We were lucky to catch up with Zollyann Howell recently and have shared our conversation below.

Zollyann, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Before my 30th Birthday, I spent many days asking myself, “What do you want Zee?” That was the beginning of my journey that has led me to fulfilling my journey as an Author and Entrepreneur. I’ve already accomplished the roles of being an Educator and Mother and I spent years pondering on what my true purpose was in life. Sadly, as Black women, we’re not often given much wiggle room in terms of who or what we choose to be. I felt like I had to choose. Either be a teacher, be a mother or be an entrepreneur. It was during those moments I began to think to myself, why do I have to make a choice because of what other people thought I should be doing with my life? We are conditioned to believe that we’re checking off boxes for success when we are actually boxing ourselves in. I realized that just being a mother and a teacher was not enough for me. I wanted and needed the space to just be me, all of me.

I started to dig really deep and began exploring different things that I wanted to accomplish by creating a 30 before 30 goals checklist. Working on that list allowed me to start diving deep and doing that inner work. A big part of doing that inner work was creating boundaries, forgiving, and most importantly being authentic. And it gets very uncomfortable.
And within those moment you’ll realize that great things do not come from comfort zones, so I had to experience those uncomfortable phases and moments on my journey as a teacher and a parent. I had to dive deep and work on my heart, my mindset and my limiting beliefs, which for me was my fear and my lack of self-confidence. In my book Your Mindset is Lit AF I talk a little bit about the importance of working on your limiting beliefs in order to help you become more successful in life. Once I began to work on those three things, my heart, my mindset and my limiting beliefs. I started to a become more aware of the transformation that was taking place within me. That transformation and work I did to work on my mindset is what truly allowed me to stretch myself beyond my comfort zone and accomplish my goal of becoming a self-published Author.

But my mission was bigger than just publishing books to inspire women and children. I wanted to be able to help women develop a bulletproof mindset and build the courage needed to accomplish their life goals. I am able to fulfill this mission through my brand, Books by Zee. We used affirmation books, journals, curated networking and community events. We aim at creating a safe space to bring women together to network, build together, grow and learn from each other. Being able to bring women together from all walks of life, backgrounds, careers levels, etc. and learning their stories, watching them accomplish their goals, etc. is what truly keeps the mission alive and drives my purpose.

Zollyann, 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’m an Educator, Entrepreneur and 5x Amazon Best Selling Author of several children’s books and adult books and journals. I run a successful online Fashion Boutique and Virtual Learning Academy while working full time as an Elementary School Educator. I strive daily to help inspire and motivate women to work towards becoming their best selves. My passion lives within helping people and spreading culture. My main goal is to continue to use my platform and my businesses to help inspire other women to go after their dreams and accomplish their goals. Over the past two years I have had the pleasure of helping dozens of women get the clarity they need to take action on their dreams and accomplish their goals through motivational speaking and through my Annual Mindset Mixer.

The Annual Mindset Mixer is a Networking Event that is all about aspiring entrepreneurs and established entrepreneurs coming together in a room to have a good time, building real and genuine relationships, connect with like-minded individuals and enjoy some good eats and drinks.

I am also overly passionate about Urban Education and literacy and use my project Zee’s Virtual Library to spread that mission for children throughout communities across the country. Zee’s Virtual Library is a book gifting program that mails free, high-quality books to children from birth to age eight, no matter their family’s income. We have been able to donate over 1000 new books to families across the country for free. We are able to pull this mission off through donations, and from percentage of sales from all of my brands.

I think the thing that I am most proud of is the lives that I am able to change and have an impact on as well as the legacy that I will be leaving behind for my children.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

There were tons of resources and free information available for entrepreneurs within my local communities that I wish I had access to earlier in my journey. However, it wasn’t until I started networking and building new connections with certain individuals, attending local events, connecting with other like-minded individuals on social media, etc that I gained access and insights into many of the free and valuable resources available to small business owners.

But outside of resources, some other things that I wish I knew earlier in my journey is the power of focusing on my strengths and not my weaknesses; there’s an art to dealing with people and also having the right team behind you can make or break your success. I learned very quickly when I opened my first brick and mortar store that you can’t do it all on your own and sometimes you need help but we need to make sure we get the right help. My business failed to do so because I had the wrong team in place. So taking the necessary time to create a solid plan and evaluate the team that you need and then hiring the best people you can to help build your brand or business.

Your success is going to come from your strengths and I learned that it’s important to make sure that you are focusing your time on the things that you are absolutely good at and not your weaknesses. We all have weaknesses so outsourcing in that area or having someone on your team who is good at it will be more beneficial to your business. Focusing on your weaknesses takes you away from what you’re best at and is not a good use of your time.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Being an entrepreneur is challenging but it is also rewarding. It’s a lot of hard work and can be exhausting. But it’s more rewarding when you’re passionate about what you do. The additional freedom and creativity that comes with it feels amazing! The most rewarding aspect of being an Author is the chance to inspire others with your words and leave a legacy behind. You also have the opportunity to share your stories with the world, the opportunity to touch people’s lives with your stories and the opportunity for a chance to make a living doing something you love. It’s an amazing feeling!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/bossbabemove
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/zoll_inreallife
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100054485405970
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zollyann-howell-8b86a522a
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/zoll_inreallife

Image Credits
Dezirae OzMarie Photography @do _photography Tabby Snapped Photography @tabbysnapped