We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Millie Diaz. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Millie below.

Alright, Millie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. It’s easy to look at a business or industry as an outsider and assume it’s super profitable – but we’ve seen over and over again in our conversation with folks that most industries have factors that make profitability a challenge. What’s biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?

I work in the newspaper industry as a reporter, photographer and graphic layout in a small town. I don’t work in the sales department, but it’s easy see how difficult it is to find profit in advertising compared to a little over a decade ago when I first began. This is due to social media, which makes it a piece of cake for businesses to advertise themselves without having to spend a dollar. We’re currently finishing up a magazine we publish at the beginning of the year, and our sales used to be five times as much. As a result, we must cut pages, meaning less content, which means it’s harder to find advertisers because we’re unable to print more articles. Then we don’t have enough profit to hire more sales representatives. It’s quite the unfortunate cycle. Newspapers are a dying business, triteness aside, but it’s true, I’ve experienced it firsthand. We deal with this challenge by constantly thinking of new special sections to add in order to meet the bottom line.

As a published author, it’s the same situation. If someone can purchase my e-book instead of a tangible copy, I receive less revenue, as well as the publishers who took me on. With a multinational tech company where one can purchase my book at a discounted price, making a profit is challenging. I have to advertise myself more.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Telling stories has always been a part of me, whether it be through writing fiction, or writing for a newspaper. I was editor of my high school newspaper, graduated with a journalism degree, written an unpublished novel and published a historical fiction, and my laptop holds short stories, essays, etc., that no one has read. I’ve worked for a local foundation writing their history and have been working at my local newspaper for over ten years in several different positions, including editor and publisher. I have a reputation for making interviews easy for others, simply by having a conversation, rather than drilling questions.

I am most proud of my book, Feet of Clay: Gus C. Garcia, Tragic Hero of the Civil Rights Movement, which was published a few years ago. Being born in a small town with big city thoughts and ideas, I wondered why, and what was going to be the reason for it. Then one day while at work, I learned about a trio of defense lawyers in 1954 who fought for equal representation on juries, took the case all the way to the Supreme Court and won. The case began in my hometown, Edna Texas, and not many people who live in Edna even knew about it. It was then I understood my purpose, it was up to me to write that story and educate others about what happened. The process from beginning to being published took about three years and I’m so glad to be a part of that history now.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

My brother passed nearly 20 years ago, which I found difficult to deal with in my mid-twenties. It was possibly one of the biggest irreparable situations I’d dealt with up to that moment. Although I found my footing through my support system, I found the most of it in myself and learning about my inner strength. Grief can hit at different times and out of the blue, slapping you in the face. Over time, it’s about what you do with it, what comes out of it. My resilience comes from always returning to the pen and paper, it’s my home.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Essentially, it’s education. To continue educating myself, and educating others with the articles and stories I write. No one should ever stop learning, and when I’m in a place where I’m not learning anything, it’s time to change things up, find a new hobby or read a book, either a new one or one I’ve already read. There’s nothing like finding a new perspective in a book I’ve read 50 times. It’s about continual growth and stretching out your brain to new ideas.

Contact Info:

• Other: email: [email protected]

  I would say Facebook too but I hardly ever post.

Image Credits

Some pictures were taken by J.E. Coleman Photography.