Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jennifer Elizabeth Frances . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jennifer, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
I think developing confidence and self-esteem is an ongoing journey. Part of that journey is realizing that you’re never done learning. It’ is also a willingness to be wrong so that you can continue to learn and grow. When I started the book bus, I didn’t start it thinking I had all of the answers or knowing exactly what to do. I started the book bus because I was full of questions. I was looking for the missing pieces in our community and the way that I could be helpful. One of the most important things I have learned on this journey is that success is directly related to the people you surround yourself with. Having people that you can learn from that will tell you when you are making a misstep and help guide you through is critical. I was also fortunate to grow up with parents who taught me to believe in myself. They taught me to trust my gut, follow my dreams and never surrender.
They taught me that failure is really just a redirection. That became a core part of my personality. It helped me to learn to see obstacles as opportunities for growth. The last three years have been incredibly challenging. Our organization has grown and evolved quite a bit during that time. Growth is never comfortable, I am grateful for the challenges that growth has brought. It has made our organization stronger and more impactful.
I attribute this to the people I am surrounded by. My coworker Michelle Box, my Board of Directors, long term community partners and my friends and family. People that believed in me when I faltered or was questioning my belief in myself.
My friends, family and book bus teammates are the reason I am here today talking to you.
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?
Bess the Book Bus is a mobile literacy outreach dedicated to narrowing the academic achievement gap by bringing the joy of reading and book ownership to families and educators in our most vulnerable neighborhood. We believe that access to and choice of high-quality books to take home and keep is critical to generating excitement about reading and building the foundation of literacy. We visit schools, preschools, after school and summer programs in economically vulnerable neighborhoods across the USA. We arrive in our festive bus and host Joy of Reading Pop Up Book Fairs. Students get to choose free books to take home and keep and educators get to choose books for their classroom library. We return to these schools multiple times each year to build a culture of reading . Often times, reading is presented to children as a chore, something that they have to do to improve test scores or to complete an assignment. We are the antithesis to that. We believe that joyful reading is the foundation for a lifetime of learning. I bet each of you remember book fair day at your school and how excited you were to pick the book you had been waiting to read or maybe a book that you had read and loved so much you wanted your own copy. We make sure that this experience is possible despite economic barriers.
Seeing the kids faces as they choose their new books is priceless. They are so excited to get to choose the book they want to read. It is also fun to watch teachers choose books. They are as excited as the kids. There are also moments when students and teachers choose books they want to read together for the classroom. Experiencing these events leaves no doubt that kids love books. It reinforces our belief that choice, access and joy are key components to building a love reading.
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?
Passion for our mission, resilience during trying times and a strong team are what have made us successful. Most importantly, you have to believe in what you do and love it beyond measure. A nonprofit organization is a living thing. It takes love, dedication, patience, fortitude and countless hours to keep it thriving. There will be 15+ hour days and sleepless nights. There will be moments you are down to your last penny and moments of bounty. There will be laughing and crying. There are going to be times that are so difficult you want to run . There will be moments that you ask yourself what you have gotten yourself into. And there will be moments that are so rewarding and so beautiful you will question how you are the one fortunate enough to be living those moments. You have to be ready for all of them. Sometimes they come on the same day. I feel one of our best traits is our ability to be nimble and to adjust to circumstances beyond our control. And I’ll say it again, surround yourself with people that you can trust. People that have qualities you don’t so that you can learn from them . People that believe in you and that will give you honest feedback, even if it’s not necessarily what you want to hear.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
Collaboration is key to building healthier communities. We are looking for people, businesses or organizations that may want to adopt one of our local schools so that we can provide Joy of Reading Pop Up Book Fairs for them. Each of the adopted schools would receive four book fairs during the school year. They also provide an opportunity for volunteers to participate at these events. Anyone interested can contact us at bessthebookbus@gmail.com.
Contact Info:
- Website: bessthebookbus.org
- Instagram: bessthebookbus
- Facebook: Bess the Book Bus
- Twitter: @BookBess
