Meet Mia Wenjen

We recently connected with Mia Wenjen and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Mia, so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today. The first one we want to jump into is about being the only one in the room – for some that’s being the only person of color or the only non-native English speaker or the only non-MBA, etc Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were the only one in the room that looked like you?

I think it’s important to set personal goals and know that it’s okay to start at the beginning when you are bad at something. Being the only one in the room that looks like me is definitely something that I notice, but I don’t let it become a factor in terms of how I interact. It’s more about being my authentic self than representing my race or culture. And being humble but confident.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

My nonprofit, Read Your World, is in its 13th year. We will celebrate diverse children’s book with a virtual party on January 30, 2025 at 9 pm EST.

Sign up to win free book bundles as we discuss diversity in children’s book publishing:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAodeCurzMuH9bdfhgHatp097FjaywB6VVJ#/registration

At Read Your World, we envision a world where all children have equal access to literature that reflects the diversity of human experiences. By promoting and distributing diverse books and highlighting diverse authors, we strive to create a future where every child feels seen, valued, and inspired by the stories they read, leading to a more empathetic and inclusive society. Help us keep kids reading with Read Your World Day!

Together, we can change the world one book at a time.

Support us here: https://givebutter.com/pei3OD

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Don’t be afraid to fail.

Learn from your mistakes.

Rinse, repeat.

I was a dorm room entrepreneur and started a company, Aquent.com, with two friends. 37+ years later, we are a global work solutions company, helping to guide businesses toward the talent, technology, and services they need to create a better future of work.

But when my second child was born, I became a stay-at-home mom. When my third child was in preschool, I started a blog, PragmaticMom.com, to share the great diverse books and “after-schooling” education that I was doing with my children. This was 15 years ago.

When I realized that the number of diverse books had not changed in 14 years, I decided to focus my blog on highlighting the great diverse children’s book out there because I felt like no one knew about them. This led to starting a nonprofit, ReadYourWorld.org, to get diverse books into the hands of readers.

Slowly but surely, the publishing world became a little more inclusive. I started writing children’s books about 7 years ago. My debut picture book, Sumo Joe, came out in 2019. I have 5 children’s books out into the world, with 7 more under contract.

And how did this all come about? Making mistakes. Learning from failure. And getting back on the horse.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

My parents took me to the public library once a week on a Friday after school. I was allowed to check out ten books. We really didn’t go to bookstores at all and I owned a very small collection of mostly used books. It was the public library that introduced me to the wider world both past, present, and future (or just in a made-up world).

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