Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Penda James. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Penda, thanks for joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

I started my business in 2006 after an experience at a writer’s conference. I led one of the conference breakout sessions about writing. Although I had a small group of attendees, they were committed to their time with me. We began writing and got lost in time. As we hurriedly gathered our things and transitioned back into the main session, I noticed that people were still writing. I keep thinking about how those writers in my session had opened to me so freely and how their writing was unlocked by a few questions.

My goal for InSCRIBEd Inspiration has always been to help people write their stories, but several events have helped shape the why. While watching an episode of Empire with my mother the song “Conqueror” by Estelle made us both teary-eyed. I was empowered listening to the words and commented to my mother, “This song is so beautiful.” She agreed and wiped tears from her eyes. In April 2016 after she died of metastatic breast cancer, I played Estelle’s song on repeat listening to the words. I reflected on my mother and how she often wrote words of encouragement in cards and emails. She was a writer who didn’t give herself that title.

During the last two weeks of her transition, several mom’s friends gathered to send her off. She smiled as they recalled stories of her over the years. One memorable reflection was how much her inspirational writings had influenced them since they were in college. One of my mom’s best friends said, “We thought she was the world’s next Maya Angelou. That’s why we always believed in your writing.” That was a defining moment for me and for my business mission. It was clear to me that I wanted to help people leave a written legacy for their family. How could I have not known that about her?

A year later, on my mother’s birthday in July 2017, I offered seven scholarships to unpublished writers. The #TimetoManifest challenge was a 30-day writing course designed to help them start the process of writing their book. I gave writing prompts, assigned accountability partners, and offered coaching. I watched how these writers developed confidence in their voice, became more intentional about the stories they told and began to enjoy the writing process. Of that group, one book was published. My business mission was confirmed when my college classmate passed away in July 2021. I was able to share her autobiographical narrative with her daughter.

Over the years I have assisted people who have surmounted obstacles from health conditions to incarceration and childhood trauma. Through it all, our mission is to help them inscribe a legacy for their family.

Penda, 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?

I am a Dayton, Ohio native. This where Erma Bombeck, the Wright Brothers, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and Roger Troutman had their start. Dayton is full of creative people and growing up I participated in city-wide talent shows, poetry events, and speech contents. I danced, sang, acted, recited poetry and penned shows that allowed other people’s talent to shine. I credit my hometown and the people in it as the inspiration for my motivation to tell stories.

I started writing when I was in the fifth grade. All four of my grandparents told me stories about picking cotton, their knowledge of American slavery, experiencing racism, wars, and the importance of family. My maternal grandmother, Grandma Dear, was a literacy specialist, and she would send me homework every summer. I was expected to read books and send her essays with my synopsis. She would review them and send her edits back to me. She was polishing me and helping me formulate my thoughts at an early age. With my paternal grandmother, Grandma, I learned to quilt. She would hand stitch every quilt square and tell me stories as we worked together. To honor her, I envision that every story I help authors write adding to my quilt of words. My elders ignited a fire in me and I want to create books for grandparents to read with their grandchildren like Grandma Dear read Shel Silverstein’s poetry books with me.

In college at Wilberforce University, I worked on the college newspaper for one semester. I was the Editor in Chief and my role was to lay the paper out, coach the writers and oversee the edits. My favorite part of that role was sitting with the writers to help them unpack their stories. I loved taking rubber cement and positing the articles on newsprint and watching the paper come to life. I was becoming who I am today as Scribe Coach.

In 1999 I participated in an AmeriCorps program called Public Allies. There is a strong personal development component to this program and my first anthology, Free to Fly: Wisdom for the Seasons in a Woman’s Life was compiled from those deeply self-reflective moments. The ironic thing about that book is that it took me ten years to publish it. Ten years to do the research, to find the confidence to tell my story, to let go of my work and release it to the world. I am a writing coach who assists people that have started a project and left it unfinished for years. I understand the process that writers go through. I have fought the battle with perfection. I understand the fear of telling my truth and worrying about what people will think about me. I held my story back until someone said to me, “Penda, if you don’t release your book, you will have to answer to God for every person who did not get to hear the power of your testimony so they could change their lives.” Therefore, I cradle every project with care.

Most of my clients come to me because they don’t believe they have time to write. I make the process easier for them by giving them the tools to be productive. I show them where they can find content and I help them organize it. I help writers understand the publishing process, give them resources and create a safe place for them to brainstorm.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A mantra that I held for a long time is the old adage, “Treat people the way you want to be treated.” This philosophy about treating people the way they want to be treated has a foundation rooted in kindness and respect. What we often forget is that we all have different wants and needs that shape how we want to be treated. It doesn’t make sense to offer something to someone that they don’t like, want or need.

When I was a social services caseworker, I often had consumers who challenged my authority and pushed my boundaries. I understood that I represented a system that made them constantly defend themselves and fight for their rights. I remember one consumer who would never call me by my name but demanded that I call her “Ms. So and So.” She would never look me in the eye, hung up on me when I called and when I was in the room, spoke to other people about me like I was invisible. By that time, I was this consumer’s sixth or seventh caseworker. Many of them had gotten so overwhelmed with her that they stopped giving her what she needed to feel heard. That is when I realized that treating Ms. So and So how she wanted to be treated would honor her needs and shift our working relationship.

Now, it is part of my practice to ask all of my writing clients what they need before we start our meetings.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I bootstrapped to start my business by setting aside a portion of my paycheck to my savings. When I had extra money I added it to my business account. I started my business undercapitalized. Now that I am 16 years in I wish I there had been business showers and crowd funding options to help me get established much quicker.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.inscribedinspiration.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/penscribed
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ScribeCoach
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pendaljames/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsvCKI-eFPymmuvxqdzH1NQ