We recently connected with Mary Spencer Veazey and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Mary Spencer, thanks for joining us today. We love asking folks what they would do differently if they were starting today – how they would speed up the process, etc. We’d love to hear how you would set everything up if you were to start from step 1 today.

I started my own side hustle when I was in 3rd grade. I saw a need and I fulfilled it – for a price. When a teacher gave us a study guide, I would fill it out, type it up on my family’s computer, and then I would print them out and bring them to school. I would then sell them to my classmates for $5.

When I went off to college, I decided to start writing on a blog. I loved to write, but I felt so self-conscious about sharing on the Internet. Who did I think I was? I slowly started sharing more and more, but it took me a while to finally say what I wanted to say each time I wrote and not care what everyone thought.

That entrepreneurial spirit continued on into my college days. I was always looking for ways to make a little extra cash. I had someone help me with designing my resume and after it was all said and done I thought, “I bet I could do this myself and do it in a way that serves college kids/new grads specifically.”

So I started my own resume business. Then, I moved to Nashville and as I went on in my twenties I had so many single friends wishing that someone would set them up – so I somewhat as a joke started a matchmaking business. But after I posted about it on social media, I had 200 applicants… so then it became an accidental business.

What I would do differently now that I know more is I would tell myself that there is no perfect time to do the thing that scares you. Some things won’t work out, but some will. I would have started writing more consistently at a younger age. I would have started the matchmaking company sooner. I would have taking writing courses and design courses and sharpened my skills at a younger age.

When you put into action what you’ve dreamed about doing, it’s never a perfect beginning and it’s never the right time. You just have to do it anyway and do what scares you.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

So, I’m Mary Spencer (a Southern double name) and during the day I work at Daystar Counseling Ministries but on the side I write and just recently released my first book, Cul-de-sac Crossroads: Navigating Life’s Twists and Turns in your Twenties with Courageous Clarity. I also design resumes in my downtime and hopefully this fall I will be releasing a new service to assist people with their own book launches. I loved the book launch period of my book and would love to help others with their book launches!

I also was a matchmaker for a bit, but I have retired. (Maybe I’ll come out of retirement one day, who knows!)

Right now, I am still in the depths of my post-book launch period and am speaking with college groups and women’s ministries about navigating your twenties as a Christian. I love to help women find clarity in their God-given purpose and feel encouraged in Whose they are, who they are, and what they are meant for.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I signed my book contract in February 2023 and my publisher put us in cohorts with other new authors. Through that, I’ve gotten to meet so many like minded people of all different ages and stages of life. I’ve loved learning from so many other writers, and getting to read their works.

I started my book launch period back in July and through that gotten to meet so many other writers and podcasters and collaborate with them. It’s been really amazing to see the ways that complete strangers turn into Internet friends and want to support your work and share it with their audiences. Social media can get a bad reputation, and there are definitely downsides, but I’ve loved getting to meet so many new people through social media.

It’s also been so rewarding to hear people’s thoughts on my book after spending years working on it. There were so many nights that I would get home from work at 6 pm and write until I fell asleep over and over again, and now it feels really worth it when I hear stranger’s thoughts about my book. I have this one chapter in the book about how I have sticky notes of prayer requests on the wall in my bedroom and when God answers a prayer I move the sticky note over to a different side of the wall with the answered prayer. I had someone message me on Instagram recently and she sent me a picture of her own version of her sticky notes of prayer in her room that she started after reading the book. That meant the world to me!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My faith has been the catalyst of my writing journey without a doubt. When I started my blog at 18, I did not expect it to turn into a faith-based blog, but everything I kept writing about kept leading back to my faith. My faith has shaped me in ways that just overflow when I write completely unintentionally, but that’s what always happens. My hope and mission is that those reading my works will feel encouraged in their faith and that they’re not alone in this. We could all use a dose of love and compassion, and I hope readers feel that when they read my writings, no matter if they’re a Christian or not. Life’s too short to not love the people around us well.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.maryspencerveazey.com
• Instagram: @mencervz
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maryspencervz
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryspencerveazey/
• Other: People are welcome to reach out through email too! My email is [email protected]. Would love to connect!