Write with Purpose, Build a Legacy: Charlie Marcol on Storytelling, Publishing, and Impactful Work

In this episode of Penned By Design, we explore what it truly means to write with purpose and create work that extends beyond the page.

Educator and author Charlie Marcol shares how writing began as a personal outlet and evolved into a vehicle for impact, identity, and legacy. We unpack the difference between being a writer and simply wanting to be an author—and why that distinction matters when building meaningful, lasting work. 

This conversation also dives into storytelling as a form of leadership, the responsibility that comes with shaping young minds, and how creative work can influence confidence, culture, and community. Charlie reflects on how her experiences in education informed the stories she tells and the brand she’s building—one rooted in representation, purpose, and generational impact. 

If you’re writing a book, building a brand, or creating something that you want to last, this episode will help you think more intentionally about your voice, your message, and the legacy you’re leaving behind.

Connect with Charlie:

Website: itsthecoolcollective.com

Instagram: thecoolestbooksever

Facebook: Charlie Marcol

Join the Penned Newsletter on Substack for more creative entrepreneur, publishing and writing advice and insights.

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Transcript

Destiny Jordan: 0:00

Welcome to Penned by Design, the podcast for writers, authors, and creative CEOs who want their words to do more. I'm your humble host, Destiny Jordan, and on this show, we explore writing, publishing, storytelling, and creative entrepreneurship for those writing books, building brands, and creating impactful bodies of work. If you're ready to create with purpose and grow with intention, you're in the right place. Penned your own story designed by you. Let's get started. Hello everyone. Welcome to Penned By Design. Today I have a fabulous guest . Today's guest is the one and only Charlie Marcol, an educator, children's author, dynamic speaker and founder of both the Cool Collective and the Cool Impact Leadership Academy. With more than 17 years in literacy education and a master's in education from Texas Southern University, Charlie has dedicated her life to helPennedg young people see themselves clearly. Anne Walk confidently because of it. She's the author of Growing collection of cool children's books, including Cool Cowboys, ride on Stories, intentionally crafted to celebrate culture, confidence and identity. But what makes Charlie's work truly powerful is that it doesn't just stop at storytelling. Storytelling. Through the Cool Impact Leadership Academy, she's mentoring and equipPennedg girls ages eight to 15, especially from underrepresented communities with leadership skills, cultural pride, and the kind of self-belief that lasts long after Applause fades. Charlie doesn't just write books, she creates experiences, she builds platforms, she curates spaces where young readers feel seen, celebrated, and just themselves. And today we're talking about literacy as leadership, storytelling as empowerment, and what it really looks like to turn your calling into a, so let's get into it. Hi Charlie. How are you?

Charlie Marcol: 2:00

Morning. Good morning.

Destiny Jordan: 2:04

So those who don't know, that's our first question. Who is Charlie Marcol?

Charlie Marcol: 2:11

Well, that's, I looked at that question and I asked myself, who am I? You know, 'cause I can be anything that I want to be. That's what I said to myself as a little girl. I used to say my name would be in lights. My name, that's Charlie Marcol is a derivative of my legal first name. And my mom must have been smoking on that stuff in the seventies because my first name and my middle name, which is actually Marcol Cole, are made up. And so I just knew if my mom was that far in advance to be creative with my name. That I had to be a creative myself. So Charlie Marco is a creative, she's an influencer. I was the little girl in class that could influence the other little girls on how to dress, on how to behave. So before the word influencer was even a thing, I was already doing that because leadership is by influence. Okay? In order to get anybody to do anything, you must have influence. I'm a believer, I am God's daughter. His hand is on my life. But moreover, I'm a educator and a mother. So my motherhood story resonates throughout my brand. I think about what kind of educator that I wanted my son to have while he was in school. I have a grown kid. He's in college now, living in a whole nother state. But I think about that. As I am crafting and curating conversations and spaces, my motherhood hat is never, ever far, even though my baby is grown. I'm a sister, I'm a mentor, and most of all, I think that I am trying to make a difference in world. That's who Charlie Marcol is. Yes. Believe it or not, the first time I was published was in the fourth grade. Here's a true story. Yes, this is true. So in the eighties, you didn't need parents' permission to put your kids or students in competitions. It was a statewide writing competition. And my teacher in the fourth grade put my writing that we did in class. See, we passed tests back in the day. 'cause teachers didn't teach to the test. They just taught, you know, and so. She submits my essay, the most influential woman in my life, and I end up getting recognized. I still have the certificate from Governor Clements. Yes, that would happen in the fourth grade in 1988. Well, what I learned is that writing was cathartic and everything that I felt on the inside came out. It was like word vomit. It didn't judge me. I struggled about the fourth grade. I started getting chubby. So I struggled with how I look. My mom, I was still natural perms and freezes and finger waves and sacks was starting to come out. My mom wouldn't let me get it. So here I was still looking like a fourth grader and didn't wanna look like a fourth grader. But we know how hair and image and all of those things can affect the child. And so I wrote about it. And funny, my mom still has some of those letters where I was talking about how I was struggling with my weight and how I wouldn't eat my lunch. And I'm like, mom, you shoulda got, so, but it didn't, it didn't judge me and I felt free. And so even now I write on receipts or I get ideas my phone, Lord, if I lose my phone, my phone have so many kept stories that I wanna use in other places or ideas. So. Yes, writing has saved my life and it has always been a part of my life. Another funny story, when I, my mom talks about this too. When I was in pre-K and I was learning, my teacher said, every letter makes a sound. So I would come home and play school and put letters together. And I ask my mom, what does this spell? And she'll say Nothing. And then I'll change out the alphabets and I'll say, well, what does this spell? And she'll say Nothing. And I say, if you said this last word was nothing, and this word is nothing. And I've used different sets of alphabets, but all I knew was that my teacher was putting alphabets and phone names and blends together, not realizing that it was a art. So I've always been a wordsmith. This has always been in me. It smells nothing. And I'm like, wait, you said this last word spelled nothing. And we still laugh about that. And what is funny, my mom says, I did not see the gift. Mm. Praise the Lord. Mm. Sometimes our parents can hold us back. But my mother just recently admitted she didn't realize that that was my gift, the gift of words I, I've always loved to read and I've always loved to write.

Destiny Jordan: 7:56

Mm-hmm.

Charlie Marcol: 7:59

Girl. So after college, our parents tell us to go to college and get a degree and get a good job. Good job. We need to define that in the African American culture. Get a good job. So I started off as an academic advisor at the University of Houston. Go Cougs, that's my alma mater. Started working there two months after I graduated. So I, here I was a recent college graduate with a serious job, but I loved helPennedg people. I love helPennedg people get to the finish line. I was an academic advisor and kind of changed the face of what that looked like. Any college student knows going to your academic advisor can feel dreadful. And I wanted mine to feel fun and goal-driven. Well, here I was helPennedg other people meet their goals, but I wasn't meeting mine porn. Got into others not realizing I'm sitting on mine. So I decided to go back and get mine. Master's in counseling and I loved working with others, so that was a part of the The plan, well, I got it In school counseling, the state of Texas says that you have to teach for two years to work and get your license in school. Counseling. One turning into two. Two turning into five. Five. Turning into 10. 10 turned into 17 and I never ever set for the counseling certification exam and it was part of fear, but also I end up falling in love. I felt like I could do more inside of the classroom. When I looked at the school counselor, she was always on lunch duty. Running after kids, but never have the opportunity to sit down, have small talk circles, do SEL lessons, help students figure out where they wanna go. And I felt like my impact was greater inside of the classroom. What University of Houston brought to my life was the ability to connect with others, have empathy, not just, okay, what's your next class? Getting to know people, build rapport, that level of trust. And that is what's missing in a lot of classrooms. You know, we're just walk in and like, this is the lesson plan, let's teach it. Well, people wanna know that you care. And so that part of my journey taught me how to be empathetic, how to see people, people wanna know that you see them. I see you, you know. The same old, same old, right? Like I even say that my brand today Cool was given to me by my students. My students will say, my teacher is so cool. Right? During the pandemic, I was the only teacher that would have like almost a hundred percent attendance. When we could start going back into the building, I'm like, Lord, I can I get me a break today? But what it was, I saw children, you know, because it was teachers that saw me, I would never forget Ms. Foreman, Ms. Wilson, uh, Cassie Waterhouse, Ms. Nevilles, I still remember all of their names. Why? Because they saw me and the value that I added to their ecosystem in their classroom. You. You, that's what teachers fail to realize, right? You are with these children longer than they're with their parents. So school starts at about seven 30. That means the mom has to get them up about 6, 6 15, get 'em dressed, drop 'em off by seven 15 ish so they can get breakfast in the classroom or in the cafeteria. So from seven 15, they are inside of a school building and then they get out about three 30. That's a work day. Well, you are still at work 'cause you don't get off until five. Then you have, you live in Houston, or you live in Dallas. Then you have the commute. And the commute is over a hour. Help us Holy Ghost. You know? Then when you get home, you have to decompress from your day. Decompressing is so real, you have to decompress. If not, then you bring all of your day into your household. Well, as you're decompressing, you just wanting to sit in, in silence where you're not communicating with your kids. They're doing homework, you know? And so by the time you are ready, it's like six 30. Well, it's time for dinner. After dinner, it's time for bath. Then you're looking over homework and you try to get 'em in bed by eight 30 to do it all over again. So your tea, your, your, the teacher in your child's life communicates with them just a little bit more than you do during that week. That's why that's so imperative that connecting that rapport. So it became a ministry when, Ooh, I won teacher of the year the first time, like in 2015. So I thought, you know, like you kinda like, you kind of do some things in our life for ac accolades, right? And like, I want my name on the marquee, you know, I want my name, I want the parking spot, but it goes deeper than the marquee in the, in the parking spot. Um, I try not to cry. I had, I had two students. I, they were brother and sister. I taught them back to back. They, their mom fell on hard times and they were, uh, unhoused and I started like collecting items for them. We don't know what it's like to lose everything. I've had students to live in a shelter. I've had students to live in apartments because it's three months free utilities and one of my favorite students, he was a Hispanic child, white child, sweetened disposition when those three months were up and his mom came in there in the registrar, came with that paper to, you know, unenroll him. I cried. I had to take a moment and I had to tell the other students, it's not that I listen, it's not that I don't care about you, but this child's plight is different. And I knew that it wasn't just about me on the board teaching them how to infer, teaching them how to spell, teaching them central idea. I knew that my heart was in it. What I realized then is that teaching is spiritual work. Transference happens, right? So not only am I pouring into children far as motivation, self-efficacy, I'm also pouring my love for the subject that changed my life onto them. And so I have to love it, and I have love them. See, children are more than just a PS number. State funding children are more than data. It's a soul that has a feeling. Some kids come to school houses because their teacher is nice or because their teacher is school. You are probably the only professional person that that student will ever see in their life, you know? So that's why I dressed up to the nines to make sure that I was always together. I represent something. My classroom was colorful. Some children come to school to eat. Some kids come for condition, clean water. Again, our life is different than what those children sitting in those desks in that room represent. So that's when it became a calling and I tried to run from it, but even true story. Friday I was at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo because the last book, cool Cowboys Ride on was displayed for Black Heritage Day. 'cause that's what that story is truly about. One of my students ran up to me so hard, she was there with her mother and knocked my cowboy hat off and I said, girl, but now she's in high school. I taught her when she was in the fourth grade and for her to run up and then her mother ran up. See, parents wanna know that their children are safe each and every day. You provide that space of learning, of safety, of nurturing, and a parent gets on board too. Mm-hmm. And so, yeah, that just, and I said, well, God, I thank you because that lets me know that I was impactful in her life. Another funny story, one of my students, I'm a member of an organization, Delta, and one of my students from third grade, she just crossed, but she reached out to me for me to write her letter. And then on Saturday when she crossed over, her mother said, thank you for sticking with her. From the bottom of my heart, from the top to the bottom, the east to the west. I thank you for sticking with her. There are some children that make you better. We're there to make them better, but there are some kids that come into your life to make you better as a human. Again, transference

Destiny Jordan: 19:31

because that is amazing. And it also shows this, the weight, the true weight of. Teaching that you can't just throw anyone in there. That that person really has to be all in to help the children when it comes to this type of role that we have.

Charlie Marcol: 19:51

It's a hard job and I've heard several leaders say that it's a hard job, like, but it really is. It resonates from the heart. You have to love it. You have to love the subject that you're teaching too, right? Like, so when at the end of the year when the principal says, I wanna move you to kindergarten, and you know you love the babies, right? But if you know you don't like snot tying tennis shoes and germs say, with all due respect, thank you, but my ministry is working with kids. Between this age and this age because of my life or lived experiences, right? Starting the third, fourth, fifth, sixth grade, that's when I started that transition where I needed a little bit more love. So therefore that was the grades. That was even what I even got my certification in that age group, because that was the age that my troubles started to happen.

Destiny Jordan: 21:02

So you've been, you had 17 years as as a literary specialist. So did that shape the kinds of stories you felt were missing that on the bookshelf that weren't there?

Charlie Marcol: 21:12

I'm finna make you laugh, girl. I went as a literacy specialist and went back in that classroom. Sometimes as educators, we think out of the classroom is where it's at. And baby, I miss them kids. I did, again, adults as a literacy specialist. I was a appraiser. So adults are set in their ways and girl, I started getting grievances. It's like, oh, lemme tell you something. Lemme get on back inside of this classroom where I can really do the work and really get scores up. So I was a literacy specialist. Went back into the classroom and when, see, when I became a literacy specialist and started seeing the curriculum and how it was translated and brought down to teachers, then I was shown enough winning in that classroom state star scores was out of the roof. Baby. Yes. Because now I had, I knew what the backwards planning was. I knew what that looked like. Yeah. So I went back into the classroom.

Destiny Jordan: 22:26

Wow. That's how that happened. And so from the, was it from the classroom that you started getting your ideas of stories that need to be taught

Charlie Marcol: 22:33

Uhhuh? It was when I went back into that classroom and changed schools. So I went to a Title one school in Third Ward, and the baby that inspired me was another baby with a, a story that was so moving. Because here's the thing, most girls liked me, right? Because I'm, I'm gonna keep my hair done. My hair used to be shaved and I had the, you know, the curls and I'm always come with it. But it was this one particular girl, she always had a chip on her story. So I asked the counselor one day, what is her issue? Like, I couldn't get to her. She would look at me like, girl, bye. Like, and one day she said, bye Felicia. But girl, yes, baby. Fourth grade, honey. And I said, what? What is this girl's problem? You know? And they said, read her file. So any educator that's listening to this read that student's file. I read that student's file. I saw a lot of parallels to my life. And it broke my heart. It broke my heart. Well, as time will have it time, you know, nobody can be time. She comes in one day with a hoodie on her head and instead of me giving the energy that she has given me that she gave me rather, I said, what's up on the hoodie? She said, my hair ain't comb. Well, hair is our currency as black women. Hence why I keep braids. I put that button on. Take that butter off. Shake. Shake, let's go. Right? But these are fourth graders, the money, you know, to get their braids done. So I often kept brush comb, uh, headbands bowls in my closet. So I'm out there combing her hair and I said, that's it. Because her confidence was low. All of that attitude that she had given me those weeks when her braids were in, when her hair was done, she didn't feel beautiful. And I said, that's it. So the character in my cool crown actually has her last name. The face is my goddaughter. Who is also a natural hair beauty. But I wanted little girls to see themselves, to see that our hair can change depending on the weather. One day I could have braids the next, I'm gonna take them out, it's gonna take me all night, but I'm gonna have a slick back by Sunday. I'm gonna have it, you know, pressed out. That is the beauty of our hair. No one is like us. And so I started pumPennedg that into her. And she was a ward of the state. That's how bad her case was. But her caregiver saw that, I saw that, and I poured that in there and I poured that in her. And at the end of the year, that became one of my favorite students. Yes.

Destiny Jordan: 26:21

I love it. Oh my gosh.

Charlie Marcol: 26:24

So I ha the last name of the character and my cool crown is a shout out to her. Wait, are you gonna cut this? Are you gonna cut this slice and, and cut it? Let me go get the books so you can, so you can see this is really the face of my goddaughter when she was in fourth grade. So again, this is how I honored her. Right. And I took the energy and the SAS of that student and made her like her. So the SAS that she has is really. The SAS of my former student. And then this one, my son was like, yo, mom, what's up? You writing these books for girls? So this is the second one, but this is the face of my son. Yeah. So this is how I honored him.

Destiny Jordan: 27:38

Frowned to be cool,

Charlie Marcol: 27:39

crown to be cool. 'cause our sons are crowned princes. That's gonna be kings.

Destiny Jordan: 27:47

So I really wanna understand when you say curating cool, what does that mean? But beyond like your branding you have besides the cool collective.

Charlie Marcol: 27:55

So COOL stands for creating our own legacy. So that actually has a meaning. Mm-hmm. Because the word cool could be subjective for a students, you ask them, how's their day? Oh, it's cool. Oh, how was the party? It was so cool, you know? And so what I wanted to make sure was that when you saw my brand, you already knew that it was creating our own legacy. So these are legacy books. Yes, they're cool. But I am writing legacy work. The one that's coming out my cool business is T. Yes. So it's even helPennedg with financial literacy and legacy building. Like what does that look like? We do not talk about money in our community at all.

Destiny Jordan: 28:54

That's true

Charlie Marcol: 28:55

at all. And so what I did was take a concept that I got in the classroom Lemonade Day, but I took it home. Instead, I brought it out the classroom and I put it in a home setting with a mom helPennedg. Her daughter Kai. Talk about money, profit, putting it in a bank, depositing. We don't spend it when we get it in our hands, see? And so I want to make sure that every cool project is connected to legacy work.

Destiny Jordan: 29:32

Did you break down legacy work? Because I feel like there's always a difference from like you're just doing work to do work. Like you write a book, you making money, you move on to the next project. But what you're saying legacy work is a little bit different. How do you explain that?

Charlie Marcol: 29:45

So I look at legacy work as something that will affect generations for years to come. Come. When I think about legacy, I think about it as a story that has been passed down, right? Money should be passed down, wealth should be passed down. Your family's history should be passed down. Oftentimes we don't know. So inside of the books, you'll even find that I put like, why our hair is important to us. I'm gonna go to that page. So when I say this is Africa, but it's in the shape of hair. So to look like a Afro, get it.

Destiny Jordan: 30:37

I love it.

Charlie Marcol: 30:38

And then I put like, we are from the richest continent ever. So that's why it's jewels. See hair back in on our, you know, original continent days. It represented tribe, it represented status, it represented who you were, right? It little girls have short afros. It's because she's not at the place where she could take care of her hair. So hair again even has meaning there. So I put that in the book so little girls and boys can know like, Hey, you are a descendant of royalty greatnesses in your bloodline kings, queens, princes, warriors. At one time before the transatlantic crossing, our life was sublime. So don't get confused. You are great by design. That's in the book.

Destiny Jordan: 31:39

That is amazing. I Ooh, I just love that.

Charlie Marcol: 31:43

Yeah. I think that our children don't know. The government is doing a great job of removing our stories, but that is to keep us paralyzed. It's to keep us paralyzed. So if you don't know that you are from greatness. You are a descendant of royalty. It's in your DNA baby. Imagine learning that when you are five, you are that girl because you are a descendant of that girl, and your mom is a descendant of that girl, and your great mom is a descendant. We survived things that other people can't. So that's what legacy work means to me. You are a survivor of things that were meant to break you. Yes, it can bend you, but it doesn't have to break you. And that's why I created these stories.

Destiny Jordan: 32:44

Oh, we had church over here. I was like, go ahead, go ahead.

Charlie Marcol: 32:49

Because Friday at the rodeo, the Buffalo Soldiers, they were there and they came and they picked up the book and they said, this is great. Can you tell our story next? And I was like, absolutely. Because yes, we'll say a black man don't deserve a space in the army, but we have some black men that have made a difference. Their regime saved the day. Well, how amazing would that be if our students knew that? I'm just saying, so that's what legacy work means.

Destiny Jordan: 33:33

Love that. And that's one of the things I like to do as well. Just like tell stories, like you don't know about the, what's called the Black Wall Street that used to shock my, actually, it shocks my students every year when I tell them I get a new group, they're like, that's a thing. It's like it was a thing.

Charlie Marcol: 33:48

It was a whole thing. Hotels, banks, businesses, mortuaries we're talking about, and we're not talking about little businesses. We're talking about money making businesses, and that same attitude is what's crippling black America today. We are, that's why many of us are unemployed or losing our quote unquote good jobs because it is to paralyze us, us. But hey, don't get paralysis by analysis. Go and grab your parachute my people and fly and fly.

Destiny Jordan: 34:39

That's the limit. And when do you make, um, publishing books? I guess everyone's questions now is gonna be, how are you doing this? Where's your publisher? Could you explain the process about how you are going from idea to a printed book?

Charlie Marcol: 34:56

So a lot of people ask me like, I wanna write a book. So I I, I always stop people and I say, do you wanna be a writer or do you wanna be an artist? Because see, I have books, uh Oh, upside Down, right? Like it's books. Even before I came to Children's Book Arthur, I was a young adult, fictional author. Yeah. So I think with my cool business, I'm on book nine.

Destiny Jordan: 35:29

Congratulations

Charlie Marcol: 35:29

again. If I lose this phone, Jesus, today, because I'm always writing. Most people are not writers. They just wanna be authors. There is a difference.

Destiny Jordan: 35:51

Gimme some more information on that one. That is a good one.

Charlie Marcol: 35:53

That's a, it's a big difference, right? Some people just wanna see their name on a book and have a product, and that's cool, right? You might wanna use it to sell after you do a conference, right? You might hire a ghost writer. A writer is someone that will write, regardless of if they were in a like, and Frank, she was in captivity, but she was still writing because it freed her mind. So I asked, do you just wanna be an author or are you a writer because they're, are you a creative? What makes your story so unique that somebody will stop and say, I wanna read this. Alice Walker, she was a writer that turned into a Arthur. Charlie Marcol is a writer that turned into a Arthur. See the difference? Because some people just doing it for clout, we're doing it to free our minds. So after you come to that realization, like, okay, I'll write in season and out of season, I'll write, if nobody ever picked up one of my books, I'll write, oh, yes, because it's for me. So then what I do after I realize, okay, sometimes ideas come to me while I'm walking down the street, or some people like Friday flat out give it to me and I'm like, woo. Well then I have to say what genre I wanna write because a lot of people say, I wanna write a book. Well, again, what's genre? I don't know. You dunno. You just wanna tell a book about my life, baby. We all got a life. What makes your life so well that somebody would wanna sit down? Are you a survivor of breast cancer and you had a daughter and the doctor said that you, all of your eggs will not be a viable candidate and somehow you ended up pregnant. That's the story worth telling. Or you, a male teacher when you were in school, they thought that you were sped until the nurse came in and said, let's see if we could do, uh, a hearing and a eye exam. And you find out right before they're getting ready to put you in sped that you really couldn't see and that you actually have, you know, a stigma that stops you from seeing even when you're close and you need coke bottle glasses, right? Like that's a story worth telling people. Like, I don't wanna write a devotion. Okay, what is your, is your devotional gonna lead them somewhere? Especially in 2026. I tell people, what is the solution? Write for the solution, not write what you wanna write. And that's something that I had to learn because I've been in these business development classes, and so that's something that we talk about. Write something that is going to get to a solution, make the world a better place, make the future a little bit brighter. Right. So if you're gonna tell your story, tell your story, that is going to help somebody. Not because you just wanna, I'm gonna write a story, okay? And I've had the opportunity to read some of these people work and I'm like, woo. You know, sentences make complete thoughts, don't you? You know, you gotta have a subject and a predicate. This is just a predicate,

Destiny Jordan: 40:07

right? Not literal teacher coming out.

Charlie Marcol: 40:09

Come on. Forever, behind. Where's your Lincoln verb baby? Did you know is an verb you use is when it's, when it's like, girl, are you gonna do that question Marcol? Well, what am I gonna do Like. You know what I mean? Like let let it flow, let let it flow. Like, and I often go to bookstores myself as a writer and an author, and I look at other people. So when people say, I wanna do this, so I'm a, I'm gonna send you on a hunt because I've had people say, can you help me develop or publish? So I'm gonna send you on a hunt to a bookstore, sit down. I want you to pull books from a genre that you think that you wanna write from. And I want you to look, one thing I always do is always look at other children's books, other ones to see is the lexicon appropriate for the grade that I say that my books are? Is the vocabulary to advance advanced? Will a mom have to read this book? Can a child read this book Stand alone, going to the bookstore to see what the other competition is doing? That's how you add the value proposition to your work. You gotta know what your competition is doing. And then after you've done all of that for me, I have to find an illustrator. Well, my illustrator was in the same building. I'm, I'm talking about children's books now. But you have to hire an editor that's gonna look over your work to make sure that it's grammatically correct, which is money you have to pay. Uh, a editor can cost you anywhere between 300 if it's a short project to a thousand. If it's a long project. I've been quoted 15, up to 15, especially when I was in the young adult novel space. So you wanna make sure that you have the funding to carry the project and the patients, the patients. So once you've done all of that, then you know, you put get it all the product back together. You put it together and then you go your publishing route. I have several different ways that I do my printing. Um, but you wanna pay for your ISBN number. Um, just all of the things to make sure that you are covered. Some people like to skip the ISBN, but you need the ISBN and look at your face. But you, you know, like, like what? But you need the ISBN if you wanna end up in stores such as Barnes and Noble or the doc shop, which is a all black, you know, um, bookstore in the Dallas Fort Worth metropolitan area. So you gotta have the ISBN because that's how they look you up. Your ISBN is like equivalent to your social security in the literacy world that is attached to your book. So, I hope I answered the question. Girl, I love to talk. Can you tell I was a literacy teacher?

Destiny Jordan: 43:29

I said no, sorry, that, sorry. Everyone my eyebrows would know. 'cause I've never heard No, I-S-B-N-I was like, what? Just blowing and dark.

Charlie Marcol: 43:40

Yes. And the ISBN basically is just that barcode. It's just the barcode on the back of every book. And there are people that have books that go the unorthodox way of publishing, like, you know, basically just getting it printed at a print shop and selling it, you know, at conferences and events after they get done speaking. But I like for my book to be sold on various platforms, you know, Amazon, Barnes and Noble. Um, so, and if somebody says, I want to go buy the book, I don't have the money today. Oh. But I do have prime. Boom, you can get it so that ISBN is like your identifier, it's your identification code for that book.

Destiny Jordan: 44:31

That's amazing. Do you also kind of, uh, talk people through getting like their copyright for their book and registering that or they kind of help them figure that out?

Charlie Marcol: 44:40

You gotta figure that out, but once you put it out in the atmosphere, it's yours. It's, I do the ghetto copyright, you know, have you heard of the ghetto copyright? I have not. Yeah. So one, so can't nobody come up with my cool crown 'cause it's on various, uh, platforms. So, and I got the year to back it up. Um, so, but there have I copywritten some things I have right? Um, from the floors to the forest is my very first book. Which was self-help when I was in the young adult space, um, I was, I, I was so in love with that name. That name came to me in the middle of the night and it was from the florist to the forest where I challenge women to think deep before they leap into marriage because I didn't, yes. I used to be married many eons ago.

Destiny Jordan: 45:35

Oh, say like that.

Charlie Marcol: 45:37

And I wasn't married long. And again, that book helped me tap back into my love of writing. I kind of stopped at one point and it helped me tap back into my love of writing. I was so full and I felt like I was a failure. Have you ever felt like a failure? Like I felt like I was, I wasn't even married long. I wasted my bridesmaid's time, money. The debt from the marriage lasted longer than the whole marriage itself. And so I, in my huh, haste. I really wanted to bust the windows out of his car. And so instead of doing that, I went back to my true first love paper and pen and I, and I said, Ooh, ooh, this is this, this would be helpful. And it's seven short chapters. And I led with how I ended up there. I had to s on my chest, not because I was super girl, but I was super single. And as women, we think when we are single in our late twenties and thirties, that God has forgotten about us. And so I, I felt like I needed to push the pain along and, uh, I got tired of going to family events by myself, not waiting for my change to come. That waiting is a hard thing. It, it's wait and waiting. It's heaviness in waiting. But after I got done with young adults, I switched to Children's book because I was always with my target audience. Always, always my target audience was right there. Imagine if I would've started writing children's books then, you know, but they have meaning their legacy work today.

Destiny Jordan: 47:56

Uh, that's amazing. And so you also do a lot of things besides you lead leading your, um, cool movement. You speak, you teach. You have brand partnerships and a lot of community partnerships. How do you protect your writing time?

Charlie Marcol: 48:15

I Marcol it out on my phone. Do not disturb is the best thing that anybody can do. Make time, carve out time in your schedule. If you are a speaker, carve out time to practice. It's my car for me on, uh, especially distance driving. You don't have to talk to people. I know people like to talk to people to pass the time. Use that time to work on your books. Speak it out. Dictate it out. Then here's a beautiful thing about dictation in your notes. Now, if you open up your notes, you're dictating it, you can send it to your email and start working from there. Use your quiet time as your mastermind time. Protect that space. In the morning when you wake up after you've done your devotional in prayer. 00 AM riser when I talked, so from five to five 15, that's like, you know, my devotional time talking to God. But I love the stillness of the morning. The grain is fresh and I'm able to, because I feel like my brain doesn't cut off even in my sleep, and I'll wake up with fresh ideas, write that down and go from there. Another great time is after you settled for the evening. When your brain is processed, let that phone on do not disturb and give yourself a solid hour to work on whatever it is you are working on. So if it's books, if it's a painting. Block out that time. Another thing I do is I create these cool ties and they're so cute. They are so cute. Like I take a man's tie and I like twist, turn and do all of these cool things and then put a broach and I sell 'em. But I carve out time outside of my book time, but I carve out a good hour and I say, okay, we're gonna do three to four times. You have a Marcolet coming up this weekend and so you wanna take about 20 to 30, so you need this many times. So I put my phone on do not disturb, and I get to going see outside of you gotta be able to recognize distractions when they come. Some people give you invitations to exhaust you. Woo. That was good. Some people give you invitations to exhaust you, right? So for instance, you've worked all day. I'm talking about you, destiny. You've worked with people, children all day, heard hollering and crying about pencils, homework, lunch, money, cafeteria fight, and then somebody will call you with their problem. I've dealt with problems all day. Don't take the invitation to be exhausted when you decompress. Work on your dream. Carve out the time.

Destiny Jordan: 51:49

I wanted to hear that again. Carve out the time.

Charlie Marcol: 51:51

Carve it out.

Destiny Jordan: 51:53

Do you have any systems that allow you to be consistent without burning out? Is that your main one?

Charlie Marcol: 52:00

So I'm working on systems graduating from the Sure Program. That is one thing that we realize, or I realize that I need more AI systems like to schedule all my things. You know, my calendar fills up quickly, and so I'm looking for better systems. Part of it is relinquishing control. I don't like to be caught off guard on anything, so that's why I like to have my hands on everything, but that does tire me out, and so I'm working on better systems to make the business flow more efficiently. But as it relates to writing, I'm gonna always be in the mix. But outside of like scheduling, oh, I'm lying. I did pick up a new system. I chose Fiverr to do some graphics 'cause I was even doing my graphics myself. But the problem, the problem is it's like I don't like this. I'm like, who is having to go back? You know? But hey, the heavy lifting, having somebody else to do the heavy lifting. And another system I picked up is that I hired a college student for intern to do social media work. So yeah, videos following me to different events versus me setting up my camera and my tripod. If you have a LLC in the state, you can work with universities to get you, you know, some college students to do some of that work. 'cause they need internship hours. So yeah,

Destiny Jordan: 53:53

I feel that. So it's really like. Far as languishing control and just using resources you have available to you.

Charlie Marcol: 54:00

Oh, that's it. Tap into your resources.

Destiny Jordan: 54:06

So my next question would be that, well, I mean you have to hit that, take that hand as well to get some, some qu some control, get some things situated to make life a lot easier for me.

Charlie Marcol: 54:17

Yes.

Destiny Jordan: 54:20

But one thing is, what does success look like for you as an author?

Charlie Marcol: 54:27

Ooh. So success does not look like perfection. It looks like excellence. Striving for excellence is something that you must do each and every day. I think oftentimes we think when these books are finally finished and we have the product in our hand that we've made it absolutely not. The work is just beginning. So success for me looks like a smile on a kid's face. Success for me looks like kudos from a mom who understands that their child could see themselves on every page. Success can look like, Hey, I got my checklist done today. Hello. You know, um, 'cause we are constantly, each day always striving for excellence, not perfection, because a lot of people that are successful are not happy. Success looks like hapPennedess. Success looks like Joy. Friday was a successful day for me. I literally wrote that book for that platform and to be there. That was success. It wasn't perfection. I looked at other vendors that were there, like, oh, that's something that I needed to do. But I was in that space, in that space, that success. And when I look at those pictures from Friday, the joy is there. The joy is there. So success looks like joy. Amen. Sometimes we have the bar so high, like I, I will be successful when this, or you know, I'll be successful when Harper Collins come. Collins. Well, until Harper Collins calls me, I'm gonna work on my dream myself. Success is me going after everything I said that I wanted to go after. That's success. I'm my own boss. I could raise it and I could Lord it. I'm not looking at somebody else. Yeah. Now I know I made it when Oprah's book Club calls me, but yeah, until then, I'm gonna keep working each day that we're able to put our feet on that ground. That's success. There were some people that laid down last night that didn't get up this morning for whatever reason. So the success to fulfill the day. You get what I'm, what, how I'm going with this? What success is the power of pivoting. It did not work out the way I thought it was, but I'm going to use this opportunity to turn things around. For me, success is my mom and dad are still here on this earth and they may get on my nerves, but I can reach out to them to get advice. Wisdom, success is my son is doing well in college and he's matriculating in what he wants to matriculate in, not what I think he should. Success is having a decent relationship with my child's father. We can co-parent well without attitudes or malice. Everyone listening to this, you are the bar. You said it high or low. You exceed yourself. When you stand in that mirror, you are the success story. Oh, that was good. When you stand in the mirror, when you get up to speak in front of others, people don't wanna hear about nobody else. Success story. They wanna hear about yours. You are the success story, so make the best of it. Amen.

Destiny Jordan: 59:20

I can't do none those with that one, but, amen. That's it. Woo. Even where to begin with that one. But it's truthfully, when you say you are your own success and how you set the bar, I hear with the next event you have coming up Liddy in the city, the Youth Poetry Slam, how did that come about?

Charlie Marcol: 59:45

So. Have you heard of Third Ward Cultural District and Project Row Row houses

Destiny Jordan: 59:53

you?

Charlie Marcol: 59:54

That's something you should explore. That's something you should explore. So Project Row Houses is the original shotgun Houses of Third Ward. Not all of them still exist, but about five of them. And so it's a nonprofit that is trying to bring programming back in the third ward period. Well, third Ward is considered to be a literacy desert, right? Resources are very limited. Yes. We go to Third Ward to go to various events and establishments, but sometimes we don't take precedence on like what's really happening in that community. And so I, the last school that I taught at in Third Ward is in third, uh, is in third ward. Last school that I taught at is in Third Ward, and I applied for the Third Ward cultural district. And I received it because I pitched a youth event. And Liddy in the City is a play on the word literature. Literature and literacy are two different things, but all the kids always say it's lit. It's lit, it's lit. And so I wanted to make reading fun 'cause reading is like the best subject ever. It'll help you escape from the world around you. A good book, you can't put it down, but I wanted to give students an opportunity to tell their story on a stage where they are able to share their original pieces and. Get rewards for it. Kinda like Moesha M to the O to the E. Remember the poetry cafe that they would go to after school?

Destiny Jordan: 1:01:48

Yes. All this,

Charlie Marcol: 1:01:54

that's the idea and the premise that these students have a space and a stage to let their creativity shine through, through their storytelling. There is power in storytelling. There's so much power in storytelling. We don't tell our stories enough. So it's just giving them that opportunity to shine and share who they are. And it's happening this spring.

Destiny Jordan: 1:02:21

That's amazing. So what do you feel happens when a young person realizes their words can move their community or just the audience?

Charlie Marcol: 1:02:33

Ah, change. Change happens. Your words have power. And when you put truth to power, mm, you can turn a world upside down again. And when you change a community, you change homes. See, a lot of us wanna change. Think change happens in a classroom. It can. It can, and it has. But if you want real change to happen, get into these homes. Get into these communities, right? Give resources that can give people out of dead desolate spaces the opportunity to claw themselves out, crawl out, walk out what? Huh? When you affect your community, you affect your home, you affect the structure of the family. Yes ma'am.

Destiny Jordan: 1:03:45

How could communities better support you? Who want to express themselves to writing or just other ordinary people?

Charlie Marcol: 1:03:52

So for I have a com, well, it's called the Cool Inc. Creative Writing Workshop. I do it in the fall for girls ages eight to 15. Um, I like working with youth and not adults 'cause that's just my space, that's my ministry. So I do it through the Cool Inc. Writing workshop, allowing girls, um, or teaching girls how to emote effectively, how to use your feelings and turn that into a powerful piece. Um. And through my institute, summer institute, academy that I have each day is attached to writing exercises. Yeah. I give them journals, pens. I let them decorate their journals because your journal is almost like your Bible as a a kid, but this is your safe space for you to let it all out. And so I think even with the structure of writing, because you know with the state standard test, they actually brought writing back. At one point in time, writing was just like all technical, but now they bought the essay writing portion back. So I kind of aligned that to that, letting parents know they get those skills as well. What an introduction looks like. What does a body of a. Paragraph look like, what makes up a paragraph? How many sentences is in a paragraph? You know? So just even the basic fundamental principles of writing we cover through the Cool Impact summer series and through the Cool Inc writing workshop.

Destiny Jordan: 1:05:54

That's amazing. I do have one other question before we hit our fire around. What responsibility do you do we carry when we choose to put our stories into the world?

Charlie Marcol: 1:06:07

A heavy one. If nobody is going to tell the story, it's up to us to share it. Silence can be powerful, but it can be stifling. And so if we don't take the time. To tell our story. Who's gonna say it for us? We speak up for everybody else, we speak up for the red man, the, the white man, the yellow man who's gonna speak up for our community, our life. That's cliche, but it matters. Matters because our lives are attached to heartache, heartbreak, poverty, wealth building, fighting back advocacy. Our stories are rooted in the American dream. Our story is the American dream. How to start from nothing and make it something how, nothing really. Is a catalyst for development, for invention. It was us on the front line that defeated the battle. It was us that rode in the belly of the ship. It was us that was trying to figure out how to make our hair pretty. Madam CJ Walker, the first self-made millionaire, who is gonna tell a story? So yeah, the charge is heavy and if we don't take the charge, then silence will be the worst thing that could ever happen for our community. Because here's the thing I know about the Nina, the Penneda Nina Penned, Santa Maria, I, I know about all of those. The Mayflower. May files Captain was Mr. Jones. No, I didn't forget it. 'cause that's my legal last name. That's why. Like what? Pharrell, Christopher Thomas, that's his name. But how do I know that? How do I know about Plymouth? How do I know about four scores? How do I know about all of the things that we are taught? But I don't know our story. Our story is just as powerful. Guess what? We came here over on the ship too. You know what I mean? Like our stories have just as much weight. Nat Turner people thought he was crazy because he said he heard something in the people. It was all spirit speaking to who's gonna share addicts, who's gonna share? Alice Walker, Zora Langston, who's gonna share? I went to Paris about eight years ago. Yeah. And I wanted to see the area where he wrote certain pieces when he was living in Paris. I wanted to know what inspired him. He's one of the greatest writers of all times. You see, I wanted to know his story. I went to the cafe that he sat in. It still is operating. I wanted to know. Yes. That's so cool. Josephine Baker, what made her say, I'm gonna give up my citizenship? Once I went to Paris, I realized it was the freedom. It was the freedom that you don't experience nowhere else but everywhere else, if that makes sense. I wanted to know why Socrates wrote what he wrote. So I've gone to Greece, Aristotle, this was the funniest thing. So I go to Greece thinking I'm, 'cause I'm Greek, right? Like Divine nine Girl. And to find out that we say the Greek alphabet wrong, just imagine so. But see, that's why I do what I do. I want my writings to have colorfulness and depth. I want the storytelling to be concise and real. I've gone to Africa. So I know that hair is really about tribal, about status. The shells that we put on that's fertility, like just all of those things. So somebody gotta tell a story, we gotta take the charge. And that's all I'm gonna say

Destiny Jordan: 1:11:45

that. That is amazing. If your younger self to see the movement that you're building today, what do you think she would misunderstand and what do you think she would celebrate?

Charlie Marcol: 1:11:57

My younger self will say about them time, because when I was younger I didn't love myself. That's why I was able to resonate with those students. My younger self didn't think I was pretty. That's why I'm able to resonate with those students. She would say it's about damn time.

Destiny Jordan: 1:12:21

Mm-hmm.

Charlie Marcol: 1:12:24

And she would celebrate the work that we've done for the world. But the work that we I've done internally, I love on her. Sometimes we forget about that little girl that's inside that's dying to be heard and seen. She exists and she will celebrate the woman that I am becoming ING. 'cause it's always work to do. It's happening presently again. It's just like success becoming is all about you become who that little girl will be so proud of.

Destiny Jordan: 1:13:18

Amazing and we hit our fire around. So here we go. First thing comes to mind.

Charlie Marcol: 1:13:24

Okay.

Destiny Jordan: 1:13:25

Alright. For young writers or creative listening, what is one piece of advice you would give them on their creative journey?

Charlie Marcol: 1:13:33

Be you, everybody else is already taken Be you

Destiny Jordan: 1:13:40

love that. What book do you recommend for writers or creatives to read?

Charlie Marcol: 1:13:46

Color Purple. Especially because if you have the movie adaptation, it's so much stuff that was cut out, but it color purple is a great way of showing versus telling. A lot of us tell in stories, Alice Walker is so crafty that she shows us you, you, you can visualize Mr. M-I-S-T-E, you can visualize it. And so Color Purple by Alice Walker because she does an excellent job of teaching you showing versus talent

Destiny Jordan: 1:14:29

and the most important question, where can people connect with you?

Charlie Marcol: 1:14:34

Great. You can find me on all social media platforms as at Charlie Cole for my personal, for the books is the coolest books ever. And then my website is www dot, it's the cool collective.com together and I keep all events and what's happening with the cool world on the webpage.

Destiny Jordan: 1:15:06

Awesome. Thank you so much Charlie, for this fabulous interview. We're gonna have to have you back on discussing even more cool stuff. Future events. Thank you so much for your time.

Charlie Marcol: 1:15:18

Thank you for having me. It was a pleasure.

Destiny Jordan: 1:15:25

If today's episode helped you think bigger about your writing, your brand or the work you're building, be sure to subscribe. Share it with another writer, author, or creative, CEO, and leave a review. And if you're ready to Penned your own story designed by you, join me on the Penned by Design newsletter over on substack for more resources, insight, and encouragement. You'll find all the links in the show notes. Until next time, keep building, keep creating, and most importantly, keep writing writers. The world needs your story. I'll see you in the next show.