Meet Erica Lopez

We were lucky to catch up with Erica Lopez recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Erica, 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?

Generosity is so powerful and needed in this world. I think when a person goes through traumatic experiences and pain in some ways they build empathy. I launched Daxson Publishing because art saves lives, and it is very healing. I also teach high school English, and personally it is when children or teenagers are experiencing heart break or loneliness boy I can relate so much, and so I try to create a safe space in my classroom for students, and also through my publishing company I am dedicated to publishing marginalized voices. This year through my school I am publishing seven student authors with their own books, and I am beyond proud of their work. Three of the books have trigger warnings because they deal with highly sensitive topics, but they are raw, vulnerable, and truthful, and I applaud their courage in strength in speaking their voice. My other student is an immigrant from Nicaragua, and she has only been here for one year and a half and she wrote a poetry book in Spanish. Another one of my students made a photography book. I am strong believer that whenever you give to the world, it gives back to you, and for me; my vision is that I help the world by helping people unleash their silent voice, and by doing this it helps others in the world feel less alone. Additionally, when things are very difficult for me, I always ask myself how can I give today, or what random act of kindness can I do to make this world a better place, and when you give and our generous your world gets bigger, and you realize that your problems or issues are small in the grand scheme of things. Lastly, Jim Rohn said when you focus on helping others get what they want, you eventually get what you want in the process.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I love my job and my business. I am living the dream because of the passion I have for the work I do. I love to teach because of the students. I grow every year because of them, and for me it is my way of making my mark on the world. I love publishing because I know when a person publishes a book, they are never the same. I started my company in March of last year and by the end of July we will have a total of fifteen books published. This does not include the eight books I am publishing through my school this year. And it is so important for me because each time a book is published it elevates a person, and they believe in themselves a bit more. I became a teacher because there were teachers who cared enough about me to see me through, and I want to be that for my students. In my publishing business, I want to be there for my authors. I want to support them in any way I can, and I want to help them publish their books and create something that we both can be proud of. I am dedicated to publishing marginalized voices, and I want to help as many people as I can publish their books. I am always looking for authors so if anyone out there has a manuscript email it to daxsonpublishing@gmail.com. I try to publish books that fit with our niche, so if a book does not fit with our niche of difficult stories that end in empowerment, then we are offering a new service to walk authors through the self-publishing process for 300.00, 100 page manuscript feedback 150.00, and we will be launching a new branch in our publishing house called Commemorative books, and these are private books that we publish for family and friends. It could be a book to celebrate an anniversary, graduation, or an in loving memory book. The client gives us all the pictures, all the text, and we make a book for them, and they can order copies for themselves, or others and they are private for the family only. On May 23rd we have Jeffery Martin’s book release at Los Libros in Lincoln Heights. On June 14th Esteban Miranda will have his book release at Los Libros as well. Ely Lupe will have her book release and Plantitas in Long Beach on June 22nd, and on July 12th we will have Jess Saravia’s book release at Cafe con Libros, and in August we will have Hope Cerna’s book and Milo Santamaria’s book release. Follow us on IG to keep track. I also want to shout out my seven students who were courageous enough to author their books Leland Morales, Jakob Belloso, Brianna Troncoso, Katlyn Borge Ortega, Lola Fernandez, Angie Santana. and Jacqueline Galvan.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

This is a hard question because people are exactly where they should be at the moment, but if they want more they have to focus on personal growth. We can be our worst enemy just simply by the way we talk to ourselves, and what I have noticed for myself is that when my negative voice wants to judge me and put me down; I quickly self-correct and say no you are amazing and you have impacted lives stay the course. However, that does not happen overnight, you have to practice talking to yourself as if you are talking to your best friend, and for me that only happens through personal growth. I am dedicated to self-development, and I have spent a lot of money on growing my thinking and changing my beliefs. Yes, finding an amazing coach is helpful, but not necessary because there is so much you can do to grow on YouTube, books, podcasts, and the list is endless. When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. Einstein said you cannot solve a problem with the same mind that created it, and that is why personal growth is key. If you have a goal or vision for your life, then study those who have achieved before you and do what they did but always be serving. Invest in yourself. Do not be afraid to invest in yourself. You are your most valuable asset, so take classes, or train yourself to operate at a higher vibration and if that takes an investment then do it but be reasonable as well. I learned how to publish books by taking a class at the local community college, and I was mentored by Nervous Ghost Press owner Matthew Mejia. I invested in myself, and he changed my life. Lastly, you only fail if you quit. In the first year of my business I was having a difficult time, and I struggled to create the spine for my first couple of books, and I wanted to quit, and there was one day I just wanted to hide under the covers, but after I calmed down. I said to myself, there are authors who need you, and if you do not learn, their books will not get published, and then I thought about my students, and realized I could not quit and I needed to keep going, so I whenever you feel like you are done always remember they are people out there who are counting on your success, so you can help them. I guess the most important quality a person needs to have is the right mindset, the dedication to always personally grow, invest in yourself because you are most prized possession, and lastly the world needs you, and they need you to keep going and not quit because you are destined to make an impact in this world. Another thing time is the one commodity you can never get back, so be very intentional with your time.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

The book that has changed my life is The Travelers Gift by Andy Andrews. This is a fiction book about a man on his journey to figure out his life in the depths of desperation. He gets into a bad car accident, and in the hospital almost like in a dream he meets major people in history, and gets presented seven scrolls, and each scroll is a decision for success. The first decision is called the buck stops here, and in this decision, you must stop making excuses and stop blaming others and take responsibility for your life. The next decision is you must seek wisdom, choose your friends with care, and always give to others and serve. This is the key because all the answers are out there, you must find the books, the speakers, and the podcast. The knowledge exists–go find it. Second, you are who you hang around with, and you need to hang out with people who have what you want so you can level up, and if not, then hang out with people who are your cheerleaders and people who believe in you. If you can build a strong community or people like you, who you know truly love you and are there for you, these people will lift you up when you are down, and you need that. Always find ways to serve others through random acts of kindness or other intentional acts of service. The next decision is taking action and have the mentality of always doing the most productive thing possible. The next decision is be convicted in your vision, so convicted that nobody can touch that vision you have for your life because you know that you know it is going to come true. Decision five is the happiness decision which states that happiness is a choice, and depression cannot exist in a grateful heart, so I practice gratitude almost daily. Decision six is the hardest decision because it is the forgiveness decision, and letting go of the past, and healing from the pain. My take on forgiveness is that people operate at different vibrational levels, and if a person is offensive, and disrespectful that happens because they are operating at a low vibration, and you must realize that it is not you. They are doing what they are doing because they are not emotionally healthy enough to do the right thing, and if you operate at a high vibration, then whatever they do rolls off your back. I know this is hard because family members can often hurt us, but remember hurt people hurt others, and if they did the work to heal, they would not be hurting you, but we must accept them where they are. If you are at a high vibration, you can see that our family members are suffering too; otherwise, they would not be treating people badly. Acceptance is the key for this one. The last decision is the persistent decision, and it even uses the example of a child learning to walk. He says a child never quits even though he continues to fall, and that is what we must do because we are stronger than children. I teach these decisions to students in hopes they can get nuggets because anyone who follows these seven decisions can succeed if they keep going no matter what.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://daxsonpublishing.com
• Instagram: daxsonpublishing; ericalopez74
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ericalifecoaching