We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shelley Vinson-Bullock. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shelley below.
Shelley, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?
First and foremost I love to write and I’ve always dreamed of writing my own books! I have always loved to write stories, skits, poems and songs. Growing up as a young child I would always write my feelings instead of actually saying them. I was bullied a lot in school and it was very rough on me being the only person of color in my class. There were only 3 black children in my entire grade and I was one of them. I didn’t see very many black authors displayed at the book fairs and stores around where I lived. I also grew up in a Christian home and didn’t see very much black representation among the Christian authors, especially in the form of children’s books. Once I became an adult and started having children of my own I wanted them to see children that looked like them represented in books. I wanted them to see characters that had thick curly hair and brown skin like they had. Seeing yourself in any form of media or books helps build self esteem and confidence. I believe that if I had seen more people that looked like me represented in children’s material growing up it definitely would’ve helped. I was determined to use the gifts that God had given me to write books that showed children of color just the way they are, beautiful! When my first son, Kyan, was a little boy, I began writing stories based on experiences I was having with him. He’s inspired so many of the stories that I have written. I’d been writing for so long but I was feeling lost as to how I was going to get my work out onto the world. Who would illustrate it? Who would back me financially? What publishing companies are the best to work with? What does self publishing look like? Getting my own works published just seemed too big a mountain for me to climb considering that I was now a mother of two and carrying a third child. For years I had put my dreams on the back burner. I let the fear of failing stop me from pursuing something that I knew God had given me. After having my third son I decided to go for it. My husband and I pursued and illustrator and I started to work the small steps to get to the big goal of publishing my first book. I was now pregnant with my fourth child and super tired but everyday I did a little toward my goal and in the end it paid of big time. After having my fourth child, I was all in! I was so tired but I knew that if I could just keep working my plan and my steps I would get there. In 2019 I started a business called SVB PUBLICATIONS and in 2020 I released my first book called, ‘MY PRAYER.’ Excited is an understatement! I was so happy to have accomplished my goal! My husband and my children supported me all the way and I would not have been able to do it without their love! My children loved seeing a book with characters that looked like our family. and that’s what I love about it. It’s so relatable for them! I never thought that this could be something that I could do, but with God’s help, the impossible things are made possible!
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?
I am Shelley Vinson-Bullock. A child of God, a wife and mother of four amazing children. I have been in Georgia since I was four years old so I consider myself a Georgia girl. I got into writing professionally when I was about 20 years old. My first work was writing songs with my sisters for our album. Music is truly one of my first loves so it came easy and doing anything with my sisters is always a blast. Our music group,V3, has been recording a performing music since 2006. We’ve released 2 albums and done many collaborative songs with other artists. Writing books independently was always going on while I was singing and traveling but I didn’t pursue it wholeheartedly until we took a small break from the music. I began with just writing children’s books but I write everything. I wanted to release a children’s book first because I had so many written, however, I plan to release more material for adults and teens soon. I am so proud of the family that I have. God has truly blessed me with an amazing husband and children. They are truly my reason and inspiration. I am honored to be a wife and mother and it is reflected in all that I do because my family is everything to me. I saw my mother pursue her dreams while always putting her family first and because of her wonderful example I am now doing the same thing! SVB PUBLICATIONS will always put out literary works that build up and inspire our readers. I look forward to all that we have in store.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Shortly after I got married in 2003 I became ill. I had gotten bronchitis and from there I started having unexplainable neurological symptoms. I was seen by so many doctors and I was hospitalized and I got no answers. It was so hard for me being a young wife and mother while going through years of health struggles. I was constantly fatigued and struggling to walk and function normally. I was in pain every day and I put it to the side because no one could figure it out. I thought to myself, “why would God give me these gifts and this great family and I can’t use them to full capacity and I can’t be there for my family like I want to?!” I spent most of my time in bed because my body would literally shut down and completely stop working. I had so many moments of people doubting if I was telling the truth. I had moments where I thought I was going crazy. I just knew I could not stop! I pressed on to raise my children and pursue my dreams in the best way that I could. I had to fight with my body every day. I had to push through a lot mentally every day! It was incredibly difficult to be there for my loved ones, perform when on stage, work through long studio sessions and finish my books while feeling so awful all of the time. I had to plan my day around illness. I had to struggle to get through every moment of the day some days. After 18 years of suffering, I was finally properly diagnosed. I had Chiari Malformation, Bow Hunters Syndrome, Atlantoaxial Instability, Tethered Cord Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, and a Movement Disorder. I had been suffering for so long that it had also caused nerve damage! These are difficult conditions to diagnose so I was so thankful to finally get answers. After publishing my first book I went to New York, in the middle of the pandemic, to begin a series of treatments that would help stop the progression of the damage these illnesses were causing. I am happy to say that after a major brain surgery and 3 major spine surgeries I am still here and that is a MIRACLE! I had to slow down from writing and promoting my business to take care of my body but now I’m back and I’m still pursuing all that God has for me! Looking back now, I truly don’t know how I was able to make it through so many years with all of the actual things that were going wrong in my body….all I can say it Thank You Jesus! God has a plan for all of us and I know that I am here for a reason. I’m just grateful to be alive and thriving!
How did you build your audience on social media?
SVB PUBLICATIONS is just one of the businesses my husband and I own. We started building our audience through cross promoting and ads on social media. It’s trial and error when you are first learning so my advice is, stick with your plan! Don’t get frustrated because you don’t see immediate results, building a brand takes time. Also, take time to study other brands similar to yours. Look at how they are rolling out their marketing. We live in a digital age and it’s amazing how much you can do with just your phone so take advantage and stay consistent!
Contact Info:
- Website: https//:www.svblife.com
- Instagram: @svinsonbullock
- Facebook: @svinsonbullock
- Youtube: SVB LIFE