Begin, Build, Blossom: Your Business Journey
Welcome to 'Begin, Build, Blossom: Your Business Journey' – the podcast that shares wisdom and support from entrepreneurs. Join me as we explore valuable insights, resources, and motivation to inspire your own venture. Let's build a supportive community together.
What sets this podcast apart? This podcast is not just about stories but about providing support and a sense of community while we all figure out Beginning, Building or Blossoming in the business world.
The episodes are designed to guide us through the different stages of the entrepreneurial journey – Beginning, Building and Blossoming. In each episode, we'll focus on one or all of these crucial phases, ensuring that we all get practical tips and insights that we can apply to our own business.
First up, the "Begin" segment. We'll explore the initial steps of beginning a business. From idea generation to crafting a business plan, we'll cover it all. As the host - I'll be asking questions that resonate with anyone contemplating the entrepreneurial leap, giving all of us the tools to turn our vision into a reality.
Next, we move on to the "Build" section. Scaling a business is a delicate art, and we'll uncover strategies to take our enterprises to new heights. Whether anyone is looking to expand their team, explore new markets, or enhance their product line, our guests will share their experiences and advice to help us scale effectively.
And finally, we'll tackle the "Blossom" phase. Success means different things to different people, and we'll explore various definitions of success in the business world. From achieving financial milestones to making a positive impact on our community, our conversations will inspire you to define and achieve each individual's version of success.
Remember, our journey starts here, but it doesn't end here. Let's do this together!
Begin, Build, Blossom: Your Business Journey
Valarie Brandes & Jacaranda Books: Publishing Diverse Voices Globally
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Guest: Valarie Brandes, CEO & Founder, Jacaranda Books
Host: Angela
Episode Summary :
In this inspiring episode of Begin Build Blossom, we discover how Valarie Brandes, founder of Jacaranda Books, built a global publishing house rooted in diasporic excellence. Valarie shares insights on publishing diverse Black voices worldwide, balancing family and entrepreneurship, and growing Jacaranda from a home office to an international powerhouse. Learn about her journey, the influence of her Dominican heritage, and how Jacaranda published 20 books in 2020 (#Twentyin2020) while creating a lasting legacy in the literary world.
What We Talked About
- Balancing family life while building a business
- The inspiration behind the name Jacaranda
- The power of networking in your field of interest
- Publishing diverse voices globally
- How Jacaranda published 20 books in 2020 (#Twentyin2020)
- Building a core global team for diasporic excellence and legacy
- Why the commercial side of any enterprise matters
A Book That Impacted Valarie the Most
- The Bluest Eye by Nobel Prize‑winning author Toni Morrison
Connect with Jacaranda Books
Catch Jacaranda Books in Trinidad & Tobago at the Boca Film Festival from April 29 – May 4, 2026
Festival Website: https://www.bocaslitfest.com
Social Media:
TikTok: @jacarandabooks
X: @jacarandabooks
Facebook: Jacaranda Books Art Music Ltd
Instagram: JacarandaBooks
It is one about being very true to yourself. And part of being true to yourself in business is knowing your limitations. So, and and just be honest about them. Know what you don't know. You know, know that you don't know it. Um, I think it is a question of really self-belief massively. Um, not delusion, it's there's a difference, but having that self-belief that will carry you very far. Like I had never any doubt that I could do what I could do, but I wasn't overextending myself ever. If you're a designer, say, or if you make jewelry, or if you're an artist, whatever that craft or skill is that you know, right? That's the thing you know that you can do and that you're good at. Understand where it sits. Is there an industry around it? And then what are what does the industry require in order for you to be successful? Because uh, so many businesses fail and they fail very early. And a lot of them, I think, if they just educated themselves more about the industry, they wouldn't fail.
SPEAKER_01Welcome to Begin Build Blossom, your business journey, the podcast where we share valuable insights, resources, and motivation to fuel your entrepreneurial spirit. Let's build a supportive community together. Don't forget to subscribe or follow wherever you listen to podcasts and be part of this journey. Let's pause for a moment to hear from our sponsors. You've built a name for yourself through hard work and dedication. But does managing the business side feel like a distraction from your true passion? Are you dealing with unmanaged finances? CME Accounting LLC is here to help. We specialize in organizing your financial records, allowing you to focus on what you do best. With organized work, you'll have more time for what inspires you. Whether that's expanding your influence, building relationships, or simply enjoying life. Don't let unmanaged finances hold you back. Reach out to CME Accounting LLC today and let us help you thrive. Visit our website www.cmeaccountinglc.com or email us at admin at cmeaccountinglc.com. Alright, let's jump back into our conversation.
SPEAKER_02Welcome to Beginned Build Blossom, your business journey, a space for real conversations around creative and entrepreneurial journeys. This podcast dives into the journey of our guests from the beginning to the process used to build and how they've blossomed. I'm your host for this episode, Angela Sandennis. Every business starts with a moment, an idea, perhaps a frustration, or a vision for something better. On this episode of Begin Bill Blossom, we're joined by a woman who has shaped the landscape of British publishing and expanded the possibilities of who gets to be seen, heard, and celebrated in literature. Our guest is Valerie Brandes, CEO and founder of the award-winning inclusive and independent publishing house, Jacquaranda Book. Jack Aranda publishes a wide range of fiction and nonfiction from authors all over the world, including the first of its kind nonfiction series, A Quick Thing, which documents and celebrates contemporary black British culture. Under her trailblazing leadership, Jacaranda books set themselves apart by championing an industry-leading 20 in 2020 publishing campaign, which, for the first time ever in the UK, committed to publishing 20 black British writers in one year. This program produced multiple award-winning novels, including Lot by Schola von Reinhold and Bad Love by Mame Blue. Also in 2020, Jacaranda Books was named Small Press of the Year at the British Book Awards. In 2025, Jacaranda was honore for Powerless BP Business of the Year. Alongside her publishing company, Valerie also sits on the board of the University of Exeter's publishing studies course. In March 2022, Valerie was selected for Emma Watson and Rene Edo's lodgest City of Women map for Angel Station. And in 2023, she was featured in A Colorful View from the Top: 21 extraordinary stories of leaders of color achieving excellence in business by Jonathan Milllehall. In 2025, Valerie was named among Publishers Association's people in publishing. Valerie, welcome to Begin Bill Dossum.
SPEAKER_00Oh, what a lovely introduction, Angela. Thank you. Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_02You are both welcome. I feel like we don't have to do the interview. We could just crop this around and then we'll. There you go.
SPEAKER_00Wait on.
SPEAKER_02But it's really lovely to have you on the podcast. And I'm looking forward to us delving into publishing. I'm a reader myself. I mean, granted, I do have several books that I have read, and I also have several books that have been read. But that's the story of a reader. There are always books being read. Always. So I'm looking forward to speaking to someone who gets those books published so we can all enjoy it. So to get things started, we'll go through a little section called Rapid Fire. I will ask you a question. You can provide me with one word or a couple of, or you could respond with a statement. So the first one would be: if you had to use a word to describe you as a child and as an adult, what would that word be? Would it be the same or would it be different?
SPEAKER_00That's just a very unique question. I haven't had that one before. As a child, I was described as two things. One being very stubborn, and the other one was being very argumentative.
SPEAKER_01My mom would say, You see, you watch you haul a pint.
SPEAKER_00And I definitely am not those things anymore. I think as I've gotten older, and especially in relation to Jack Aranda, I think that I've become quite ambitious for the business. So I would describe myself as quite an ambitious person. Um, I have a lot of kind of plans and dreams and aspirations for where I want the business to go and grow. So yeah, I think my ambition, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Oh, that's great. So you you saw a Genesis kind of of the.
SPEAKER_00I hope so. That's what we can only hope for, right? So that's right.
SPEAKER_02That's right, that's right. Okay, so our next question is if there was one place in the world that you could visit today, just perhaps get away somewhere to relax, or somewhere you'd like to explore, where would that be?
SPEAKER_00I mean, right at this moment, it would have to be Dominica. So my mum was born in Portsmouth in Dominica, and um, she passed away last year, uh, three months shy of her 100th birthday. And um, yeah, I would right now I'd be more than happy to just be sitting in Portsmouth with my family and just you know reminiscing about her and seeing where she grew up, and that will happen. I will definitely do that. But um, if you were talking about this very moment, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02That would be a place to be.
SPEAKER_00Definitely.
SPEAKER_02So that's really good because it helps you to to live with her memories. Absolutely, just to see how things have grown from that time as well. So may her soul continue to rest in perfection. Thank you so much, and you you keep those wonderful memories, which you can. Yes, yeah. Okay, well, thank you for sharing that insight to your life. Next question: something that you'd like to share that people generally don't know about you.
SPEAKER_00Oh, good lord, Andrea. There is so much. I'm quite I'm quite a quiet person, and I definitely keep a small circle, which I tend to keep to myself. So I think there's quite a lot of things that people don't know about me. But sort of on a very kind of uh, I guess more superficial level, I can juggle. Okay, that's a good one. Yeah, I don't think I can do three three balls at the moment. And I know that especially in this cut current world, and even like growing up, my mum would get coffee brought from Dominica for us and would make it in the cafeteria. But I am an instant coffee drinker, which is uh says everything about my poor palate, I'm sure, and my lack of taste. But I do just like a cup of good instant coffee. At the moment, I love this company called Presto, their instant coffee I love. It's really nice. Oh, I should try that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I do drink coffee, but not a huge fan, but I'll definitely try out Presto's since it tastes good. Yeah, okay, good. Thanks for sharing that. Now, as a publisher, we talk about books. Is there one book that has left a lasting impact with you that you would recommend to the audience? Because you have a different view of books now.
SPEAKER_00Well, yeah, I mean, I've always just loved books, I've always loved reading. That was something that sort of really defined who I was as a young person, even. And um, I was at a very young age reading authors like James Baldwin and, you know, all the big classics. The book that I will read and reread and will buy whenever a new edition comes out and will give to people is Tony Morrison's The Bluest Eye. I think that is just like a perfect book. I always say there is not a spear word in that book. And I think that the way that Tony Morrison is able to just create this world and describe people's lives, not in just simple kind of um descriptive language, but within the environment of how they live in. You get to see the inner world of the people by the fact that they have a broken down couch and nobody knows how to return it, or even that they can. So that way she describes their sort of kind of disconnection from the world around them. And you know, it's a very uh heart-wrenching and heartbreaking book. The idea that this, you know, young, dark-skinned black girl is growing up and all she wants is blue eyes, and towards the end of the book, you know, there's this sort of incendiary moment. I don't want to give it away for your listeners, but it's especially today with all the stuff that's going on, with you know, assaults on women and children and all of these kind of conversations, it's a difficult part of the book to read and come to. And I think one of the things that makes it that way is in the moment there's an act that occurs, the father on the daughter. But in the moment, you actually aren't clear who you feel more sorry for because Tony Morrison has created such an incredible kind of journey of these characters, you know, and you kind of really are so absorbed within them. And it's a very short book. Uh, I think it's less than 200 pages, but it's it's by far my favorite book, and yeah, the book that I give to everyone, honestly. And I will always buy it, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Based on what you said, it's sort of allowing people to see where they can be and not accepting yourself because this young lady seemed to want to have been something else, and if she just accepted herself potentially, it could go in a different direction.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think that it's it's kind of a little bit difficult to get a very optimistic take from the book because it's talking about political issues, class structure, racism, all set in, you know, the sort of American South. It can be a bit unrelenting as well. But it's just the way that it was written, the way she's the words, the way she strings her words together, the way she conveys her thoughts through words, the world building, you know, there's a scene where the mother, Pecola, I think that's her name. It's been a long time since I've read it, but she um, in order to escape her life, she goes to the movies. And I also love the old black and white movies, I love them as well. And she's in there in sort of the juxtaposition of this lady who has nothing, and she's watching this very sort of glamorous, you know, movie with these women, white women in their silk robes, and you know, the way she describes that, you it's just brilliant.
SPEAKER_02You can imagine yourself in that, yeah. Okay, great. Thanks for providing us with that detailed background. So I hope that our listeners are encouraged to read this author, and perhaps she has other writings.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, she does. So Tony Laura Tony Morrison is the Nobel laureate for fiction. She's has a huge um body of work, and uh she was So there's something for everyone. Yes, definitely, definitely.
SPEAKER_02Okay, fantastic. So, one last question before we exit the rapid fire. Has there ever been a book that you thought, hmm, I should have published this one? Have you ever had that experience?
SPEAKER_00Again, it's a great question. I'm gonna say no. Okay, good. And the main reason for that is obviously if you look at the list, you know, I've published some amazing books and some amazing authors. And I've published what I could publish. So if there was a book out there that I didn't get to publish, it wasn't because I wanted it. I would I there's lots of books that I love and that I haven't published that I think, oh, that's a great book, yeah. But I don't think I necessarily need to feel like I've got a hand in it, you know. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Okay, great. All right, Phil, thank you for providing us with that bit of background. We had a little bit about the publishing house, and it also gives us a little bit of insight into how you select the books that you publish as well. So now getting deeper into your story, tell us a little bit about you before you got to Jacaranda books.
SPEAKER_00What did you do? What did you study? So I studied in the late 80s, early 90s at the University of Exeter. And um, I enrolled on a course, uh, it was called American and Commonwealth Arts. And um, I was interested in the Commonwealth side. I was hoping that I could get to study in at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, yeah. So, but um at the time they said they didn't have any links with the University of the West Indies, and so um the where they had the links were on the American side of it. So I got sent to the University of California at Santa Cruz, and um I did my third year there, my junior year there, and it was an amazing year for me in terms of being able to be exposed to just amazing lecturers and critical thought, and there was a lot happening in the world. I remember going to see um, I don't know who if your readers will know, uh a photographer called Robert Mapplethorpe. But he was uh at the time a very controversial white gay photographer who was uh taking these phot pictures of flowers but making them look very sort of homoerotic. And um there was a big sort of like you know controversy around it, and I went to see that exhibition in San Francisco. So I was having just this amazing year away from London, and I also met my husband there the first day of school. I met him. So yeah, I studied it at Santa Cruz, came back to the UK, finished my degree, and then I actually went back to America and became a mom. Um so yeah, we got married and we started to have children. When I had my daughter, then I became a bookseller at Barnes and Noble. So I used to sell books in the children, I was in the children's section, which meant somehow, yeah. Yeah. At one point I was paying them for the privilege of working for them because I was just buying all of the books, you know.
SPEAKER_02All the books, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and then um once my children had reached sort of preteen, I wanted to come back to the UK, but um I'd been gone for over a decade at that point, and I didn't really have any connections in the UK. And you know, time goes on even with family and friends. Oh, no, because my children were born in California, and so Okay, I see what you mean. So my family was here. Um, so I came back and I took a master's in publishing studies at um St George's City University in London, and from there got hired into what my dream publishing house essentially, um, but as the office manager, so definitely not my dream job. But um and from I was able to stay there for one year. That was Profile Books in London, um founded by an amazing man, Andrew Franklin, who is a friend today. And um, but I I knew I wanted to do something more, and also I was already in my late 40s, so I was struggling to even get like internships, honestly. Um, but I also knew that I could I kind of knew I could do the business side of things. My husband's a musician, and we have rehearsal rooms in California, so I knew that we had you know not how to start a business, but I'd done one, you know, I'd had experience of seeing a business started up. So all of those things combined, you know, my age and you know, the fact that I wasn't really getting anywhere, but also that I had been exposed somewhat to somebody else starting a business, that all of these things kind of propelled me to think about doing and also just my love of books and literature and realizing as well that there wasn't a lot of really good diasporic, African diasporic writing. There's a lot of classics, um, but you know, contemporary writing at that time being published in the UK. This is around you know 2009-2010. So I um yeah, I stayed at Profile for one year as the office manager and then I left. And uh in 2012, they opened up my computer in the morning at 2012. Um no emails, I had no websites. All I had was my logo that the art director from Profile had done for me, and which I still have today. Okay. Um, but I didn't have anything else, and I just thought, well, I I I know I love a good book. I think I have some acumen when it comes to picking books and reading well, and so I thought, well, I I have no choice really but to do it. Yeah, I have to do it.
SPEAKER_02So, two questions. One, why not write? You notice there's that shortcoming, for want of a better word, in the books that are available. Why not be a writer instead?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, I've always wanted to, like, I mean, and that was the thing that actually from a very young age had ext uh distinguished me was the my ability to sort of write. And actually, whilst my children were small, I did kind of dabble in San Diego. So the very first uh short story I wrote won the first prize in my college competition, and then I wrote a non-fiction piece called Sea Changes about my mom and myself and how our lives were parallel, even though we were so separated by generations, and um, it got published uh in um a magazine called Ziziba, which is a California literary magazine. So I sort of early on uh could see a path, but by the time I had the children when I was back in the UK, I had to be very pragmatic about this. Yes, yes, priorities change, agendas for the day change, and so and so I just I noticed at City University they I I actually looked at City first for their MFA program because they have an excellent MFA program, but then I noticed they also had this master's in publishing studies. I didn't really know what that was. It's kind of like a soft publishing M MBA kind of thing, because they had a little bit about the business of publishing as well. Um, so I applied for that instead. You know, I just thought, well, I've got to find a way to make an income, and my writing may not take off.
SPEAKER_02Instead, something else will, you know? Well, something else didn't, something did, yeah. So coming back to the story of Jackaranda, you had your logo, you had your computer, no emails or anything set up. How did you determine what the name would be? And what's the backstory of that? And tell us your next steps after opening the computer.
SPEAKER_00So, because I had been living in California um prior to that, and uh there's one part of we lived in San Diego, we well, we still kind of do, but there was a these purple flowering trees, I would see them everywhere, and they're just beautiful. And I remember one day just looking down this road and just seeing two rows of these gorgeous trees just going as far down in the distance as I as could see, and I asked, What are they? And I was told they are Jacaranda trees, and I thought, Yeah, what a beautiful name and what a gorgeous tree. And I just thought it was just like a fleeting moment because at that time I had no inclination whatsoever to become a publisher or to have my own business. But I just thought, oh gosh, if I ever start a business, I'll I'll call it Jacaranda. It was literally like that in and out, like just and then years later, as I started to do a bit more research into the tree, which is a very special tree. One of the things I noticed I found out was that it's actually a tree that's found in sort of temperate zones all over the globe. Oh, really? Okay. Yeah, so it's in the Caribbean. It's not so much they you we have we do have jacarandas in the UK, but it's not so I don't think it's as intentional, if that makes sense, as in California or in India, South Africa, South America. So I thought actually the outlook for my business is very reflective of that. I wanted to look at the diaspora, um, the African diaspora, and think about publishing globally and just what it means to publish black and how that's such an expansion of ideas. And so it felt like a very appropriate name for the company, one that I loved. I love the colour, and then just when you sort of break it down, when you start to break down the meaning of the name of the tree itself, then it just it was a perfect fit, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's impressive. That you know you had that thought. Yeah. Notice this tree and then just determine for your you spoke it into existence.
SPEAKER_00I feel like that. That's such a good put way of putting it, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yes, you spoke it into existence because there's time that passed, but this was built into your subconscious.
SPEAKER_00So when that opportunity presented itself, we have Jack Araanda books, and it really was like that, like it wasn't like uh let me find something that will fit thing. It wasn't that at all. It was just oh yes, and then oh yes, you know, definitely okay, wonderful.
SPEAKER_02So we we heard the the backstory, it's really brilliant to hear that kind of detail. So now we have the business, we have the name. Did you have to go through any kind of registration process?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so we've to register the business at company's house, and then there are a number uh so it's it's an interesting thing. Okay, so Angela, I knew books, I love to read, um, and I can pick a good book, but I did not know like business. So I was really learning as I went along. I was learning business and the publishing business. So I knew the books, and then I was learning the publishing business, and then I had to learn business, and I think I'm learning the business side of things today. So um, one of the things was trying to get distribution. So you sort of register at a company's house, you uh get your logo registered, um, and then what was go what's happening was there were a few events around the city that I would go to, and then I would speak to people and say, I've just started a publishing company, I'm looking to develop the list. Would you be interested in submitting to me? So submitting your work. And um, the very first book I published was literally like that. We went to an event called Black Book Swap, um, which was organized by a woman called Trish Warrell, and I met Jacqueline Shaw, who's now Jacqueline Brown, and she had published her dissertation, um, which was Fashion Africa, and uh her dissertation looked at the manufacturing, production, and sourcing of fashion from the continent. There were 40 designers in there that she'd gathered together, but it was really looking at the procedures and sort of the the social science of it, really. But what I moved it towards was more kind of like a coffee table version of that social science. But that was the very first book I published, and you know, made all the mistakes on it. It was a big four-color illustrated book. Like I've never done it. Oh no, you went all up. Um, but yeah, so that was the first one, and then having to get the next thing you need is obviously distribution um and sales and distribution. Um, so I went to the London Book Fair with my iPad with a little what they call a blad back then, but like a little brochure that kind of took pages out of the book, and so I could talk to distributors about this. Is the book that I have, and there was one in particular that I was trying to get a meeting with, and um, when I went to her and I met with her, so I was publishing um Jacqueline Shaw's book, and I was also publishing Glass by um Patrick Walsh, which was a novel set in Jamaica, and uh she's like, This is great, I love this book. I feel like we could sell this hand over fist, it's a great book. Um, but we only really you have to have at least 10 titles before we will consider um taking you on. Um, and I was just I just looked at her like I I don't have 10 titles. But I think that the book looked amazing. Like I had worked with a book designer who still I still work with to this day. His name is Rod Dive, he lives in Bath in the UK, and um he had created such a beautiful brochure for the book that I think she was she's she was like taking it apart. Like, okay, so production values are there, and you know, the book is really constructive. Trying to look at all the justifiable points, exactly. So she said to me, Okay, what I need from you is a a a term sheet, essentially, what they um not so much, but you sell that what they used to sell the books, so they call them AIs or T I's. Um, and I need one by the end of the day today. And if you can get me that by the end of the day, then we'll take you on. And so I was just like, Thank God for technology, even back then, because I had my cell phone, I could call. So at that time, also uh Jasmine Breary had joined with me. She had been an intern at profile, and she came on board to like just work, you know, sort of do the office and admin stuff. She was in the office and then publicity as well for the business. And I said, Jasmine, we need uh there's so many things, but just the week before that had ordered some ISBNs and because I figured that I understood, oh, that each book needs it.
SPEAKER_02Oh, what are ISBN?
SPEAKER_00A long number identifying the book that always so you'll see the ISBN when you look on Amazon, and that's what the booksellers use and book buyers use. So I had actually ordered some ISBNs. Each book has a unique ISBN, but it was supposed to be coming in the mail, and I needed the book, I needed them that day. So I called up the agency that sells you know the ISBNs, uh Nielsen, and she said, Oh, that's good. We haven't sent them out yet. I can just send them to you as an attachment. See, and so she sent them, and then we just that's how we got and I had the template for the AI and just put the air, plugged in the ISPN, and then she sent it to me via an email attachment, and I was able to show them the TI and then send it to them, and that's how we got our first distribution deal.
SPEAKER_01Let's pause for a moment to hear from our sponsors. You've built a name for yourself through hard work and dedication, but does managing the business side feel like a distraction from your true passion? Are you dealing with unmanaged finances? CME Accounting LLC is here to help. We specialize in organizing your financial records, allowing you to focus on what you do best. With organized books, you'll have more time for what inspires you. Whether that's expanding your influence, building relationships, or simply enjoying life. Don't let unmanaged finances hold you back. Reach out to CME Accounting LLC today and let us help you thrive. Visit our website www.cmeaccountinglc.com or email us at admin at cmeaccountinglc.com. Alright, let's jump back into our conversation.
SPEAKER_02That's very innovative, and I mean you also had to think on the spot.
SPEAKER_00Very much so. And I think that was also a a function of my sort of like lack of knowledge, honestly. I'll be real honest with you. I knew that I liked books and I knew that I wanted to be a publisher, but I really did not know what I was getting myself into. I really didn't. So I think that as as much we had a great time in those early years, just kind of wild. It was the Wild West for us, you know, just running here, just doing things there, just doing things, you know. Yes, yes, I could imagine. But but then in that time, a lot of mistakes were made, and like in I don't regret any of it, but I do wish I was able to kind of get that business head together a lot earlier than I did. But I think also I I kind of know my own sort of limitations as well. So I think that I was trying to work through my limitations at that time, so it was a little bit protective too, in a weird way.
SPEAKER_02Okay, okay. Yes, and and that's it's so true that when you mention about having that business acumen, yeah, so many times you can have all the other creative elements, but you need the business to be the best version of yourself.
SPEAKER_00I think a lot of independent publishers we sort of struggle with that because we know we love books, we love reading, we want to bring them, we want to publish people, but you tend to not think about the next step. So you get some amazing small presses in this country, very, very small presses, that will have one or two incredible books, but actually, how to build that into a proper going concern, there's a little bit of a a transition that we're not always making. I think for me, the successes came in other ways, and that's what kept me going. I think had I not built the kind of list that I that that I built, uh I would have given up a long time ago. And there were definitely times when I just I had enough, you know, I just don't want to do this anymore. But yeah, I took, I think that it was just a question of just keeping one foot in front of the other, and and also most importantly, I think know your limitations. Like you don't know what you don't know, at least know that you know that you don't know that you know and admit it, and admit it, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yes, so having admitted you know the limitations in terms of the business skills, and you were growing on one side, there are opportunities that are presenting themselves, there's some level of success, but you need that foundation. How did you address that, for want of a better word, that limitation of business knowledge of those things that you needed to keep your business together?
SPEAKER_00I mean, it was it's really interesting because that sort of know what you don't know. I didn't realize, like I didn't know that was what the problem was for a long time because I was being really successful at getting amazing authors and amazing books, and then our books were getting long-listed and shortlisted on very important prizes, so you had that almost like peer review, if you like, of the industry is looking at what we're doing and saying it's great. So for the I was able to sort of exist on that kind of currency, if you like, and then okay, because things are happening, they're growth, there's success, there's recognition.
SPEAKER_02But then those pillars that you needed, they're they're war political what to do. Income, r revenue, you know, the fundamental.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And um I did have uh some moments of crisis when I thought I just can't do this anymore. I can't financially, personally give any more to this business. But also I knew that there was I I just knew that I didn't know and I couldn't rely on just what I didn't know. So eventually, well, I don't know, I mean, there's there's so many ways to look at this, but I think so. In one of the things that really made a difference for me was uh um 2017, I acquired two books. I acquired um The Book of Haaland by Bernice L. McFadden. She's an African-American author, she's the most prolific writer we have today by far. And uh I think this is one of her best novels. And I was so very excited to have acquired that. And then I also was able to acquire the uh Trayvon Martin story, but the book was written by his parents, Sabrina Fulton and Tracy Martin. And um I brought those two books to the UK, and on the week that we published the Trayvon Martin story, I think we sold one copy, and uh I just was devastated. And I thought, uh that's when I was like, I can't do this because I can't keep going out there and acquiring these amazing books and then you know bring them to this country and they just sort of sink without a trace. And so I was I was ready to give up, I really was, but then I thought, okay, you know what? I will try one last big move. And I don't ask me where the thought came from, but it's just you're sort of sitting in this space, and there is a part of me for all of the sort of terrors and all of the frustrations that is enjoying it, like I'm enjoying being there because you're doing something that you're passionate about exactly. It's not like working, it's just exactly the passion and and it's really that because I was still operating out of my home office, so I had a small team, there was about four of us at the time, and then we would come, they would come to my home and we'd work from the home office, so that kind of helped as well in a weird way. Um, but I was just thinking, you know, it this so 2018 now, and uh 2020 was coming up. I've always had corrected vision from a child, from when I was a child, and so I thought, well, what can we do? We've got to do something big, something bold. It's like go big or go home, right? So that's when I said to the girls, like, we're gonna publish 20 black British writers in 2020. And that was a function of us having published globally prior to that, so we're sort of bringing it home, and also just to kind of do something that was just gonna really take on the industry and really try and shake up a little bit, you know. Yes, and so you can imprint your stuff something you and the you're not gonna forget us after this, right? You know, yes, yes. So um we put out a call for manuscripts and they came in, and by the end of the year, we closed the submissions, and by the beginning of 2019, we had all of our 20 writers 10 fiction, five non-fiction, five poets. And uh then that whole year, we know a new staff member came on board from mainstream publishing, and she was just brilliant. She her name's Magdalene Abraha, and she brought on she came up with this idea for the Equiping On series that we do, this the short non-fiction book. Yes, yes, that was Mads Yes.
SPEAKER_02You have one on Plantin. Yes, yes, I I know somebody who likes Plantin.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, yeah, and it's great, you're gonna love it. It's such a good book, and so that was her sort of DNA of like, you know, she's very much a non-fiction um editor and acquirer, so she understands how to make non-fiction titles work. But anyway, so she came on board and she brought her contacts, and beginning of the year, we just started putting it, we put out the story. Jack Aran is publishing these 20 authors next year in 2020, and it just blew up. Just took everybody wanted to partner with us. Wow, wow, wow, you know, we had everybody um Bookfoils, Bookshop, London Library, um, all of these different brands wanted to, everybody just wanted to be a part of it because I think at that time there was still this sort of consternation around are we doing enough? Is there enough diversity for the big from the big houses and the more mainstream houses? And then we suddenly were doing it. They all wanted to have a part of that, which was very You were telling our own stories, absolutely doing it for ourselves. We're absolutely doing it for ourselves, like, and that's sort of the DNA of Jackaranda. It is all about like you need a seat at the table. Well, what we did was we built our own table and we seat ourselves around it, and people that look like us, yeah. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02That is so right, and and just to add to that, we did a mid-series review, and one of the things I said in that interview is we're making, I mean, there may not be space at the table, so we're making our own table. Absolutely. Tell our stories, so I that resonates with me when you said that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and it's a great space to be in because you know you get to decide everything, what the table looks like, how many how colourful it'll be. Literally, how many chairs do we want around this table? So, yeah, that's that's been the fun part and continues to be till this day. So, yeah, we we we published all of those books, it all went amazingly well. Um, and then we were approached by one of the big five Hash at UK. We ended up making a sales and distribution deal with Hashet UK, which we've been in ever since. Um, and that just meant that our books were um brought into a bigger marketplace, okay? But then guess what came to bite me in the behind this business part of things? That business part of things.
SPEAKER_02Yes, managing the contracts, the finances, the inflow, the outflow.
SPEAKER_00And this is this big machine of Hashette, they don't care, like they just what you know want the book, they want to move on. So um, I can't remember how I met Dr. Carlton Brown, but he came on board as a business consultant. So he was he came on board and and that was um me sort of saying, I'm with this big company and I'm out of my depth into in the on the business side. I cannot meet the moment. I can continue acquiring these books, but it's not gonna help.
SPEAKER_02Yes, you go out of your depths.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, completely. Um, and so I needed somebody in there that understood business and understood how it works, and that was Dr. Carlton Brown. So he came on initially as a consultant, um, and then uh I was just like, Well, if you would like, I would love for you to consider a role as commercial director at Jacaranda and just undertaking all of aspects of commercial, the commercial side of the business, and so that's what made the massive change in everything that we do. He had the understanding of the commercial aspects. I have the understanding of the publishing side, as does Magdalene, who is on our leadership team, and so together we're able to bring the business side to the business. So he's he's been amazing getting our books into Tesco's, creating partnerships, putting really the books are out there in a way that they've never been before, and that's really down to him. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that that that's brilliant. I mean, the fact that you were able to identify someone that you've entered into this partnership that's adding value, absolutely, and you didn't have to go through that process of a trial and error with them because you were already on a trial and error situation.
SPEAKER_00I think we got really lucky with each other because we really we're not the same person, we're very close in age, but we're like brother and sister, you know, like a very like contentious sometimes, but very supportive brother and sister who he calls and sees the vision completely, and I have total trust and faith in him, and so it's been brilliant, actually. It's really, really great. And from there, able to expand the business. I was able to get a bit more funding from the states where I I went and sp spoke to people that I knew, you know, so it was a uh relationship there and was able to actually create a vision for them based upon the fact that I now had this commercial director that they could believe in. Yeah. And so from there, you know, I always joke about it that, you know, people say black people don't read, black women don't run, and black businesses don't get funding. Well, clearly we have a massive readership. I am a runner, and now we have some money, so you know, we sort of flip that on the head a little bit. And so since then we've been able to hire more staff and really think about what kind of books we want to publish and what sort of story we want to tell going forward. I think for us, I believe, or some of the team came up with the idea that publishing what we do is bigger than books. So we are in this sort of space now where we're sort of thinking about expanding our IP into other areas as well, which is very, very exciting.
SPEAKER_02Congratulations on that, because then you can create a legacy and sustainability for the book business and for other things that could be connected. They're all the creative avenues that can come along with that.
SPEAKER_00And I think that's another really important aspect of what we've been through. I I've always been very, you know, as the second youngest of 11 children, I felt like I didn't growing up, I there were no avenues for anything for me, you know. I think for my elder siblings, because it like it the racism was really entrenched for them, so they were able to kind of like cut the cloth accordingly in a way. But for my generation, by the time we came along, where you know that now we're sort of second generation in the UK, there was an expectation that there would be more opportunity, and it just wasn't. There really wasn't. So you grow up not knowing what you can accomplish, you're not knowing how far you can stretch your abilities or really your interests, even.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, if you can go through that ceiling that is supposed to be for you.
SPEAKER_00So I with with Jack Aranda as l as well as publishing through the expansion of black eye uh creativity. Um, one of the things I really wanted to do was to be able to provide that kind of publishing path for people, young black publishing professionals, to be able to get their first job in publishing and to be able to help grow Jacaranda for the future. So it's sort of future-proofing the business. And so our team meetings now are sort of spectacular, global table, you know, people from the Caribbean, from Africa, from the Middle East, from India. It's like a beautiful diasporic table of young people that want to learn to have a career in publishing. And so I'm really excited about that, and that they can hopefully take Jacaranda into the next stage, you know. Because you know what it's like in the UK, so many of the businesses, and even globally as well, they've started a hundred years ago, 200 years ago. That's what I want for Jack Aranda, sort of a very long-term vision of us still being a black-owned entity well into the future. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And and I mean, listening to you share that story, I feel in some ways goosebumps. You say 100 years and building that legacy. And so you're showing that opportunity to you have to start now in including everyone. And a lot of businesses that fail, it's because they didn't see the need, they held on to it tightly. You know, this is my baby, so I will not bring someone in. I had a boss a very long time ago who said you have to trust someone in the final analysis because you can't do it alone. You need somebody there who will help you along. So it's good that you have seen that and have been able to bring a team together who have similar interests and they also have to see the vision.
SPEAKER_00See it, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Because they could just come to earn an income and then, you know, in a few months or a couple of years, they're gone. But once they can see the vision of where you're heading to and then help to keep it all alive.
SPEAKER_00And you can, and you you never know, like some over the years, you know, we've had those people that want to dip in and dip out. Yeah, you'll always have that those, yeah. We've got the core, the core people that they see the vision, they're excited about it. They're young, they're all in their twenties and thirties, and they see in the possi possibilities down the road. And we also offer an internship and work experience. So young pe even younger people who that's really the audience that is getting left behind massively, especially when it comes to reading. So we want to make sure that we are a conduit for that kind of exposure to books and literature and writing, and it's open to anyone, you know. Uh, so we've had lots of young people from the local schools that come in, you know, all across the the black, white, brown, you name it. They come through, but they get to see a publishing house working and they get to understand the early stages of the business. And some they write the loveliest letters. Oh, can we come back next year?
SPEAKER_02Yes, yes. So it does two things, it exposes them to what the reality is. If this really is their passion, then they know okay, this is what I need to do. And if it's not, then they can find another part. So it it's it's brilliant. Uh, I believe it's a fantastic thing to share your journey with that generation because they they continue to build on whatever it is that we're doing. That's right. So excellent.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's right.
SPEAKER_02Well, to you. Uh, I there are a couple of other things that I wanted to capture in our interview, and you mentioned it a bit when you spoke about having so many siblings, and them possibly, you know, your generation would have more opportunities, and that didn't happen. In starting this publishing house that challenges mainstream, you're a black woman, you're a woman off to possibly doing things that people assume you shouldn't be able to do. What are some of the challenges that you faced and how did you overcome that? Facing that those barriers, which I I'm sure came up with.
SPEAKER_00It's such a great question and sort of a little bit uh a little bit bittersweet for me because I did carry my mum with me everywhere. Like my mum, as the woman that had these 11 children, was an absolute warrior. You know, she really was. And so whenever I would go in into these environments whereby, you know, you're the only, you know, we know we've all been there. Or as you said, in an industry such as publishing, which is very sort of traditional and very much the gentleman's, you know, industry. You're you're walking in there very much not what they expect. But she would always walk in with me, you know, just be uh like it's not even there's no question of whether you should be in the room or not, you're doing it. So go there, do what you need to do. And and the other thing is as we well know, oftentimes what happens is you go into these environments and then the mystique is shattered because where they're sort of portraying themselves as so much more superior and so much more you just immediately don't know.
SPEAKER_02I've discovered that, yeah.
SPEAKER_00I I literally countless times I'm like, I'm the smartest person at this table, I'm sorry. Yes, that's right, and also I'm the one only one who owns my own business.
SPEAKER_02So yes, yes, yes, and you speak with confidence, and you know, as you said that about taking your mom with you, it brought back to me something Miangelo said. I believe it's in one of her poems, you know, we're taking all of our assistants with us when you go into that room, yes, and for me, that's how I enter a room, and I at the moment I perform above my title, and for some time I kind of shrunk what I could do and my ability, and in a sense, you know, I was restricted. But once I had the opportunity, I went with it. And I've been fortunate to have a mother who always said, You can do anything. She never told me you have to do X or you have to do Y. She just always said, Whatever you want to do. I recall be struggling to figure out a career. My mother said, Whatever you want to do, Angela, I'm not going to tell you what, you know. And she's just always been supportive of whatever it is, and it's the same thing I bring to my channel as well. So it's glad to see that you still carry that from your mom, and your mom is from Dominica. So hail to all our Caribbean mothers. Yeah, and Dominica St. Lucia's to be.
SPEAKER_00You can go, exactly. And I think it is such a solid ground to walk on. Like when true, very true. See what she they our parents had to go to go through in this country, and they're telling you you can do this. Yeah, you can it doesn't matter, don't let any barriers step in your way. You know, my mum always used to say, 'Got every disappointment is God's blessing.' You know that way. It's a blessing in disguise, yes. And so you just, yeah, you just move in that way. And it's such a a gift. They give you such a gift because, and also just I think who we are in many ways, you know, you hear that people say that in in any iteration of any way that I come back to this planet, I want to come back as a black woman, and it's like you get that feeling. And there's a West Indian, there's a Caribbean black woman. That's why you really feel it, you know, because you you realize the gifts that you're operating in all of the time. It frees you.
SPEAKER_02And we've always been empowered, we've never been restricted from doing what it is that we should do as women. Exactly. And so, yeah, yeah, that's really good. What I want to do to bring the conversation to a close for this particular episode is for you to share possibly three pieces of advice with persons who are interested in getting into business, things they could consider, and then as well, you can share how persons can connect with Jackaranda books to find out more.
SPEAKER_00So, the advice, there's so many, and also it's quite difficult because everyone's journey is so different. Um, I think that it is one about being very true to yourself, and part of being true to yourself in business is knowing your limitations. So, and and just be honest about them. Know what you don't know, you know, know that you don't know it. Um, I think it is a question of really self-belief massively. Um, not delusion, it's there's a difference, but having that self-belief that will carry you very far. Like I had never any doubt that I could do what I could do, but I wasn't overextending myself ever. I wasn't trying to climb a mountain, I was just trying to get to the road leading up to the mountain, and then when I got there, you know, then oh okay, I could go for it now. Just trusting myself in that way, and I think just really make sure that you educate yourself on all aspects of what this world that you're entering is into. So if you're a designer, say, or if you make jewelry, or if you're an artist, whatever that craft or skill is that you know, right? That's the thing you know that you can do and that you're good at. Understand where it sits. Is there a uh industry around it? And then what are what does the industry require in order for you to be successful? Because uh so many businesses fail and they fail very early, and a lot of them, I think, if they just educated themselves more about the industry, they wouldn't fail, you know. So I think um just I don't know if that's gonna help your listeners, but educate yourself, know what you don't know, and have that self-belief.
SPEAKER_02Okay, excellent. Thanks for sharing that insight. Um, I'm sure we can have a takeaway. So whether persons are in business or whether they're an individual, whatever the journey is, there's something they can take away. How can listeners connect with Jack Aranda?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so we're on all socials as Jacaranda Books. We're on Instagram, we're on Threads, Facebook, TikTok. Um, also, you can go to our website and you can see where all of the different email addresses are. So if you want to send us manuscripts, there is a submission window. Um, so as soon as it is open, I would say send the manuscript. Do not send it before the submission is uh open because we won't be able to look at it. Um, and I would also say that I really am interested in publishing books that have coyole in them. So I'm interested in books in translation, um, books written in French or French and Creole from the French-speaking diaspora. So send me your manuscripts.
SPEAKER_02Okay, excellent, excellent. So, listeners, there is your opportunity to enter the world of writing, of creating, and also being inclusive in terms of languages.
SPEAKER_00Definitely.
SPEAKER_02So we have Creole, we have Dutch, we have Spanish, we have French, all of that um intertwined into our Caribbean.
SPEAKER_00And and one last thing I will say, Angela. So this year, for the first time, Jacaranda will be at the Bocas Lit Festival in Trinidad. Oh, fantastic! Yeah, and Magdalene Abraha will be on a panel talking about debut writing and um early stage writing. And we have books on sale there. So if you're in the region, you know, hop over.
SPEAKER_02Yes, hop on over. Thank you, Valerie, for taking the time to sit with us and to share a bit about your journey. And hopefully we can have another conversation some other time because there's so much more we can talk about in terms of publishing and writing.
SPEAKER_00That's amazing. Thank you so much, Angela, for having me. I've had a great time and I would love to do it again. I would absolutely love to do it again.
SPEAKER_02Okay, fantastic. Because we know you're ex you're um launching into the US as well. That's correct. Yeah, we do. There's lots more to do.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Listeners, this has been Beginned Build Blossom, your business journey, a space for real conversations around creative and entrepreneurial journeys. Our guest today shared her fantastic journey about writing and publishing. And we will tell more stories later on. Hopefully, we can follow up with her in the US. Be sure to like, subscribe, but of course, you have to listen to do that, so we can help to build a community. My name is Angela, and I was your host for this episode. Until next time. Bye for now. A quick note before we wrap up the insights and experiences shared by our guests are their own. We love creating space for real conversations about business and growth. And everyone's journey is unique. Therefore, this podcast is for informational and inspirational purposes only. It is not meant to replace legal, financial, or other professional advice. So we encourage you to take what's useful, do your own due diligence, and build what works best for you.
SPEAKER_01Thanks for listening to begin build blossom your business journey. We hope today's conversation gave you the insights and inspiration you need to move forward on your own path. Don't forget to subscribe or follow wherever you get your podcast so you never miss an episode. Do you have feedback? We'd love to hear from you at podcast at cmeaccountinglc.com. Join us again next week for a new episode.