craving something else, the sooner you align yourself with what your heart knows is right for you, the sooner you’ll feel the most energized and at peace with the path you’re taking. No one, not even your audience, knows your calling like you do. And it takes a lot of quiet, honesty and courage to identify and follow it. But you must follow it because that’s the thing the people really need, even if they don’t know it yet.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bigideafood.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marlenabanksparks
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/bigideafood