Meet Vontavia J. Heard

 

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Vontavia J. Heard a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Vontavia J., we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

Through trial and error. I’ve always known that I was a creative, but I had to try and fail at many things before I found the thing that felt right for me, and that was writing.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I run an organization called Reader, Writer, Storyteller, which promotes child literacy through classroom author visits and workshops. I am also a children’s book author myself. Every book I write has its own unique message and purpose, but MY goal is to inspire children to become readers and writers.

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?

The ability to validate myself internally was very important. When you do anything in the arts, you have to realize that you might not ever get any sort of validation from other people. Even though I personally had a great familial support system, I still had to learn how to have faith in my craft. Another skill I had to have was the ability to accept criticism. It wasn’t always the easiest thing to do, but I knew that I had to or I would not last very long in the literary world. The third skill was the ability to adapt. Things rarely go as planned, and so I had to learn to adapt to surprises and new circumstances.

Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?

When I am feeling overwhelmed, I take step back and unwind by doing something I enjoy, like getting lost in a book or TV show. Doing something that relaxes you can give you a new perspective on things.

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