We recently connected with Tia Deas and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Tia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

My mom was a high school English teacher growing up. She had this way of making students want to learn in a classroom that I could not explain. Her students loved her and it showed in their participation, their hugs, their love. I knew my destiny was tied up somewhere in literature, but I did not know or understand the full extent of what I was supposed to be doing or where I wanted to go with it. My mother encouraged me to read books a lot in my youth. This is when I learned to fall in love with literature. I was fascinated by the way a story could take you from one place to another mentally and emotionally. I marveled at these authors that had the capacity to change the way the way I viewed life and the way I viewed myself. A series that caught my attention and always held my interest was Chicken Noodle Soup for the Soul. I loved reading these books over and over, but I felt slightly not included in the stories that persisted throughout these books. I said one day I would be the change. I would allow myself to be a remedy to someone’s woes. Though life proved to be a hard one, I managed to obtain a Bachelor’s degree that helped me to become an English teacher. I was teaching and I loved it. The passion was found and I was in a great space. When it came time for us to decide on what books to read, I found myself in a tough space yet again, not seeing much literature that was perspective and spoke to my soul. This was the creation of my self-help series called Figurative Keys. I saw a void and I wanted to fill it. I researched and asked authors that I knew about the process of self-publishing. I figured out how to organize the book so it fit the need I was aiming for. I decided to believe in myself and worked through the issues I had so others could work through theirs. My books were created and executed to fill a void I saw in the community of people that looked like me who needed to get back to loving and respecting themselves. So what started as a love for literature and a void in my community became a book business that focuses solely on self-help for the soul.

Tia, 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?

My name is Tia Deas. I am a self-published author, educator, and college professor. My business is literally books. Because I chose the self-published route, I do all the marketing, handling, and usually the distribution of my books outside of Amazon. My books are centered on self-help for the soul. As an educator, college professor, and honestly just being human, I see the struggles we face and wanted to have a hand in helping us get past these roadblocks. I took it upon myself to write these self-help books in hopes of promoting a new love for life in individuals that feel like giving up. The interactive piece of the book was the aspect that I made sure was there because I did not want readers to believe I was talking at them, but rather to them. These books are conversations and opportunity to get to better understanding of self so things can flow in life. The series all having the Figurative Keys in the front consists of six books. The first one, Figurative Keys to Locked Doors, and focuses on self-love. The second book, Figurative Keys to Toxic Cycles, is all about dealing with yourself and some of the mental and emotional stereotypes that exist. The third Figurative Keys: A Guide to Overcoming is all about is dealing with the traumas and dramas of dealing with other people. Figurative Keys to Family Matters, the fourth book, is about understanding family dynamics and learning to let go of the emotional damage it may have left on you. Figurative Keys to Finding Yourself AGAIN is all about repairing yourself emotionally from all the events of life and the past. Lastly, Figuratively Speaking, I’m Glad You’re Here is all about learning to deal with the depression and exhaustion that comes as a result of tragedy and trauma in your life.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn the lesson that someone owes you something just because you put in the work. It is an expectation that you will be rewarded if you do good. Those that do good things should get good results, but that is not always the case. I promoted for my books on social media and got so many likes and shares and comments. I just knew they were going to be successful because people knew I was a good person and they would support me off the strength of that. I only sold fourteen books my first week and the numbers kept getting lower as time went by. I was starting to check in personal with the people who told me and assured me they were going to purchase my book with no luck. I realized depending on them to do what I should be doing myself was the problem. No one owed me anything and it was not anyone’s responsibility to buy my book because they knew me or liked me. This is when the real work began: learning to promote myself.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Crazy part about life is I had to learn how to make due with what I had to get where I wanted. As a single mother and educator, I was not making a lot of capital to try to invest in myself or a book honestly. I had to go on a budget that cut anything extra out my life to save and develop a flow of money that could possibly be used for what I wanted. There was no going out to eat. There was no stepping out to the bar or the club. If it was not needed, I did not get it. I shifted my finances by calling my bill collectors and working with them directly to cut bills and get on payment plans to eliminate returned payments and more. I saved a lot of money and figured a way to get ahead by depending on myself to be disciplined and financing my dream myself.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.figurativekeys.com
• Instagram: figurative_keys
• Facebook: Tia Deas
• Linkedin: Tia Deas
• Twitter: @FigurativeKeys

Image Credits
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