We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Naomi Winston a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Naomi, appreciate you joining us today. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

Honestly, as I wrapped up doing my 10th coloring book and I am working on spreading my work across the country through schools and parents I have thought about this question a lot. My dad was always talking about what we leave behind after we are gone and he talks about how me and my older sibling are his gifts to the world to leave behind once he is gone. When I think about the body of work that I have not only created with my coloring books but the confidence, the opportunity to see one’s self, and the possibility of greatness that I have implanted into each child that is the legacy that I want to leave. For years as kids we were taught not to see color and I want to create a world where kids (and society) sees color and uses that line of sight to correct discrimination, racism, and other forms of oppression for those individuals. I hope that my legacy that I build inspires Black and Brown kids, and adults alike, that we are so much bigger, more powerful, and united than we have ever been lead to believe. I want my legacy to be each and every person seeing the possibility for their own greatness and empowering, inspiring, and encouraging others to do the same.

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?

Revolutionary Hearts, a publishing company started at Xavier University of Louisiana, has grown into The Creative Representation Empire (TCRE), a culturally representative educational resource provider. TCRE is a collection of curriculum-based coloring books and social emotional learning tools for schools and educators hoping to re-ignite the passion of their students and communities.

After launching the TCRE coloring book collection in 2021, founder Naomi Winston, is setting her artistic sights on the classroom and youth organizations. Revolutionary Hearts was founded with the intention of representation for underrepresented communities and portals of understanding, education, and empathy for those not a part of those communities. In using illustrations of community curated images and researched educational topics, Naomi utilizes a balance of art, hands-on interactive learning, and curriculum to create educational resources that represent the students that use them and foster senses of community belonging.

The main thing that I want people to know about TCRE’s work is that we are not creating just coloring books. We are saving the lives and the futures of individuals. As kids, so many of us can remember books, movies, and songs that made us feel seen, heard, and that we belong somewhere. That is exactly what I am doing with my coloring books except I am bringing to them through working with youth organizations, libraries, and schools. There should not be a world where a child feels like there isn’t a space for them out there but because there is, and many kids do, my coloring books will be the spaces where they can feel safe and accepted. I do not make coloring books. I create and hold spaces. I curate communities. I accept the individuals who use my books for who they are. I make sure they get away from their screens and find a reflection of themselves in every page of our books that they flip to. I am changing the lives through coloring books.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Within the first year of my company (@revolutionaryheartsind)’s Tiktok channel we gained 25,000 followers with 9,000 of those followers being gained within the first 72 hours. I built a brand identity by leveraging my personal identity to create a sense of trust and connection with my online community. I will admit that now a part of my work is centering myself less in the media and shifting the focus to the coloring books itself. If I were to give advice on how to build a social presence, keeping in mind that it depends on what you are selling, I would say that what makes someone great at social media marketing is the ability to create belonging, community, and voice to those on the platform. Tiktok and Instagram are my specialties as far as my social media expertise. They are very video and grid specific but you should not be afraid to really dedicate yourself to a concept for a while to test it out. It is one of those hit or misses but definitely post regularly but with intention. Intentional posting is better than consistent posting. LinkedIn is one of the best social media tools for building business and professional connections that can help you navigate to the next level of your business or career. LinkedIn is an underutilized social media platform and remember that no matter the platform your network is your net worth so invest accordingly.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Because our work is community curated that is what helped us to build a reputation in the market. During my undergraduate concentration in Mass Communication I learned that we never tell other people’s stories and I have taken that message to heart in navigating the creation of my coloring books. I work to amplify and give people space to tell their stories but never tell it for them. When it comes to our most recent coloring book “Who Am I? I Am…”, a book highlighting gender expression, gender identity, and sexual orientation, I reached out to my social media followers that I have garnered from all around the world to make the book possible.

This is also what sets us a part from our competition because not only are we intentional with our storytelling but we are also intentional with the use of our images. We built a reputation as a coloring book company but are now laying the foundation as a trailblazing culturally representative educational resource company based on our standards of research, community, and immersive learning.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.revolutionaryheartsind.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/revolutionaryheartsind
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/naomi-winston-20a367171/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@RHI_TCRE
• Other: This is our digital catalog https://www.canva.com/design/DAFZQmB7ZX0/M5pZXNuUIjLw5dnXEW3uQA/view?utm_content=DAFZQmB7ZX0&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink

Image Credits
Westtown School Photographer