Our guest this week is children's author Sara Bradford (pen name SJ Childs). Author of children's books encouraging love & inclusion.
https://sjchilds.org/
Hosted by Tamara MacDuff (pickle#1) and Sid Ragona (pickle#2) of Re-Thinking Business: Success Sauce & Two Pickles Podcast
Our guest this week is children's author Sara Bradford (pen name SJ Childs). Author of children's books encouraging love & inclusion.
https://sjchilds.org/
Hosted by Tamara MacDuff (pickle#1) and Sid Ragona (pickle#2) of Re-Thinking Business: Success Sauce & Two Pickles Podcast
Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for listening to another edition of rethinking business success sauce in two pickles. I am Tamara McDuff. Your host also known as pickle. Number one with my cohost pickle. Number two, Sidra goanna. How are you doing tomorrow? I'm doing awesome. How are you? Absolutely smashing, thank you for asking. I had a great week. Um,
Speaker 2:Yeah, I had a great week still looking forward to COVID being over and being able to go outside more often would love to go to a restaurant to be honest.
Speaker 1:Yeah. It's it's crazy. I I'm done. I'm ready for it to be over to
Speaker 2:You and the rest of the world, right?
Speaker 1:I think so. We had a great show last week with Mark and I've heard a lot of really great things about that. And so it was hard to follow it up, but I think we might have done it. You think so? Huh? I think so. I think we're having a, a run at authors this week. Cause we have a very special guest that you you've found for us. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yes I have the guest tonight. Very special guest is a self-published children's author. Her books are based on, um, children with special needs, such as autism and dyslexia. Uh, she is actually a member of the autism council of Utah, a mother of three. And actually to her surprise, she found out she'd married somebody that was also on the autism scale. Unknown at the time of marriage. I assume I would like to introduce our guests today. Sarah Bradford, a K a S J Childs. Welcome Sarah.
Speaker 3:Hi, thank you guys so much for having me today. It's such a pleasure to be here.
Speaker 2:I should have you here. Um, and in fact, I don't mean to put you in a awkward position, uh, straight off the bat, but we have a bone to pick with you that you were on Jimmy Apple's podcast before you came on ours.
Speaker 3:Well, Jimmy, he had a message for me to share with you guys.
Speaker 2:I'm sure it was something very nice.
Speaker 3:It was, he wanted me to say Nana, Nana, Nan and I had on her. I had her first. Nice. Thank you, Jimmy. Thank you.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Well, next time you speak to Jimmy. You have to let him know. Revenge is best served cold Tamara and I are very patient people. Uh, but we will get him back for this. I did listen to your podcast with, uh, Jimmy, uh, and it was excellent by the way. Thank you. I had a great time. I detected a very good chemistry between you and Jimmy and the conversation just did flow. Yeah. Yeah. So very, very good. Very good, indeed.
Speaker 3:So I'm thrilled to be here today. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Well, you're very welcome. We're happy to have you, um, as parents of kids with special needs and uh, working in that arena, uh, personally, not professionally, but personally, you know, having to advocate for my kids, uh, having an author such as yourself that writes about books for kids with that are physically different and they have the ADHD, they have autism, they've got anxiety. That is a very unique niche. How did you decide that you wanted to write books for kids like that?
Speaker 3:Yeah, um, it all started out as a hobby and it was for my daughter. Uh, both of my younger children are born with a physical difference called outer ear. My HSA. Um, we just have smaller ears than the rest of the population, which this mask wearing. Doesn't go well for us. So thing it, but it really started out with that. And just wanting to let her know that her differences did not define her and that she needed to be proud of who she was for being kind to people for the relationship she would make with people. And not because she had a physical difference that stood out from anyone else and through the support of my family and friends and teachers that I had shared those messages with, they had encouraged me to keep writing at the time. It just, it just seemed to flow quite quickly. And I had written five or six books when the, within the first few months mind you, it took seven years until I published them, which was a long process of learning and trial and error, sending them to publishers and being rejected. And I just know it wasn't the answer that I was willing to take. So I just kept fighting hard and pushed through it and learned all I could about how I could get these books in front of children, where it would matter the most.
Speaker 2:Did you take any writing courses while you were doing this? Because I'm quite sure that, uh, many people have thoughts, especially if the parents and you make up a story, uh, and then you think, Oh, I could write a children's book and then you might write a few lines and a, an outline. And then, you know, the, the fire in the belly goes cold. Uh, and even if you finish a story, uh, there's all that self doubt that how would I ever get this published? And it only my kid that likes it. So how did you go from simply writing one story to writing a series of stories? And did you take any courses on how to write for children?
Speaker 3:I took as not necessarily courses, however, I watched a million videos, I got as much education and, you know, there's so many free resources out there. So many for us to take advantage of. And I just filled my time with, with those things. I, you, when I was washing dishes just would listen to this, you know, five steps of how to publish your book or, um, the editing process, you know, the book cover process. There are so many steps that you don't consider when you're reading or talking to your kid about, you know, writing a book. But we really had a lot of success with reading them to our neighbors and having the neighbor, kids come over kind of my little test subjects, right. And seeing how they reacted to the books and what their excitement level, if you will, would be. And it was just great. It was amazing. They were asking for copies of the book when they came out. So it turned out to be such a great thing.
Speaker 2:Did you ever read your book to small children? Uh, especially a book that your own kids liked and then you read it to the neighbors, children, or relatives, children, and you can see them losing interest or shifting or being distracted. Did that ever happen? And when that happened, what were you thinking?
Speaker 3:No, that never happened. I can honestly say, you know, they're, my books are very poetic. I I'm a big Dr. Seuss lover and I have always loved poetry. I've always loved writing. So I guess you could just say that words are my superpower in, in writing and expressing, um, feelings, storytelling. It's just a passion of mine. It's, it's something I've always loved to do.
Speaker 2:So if you have a book say on autism, I'm very interested in this and you read it to a child that has no experience of autism. How did they react?
Speaker 3:I think that they're excited sometimes when you don't understand, that's where the fear is at that's where the, Oh, I'm not sure how to, to look at this or how to react to this. But once they have that knowledge and can look at them, these, you know, their peers through eyes of understanding, such support, that they can offer them, not only those children, but wring it out throughout their lives. And when they're at the grocery store, you know, when they're at the bank or anywhere else at a amusement park and they see somebody having a meltdown and they say, Hey, that was, I remember this from a book that, you know, my teacher read to us in, in school. And now I understand and Oh, that poor kid, you know, he's just having an overload of sensory right now. He's not being bad. He's not, not listening. He's not having this adult perception that some, you know, adults like to perceive it as a naughty behavior. Yeah. So I think it's just, it's powerful. And it's, it's independence for these kids.
Speaker 2:Fascinating. Do you think there's a portion of your books that perhaps is educational for the parents that are reading the book to that children?
Speaker 3:Absolutely. In most of the books, I have included a question answer portion in the back, which is full of education. It's full of explanations. Uh, four big topics relating to that special needs niche. Um, whether, you know, I do have one book on down syndrome and I love that I was able to find a word to rhyme with chromosome, right. And, uh, it really teaches kids. What is a chromosome? What is DNA? Why does this matter? Like, what is it, what makes the difference has happened? I think that again gives them that power and that knowledge to move through their lives, which with such more understanding and perception.
Speaker 2:That's wonderful. I love words that rhyme with chromosome. All right. You've got me, don't tell me what it is. I'm going to stop. And, uh, by the end of this radio show, I might be able to see what words I've come up with that will, that will run with chromosome. Who knows you could acknowledge me in a future bucket, right?
Speaker 3:Yeah. There'll be a quiz at the end of the show said, Oh, okay. So you better start studying. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I better start studying now, get out my theater or something and see what rhymes with a chromosome. So of all the books that you, that you've written, there has to be one that's special to you. There is. Can you tell us a little bit about it and why?
Speaker 3:I will say that each book is so special because it relates to personal, meaningful experiences in my life and people throughout my life. But I guess the one that I could express the most, because it was the one that I actually dealt with was anxiety in ice approach for, with anxiety for a long time, but I've learned how to overcome it now. And I don't, I don't allow myself to be controlled by things that I can't be control of anymore. So I'm hoping that I'm doing my best, but in this book, I was able to really express to children, the physical feeling that they get when they have anxiety, because when you have a stomach ache and the heartburn, or kind of that aching, you know, where it really turns in your stomach, when you're a child, you don't understand the biology that's happening within yourself. And by having that knowledge and having a little bit of insight, you can say, Oh my gosh, I am really afraid for this test coming up. I am really nervous because these kids have been treating me this way and I need help. And what a better way to be able to ask for help, then have the insight and awareness that you need it. I think that is a great skill to give kids. Is that self-awareness yeah. You're almost
Speaker 1:At any age that, okay. They, they may be different in physical appearance or like with anxiety or autism or anything like that. But the best gift I think we can give as parents is to teach them how to advocate for themselves and accept themselves for who they are, because they're just different. There's nothing wrong with them. And as a parent of a special needs child, that took me a long time to realize that there was nothing wrong with my daughter. It was she's perfect. Right. She's exactly where she supposed to be, the way she's supposed to be. And now I just have to help hone that. Did you, as a parent ever feel like that too? Cause like my daughter had a physical disability and I took her to every doctor that we could to make sure we were doing all the right things, to find a quote unquote cure. Right. It really, there wasn't a cure. You just managed what she has. But, um, it took me a while. And finally I was in a support group when the light bulb came on that there's nothing wrong with her. But you as a parent, have you had that experience?
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely. You know, early on my son was diagnosed when he was 16 months old and you know, autism as an invisible disability, that's really hard for people. It's really hard for them to see him and say, Oh, he's so cute. There's nothing wrong with him. He's just quiet. You know, he just doesn't want to look over here. Don't make him, you know, kind of things. And, but 16 months was quite early and yeah, at first it was, it was devastating. It was, your expectations are changed for what you had considered for a Parenthood. And I think it was really a lot of research, a lot of learning about autism, but finally realizing what he needs is my attention to his support, not my attention to him, getting him better or making him what the world is. You know, this box that they've filled out for people to fit in. He doesn't have a box. That's what I need to support. I need to support a box list life. So we've removed the limitations and the expectations from our life in so many ways. And the way we speak to one another in the way we perceive and, you know, look at, look at what people like to think of as labels or diagnosis. We're all human. We all navigate through the world in different ways. But the real truth is navigating from within a place of love and kindness. And that is where we really see people for who they are. And I hope that my books, you know, really express that to people that we encourage love and inclusion in all situations.
Speaker 2:I think that's a very good point to bring up since as parents, if you've been with, uh, children with disabilities, when you first, and I think this is true for most parents because I have two deaf boys. When you find out that one of your children, one of your children's behavior is because they have a disability. In my particular case, my, my son couldn't hear, uh, as soon as you get that diagnosis, I think it's very natural to start about thinking, Oh, then we need to fix it. And it's only after a period of time when you realize that it's not a question of fixing it, it's the question of accepting it and making the best of the situation. I think that's a journey parents have to make and some make it quicker than others. And some may never make it at all. I'm afraid. What'd you think about that?
Speaker 3:I really think that's the truth. I think it's all in the journey. Like Tamara said in the groups, the support groups that we find and the support we find around us in many cases. And I know in mine, it's all of the support I've found through, you know, the teachers that we've worked with in, and kind of the connections that I've made with the other parents. And I've created a, an advocates group that is, is fairly new, but I love it. Every week. We have an online social where these parents can get on and we can have the half an hour to chat and they can bring up, Hey, I had such a rough day, you know, I had three bags of Doritos jumped on, you know, they're all crunched out. It's like his favorite thing to do. That's my kid's favorite thing to do. I swear is I need like stock in ruffles in Dorito big time. But yeah, it's just, it's such a nice way to be able to come together.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we did a similar thing. We, um, we, we had a deaf parents come over, so we could actually talk to them in sign language to learn more sign. And we still laugh about it today because the initial sign language we learned was how to cope with a baby. So we knew how to ask, uh, are you wet? Do you dive, does your diaper need changing a stop set? Don't do that. Uh, timeout, uh, all the things that you would need with a, with a kid, you know, I'm going to pick you up. And so the first time deaf adults came over, we had the hardest time having a conversation. Cause when dinner was ready, all I knew how to say was sit there, you know, drink that. I mean, you can't ask whether they need changing or anything, but I, I didn't, we didn't have the conversation that a grownup would have, which is, you know, Dennis being served at the table, um, please sit where you want, um, help yourself to a beer, that sort of thing. But having deaf adults over it took, uh, a few nights before we got the hang of, uh, this is how adults speak in sign language. That's a good
Speaker 1:Idea, you know, inviting other parents over of deaf children so that you could learn as well as create that social structure for yourself. Because you know, when you have a child with any kind of a special need, you need to have that support in other parents because other people don't understand, they can empathize with you all they want, my friends were like, Oh yeah, that's good. They don't understand. You have to walk in somebody's shoes to understand that. Yeah. And I think that's true for anything, you know, any journey that we take, you're you really, you're not going to totally understand unless you've been there, but I think books are a wonderful way to start the education process about now the lessons in your books, when you talk about the physical differences or autism or anxiety, how is that story laid out? Is it like a, I know there's a beginning, middle and end, but I mean, is there like a lesson in there for the child to be able to take away? Like when we do workshops for adults, we have to give them three takeaways. Do you kind of do that with the kids?
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely. Um, for example, in the autism book and, um, you know, making sure that people understand the, I wrote these books based on my experiences and my children's experiences, they won't be identical to other people's and everybody needs to be, you know, kind of understanding of that because I would hate for someone to take away, you know, Oh, this is exactly what my child should be acting like or anything like that. But it, I was really able to express the way the world was, viewing him through his actions, through his, um, flailing, you know, of his arms and flapping and kind of the quintessential signs, you know, of that he had severe autism and in the beginning, and I really wanted to lay that out so that when we were places, people it's so hard to, for someone to understand when a child is, is getting aggressive or that it's not always from a place of behavior, it's, it's from a place of sensory processing. And that's something that we don't have awareness of and that we don't talk about enough. And yeah, we do in our autism communities and our special needs communities. We're all about it, but we need everyone to see this big picture so that we can all be patient and a little bit more understanding. But yeah, I certainly hope that they would, you know, take the lessons from the books, you know, in the physical differences book, it's laid out very clearly. It's about animals. And so, you know, this animal has this difference. This animal has this difference or they're all animals, they're all different. It doesn't make them not an animal. It just makes them a different type of animal. So I hope that they can relate to that. And you know, they're very bright and colorful. I did large print so that it's easy for, for children to read and to practice their reading. It's, it's turned into just a, such an incredible journey.
Speaker 2:I have a few more questions for you. Uh, since the radio show is dedicated to helping people achieve small businesses and goals, uh, we often have people that want to start a writing career and writing children's books. For example, from your experience, what advice would you give somebody that has no experience, but is aspiring to be a writer? What advice would you give them on starting and how to move forward?
Speaker 3:I would definitely say, take advantage of the free resources, YouTube webinars, um, find some Facebook groups that are writers and authors, uh, start looking at what steps you need to start working on. You need to find an editor. You need to find an illustrator. If you're wanting to do children's books with pictures, you need to find out about the formatting of the book and what's going to be acceptable. If you're going to take the self publishing route, Amazon was a great Amazon Kindle is where I publish them. It is it's free. So that was wonderful, but it's also has its own limitations. So you just have to kind of find a place that you are comfortable putting your books it's as turned out to be such a great thing in justice. Last week, I have seen the books on sale on walmart.com, Barnes and noble.com, uh, and a few other children's publishing sites. So I'm really excited that it's moving around online. So that's great.
Speaker 2:And it's taken seven years to get here. Is that about right?
Speaker 3:I published them all last year. So I actually published all seven books, just last August. I began. And then it was like every two months or so I published another books. It was a year of once I kind of got past that step of the first book was accepted and it was going to be published. It's almost like what was so hard to begin with. You know, you held yourself back with these ideas that you, you can't move forward because of the fear of the unknown, but that first baby step. And then it's, it's so easy from there. It's just like water flowing. And so, yeah, it was, it was great to be able to just take that first step and then success after that. So it's been one year.
Speaker 2:I'm glad you brought that up because Tamara and I do a lot of teaching together, teaching classes on entrepreneurship and mentoring mentees on starting a business and what we've found over and over again, this is what you have alluded to is the, one of the biggest obstacles to getting started in a business is one's own fear of the complexity of moving forward. Uh, and that's sometimes seems to be the, the biggest barrier. And I don't know what the solution to that is because everybody gives the same sort of advice. I should've just done it sooner, uh, doing it sooner. You may not have picked up by osmosis what you require to get it done.
Speaker 1:I've also found, and we've heard from our mentees as well. And even some of our guests on the show have all said the best way to get through that fear and getting stuck is to just do it, you know, just take that plunge, just do it. It doesn't have to be perfect. It just needs to be done. Um, cause you can always change pivot. You can change your mind. You could, there's all kinds of things, but yeah, your story is not unique in that where you, it, it took you the seven years to get those books out and pull the trigger. That's fantastic. Now, can people get their, get your books in a physical location? Like can they go to Walmart and buy it or can they go to Barnes and noble?
Speaker 3:I don't think so. Unfortunately not to my knowledge. I haven't been to any stores in the last year either. So I couldn't tell you, but, um, no, I, and I'm not quite sure what type of, if they would have to give me some type of acknowledgement of that. I, I'm not quite sure how, how it works. I'm so excited that it's in so many places and I couldn't believe it. It was, it was a surprise to me. So, and in fact, Jimmy was one of the people who said, Hey yeah, Sarah, I saw that it was, you know, on, on this publishing side and on this publishing side and it was to my surprise. It was a lot of
Speaker 1:That's great. I think it's fantastic that it's, that it's getting out there. These are physical books. Like if I order something from Amazon, it's not a download or is it available as a download
Speaker 3:Is the, I made eBooks for each book, so you can download on your Kindle or device. And, uh, you can also order your own physical copy that will come in paperback and the kids love those. They want something to hold on to. That's tangible, they're really great books. They're, they're just so much fun. In fact, last year I donated the whole series to my second graders class in one of the parent teacher conferences. You know, I said, so how are the books going? Do they like, um, and she said, they fight over them. They don't read any other books. They only run a read these books, they're fighting over them constantly. So I couldn't have that, that just made everything worth it to know. And think of the information that this class is now going to take forward with them, how much more, you know, information and knowledge they have to support their peers. And the books are really for everyone. They're not just for a child with special needs, therefore the families and the neighbors and the peers and the cousins and everyone to have a better understanding of how they can support that type of a disability or ability if you, you know, like to have it. So I, I just really want to get them in front of children. W I would love to see them get into schools and for schools to take interest, you know, and, and I have reached out to libraries. I think it's all a process. And like I said, it's, it's all kind of happened in the last year. So I'm still in my baby steps. I see a very bright future for all of it.
Speaker 2:Are you going to still keep publishing at a rate of roughly one every two or three months
Speaker 3:If this pandemic ends and I can, um, bring back some more income to provide for those illustrations, that's the priciest part that I've run into? So that is, that's where my drawback right now, but that's just that's okay. The books are written in fax it. I think you'll love to hear this. I have a book about a deaf monkey and how she learns sign language and is able to communicate with the rest of the monkeys. And so I, when that one comes out, you'll be the first to get a copy of that.
Speaker 2:Oh, I'd love to see it. Absolutely love to see it. We get some of our webinars interpreted into American sign language, by the way, because of COVID. Well, we are, um, doing everything online and we've started translating them into Spanish and also having closed captions and also having them signed by interpreters. So, um, while COVID has been a terrible thing for the world, it has forced us here to be more inventive and to a large degree. And I'll let tomorrow take this one up, uh, significantly more inclusive. Would you agree tomorrow?
Speaker 1:I do. It has been more inclusive in our own chapter. For example, is something as innocuous as a meeting, right? We've actually seen an uptick in some participation because people don't have to leave their homes. We do it all online, so they just join our zoom link. And I think we've seen an increase in our workshop attendance as well because people have been able to just come, you know, to zoom and they don't, they don't have to leave their house. The other thing that has been great as we've been getting nothing but good feedback about the fact, we're one of the few, if not the only organization that is actually doing interpreted webinars, that's amazing in the Rochester area. Anyway, I'm sure there's cities around the country that are doing, but in the Rochester area, we are the only organization. I think that's, that's doing them. That has it, that inclusive.
Speaker 3:I love that. I love that. And I've actually been in touch with an ASL teacher and have kind of corroborated. Maybe we make videos of the books and maybe we do the same thing, have an interpreter for the books as well, because just such a special message to get out to parents and, um, teachers, community members,
Speaker 2:Some questions about illustrations for your books. And you mentioned this was the most expensive part of the book. What sort of creative process do you have or creative say in the illustrations? How did you find your illustrator to start with, and how do you convey your ideas of what you want illustrating? What's the process that that's what I'm trying to get at,
Speaker 3:And I'll give you two answers that the first book that we did, my husband is a spray paint artist, and I love his paintings and his art. Uh, he created all of the art for my first book for Doug, the dyslexic duck spray painted the lakes and the water and sketched out the ducks. Yeah, it was amazing. So that one was great because that one, I didn't, we didn't have to pay for illustrations. I put it all together and I guess it was just kind of our own creative ideas and our own visions of what the book meant to children and how it would be best perceived by them guilty. I used my own children's ideas and, you know, w what do you think about this? What do you like this character better than this character? And, uh, so getting your own children's feedback is, is also truly honest and amazing. So that, so that was really nice. Um, and then from that point on, we ha you know, wanted to find a graphic designer that could really put them together in a more professional look. And so I searched out, you know, freelancing sites, I guess you could say. And, um, when a couple of different routes and tell, I found a package that was in my budget that had the level of details that we wanted, which were layers upon layers of depth of colors. We didn't just want one flat picture of a dog on a page. We wanted intricate backgrounds that had depth and color and bright popping pictures. And it was this gentleman that I stuck with afterwards and stayed with him to publish three or four more books. So that was a really, really nice because then we were able to already have built a relationship where, uh, he was open to any ideas or changes that I needed to make. So that was really nice. It was really nice to find somebody so open to work with, and, and he's from Pakistan. So it was all done digitally and online and not to mention, he knew nothing about autism. Guess who now has knowledge and experience with autism. He does. And he's been able to share it with his family and even self publishing. He said, will you tell me how you did this? Because I have some family members I think would be interested so that it has just become such a neat, full circle of events for everyone that's been involved.
Speaker 2:Do you feel that you are doing some sort of missionary work in some ways?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I guess you could say that. I think that I was born into this mission. I'm an only child. And, uh, my parents were very hard workers and they were always, always giving to others. We lived in, in Nevada, lots of snow up in the, up in the mountains. And he was always, you know, going out in his truck and pulling people out of ditches. And when family would come over, he'd be up at 4:00 AM, have everybody's cars, washed and waxed before anybody even woke up, just the consideration and kindness that they showed to people. My mom was a nurse just love, you know, you, I don't think you can be a nurse without loving people or humanity. Um, and so it just goes to show like those wonderful traits that I was able to take with me and basically be a missionary on this journey or your parents still around. Yeah. Yeah, they are.
Speaker 2:So what do they think about their daughter becoming a published author?
Speaker 3:I think they're both very, very proud. I've been always one with an entrepreneurial spirit. I stay within the guidelines, don't get me wrong, but I like to walk on the edge. I think I was a paralegal for many years of preschool teacher for many years. And, uh, finally a massage therapist. I became a massage therapist at one point in my life. And, uh, just the process of being able to help and give in all of these different areas. I mean, really just has made me who I am today. So I would hope that they are very proud. I know that they are, and yeah, hopefully they'll tune in and listen and be proud of this.
Speaker 2:Well, I give them the information to chew an end for next week. I gather that you also have some score mentoring, is that right?
Speaker 3:Yeah. I've been lucky to had a relationship with a score mentor. Who's reached out to me and we've been able to find a podcasting studio here in salt Lake city. And, you know, probably after the pandemic more than, than anything else, I'll be reaching out to them. And I would love to become a podcast or myself. I, I had no idea this was as wonderful as it was and now I I've been learning. And it's just definitely, that is natural for me. I just didn't know. You could have so much fun doing this.
Speaker 2:It is a lot of fun. Uh, we'll make sure that your score mentor listens to this show as well. I'll send her the link. Absolutely. And she can then distribute it amongst her chapter as well.
Speaker 1:Yes. What is the best advice you've gotten from your mentor so far? I know it's a new relationship, but you know,
Speaker 3:We didn't really have a very long conversation. So I would suppose it would just be in the resources given, because I am definitely one to, um, ask for help where I need it, because I think that asking for help and finding resources when you need them, that's how you move forward. And that's how you gain more knowledge and experience. I really don't have anything else. Other than that, she's just the, the resources are amazing. And what an amazing program to provide to people. It's, it's exactly along my same gut, you know, lines and values is, is offering people the resources that they need to succeed to get the support that they need a hundred percent. I think it's a wonderful thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah. We like to see us. We like to see it as, uh, if you have a score, a mentor or a group of school mentors, then you, you really have a board of directors that cost you nothing. Yes. We think we think is a good thing. Yeah.
Speaker 1:We think it's a good thing. We like this organization. So we've been here for so long. It's uh, it's great. Because one of the things mentors can do is they can distill all the information that you find online. Right? Cause you said you listened to lots of videos. You watch videos about publishing and about writing and about marketing and all of these things. And then you get overwhelmed and confused. And then when you go to a mentor or a score mentor, you can say, look, I found all of this stuff. What am I supposed to pay attention to? And with their expertise, they can help you distill that down or make connections for you and say, you know what? I've got something better for you. I've got this person, who's a friend of mine and, or they've done this for a long time or, you know, stuff like that. And often too, we have a lot of expertise that those has nothing to do with your business. Like I'm not an author, right? But the things that we can, that the mentors bring to the table, their expertise, even someone in manufacturing can help you because you need a system, you need a process. You need to think, you know, and you need to plan. And so that's where the mentoring comes in. In ways that on the surface, you were like, you can't help me. You're from manufacturing,
Speaker 3:Dial in on what you need. Don't they, they just dial in on it and do fine what you need for and take the steps. The first step, which really, like we said, that's the most important one that maybe you don't know what the first step is. Find your score, mentor, get a, get a first step connect with them.
Speaker 2:Well, very soon we're going to, we do something called 10 tips in 10 minutes, and we have a series of them. We're actually going to be generating a 10 tips in 10 minutes on podcasting. Uh, this might be something you'd be very interested in. And, uh, in particular, you'd be quite interested in the author of this Jimmy Apple.
Speaker 3:Yes, definitely. What a great guy.
Speaker 2:Oh, it is. It is. Uh, and he's agreed to actually help us with this and he's going to provide the 10 tips and uh, we hope that this is going to be ready in maybe four to six weeks. Something like that.
Speaker 3:Definitely be listening to that because I, he has such valuable information and he tells it like, it is, there's no cake to eat through. It is just what it is. Raw like information. I think that's what I really loved about our conversations. It was no fluff. It was just straight.
Speaker 1:Yeah. He cuts right to the chase. You guys, he gives you value, which is what we hope we bring to our listeners and our mentees and the people that cross our paths. So we hope we're adding value to you guys. You know, we'll see what happens, but the feedback's been good. People have told us that, that we did. And I'm glad that you're having a good experience with your score mentor. And I wish you lots of success with that. And you know, definitely use score to the best of your ability. They've got a ton of resources. And the one thing that I like about score is that mentor that you're working with, you don't just have her, you have 10,000 other people across America. And so if there's ever something that she doesn't have the expertise and she has access to not just to other people in her chapter that she could hook you up with, but she has access to everybody in America. So you don't get one, you get 10,000 mentors that are supporting you in your business.
Speaker 3:And what if I want to become a mentor? What do I do that?
Speaker 1:And, well, that is a fantastic question. And we're so glad you asked that, uh, score's always looking for mentors. And so will you just go to the website that actual any website, your chapters website, out where you are in your tie, you could go to score.org. It doesn't matter. They all go to the same place and you click on become a mentor and you fill out the information and then that application will get sent to the chapter closest to wherever your zip code is. That's all they do. And then somebody from that particular chapter will reach out to you, explain to you what score is, what the commitment is of that chapter, what they expect of you. And then you decide if it's a good fit, if it's a good fit, they set you up with the training and away you go.
Speaker 3:I love that. I love that. Well, I'm definitely going to be reaching out. And, you know, one thing I hadn't even thought of why didn't I reach out to her about marketing, about the books, you know, and marketing them to some more places in, in salt Lake city maybe, and that I can go to physically. And so, yeah, definitely some ideas ringing in my, in my head here,
Speaker 1:I start networking with local bookstores. They might be a little bit easier to get into then, you know, like your typical Barnes and noble or whatever, you've got out there, whatever the chain is out there, but definitely, you know, local bookstores because their local businesses are hurting us. One way we could support them because our book is there. You're going to be out promoting that store, you know, go to the store and buy my book. Uh, but it's all about relationships. And so you can never start marketing your stuff too soon.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Isn't that the truth,
Speaker 2:Sarah, I have a question for you. And it's just my own curiosity is do you believe any market for being able to do something as simple as a YouTube video of you sat reading the story to children and showing them pictures of your illustrations?
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah. We have, uh, my husband and I have talked about that. And in fact, I got some great tips from Jimmy about some good equipment to pick up. And so I think that might be something that we might start doing sooner than later.
Speaker 2:I think we're all going to have to stop the billing, uh, invoice in Jimmy, uh, for all the great publicity we're giving you.
Speaker 1:Yeah. He didn't tell you the checks in the mail said I'm going to get right on that. Well, we do appreciate all the stuff that he does and the good information and, you know, because he does, like you said, Sarah, he tells it like it is, you know, if, if something's not good, he's not going to waste your time with it. So that's kinda what we like that one last question for you, because I'm just curious. And again, this has, I don't know what it has to do with much of anything, but I'm always curious when people pick animals like Anna, the kitten or Doug, the disks left dyslexic doc, I can't even pronounce it. But when you're picking these animals, what makes you choose the animals that you do? Just because duck Ryan's with Doug or
Speaker 3:That's a good question. I guess I try to maybe think about obviously dyslexia and ducks have nothing to do with one another, except for the D. But I tried to, as far as the kitten and the bear book, I try to pick out characters that could better fit the story. You know, cats with differences. Is there any two same cats out there? You know, that, that is just a known fact. So it's easy for kids to see. Yeah, of course cats are different all over the place. I have three different colored cats in my house right now, the bear book. I really, I wanted to show because at the very beginning of the story, you know, he's very grouchy and grumpy and kind of, you know, or kind of just acted a little like a bear. And so for me, that really helped me express the story in the way that he acted or reacted to things and the way that people perceive that
Speaker 1:That's a great explanation. I was just curious because you see this in a lot of children's where the characters are animals, and I've always wondered what made them pick that particular animal. Thank you for that. That's interesting. I'd like to get into that psychology behind stuff. So it's like with the music, you, when you talk to artists, they'll tell you what came first. Sometimes it's the melody. Sometimes it's a title. Sometimes it's a lyric, you know, and then there's a whole psychology story behind how it evolved. And so I liked that aspect of the creativity. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That was one of the things about being a score mentor because we see so many different businesses that actually, I think over a period, we learned significantly more because every time we see a business, you're, you're seeing something where there's a wonderful idea or the person's coming from a specific angle. Uh, everybody starts at one place to try to get to some other place and needs help along the way. And there are no two situations just like the cats that are the same, uh, no two solutions that are exactly the same either absolutely fascinating process.
Speaker 1:Well, I want to thank you Sarah, for coming on the show. Um, we're coming up on the end of it, but it's been a great conversation and I really thank you for what you're doing to help bring some awareness and empathy and teaching the kids how they're okay. They're perfect. Just the way they are. And if they don't have any of these disabilities or special needs, how to support their friends, you know, and how to just be a good person. It's, it's always good. And I love the story about the kids in your second graders class. They were fighting over your books. I think that's fantastic.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Good. A trial run on that, huh? Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. I mean, what a pleasure and such an honor to be able to connect with you guys and yeah, I'll be definitely taking advantage of the score mentorship. And like I said, seeing if maybe that would be something I'd be interested in my busy schedule, so,
Speaker 1:Oh, sure. Now how can people connect with you to learn more about you or your book?
Speaker 3:Um, you can find me at www S J child's bookstore.com as well as on Facebook, facebook.com/all, then number four, kids books, and you can go straight to the link to Amazon or Walmart to buy the books on both of those pages, as well as listened to the podcasts that are of that are on there as well. So please feel free to stop in and visit
Speaker 1:And email if somebody wanted to get in touch with you directly and ask you a question.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you can also do SJ child's books for children@gmail.com.
Speaker 1:Okay. That's great. And, uh, we'll try to get some of those links out on our social media site, just so that people go to the score mentors, greater Rochester page and just click on a link. Cause we like to make it easy for our listeners. So, or anybody out there surfing that's that number one rule, make it easy. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Send over all the correct information that would be appreciated and we'll make sure we can
Speaker 1:Do our best to help you get the word out and spread the awareness for what you're doing with these kids' books. So I appreciate it. Thanks. I think that brings us to another end of another great show and I just want to thank our guests. Uh, Sarah Bradford S J Childs is her pen name. You can find her on Amazon. You can find her on Facebook at all for the number four, all four kids books, or visit our website at www dot S J child's books.com. And if you're thinking of starting or running or growing your small business, you can feel free to get a free mentor score offers the free mentoring you can visit greater rochester.score.org. Click find a mentor and put in your information, and you'll be connected with a mentor who can help you start, run and grow your business till next week. Everybody. Thank you very much for listening to rethinking business success sauce in two pickles.