Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Elizabeth Albert-Peacock. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Elizabeth, you’ve got such an interesting story, but before we jump into that, let’s first talk about a topic near and dear to us – generosity. We think success, happiness and wellbeing depends on authentic generosity and empathy and so we’d love to hear about how you become such a generous person – where do you think your generosity comes from?
I grew up in a large family with 5 children. My parents divorced when I was 10 and both remarried and each had two more children and my mother married a man who had two children. I learned early on that being selfish was the biggest “sin” of all. Being one of the older children, I had a lot of responsibility.
Caretaking was foremost, helping out with housework, childcare, running errands, problem solving, etc.
Now that I am older and have succeeded in life I do whatever I can for others. I find that the more I give, the more I receive back, and then I have more to give.
My father was volunteer of the year for our county. He was an honored Veteran and did a lot for the community, especially for the VFW, he held a lot of positions in the Vets programs and he was Post Commander. He volunteered driving Vets to their medical appt.s 3 hours away and he played a trumpet and played taps at all the Vets funerals. He was a wonderful man and I believe he played a huge role in inspiring me to be generous with my time, my energy and my gifts. Do all you can for whoever you can.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am co-owner (with my husband of Black Bears and Blueberries Publishing. We are Native owned, Non-profit and we publish and sell Native books by Native writers and illustrators. The special thing about us is that we want to give Native people a voice. There are many books about Native Americans but not many by Native writers or Native illustrators. Our books are culturally relevant and reasonably priced. We have books all over the US and Canada.
My husband has been a writer for many years and has awards for most of his books. I started writing last year and have 6 books. One of them is bilingual, English and Ojibwemowin.
We love getting Native books into the Native community and read by Native children, who love seeing themselves in our books!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
My husband had the knowledge as he has worked with publishers for years and he knows the ins and outs. We both edit the stories that we decide to publish. I do the accounts receivable and he does the accounts payable. I am the marketer. There is a real need for Native books by Native writers, we have found our niche.
Advice: Find someone who you admire that you trust and want to be like or want to do the job they are doing. Learn all you can from them. Listen, learn and follow through. Fill out the forms and if you can’t, find someone to help you. Most people have trouble filling out the forms and give up. Don’t give up, get help.
Read all that you can, learn!
Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?
My biggest area of growth happened when my grandkids came to visit. My son asked me to tell them about my father and his boarding school experience. When they left, my husband said, “You should write a book about that for children. They are hearing about the graves they found in Canada and the US of the bodies of the Native kids who died in boarding schools. They need to hear the story.”
So having read a lot about boarding schools and I had taught classes at the University for students that were going to be teachers. I knew what happened there in those boarding schools, I knew I had to do it. I sat down and wrote it, it came easily, I knew I was supposed to write it and tell the story so that children could understand it.
Contact Info:
- Website: blackbearsandblueberries.com.
- Facebook: Elizabeth Albert-Peacock
Image Credits
Illustrator Anna Granholm
