We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Monique Rice. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Monique below.
Monique, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?
When Dennis got back to school all he wanted to do in creative writing class was write about that trip.We started to inspire the children in the community to read, but also encourage them to focus on their dreams and they too can have an adventure ; become an author/self – publisher. We also wanted to provide a solution to help increasing literacy amongst 3rd graders and also increase family time by creating a book for the entire family to read together
Monique, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My childhood friend from 1st grade also founder of Greater U University was having her 1st Author’s Retreat in ATL. I offered my services at the time which was catering “Palate Teezers, LLC”. I was so excited for her success, I just wanted to give back by making sure her guest were taken care of for the entire weekend. During that retreat, there were several sessions I lessoned to while preparing their meals. I got to hear other stories which inspired me and I even had my speaking moment too. I am also an Asst. Vice President at a well know financial institution, so I knew a thing or two about solving problems myself. I provided my philosophy on how to be a servant leader. I learned a lot that weekend. I learned that writing a book can lead to several streams of income. When I left the retreat, I was inspire to write my first ebook “ Top 10 recipes of Palate Teezers”. This was a great way to keep in touch with my catering clientele. But was lead me to self-publish my first book was attending the 2nd retreat out to the country. I am use to traveling all over the USA via car, plane, train, or bus. This trip was different. We were they to relax and work, but some people at the resort where there with family creating memories. Once we got back from our trip I immediately started writing what happen and working with Coach Lady Ty on how to begin the publishing process. We finally created a cover and begin to let the world know via Social Media that we had an amazing book coming soon. We have over $1000 sales off of pre-orders. We had a couple of hiccups getting our finalizing project to be accepted, but we were able to push through. My son hit publish on his 9th birthday. We are most proud of the support received, but also the feedback from our book community. We have been encourage to provide them supporters the opportunities to purchase shirts, mugs, and we even starting doing speaker engagements.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Being able to help my son become a boss at the age of 9. He is so inspired to help the world and constantly talking about his next story. It is also great to be able to create memories with my immediate family despite our obstacles.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
My goal is to bring more families together through travel. I want others to know it is okay to take grandma with Dementia or an Auntie who never been on an airplane. In life we only live once so we want to make sure you live it to the fullest. You also want to leave behind a legacy which will include your stories and so much more. We will continue to inspire the world that you can push through an obstacle you put your mind too. Always look for options/alternatives to get to your end result with anything you want to do.
Contact Info:
- Website: datkiddennis,company.site
- Instagram: Monique Rice
- Facebook: Monique Rice
- Linkedin: Monique Rice
- Twitter: Dat Kid Dennis