The Power Transformation Podcast
The Power Transformation Podcast hosted by Alethea Felton, celebrates the resilience, determination, and hope of entrepreneurs, thought leaders, and visionaries who have conquered adversity and various challenges to create meaningful lives.
With her own inspiring journey of living with autoimmune disease since birth (and now thriving), overcoming severe stuttering, and more, Alethea's authenticity adds depth to intimate conversations with her guests who have overcome extraordinary obstacles.
Alethea's heart-centered, introspective, and engaging style elevates this podcast into a movement that inspires listeners to embrace their inner strength, cultivate empowerment, and rise wiser, stronger, and more courageous to achieve their next level of success.
The Power Transformation Podcast
111. Turning Self-Doubt Into Creative Success: The Beach Santa Story with M.B. Paradise
What if the key to transforming your life is hidden in the challenges you never expected to face? In this episode of The Power Transformation Podcast, I sit down with M.B. Paradise, a former athletic trainer whose journey led her to become the author of the heartwarming children’s book Beach Santa. Inspired by resilience and her passion for disability inclusion, M.B. shares how she turned self-doubt into purpose, bringing her creative vision to life during the pandemic.
Whether you’re an aspiring author or seeking inspiration for your own journey, M.B.’s story is a beautiful testament to courage, creativity, and the power of following your heart.
Connect with MB:
Episode 111's Affirmation:
Every setback is a setup for my greatest comeback.
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What if your biggest setback is actually your greatest setup for success? Welcome to the Power Transformation Podcast, where I, your host, alethea Felton, the Resilience Architect, have inspiring stories and real conversations with people just like you, those who are determined to rise above and thrive beyond life's challenges. Here we celebrate the courage and hope that it takes to reclaim your power, rewrite your story and step into the life that you were destined to live For. Now is the time to create your power transformation. Oh, the holidays are upon us and, with that being said, the guest today on the Power Transformation Podcast is the perfect example of this holiday season, and that is none other than MB Paradise, author of Beach Santa. But first, welcome to everyone that is listening out here. I am so grateful to have you, as you embark on this journey, with me, and thank you to those who have been faithful followers and listeners since the beginning, and I am extremely grateful for you all who are new to the Power Transformation podcast. You are at the opening part of season three.
Speaker 1:We had our season premiere last week with a phenomenal guest, toriano Lockett, about how he went from imprisonment to having a seven-figure business, and now we have MB Paradise, this amazing author who took a leap of faith and truly stepped out and walked on water, so as to speak, when it came to her becoming a published author and her book is making waves, and with it being the holiday season, what better time to bring out her episode although you can read and purchase Beach Santa anytime, we're going to jump right into that interview, so let's go ahead and dive into this. I'm going to say the affirmation once, and then you repeat it, and then we are going to dive right into this interview with MB Paradise, a truly transformative interview. Every setback is a setup for my greatest comeback. I am thrilled today to have this incredible guest and, as you could hear from the intro, mb Paradise is just oh my goodness. Her story is going to be absolutely incredible, but I'm just so grateful to have this wonderful author and human being on the Power Transformation Podcast.
Speaker 1:Welcome MB. Thank you so much, alethea. I'm so thrilled to be here. Podcast. Welcome MB. Thank you so much, alethea. I'm so thrilled to be here. Thank you so much. I'm happy to have you and we're going to get into this interview because your story is quite incredible and I want us to be able to really talk about that in depth. But let's go ahead and just start with something to break the ice, so that we can get to know you better. Okay, mb, this is your question. What is one of your favorite stores that you like to shop, either online or in person?
Speaker 2:My favorite store is a store called Brave New World, because I love beachy gear and I just love, like laid back, big, comfy sweatshirts, so that is my favorite store to shop.
Speaker 1:Wow, and how often do you get a chance to actually shop there?
Speaker 2:Not often, because I am not a big shopper and my kids will attest to that. Usually my husband takes them shopping because I am probably the world's worst shopper. But if I know I want something, I just go in and get it and get out before I spend too much money.
Speaker 1:Exactly, exactly. Because I know for me, sometimes I'll say, okay, I have all intentions of getting something specific from a store and then by the time I get to the cash register I say and by the time I get to the cash register I say, hmm, I definitely was not intending to buy all of this, so it just kind of goes outside of my budget a little bit. I have to reel it in again, wow. So that's really really great to know, especially with you saying that you like all things beachy. That's going to be a really good segue into something that we're going to talk about later. But before I even get to that, let me ask you a profound question. But who is MB Paradise?
Speaker 2:Well, just so you and your listeners know, my legal name is Mary Beth Paradise, but when I was younger I played sports and coaches don't like to say too many syllables. So way back when I was in seventh grade one of my coaches gave me the nickname MD and it just kind of stuck. So now I fully embrace it and I love that. But I am a wife, I'm a mom, I'm a Jersey girl, I am a sports medicine professional turned children's book author and I wrote a book called Beach Santa. It's just a playful twist on a classic looking at what Santa does on his vacation.
Speaker 2:But really the book is on a bigger mission now than I originally thought. I thought I was just going to write a book and that was going to kind of be it. But I've taken the leap into entrepreneurship, into actually living this author experience creating a business around the book. And now the book's on this bigger mission to do three things really to promote disability inclusion in children's books, to encourage writers of all ages and also to give back. 25% of each sale goes to Team LeGrand, which is a fundraising arm of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. My personal mission within that is to make beaches more accessible to people in wheelchairs. So I am donating this money because it's special to me, it's meaningful to me. I knew if I tied it to something bigger than myself, I knew I wouldn't give up when times kind of got rough in business or entrepreneurship, I know I would just keep pushing Wow.
Speaker 1:That is quite a bit that you shared there, and we can extract a lot of different nuggets from there. Me, where I think that I want to go back to and start off with is the fact that you had a totally different career prior to writing this book. So take us on the journey as to what you did, of course, in your past life, so to speak, and then kind of tell us about the journey towards this concept of having this somewhat type of corporate type of career, in a sense, or private sector rather career, and then actually making a living from this book. So tell us more about what you did from this book.
Speaker 2:So tell us more about what you did, how you got into that and how that kind of led to this journey, absolutely so. I was trained as a certified athletic trainer, so we are the people if you watch sports on TV that are the first ones to respond to an athletic injury on the field. So a lot of times people watch the NFL, if someone goes down they get hurt. The people that run out onto the field are certified athletic trainers. That is what I'm trained to do. I loved that. I lived that for a very long time. Dealing with athletes is the best. They're super motivated to get well. I love the energy of the environment and I also taught anatomy.
Speaker 2:Quick side note when I was in grad school, I was really fortunate to get into a good grad school. We had a lot of really smart people in our class and most of them got their master's thesis published. I did not. So to me, this was, like you know, as a 23 year old, this was an epic fail not getting published. So you know, I go on with my career and I'm working in the field, really enjoying it, and I was like you know what Okay, I didn't get published in grad school, but let me try to publish a scientific paper now. So I would do research and I would try to get into scientific journals Again. No luck, nothing got published.
Speaker 2:So moving forward a little bit, you know I, I have a family, I get married, I have kids and you have to adapt. You know, as an athletic trainer, many things are after school on weekends. You are really kind of you have to roll with the flow. Coaches change, practices, games get changed, so when you have kids it was a little difficult. So I decided I'm going to shift a little bit and do more teaching. So as I'm going along though I'm like you know what, I still want to publish something. So I have this children's book idea and at the time email submissions really weren't a big thing. So at the same time my mom was sick with cancer, but I would take her to a lot of appointments in New York City and one week I said hey, mom, after this one appointment with this specialist, I'm going to drop off my manuscript to 12 publishing houses.
Speaker 2:I'll just let you sit in the car double park, we'll put our hazards on. And she was like fine, that sounds good. So, you know, someone told me I must've told someone I was doing this. And they said hey, you know, like I heard, if you do something special with your manuscript then it might get noticed, because these people just get stacks and stacks of submissions. So I was like, oh, you know, good point. So I go to a you know little plant store, nursery or whatever, and I grabbed a bunch of terracotta pots with little plants in them. I get my manuscript, tie a bow, put it on there. I have a dozen of these in my backseat. Drive to the city, go to the appointment, drop them off. I figured, all right, one of these 12 publishers has got to like my book, and this was not my current manuscript. By the way, publishers has got to like my book, and this was not my current manuscript, by the way, okay.
Speaker 2:Separate idea. Oh, okay, okay, yeah. So I go home and I'm anxiously waiting. This is early 2000. And I'm like, okay, someone's going to call me, someone's going to call me. No response. So you're like this publishing thing is really really hard, like I'm striking out, I'm failing across the board.
Speaker 2:So, fast forward, the 2020 hits and everyone has a story. You know, of course, about the pandemic. For me, it's a little bit. It's not like the pandemic caused a shift. I actually and this is for your listeners, if you're listening out there and you're a young professional, you probably should not do this. Do not do what I did In January 2020.
Speaker 2:I'm thinking, you know what? I've been piecemealing three part-time careers together for a very long time so that I can, you know, take care of my family, still earn money, keep my foot in athletic training. But I felt like I was so frustrated, aletheia, I felt like there's something more out there, but I don't know what it is, wow. And so, as I was kind of figuring things out, I said, you know what? I was sitting in front of my computer one day, totally bummed out.
Speaker 2:Now I say to my employer okay, I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to quit. And they were super, super supportive. They they tried to get me to stay. They're like you know, if you need time off, I said no, you know what, I just need something different. So I thought I had the perfect job lined up. I had so much experience in teaching and in higher education and I figured this is a perfect time for me to transition into college advising. So I met with some people. They said we have two openings in April of 2020. You should definitely apply. I think you'd be perfect. Your you know your skills align. So I really felt like I had a really, really good shot at this job. So I quit and I was like, okay, I'm gonna take February off and March off, I'm gonna relax and I'm gonna rest and I'm gonna, or you got the job.
Speaker 2:You before I got the job, oh okay, before I signed on the dotted line, uh-huh. So then the pandemic happened, and that place had a hiring freeze. So now I'm unemployed, oh my.
Speaker 1:So, oh, wow, wow, hold on. The world shut down about mid-march so you had had quit, probably like what? February or so. Like February, yes, oh, my goodness. Talk about timing. Timing was bad, wow, yeah. So then you're just really really quickly, though I want to backtrack something. Did I hear you correctly in saying that when you dropped off those dropped off original manuscript, that was back in 2000?
Speaker 2:It was right around. Let me recalibrate that it was right around 2007.
Speaker 1:MB, are you saying you had that idea, but you went over another decade before you published your book? So the reason I bring that up listeners and viewers alike I think that is so powerful. I got chills hearing that, because MB has made it clear that the book she attempted to get published in 2007 wasn't this current book. That has been a success for her and we'll talk about that. So I kind of just want you audience to hold on to that, because I think that's very profound and very important to think about. The fact 2007 now it's 2024 but everything starts shifting in her life 13 years later, in 2020. So pick up there. You hear that they're having this hiring freeze. Now what?
Speaker 2:so now I'm unemployed and I'm telling you this is jarring for someone, I mean for anyone that needs money, obviously, and for someone that's been working their entire, you know, since you're 15, of course you get, like you pick up jobs when you're younger, but you know, I've been financially independent since age 19. My parents paid for my first year of college, but then after that it was all on me and over time I really started embracing that, like I was like, okay, like I can do this, I can provide for myself. So suddenly, when you cannot provide for yourself, it was really an identity like crisis for me, like what's going on? And I thought all my life I thought you know what, if I ever got fired or if I ever quit, I have enough resources, I have enough friends in the industry. Not that they weren't trying to help me my friends did reach out but they were trying to help me get jobs that I was no longer interested in. That's right, yeah. So I just kind of felt in my body I just didn't feel like this really aligns with where I'm going.
Speaker 2:So I thought my thing was going to be college advising and I was so hyper-focused on it and kind of stuck on this idea. So, to be honest and perfectly transparent, I was getting depressed and I was thinking to myself I was a little hamster on a wheel. I just couldn't find my way out of this. What am I going to do now? I'm not getting any jobs that I want. So I reached out and I was able to get a therapist, and this person helped me beyond measure because they made me realize a couple of key things. Number one, I had never processed grief from when my parents passed away. You know, I thought like all right, I'm fine. Like I cried for a couple minutes and now, like you know, onward. And number two, they really helped me to just widen my view of what's possible for me. You know, like being a college advisor I was. You know everyone says, oh, when you, when one door closes another door opens for me like the doors weren't opening.
Speaker 2:You know, I was banging on these doors with all my might and nothing was budging. So it's kind of like what's up, you know. So it took me a really long time to kind of shift my thinking that maybe I could do something else.
Speaker 1:So really quickly during this time, because you are a wife and a mom during this time. How supportive was your family in this time of you quitting but also falling into this slump? How did they help to give you strength to keep going?
Speaker 2:Well, my husband is very, very supportive and I owe so much to to that. That is a huge component. Just not having someone that's on you, like you have to do this, and that now, like it took a huge burden off me. That was really, really helpful. Um, so I'm very grateful for that. My kids are doing their thing. They're kind of navigating their way through the pandemic, you know. So they really, you know, and they're, they're, they're on my side, but, you know, do they actively cheer me on?
Speaker 1:No, yeah, and I think just based on the fact that everything happened during the pandemic at the heart of quarantine, so everybody's in the same place, pretty much together, and you had no choice but to almost, in a sense, just be stuck and trapped with your own feelings and your own thoughts. And it forced you to come to the reality, like, hey, I need extra support and help. So continue with this journey. And I brought it up because I'm starting to see how something can be birthed out of some really, really trying moments, just to get to the other side.
Speaker 2:I was trying to do my usual stuff it down, avoid avoidance behavior, but yeah. So then after a while, you know, I'm talking to this therapist and he suggested, like why don't you just go work at a grocery store, get yourself back out there a couple hours? And I did that and, surprisingly, I really enjoyed it and that kind of just got me out of the funk. Yeah. And then one day but you know, of course I didn't want to do that forever but I was at my computer, kind of looking at jobs, and I see an ex-athlete. He's from New Jersey, his name is Eric Legrand. He suffered a spinal cord injury back in 2010, but he has gone on to do amazing things open businesses. He's a philanthropist, he's a speakerist, he's a speaker, he's an author.
Speaker 2:So I see Eric taking steps to open a coffee shop.
Speaker 2:Now this is during the pandemic, he cannot move from the neck down.
Speaker 2:And it just hit me like a ton of bricks, like, okay, that's it, like if Eric can follow his dream, if he can do something this big, I can follow through with one of my ideas. And I don't know about you, but I'm I'm always like thinking throughout my life I've always had ideas for inventions and I'd always only take it so far and I'd make the excuse or I don't have enough money, I don't have enough resources, and or maybe now, looking back, maybe I just didn't have enough belief. Now looking back, maybe I just didn't have enough belief. But now, when I saw Eric do that, I said that's it. I'm going to finish this book idea that I have. That has been in my heart for 10 years, and when I do, I will donate 25% to Team LeGrand, which is a fundraising branch of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. So that's what I've done the last two Februaries. I've given Eric a check and it's growing and there's some momentum behind this and I feel like big things are happening.
Speaker 1:So take us through this. You said that you had this book idea for 10 years. So tell us about this book idea you had. And was it that you would try to write it and it just didn't seem to come together? What caused you to almost, in a sense, put it on hold for 10 years?
Speaker 2:motherhood and just working it caused me to put it on hold for sure, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:You know. But what happened was I was actually at the beach with my kids one day when they were smaller and they were looking for shells. We were right near the water's edge. They couldn't find any. They were doing cartwheels and kicking each other with water and, just you know, being loud, but really they were looking for shells and this older gentleman was fishing right near us.
Speaker 2:He had a white beard, big safari hat, dark green, um, army type of fishing vest with deep pockets. Well, he overhears their whole conversation and he reaches into his pocket and he throws down three like pristine, beautiful shells that you do not see in New Jersey. They're kind of like, they're kind of like South Florida shells, tiny conch shells. So he says hey, hey, you forgot these. So they go running over and they see them super excited. They pick them up, they scoop them up and they run over to me and they go look what that guy gave us. And I look over at him and he kind of gives me one of those head nods like yeah, you know, I did that and my middle daughter was like he's kind of like a beach Santa.
Speaker 2:So I was like that night I put them to bed and I was like you know, that thing that happened today was really unique and I got out some note cards and I wrote down the details of the day, just what it was like and what he was wearing and what happened. And then I'm like there's a story in here somewhere. I just knew it and then I put it in my dresser and then, like you said, you know, life kind of happens You're busy doing stuff and then 10 years goes by and I had not yet written the story, saw Eric and I was like that's it, I'm writing the beach Santa story.
Speaker 1:Wow, oh my gosh. There's so much that we can take from that to know that this random gentleman who just appears on a beach, kind of odd looking and out of place, just happens to show up there, show up there, and the fact that he just didn't have any type of shells, but you knew that they were shells that were not geographically supposed to be there. So when you decided, mb, to actually write the book and actually put idea to paper, tell us about that pivotal moment when you said, ok, although life has been happening, this is now the time and take us through that process. How long did it take you to write your manuscript? Did you have doubts about it or were you all in? Take us through that journey, especially in relation to it being during the pandemic.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. So I continued to work at the grocery store and I started to write the story. At nights I would start getting the details down and as I was writing, as I was going along, it didn't feel good to me to make my kids the character. Something about that just felt off or just self-serving or whatever. So then I got the idea to include Eric LeGrand in the story. So I called him up. Eric is just Eric is one of these people. He just, you know, he just makes you smile. He wants you to feel good about yourself. He's inspiring others by his example. And I called him up, I say hey, eric, I'm thinking about you. Know, I'm writing this children's book. It's called Beach Santa. I explained what it's about and I said is it okay if I maybe use you as one of the characters? You know there's three kids on a beach. And he said you know Eric being Eric, says sure, sure. And he said go ahead. He also said perfect, send me a picture of yourself when you're eight years old. So he did and I gave that to my illustrator.
Speaker 2:So we included a character in a wheelchair on the beach. But intentionally I do not talk about the wheelchair in this story, because I really feel like people with different abilities don't want to be defined by that, you know, they just want to be included. So, intentionally, do not talk about the fact that this person is in literature. So I'm writing and writing and, as I'm going to answer your question, yes, I was having doubts, because when you're about to press send and you're about to, like, throw your work out there into the world, for me I can only speak for myself.
Speaker 2:It gets scary Like, is anyone going to like this?
Speaker 2:Is anyone going to care? Is this a waste of time? And it's so funny because you meet certain people that are like, oh, I think this idea is great. And then you have other people say, oh, why are you wasting your time, don't you know? Like authors don't make any money?
Speaker 2:Or they say, well, there's already a book about Santa on the beach, why are you? You know there's already one out there. So, good, good, try. And I look at this, you know, I look back and now I give myself like if I take a blow to the gut like that, like therapist. She suggested that I read the book Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, and that was really a transformative book for me, because she was saying it doesn't matter, like in art, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. If you like it and you're proud of it and you want to put it out there, that's all that matters. So that was like a freeing type of experience for me reading that book, and I highly recommend it to anybody that's thinking about becoming an author or even just throwing some art out into the world. It really, really it helped me a lot.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you know, as I shared with you in our pre-call weeks ago actually, it was probably over a month ago now but how I share, I've always known I've had a knack for writing, but I had told you that it's been that very thing where I've put limitations and doubts on myself.
Speaker 1:And so even coming across you and hearing your story was very inspirational to me and I'll talk to you more offline about what I mean by that, but I think it does speak.
Speaker 1:True is that, whether it's writing, whether it's a different dream or passion, I think it's important for people to realize that, if you have something that you want to do, I think earth is a nice playing field for you to at least try to put out there what you can do, instead of looking back on things years later and say, oh, I didn't try it, at least try it, see what happens. It speaks to the point where here you were in 2007, sending your manuscript in person, doing everything that you needed to do at the time, your mom was with you, and the fact that you didn't hear anything. And then all of these life changes happen from the time of 2007 until 2020 with the book, and so, in terms of you shutting out the noise from the naysayers. What was your process in doing that? Was it just something intrinsic where you just said this is where the rubber meets the road? And I've just got to do it and go all in?
Speaker 2:That is a great question, I think, for me. I'm a sensitive person and I don't like that about myself. I don't like that. I. I think you know too much maybe about other people's opinions, but with the book, the failure of not publishing plus the disbelief of some people fueled me forward.
Speaker 2:There was one woman that literally said to me well why, you know, I was talking about this possibility of writing this. I gave her the idea and I heard that maybe she knew someone that knew a publisher. And so she said, well, wait a second. Like aren't you a sports medicine professional? What even qualifies you to write a children's book? Oh no, she didn't, didn't? She did. And you know what I got in my car and I was so ticked. I was like, because you go through the stages, you know you're kind of like I can choose to be like angry I. Can you really take this to heart and listen to this woman? And then I gave myself my little 24-hour rule and like the next day at least, it was so funny because I'm lying in bed and I was tired and it was early I was like I'll show her and I ripped the covers off.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean. I'm like I'm getting to work, I'm getting to work and part of it is just I'm an ex, you know, as a, I'm an ex athlete. You know, when I was younger, I played high school sports. I played sports most of my life. Um, I love competition. So I was like you know what the odds are stacked against indie authors, but I'm going to do this anyway.
Speaker 1:That's right. That's right. And to you know, I know a lot of writers, from some in my own family to friends of mine. I have a friend who's actually a New York Times bestselling author, and so, even with the book that got her on that list, I think she's had two books on that list. Her story is not exactly like yours, but the books that won her these accolades and awards and listings weren't even her original books and I didn't even realize that how years ago she tried and they were like nope, and so she kept on going.
Speaker 1:But it speaks volumes to the point of it's a myth. Even when a person says you can't really make a living as a writer. That's not necessarily true, because a lot of it is based on marketing and how much that writer pushes the book, especially if you either go a hybrid way of traditional publishing plus self-publishing or strictly traditional. It's really up to that writer as well, as if they have an agent, but a lot of them don't, it's really up to that author to say, hey, I want to get this out there, and I think just the fact too, that yours has a charitable aspect to it means the world. I want to touch on something you mentioned that you wanted to make certain that in the book you didn't bring up the wheelchair or the fact that the character had a different ability, because the focus was going to be, of course, on Beach Santa. But what do you think has been the effect of you not bringing up that different ability? And how has Eric received the book since you've written it? What are his perspectives on it?
Speaker 2:Right? Well, firstly, I think that it's a nice soft introduction to some little ones about maybe they've never seen a character in a wheelchair in a book. So when I do an author visit or when I share it with a, you know, a classroom, or if I, you know, go to a bookstore and you have a little captive audience there. Maybe these children have never seen that type of character before. I love that Because it's a nice easy. It's just a fun, playful book about what Santa does on vacation, you know, and he's just trying to catch a fish, and they're just invested in the story. They see the kids trying to find some shells but they can't. What's Santa going to do? But in the meantime they're just seeing that picture again and again of the child in the wheelchair. So to me it's a nice soft introduction for kids out there.
Speaker 2:Eric has been wonderful and gracious. I do not ask Eric to actively market my book because I've realized throughout this journey you know everyone's out there just trying to do their own thing. Yeah, eric has his coffee shop and Eric has a line of whiskey and so he's actively marketing those things. Okay, and to me, like at first, I thought, oh, I can ask, like all my friends, if they can post it on their thing and you know my friends are doing their own things, just like Eric's doing his. So I don't ask that of him because to me, he's already provided me with so much inspiration. I am, however, now leaning into the Reeve Foundation and they're happy to share my posts and kind of get the message out there. If I, you know, do something specific for Team LeGrand. So that aspect of it is wonderful and I can, I'll take all the help I can get.
Speaker 1:And I think it's honorable just the fact that he allowed you to use his likeness and his image and said hey, sure, no-transcript. I don't want to say forgets about, but our society, and this is just my opinion as a person who's lived with chronic illness ever since birth. You have a group of us that have invisible illnesses, and then you have a group where their different ability or, in a traditional term, audience disability but I do understand you saying different ability is that the ones, I think, who have the different abilities that are visible, still get more of the stares and the scaredness and the fear, especially when it comes to kids. And so I do think that you putting it in the book for children gives them an understanding that you're going to encounter all types of people, and I also like the fact that even with the three characters that you use, they are all necessarily the same race, and it shows differences in people, but it all shows that common thread and that common connection.
Speaker 1:So what I'd like to ask you now is what was your process? So how long did it take to write the book? Then did you automatically get it published? Were there some setbacks in that area? Take us through that process and then we'll get more into. I'll ask some questions, more so about the process of you going out sharing this with the world, but just in terms of the details of it, how long did it take you?
Speaker 2:Took me two years from the day I officially started and I saw Eric and he lit a spark under me. Two years from that moment until I held the book in my hands. Wow, because, as you know, at the same time you're, you're continuing to work, and so, yeah, exactly so yeah, the um, it's a process for sure.
Speaker 2:And as I went, was going along, I knew from my previous experience finding a publisher was going to be really, really hard. So I looked at hybrid publishing. I found out that cost $35,000. And maybe again I'm not saying then you're left with self-publishing. So I had, you know, found a couple of self-publishing sites and I ordered a couple of their books and I, for the one, I was not happy.
Speaker 2:I was like, oh my gosh, is my book going to look like this if I self-publish? For me it was kind of. You know, I'm sure the person tried hard, but they had a purple rug with black writing and I couldn't read it, you know. So just the actual formatting of the book and to me just looked too wordy and I'm like, oh, I need someone to kind of guide me here. And I honestly, honest to God, don't even remember how I found this woman, but her name is Lois Hoffman and she's a person that helps people self-publish. She's one of you know a lot of people out there, and so I called her, had a 30 minute free consult and she's the one that helped me. Like, hey, you need to decide on the size, you need to decide on the finish? Is it going to be glossy? Is it going to be matte? Is you know, this is how you get it on Ingram, this is how you get it on KDP. So, lois, for me it was a very, very affordable option. She only was, you know, $2,000. So and then I was like you know again, do I want to spend the 2,000? You're like, oh God, you know I'm, I'm still a piece milling. So for me, even 2,000, it was like am I doing this? What should I do? And I just freaking did it. I'm like I believe in this, I believe in the story, I'm doing it.
Speaker 2:And yeah, so for anyone interested, the illustrators was another really interesting thing. I asked two of my friends that are really good artists. One guy even designs boxes for a famous toy company. He reads it takes two weeks. He's all enthusiastic, calls me back Andy, I love this, can't do it. And I'm like what do you mean? I don't have time. And then my other friend, same thing I love this, can't do it. And I'm like what do you mean? I don't have time. And then my other friend, same thing Love the story, don't have time. And I'm like what do you mean? They don't have time, like, how long can it take, you know? And then it takes a while. So yeah, big name illustrators out there they command 40 grand for a book.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I was like wow so, so how? So how did you find your illustrator? I went online. I looked at a site called Fiverr.
Speaker 1:Fiverr. I had a feeling, I said she probably Fiverr, which is a good and and I'm not talking against Fiverr, but anybody out there google Fiverr. But anybody out there Google Fiverr. I think it's F-I-V-E-R-R I think, or something like that. You can find so many freelance people and I'm talking like excellent people. Of course, you have to look and see what you know others are saying about them, looking at their work, but Fiverr is a hubbub of very good quality people out there. Okay, and what is your illustrator thing?
Speaker 2:So here's my story about that though.
Speaker 2:Okay, I am about to lock the deal in with the illustrator that I've been going back and forth with. We've been talking. She sounds excellent. I feel like she sees the vision. Right before I'm about to send her the money, she emails me and says I'm from the Ukraine, there's a war, I'm out, and so again, like you're, you're like moving forward, and then you get a big brick wall in front of you again. So of course I felt bad for her and then that took me a couple weeks. I'm just you know, not that we were friendly, but I mean, you know, whatever, I just felt bad. I'm another human being and she was going through something really bad. So then took me a couple of weeks. I'm just you know, not that we were friendly, but I mean, you know, whatever, I just felt bad. I'm another human being and she was going through something really bad. So then took me a couple of months to regroup. And then I was just at a family party.
Speaker 2:I see someone's tattoo. I loved it. I said I love your tattoo. She goes, that guy drew it. That guy became my illustrator. What is his name? His name is Jay Ash. Jay did 90% and then had to stop the project. I walked into a coffee shop totally freaking out. I had six months to six weeks to my deadline. Just yelled out in this local coffee shop that I go to who's the most artistic person in here?
Speaker 1:They all point to Aaron McGrain. Aaron finished it off, oh my goodness. Okay, so let's talk about this girl. How did you stay resilient in this process, because it wasn't just all smooth, easy peasy. Tell me about how you develop that resiliency to not just bounce back, but to also keep going and to persevere. How in the world did you do that?
Speaker 2:That is a great question and the short answer is my mom was a very, very resilient person. She had cancer for 13 years. She was only supposed to last three. She just forged on with her little indomitable will and I was like she provided an unbelievable example for me. So it's always kind of inside of me, but the real, you know, the thing that surfaced throughout this was the therapy I was doing with that therapist.
Speaker 2:She taught me about self-compassion I was doing with that therapist. She taught me about self-compassion, which, I'm going to be 100% honest, I thought was a bunch of BS. Right, I'm like this is just a pity party. I'm like what do you mean? Self-compassion? I'm not going to talk to myself. Like I'm a friend, like this is waste of time, like initially that was my reaction. I'm like and she convinced me because I'm, you know, with my scientific background there's a doctor called. Her name is Dr Kristen Neff. She has spent her entire career studying self-compassion. She has free resources on her website which I'm happy to share with you so you can share it with your listeners.
Speaker 2:I started listening to these and they're five, seven minutes a piece. They're nothing big. It's no big time investment. And the therapist convinced me, like hey, there's evidence they're nothing big, it's no big time investment. And the therapist convinced me, like hey, there's evidence-based research here behind this.
Speaker 2:Your nervous system responds better to when you talk to yourself just like a supportive friend, instead of beating yourself up. So I figured, whatever I've come this far with you, I'll trust you on this and I'll dive into this and I'll see how it goes. And that was another thing that helped me build the resistance that I needed, for when these setbacks came, it wasn't like oh, like I wasn't saying to myself oh, you suck, you're never going to get done. I told you you couldn't get published. There was none of that negative self-talk, none of that critic popping up. I mean, I shouldn't say never, but you know, once in a while the critic surfaces. But then I now I have these tools, like you know, all right to give myself a little grace and say, hey, I'm human and maybe I can still keep going, even despite the obstacles.
Speaker 1:What about the moment when you finally felt that first copy of the book in your hand? Take us to that moment and what that meant to you.
Speaker 2:That was relief, exhilaration and just so joyful. You know, and a lot of times like it's funny, like I felt myself not giving myself that opportunity to feel that good feeling. You know, you get kind of conditioned, like maybe you have a lot of tribulations and you're just kind of used to being in the grind and feeling all the challenges, but then when joy pops up, you're kind of like what the heck is this, like you know, push it down. So when I, when I finally got that book and held it, it was like I the heck is this, like you know, push it down. So when I, when I finally got that book and held it, it was like I, freaking, did this man? I can do it, other people can do it.
Speaker 1:That's right, that's right, and so then it's. It's, it's your efforts, it's your vision, all of that coming to fruition, but for you, it was also evidence of the fact that you did not release a dream and a goal you had. Maybe the idea was different from its original inception, but the fact is you knew that deep down inside, there was a book waiting to be birthed from you, and while the timing wasn't what you felt or thought was going to be timing, the timing actually was, in fact, perfect, and so, now that you have this baby in your hands, okay, it's now time to take this book and let others know about it. So tell us about your marketing strategy in terms of how do you determine what schools you're going to go through and, overall, how has the book been received by readers in terms of kids in schools, libraries, bookstores, etc.
Speaker 2:The book. The response has been unbelievable and so heartwarming, humbling and the whole thing like I can't even get over it. Lois told me, you know, she was basically tempering my expectations, which is very smart, because usually indie authors on average sell 10 books per week. You know my book is seasonal, so really my season is October to January and during that first year I was selling 220 books a week. So I was blowing her numbers out of the water just in terms of an indie. Her numbers out of the water just in terms of an indie. But the not be. You know, people were just so gracious and at first you're just you can't believe it, you're just shocked, like and and again. It really in the beginning like I'm like, okay, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. It is wonderful to get a positive response, of course, because then it just means people like it and it's it's saying something else.
Speaker 2:Um, I love going into schools and I've learned for anyone out there that's trying to get author visits, probably the best way is the media specialist slash librarian. Sometimes they have to run it by their principal, but that's usually my point of contact and when I establish that, get in there, share the story, I love opening it up for the Q&A. These kids have amazing ideas for sequels and I tell them about all my ideas for products and how I want to see this grow and they get into it and they throw their two cents in and it's just a lot of fun. I ask them what they like to do at the beach. I ask them what their favorite books are. So we have a good time. I love going and doing those. So, yeah, it's been a lot more than I could have ever expected. The weird thing you know you're walking down your hometown or you know where you live now and you're like oh, there's a bookstore and I can't wait to see my book in the window.
Speaker 2:And a little known fact is that indie bookstores don't really support for the most part not all, but most of the time they don't support indie authors. At first your feelings get hurt. What do you mean? I can't put my book in here, and I understand it. Now they're running a business, just like I'm trying to run a business. Usually it's a space issue. Sometimes the margins don't line up with what they want the margins to be, and I totally understand. You know it doesn't work. It doesn't work. Yeah, I am totally fine with rejection. If you say no, thank you, I'm out, I'm out and that's, that's I'm fine, I'm fine with that. If you say, yes, awesome. If you say maybe, maybe, then I have to become a pain and keep following up with you and keep checking in and then I feel like I don't like being a pain in the butt, like I don't enjoy that at all.
Speaker 1:If you just say, no, I'm cool, just whatever you know that part I did know is that people who are indie or self-published do have a harder time as opposed to a writer who either goes like a hybrid model or through a traditional publisher. But I think it speaks to your resiliency, but also your tenacity and your endurance, to say that, regardless, I'm going to keep going. Have you encountered, though I do know, certain bookstores, especially in the DC area? I can't necessarily speak for Jersey, but in the DC area and in more urban areas and you and I talked, and I know that you're from Jersey and my mom was too, but I know well is mom's still living.
Speaker 1:But I know that for people that are unfamiliar with Jersey, it's just not Newark, it's just not the city, it's just not urban, because I've had family on the Jersey shore and Jersey is a really diverse state. That's why it's called the Garden State. It's really very beautiful in certain places. When it comes to you know nature, and so I think MB speaks to. Something important is that people might think, well, she's in Jersey, that's close to New York City. I'm sure there are bookstores who would take her books, but I was saying that in DC there's certain bookstores that only specialize in the like smaller name authors, indie authors, but a lot of places don't necessarily have that, and so, in terms of where you market the most, is it mainly in the New England area or do you distribute nationwide? Tell us about that aspect of it.
Speaker 2:Well, so far, because I am 22 months into this, okay, and I am really. I get out there, I get out there on my little two feet and I walk into stores and I try to sell my book. Now I've noticed that if bookstores don't want it, perhaps there's another gift store in town that will take it. Okay. And the beautiful part too is, like, for me it's a short sell season, like, so I can say, hey, could you maybe just try this for one month? You know, cause my book is beach Santa.
Speaker 2:It's really themed towards, you know, the holiday, so I think I got that going for me. You know the holiday, so I think I got that going for me. You know they'll be like okay, maybe I'll just take it for that little six week period. Yeah, um, that's an idea. But I am also like I'm on a big mission here, alethea, like there's a lot of coastline and there's a lot of people. Even if you live in a state where there's not an ocean, you know you have lakes, you have little bays, you, so there's a lot of sandy areas where perhaps, you know, people like to visit and look for shells or what have you. So I'm really, really psyched about two big things I just got invited to and again this took me a long time I just got invited to be the guest author at the Gator Bowl Christmas party.
Speaker 1:Oh, congratulations, it's going to be in December, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2:And that's down in Jacksonville Florida.
Speaker 1:Florida.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm really hoping to. Um, I'm waiting to hear back, fingers crossed for an opportunity out in LA. Wow, so, and this is this is brand new. I'm actually putting this on my social media today and this is nuts and really, really far-fetched.
Speaker 1:but my new thing is the quest to sell 100k by new year's day and it can happen, and I believe that it will, and so so that we can support you in that, how can people people buy your book?
Speaker 2:You can find the book on Amazon If you just type in Beach Santa, mb Paradise, as in Mary Beth, but MB Paradise. Or if you just go to my website. It's right there on the homepage. My website is mbparadisecom and if there's anyone like I, have special bulk pricing available. Anyone that wants to buy 20 or more books. Say, you have a company and you're doing a little Christmas party and you think this would be cool. But I offer a lot of things on my website, a lot of free stuff you can download free coloring pages, there's free activity pages, there's scavenger hunt ideas, and I would just love to share the story with a broader audience. And yeah, that's what I'm doing.
Speaker 1:And also if there's any listener out there and I mean this regardless of the state you're in if you know any bookstore owners, booksellers, vendors, things of that nature that you know or can connect or coordinate with, you can also contact me directly, you can email me, you can leave a comment, something where, if you think that you know a place where MB could get her book sold in, maybe it's a place that she hasn't considered, or something of that nature, please, please, please, please.
Speaker 1:I do ask of you to let me know. Or, if you want to contact MB directly, that's fine as well, but we want to spread this word, and I also know of. I have some contacts up in Canada, including some book publishers, as well as writing coaches and things like that too, and if you're open to it, I would love to tell them about your book too, because, who knows, maybe they can even get it into some stores up in Canada, and that could be great as well. So, yeah, so. So, embi, as we come to a close here, what has this taught you the most about yourself?
Speaker 2:this entrepreneurial side of me. When I was younger I painted houses just to get through, you know, high school and college. I painted interior and I loved making my own hours and kind of the challenge of it all. I kind of lost that. I lost sight of what my professional dreams even were after a while because I was such a caregiver for so many people for so many years. So it has taught me that, even though I didn't even know what my dream was anymore, just by showing up, by being more open minded things, possibilities do present themselves and I'm really grateful and thankful that they did.
Speaker 1:And what would you say to somebody say, listener, who wants to write a book? Or maybe they already have and the sales aren't going as well as they want it to, and maybe they're just starting to lose hope in their dreams of writing or continuing to write. What would you say to them?
Speaker 2:Believe in yourself. Believe in you. You can do it. It's not easy. It's really not an easy industry, but it doesn't matter if the store turned you down, it doesn't matter if someone said they didn't like it. If you like it, you believe in it. Keep pushing.
Speaker 1:MB, it is such an honor to know you, such an honor to have had you as our guest today on the Power Transformation podcast. Please, everyone, support Beach Santa by MB Paradise. Please get it. Buy it, get it for Christmas gifts, get it for birthday celebrations. Support and promote this book. I think that it has a beautiful lesson behind it, message behind it and, MB, I look forward to more writings and books from you in the future. And again, thank you for being a guest on the Power Transformation Podcast. Thank you so much, Alicia. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Power Transformation Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow or subscribe, leave a five-star rating and write a review. It helps us inspire even more listeners. And don't keep it to yourself. Share it with someone who could use a little power in their transformation. Until next time, keep bouncing back, keep rising and be good to yourself and to others.
