Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Zollyann Howell. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Zollyann, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Success has a different meaning for everyone. I set out for 2023 with so many goals. I did NOT accomplish them all. I can’t even find where I wrote them all down at. What I did do, is remain consistent, rid my negative habits in all aspects of my life and started to work hard for the things that I wanted to accomplish. For me being successful required me hitting rock bottom to learn a few lessons on my journey to be able to build a solid foundation for a new life. The trick is that you have to be intentional when rebuilding, you can’t have the same mindset, the same habits and expect success with old problems and things that didn’t work in the past. Rock bottom is meant to mold and build you. I had to clear my life to regain a sense of control. I had to focus on my health and wellbeing, my own happiness, I had to close businesses down, I had to remove things and people out of my life so that God can put the right things in it. It was then that I started to get a real sense of true success. I was being offered seat in rooms I dreamt of, opportunities were opening up for me that were on my vision boards for years. My purpose started to become clear.

To be able to find success in a space where you’ll hear that Self-Published Authors can’t be successful because the market is oversaturated. That is not the reality for me because everyday I work extremely hard to keep my books and my brand Books by Zee relevant. If you want your book in bookstores you have to go in the bookstores and speak with the managers and pitch your book. If you want to get bulk orders from schools and companies, you have to contact schools and companies and share the value of your book. However, you may get plenty of NO’s. You may have to ask 30 schools and bookstores before you get your yes.

I just realized that if you want something done, you have to do it yourself. I live in my own bubble of positivity and I am never concerned about what others are doing. I focus on the things that I can control and most importantly I expect the best for myself and I know that anything is possible and nothing is off limits for me to accomplish.

Zollyann, 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?

After publishing my first set of children’s books and journals during the pandemic and while running my Fashion Boutique BAE & CO. my passion for teaching inspired me to launch Books by Zee to use my self-published books and journals as teaching tools to help inspire and motivated women and young adults to help transform their mindset and elevate their life through confidence building and positive self-talk.

Since then Books by Zee is starting to slowly become a familiar brand not just in my local community but in communities and schools across the country. Our books and products have landed in several public and charter schools, early learning centers, daycares and Libraries.

The biggest highlight for me this year is having my books available internationally in one of the largest books retailers in the United Kingdom called Waterstones and also being available both online and in-stores in Barnes and Noble in my hometown of Brooklyn, NY. To be able to sit in a Barnes and Noble in your neighborhood town as a Self-Publish Author to read your story, sign books for families and to see your book on the shelves and customer checking out at the register with a copy of your book in their hand is an amazing feeling.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

One of the biggest things that I believe that helps my reputation as an entrepreneur is my honesty and authenticity. I strive to always be honest, genuine and to be myself in any room that I enter. This allows me to build genuine and intentional relationships with others. You never know who’s looking, watching or reading your story and being inspired. I was raised to always do the right thing even when no one is looking and that’s honestly what I continue to do each day. I am extremely intentional about where I spend my time, what I spent my time on and who I spend my time with. Having a circle or village of people who supports you, your mission, your vision and your goals. Having a circle of people who you can grow with and learn from. Having a circle of people who can inspire and help you get to the next level is key in being successful.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

The biggest lesson that I had to unlearn is cutting corners and not being consistent with all aspects of my life. Learning to leave those habits alone allowed me to focus on being “Really Good at My Thing”. I was once told by one of my mentor’s that a “Jack of all trades, master none” and that has stuck with me and truly inspired me to want to be the absolute best at my goals. I knew what I was passionate about and I knew the problem that I am going to solved and I also knew the ins and outs of what it would take for me to be successful at my thing. But I had to commit to mastery and get really FREAKING good. If you want to be the next Elon Musk, Pinky Cole ,Oprah or whoever, you have to commit to the time and effort that it takes to be better than anyone else at your thing. You have to get so good they can’t ignore you. This is a true test of if you truly want to pursue that thing to its full depth.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.booksbyzee.com/pages/zollyannhowell
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/zoll_inreallife
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100054485405970
• Other: https://linktr.ee/bossbabemove

Image Credits
Tabby Snapped @tabbysnapped