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

Alright, Sheila thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you share a customer success story with us?

As an author and a retreat curator, I am a part of a consumer driven business which thrives on ensuring that I am creating an amazing product and service for my clients. Since the release of my first two books, “Love, Lies, and Loyalty”, and “Dominated by Love”, I have received numerous reviews from my readers who have told me how much they can relate to the characters. My readers express how these characters and their experiences have helped them and encouraged them when dealing with their own struggles with friendship, family, career and love. In the words of one of my readers, “I loved the book…It is relatable on so many levels as well as motivation to change your path in life regardless of your situation.” Another reader said, “I was surprised by how Maven’s story played out. It was unexpected, but I love that she stepped out of her comfort zone to embrace a different type of love. Her story also encouraged me to go for my dreams.”

In the same way that my readers relate to my characters, the women who attend my retreat find motivation, encouragement, and strategies to face many of life’s traumas that hold them back from being the best version of themselves. One of the participants of my recent retreat in Charlotte wrote, “I needed and prayed for this sisterhood for such a long time….You each were and still are the best in this season.” Another participant wrote, “This weekend retreat was a blessing and what I needed…I did not want to leave. I gained so much and I enjoyed meeting all the wonderful ladies.”
Many of the women who attended the retreat have formed friendships with each other. They continue to encourage and motivate each other long after the retreat has ended. Several of the women have been so inspired by the outpouring of love and support that they have invited their friends to attend the next one.

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 grew up in the small town of Natchez, MS. My mother was a teenage mother, so I was raised in the home with her, my maternal grandparents, my aunts, and my uncle. Education was a very important part of my childhood. Although I was teased for being dark-skinned and the fact that I didn’t have the latest designer clothing, I was always known as the smart girl throughout my elementary and middle school years. I loved school and loved to learn. It was evident because I excelled at school, winning numerous academic awards before I even made it to high school. During the summer of my 9th grade year, I became pregnant with my daughter. This was one of the most challenging times in my life, but I still managed to graduate from high school with honors and go on to attend and graduate from college.

As a child, my mother was always reading, whether it was the Bible or the latest romance novel. I started reading some of her books as a teenager and always said that I would one day write my own book. I had always loved the idea of creating characters and adding some of my real life experiences to their lives. Although I started writing my first book in the early 2000s, life kept preventing me from finishing it. When I moved to Memphis in 2013, I had only written about ten chapters. I wasn’t motivated to write, but I would pick it up from time to time to add to it. I became more excited about seeing the characters and wanted to continue their stories. I finally finished book one, “Love, Lies, and Loyalty” in 2015, and it was published in 2017.

After the widespread success of the first book, I experienced writer’s block due to several roadblocks in my personal and professional life. Although I had started writing book two, I found it hard to focus enough to finish it. However, my readers stood in the gap and motivated me because I received numerous messages and even phone calls asking me about the status of the second book. Reading their messages and seeing the excitement from my readers was what I needed to finish my second book, “Dominated by Love”, which was released in November 2021.

I feel that one thing that sets my books apart from others in the same genre is the way that I approach how I write about my characters. I don’t try to make them larger than life. My characters are real women based upon my own personal experiences along with people and situations I’ve encountered on my journey as a woman, a mother, a daughter, a sister, an educator, a career woman, and a woman who has experienced a wealth of hardships and triumphs. When women, and even some men, read my books, they see themselves or a loved one in the characters; this makes their stories real. Another thing that sets my books apart from others is that each chapter includes a quote or “philosophy” that gives a life lesson or an affirmation for the readers to apply to their own lives.

I am proud that my readers enjoy reading about my characters and how they tell me that they can relate to them. I am proud when I get messages from readers who finished my books in just a day or less. I am proud that they are just as excited as I am when I announced that the third book, “Love and Protection” will be released soon. I am most proud that my first book, “Love, Lies, and Loyalty” received two awards, Best Romance Book and Readers’ Choice.

Women, Writing, and Wine started as a need to feel connected to others during the onset of the Covid 19 pandemic. It began as a group of like-minded women coming together on a Zoom call. I gave them various, thought-provoking prompts to which they responded in writing. During these sessions, the women and I were vulnerable and shared many painful truths about our lives. Through the many tears, we were able to use writing to start and/or continue the healing process that so many of us needed. Once some of the Covid restrictions had lifted, I decided that it was time for us to continue the sessions in person. The first Women, Writing, and Wine Retreat was held in October 2021, in Savannah, Georgia. It was a weekend of fun, sisterhood, growth, and healing. The theme of the weekend was, “Sis, It’s All About You.” We spent the weekend discussing how it’s important for women to put themselves first and invest in true healing and self-care. Each woman also walked away with a journal to help continue the growth and healing that we started. The journal, “Sis, It’s All About You!”, contains writing prompts and affirmations that are designed to help women get back to self-love, self-care, and putting themselves first.

I feel that one thing that sets my retreat apart from others is that it is truly all about sisterhood. Women aren’t pressured to share, but the authenticity and the vulnerability of the participants creates a truly safe space for women to be seen and heard in ways they have never experienced or haven’t experienced to this level. Another thing that makes the Women, Writing, and Wine Retreat so special is me. I don’t say this to be arrogant or self-centered; I say this because this is what I have heard from the attendees. They thank me for having the vision to create this group. They thank me for being transparent about my own struggles and trauma because it shows them that I am truly operating out of a place of love, growth, and healing.

I am proud that I was able to bring together a group of women from diverse backgrounds who were comfortable being vulnerable and sharing hard truths about their lives. I’m also proud that many of the participants are attending future retreats and bringing other women who need a community of support. My plan is to expand this brand and to host women’s retreats in many key cities in the United States and internationally so that as many women as possible will be able to be a part of this growing sisterhood.

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

Over the past few years, I have been working on ways to increase my audience on social media. It has been a lot of trial and error. There have been times that I have reached out to marketing and branding professionals only to have them not follow-up with me or want to charge an astronomical amount of money without having a proven track record of success.

The audience that I have built on social media is centered around me being my authentic self. I share a lot about myself and the things that I am experiencing in my day-to-day life. My big personality and my humor draw lots of people to my pages who want a good laugh or want to engage in candid conversation.

With my author’s pages, I used to try to follow a content calendar which mandated that I posted certain topics on certain days. I was doing “Music Mondays”, “Talk About it Tuesday”, “Words of Wisdom Wednesday”, and so forth. While some days there was some engagement, there were other days where no one liked it or commented. When I started to post positive quotes and affirmations, I noticed an uptick in engagement. More people were liking, loving, and sharing the posts. I also noticed that there was much more conversation in the comments. People thank me for the encouraging words and tell me how they needed to hear something positive. This was confirmation that I had found my niche.

For those that are just starting to build their social media presence I would say consistency is key. Once you get your followers engaged, they will be looking for content from you daily.

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

As I reflect through my journey of entrepreneurship and being a creative, I had to learn not all of your personal expectations will be met. I had the idea that I would write a great book and all of my family and friends would be first in line to support me. When I finally published my first book in 2017, I was beyond excited. I hosted two book signings; one in Memphis and one in my hometown of Natchez, Mississippi, I had flyers professionally created and spent money on renting venues and providing food and drinks. I posted about the event on my FB page and sent personal reminders to my close friends, family, and coworkers. Needless to say, many of them did not attend. Although I was happy and thankful for those that did show up, some of them were noticeably absent. I was in my feelings for a while until I realized that I was focusing too much on those who weren’t there instead of being grateful for those who did support me.

Now I am thankful for those family and friends who do support me; however, I don’t get upset if they don’t. And while my first book has received awards and recognitions, I realized that not all of my expectations of support will be met.I know that many of my supporters who buy my books and who have attended my retreats are people who I don’t know. I probably will not meet most of them in real life. That’s okay. The new lesson is that I will be thankful and appreciative of all my supporters, and that’s what will keep me focused and motivated.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.authorsheliasewell.com
• Instagram: Author Shelia Sewell and imjustshelia75
• Facebook: Author Shelia Sewell and Shelia Lorraine Nelson Sewell
• Linkedin: Shelia Sewell
• Twitter: ImjustShelia

Image Credits
Ebony K Foster