We were lucky to catch up with Noelani Putirka recently and have shared our conversation below.
Noelani, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
Choosing to become a writer was one of the greatest risks I’ve taken in my life thus far. English was my hardest subject in school, and even though I am an avid reader, my brain works three times as hard to retain vocabulary words than my perfectionist self thinks it should. With this in mind, choosing to write and put my thoughts out into the world, made an already vulnerable experience, one that deeply challenged me to face my insecurities. Once I started to write, and pursue the self-publishing process, I realized there were a lot more insecurities to unpack than just worrying about my grammar skills.
Working with an editor was the first practice in putting myself out there and letting the insecurities go. I had to allow someone to tear my work apart. l thankfully worked with the most gentle, yet critical editor who softened the blow, and made the experience fun, exhilarating, and ultimately taught me to chill out on worrying about what people think. The final steps of publishing and truly exposing my thoughts to the world was the next challenge on insecurity lane. Watching kids enjoy my book washed that away as I received 50 positive reviews relatively quickly. You can’t please everyone, as some people found that using the word “fart” in the title was grotesque, and now I chuckle inside rather than cringe at the criticism.
Most importantly, I remind myself constantly of some great words a friend said to me that helped me with working past insecurities. He reminded me that it doesn’t matter if I write great books or not. People sell terrible books all the time. People buy books because of the person behind the book. I think about this a lot because if you’re not sold on yourself, other people wont be either. I also love to ask myself when I get insecure about book sales, where else does this show up in my life? At the end of the day, writing led me to unexpected lessons. Let go of judgment, love a lot, and be the best me.
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
I knew I wanted to work in a profession that helps people, which is how I got into school counseling. I love my school counseling job, it’s extremely rewarding, and I learn from my students every day. I’ve also always had a creative side and loved art. When COVID hit, is when my writing started, which I never pursued or held as a hobby before 2020. One day sitting on the couch, my husband turned to me as we watched a television interview with Obama and said, “You have so many wonderful ideas. Why don’t you write them down, and share them with the world?” The thought never crossed my mind, especially since I still looked up how to spell the word “definitely” every time I wrote it in a sentence. With his encouragement, I started to write about all the lessons I’ve learned working in mental health. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long to figure out, I wasn’t excited by the writing.
Shortly after that realization, I found myself bored again. A friend of mine used the words, “Chick Skates” in a sentence. I was rolling over laughing at this stupid sequence of words and so engaged, coming up with images of what chicken skates looked like. I sat up on my patio and out came a poem around chicken skates. Rereading my poem, I was laughing out loud at the words I had written. It was pure silly entertainment. This became how I wanted to share my beliefs, values, and lessons with the world, and I’d make it happen through children’s books. After that moment, I couldn’t stop writing down ideas, short stories, and poems on my phone. I researched endlessly how to publish a children’s book, and landed an amazing editor. She worked for scholastic for 20 years and edited Hunger Games, so I knew I was in good hands.
After finishing the editing process, the universe brought me a conversation with a friend that also finished writing a children’s book, and that friend encouraged me to go the self-publishing route rather than continue the tedious process of writing query letters to publishers. With her convincing, I realized I wouldn’t have to sell that many copies to earn my money back. Nono’s Whales Publishing was then born. It’s surprisingly easy to self-publish, but if I add up the hours I spent and continue to spend researching the topic, I easily dedicated hundreds of hours to the creation of Nono’s Whales Publishing and my literary works. It’s amazing how time flies when you’re having fun. As a business, author, and school counselor, my ultimate goal is to spread peace, love, and kindness. Whether it’s through books, school visits, or clients, I think sharing these values moves us toward a world with less hate, wars, and conflicts.
Since creating Nono’s Whales Publishing, I continue to write books and I expanded into self-publishing coaching. The feeling of having your work out in the world is indescribable. Watching adults and kids alike, take meaningful lessons from your writing is overwhelming. I want to help inspiring writers feel confident and ready to take the step to self-publish too. Self-publishing coaching parallels counseling in a lot of ways. Whether you’re five, fifteen, or fifty-seven, having encouragement, accountability, guidance in goal setting, time management, and personal development helps anyone reach their goals faster and makes it more fun. I treat my publishing clients a lot like my students in that I believe they are the expert on themselves, and they tell me how they want to be supported. I offer various levels of coaching support depending on the client’s need, from one down-and-dirty phone call explaining all the ins and outs you can know in an hour, to ongoing weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly progress mentoring. Currently, I book clients through word of mouth, social media, and local vendor events.
Overall, I understand it takes A LOT to be vulnerable enough to say to yourself you’re ready to put yourself out there and pursue getting your written word published. My job is to get you excited and focused so you don’t give up. As a writer there are many days you wake up, and say, “Why did I start this task, my writing is garbage, no one wants to read this,” but it’s not true. If there’s one thing I am an expert in, it’s overcoming negative self-talk, and creating daily routines to banish self-doubt. Once you begin the self-publishing process, you can go ahead and replace the word publishing with growth, because that’s what it will be.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
Growing up I lived in Glendora, California, a rich white neighborhood in the suburbs of Los Angeles. I always felt like an imposter living there, as teenagers were dropped off in Mercedes Benzs, and I bought my clothes from garage sales. My mom was a teacher doing her best to raise kids as a single mom, and there was a lot of generational trauma in my household. Despite the chaos at home, my mom instilled some important lessons in me. She was adamant that I understood my privilege, and that everyone deserves to be treated with love and respect no matter their race or income. As an adult, this stuck with me, and I knew I wanted to help everyone be free. That journey started with me, as I struggled in my adolesce with trying to shake the shackles of trauma. With a lot of therapy and various diagnosis, depression, PTSD, Bipolar, and Anxiety, my mission became one of sharing lessons in emotional freedom. Thus, Nono’s Whales Publishing’s vision is to spread, peace, love, equity, and kindness.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
When I was twenty-one, I was sure I was going to find an Economics job straight out of college. I worked primarily in homeless shelters as I was obsessed with creating a world without poverty. To no one’s surprise, homeless shelters weren’t hiring during the 2009 recession. I called my friend, and she convinced me to keep my Best Buy part-time job in case I didn’t find work. Five years later, I was still working at Best Buy, putting my rent on credit cards, drinking way too much, and having panic attacks in my car before I’d walk into work. I knew I needed to make a career change and a major life change. Desperate to figure out my calling, I took various part-time classes in different subjects, Anatomy, Physiology, and Child Development, only to find nothing seemed to lead to the career I wanted. Finally, I saw a school counselor on television and it struck me that that was exactly what I wanted to do. I enrolled in a Master’s program, and it turns out that a lot of the time it doesn’t matter what your Bachelor’s degree is in to move on to a graduate program. I loved my program, and it forced me to go to therapy, which gave me the confidence and tools I needed when I needed to make changes in the future.
With the flexibility of school counseling, I had the space to pursue my writing career and small business which was born in the forced boredom of COVID. People say that boredom breeds creativity, and I believe that through and through. The last pivot was made possible by COVID, because I couldn’t see people or go out, and I had to be with myself for entertainment. So what do you do when there’s nothing to do? Write books and create a business! Meditation is recommended when you need answers, and it makes sense because it’s boring. So when I’m struggling to pivot, it’s a practice I always go back to. Be still, listen, and shift. Thanks, COVID.
Contact Info:
- Website: nonoswhales.com
- Instagram: @nonoswhales
- Facebook: Noelani-Putirka
- Linkedin: Noelani Putirka
- Yelp: Nono’s Whales Publishing