We were lucky to catch up with Sheryl Smiley-Oliphant recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Sheryl thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

My mission is to help families bond while creating and playing together. As a former classroom educator, I saw students thrive more in school when they spend time with their immediate family. Family bonding gave students more confidence, leadership attributes, increased public speaking skills, and delivered more focus and drive towards their education.

I have an educational theatre background and I had a fun habit of creating games and crafts for my students and colleagues. My days were often seen building theatre sets and making props out of household and recycled items. We love to transform recycled donations from teachers and fellow students, into works of art.

During the pandemic lockdown, I decided to write & publish my 1st children’s book. After the release of my 2nd book, I wanted to bring an online community of parents together through crafting and share crafting ideas. I also wanted a way to help my fellow independent authors build more of a connection with their readers. That is when I got the idea to create my “Book Inspired Crafts” series on Youtube. I started sharing videos on my social media platforms and I even created a Youtube Channel. My channel and books are what I am most known for online.

Sheryl, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hi, I am Sheryl Smiley-Oliphant. I am an author and theater arts educator, and I combine my love for storytelling and crafting to connect with families that want to make learning fun!

My career began as a K-12th grade theatre arts teacher. In this role, I developed a passion for immersing children in the creative expressions of hands-on interaction. I would do this by involving the little ones in dramatic plays, by engaging them in the delight of reading books, and through crafts that enabled the exercise of right-brain thinking while also developing fine motor skills.

What has been phenomenal for my students’ development is my inclusion of theatrics to breathe life into storytelling for children. I have witnessed in awe how absorbed the children become with understanding of the characters, and the lessons and emotions present within the stories.

The first book that I self-published, “My Daddy Doesn’t Need A Cape,” released in 2020 and was inspired by my love for fostering creativity in children. My independent author journey will continue with the second book, “New Baby Coming, New Baby Here,” scheduled to release in Winter of 2021.

My involvement with enriching children through reading, theater arts, and crafts was enabled by my academic studies. I hold a Master’s Degree in Theatre Education from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. I am originally from Charleston, South Carolina, and currently reside in Charlotte, North Carolina with my husband, two daughters, and our lovely dog, Nina.

My mission is to help families bond while creating and playing together. My services includes children’s books, locally touring schools to facilitate book crafting events and creating book crafting videos for authors.

Authors, Teachers and Parents have shown my business so much support these 2 years. I love witnessing photos shared to me showing me my impact on their families in a positive way. Photos of smiling, happy kids crafting and creating with their parents.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Instagram connects me to most of my clients. When I make reels, it brings me closer to my clients. They will message me or sometimes, I reach out to them letting them know that I have a few craft ideas for their books. The rest is history.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I believe my youtube channel showcases my resilience and patience. Growing on Youtube is extremely hard and it takes lots of time to record and edit videos weekly while creating thumbnails and marketing videos. I went a year making videos only to have about 50 subscribers for about a year. It took a long time for me to see any growth on Youtube.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://activityauthor.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/activityauthor/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorsherylsoliphant/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ActivityAuthor/featured
• Other: TikTok and Pintrest: @activityauthor