We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Black Girl, Brown Girl Books LLC a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Black Girl, Brown Girl Books, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.
Imposter Syndrome is real and has Black and Brown women, we’ve often doubted our questioned our place in professional settings. The funny thing about imposter syndrome is that you only experience it when in fact you’re successful and doing well. The literal definition of imposter syndrome is “the condition of feeling anxious and not experiencing success internally, despite being high-performing in external, objective ways. This condition often results in people feeling like “a fraud” or “a phony” and doubting their abilities.” I think we both often doubted ourselves because there were very few folks that looked like us in the same professional spaces and society will try it’s best to get you to believe that whiteness is the way, white supremacy culture is real. The blessing in both of our lives has been that we have family, friends, and colleagues that affirm us in both our personal and professional lives, but most importantly, we know that we are deserving of everything we’ve earned professionally and the intentional work we’re doing through our publishing company, Black Girl, Brown Girl Books, and the mental health, early childhood education and research work we’re doing in our communities to ensure that Black and Brown children, families, individuals, and communities are represented. We know our work and mission is bigger than us and that outweighs any impact or influence that imposter syndrome can have on us.
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?
We’re most excited about having total control of our story, our narrative, and the intentional work we’re doing so that Black and Brown children and communities are represented in children’s books. After working several years in early childhood settings and witnessing firsthand the lack of diversity in books for children of color, We made it our mission to make a difference. In 2019, they co-founded Black Girl, Brown Girl Books and began their journey into the world of children’s book publishing with the specific intention of expanding the representation of Black and Brown characters in early literature. Our friendship story began in elementary school and has flourished for over 30 years. Both were born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, where they met on the playground at Figueroa Street Elementary School. Through the years, We organically learned about each other’s background and culture and became more than just close friends. They shared family customs, history, and food with each other and grew closer with each shared experience.
Despite attending different high schools and colleges, We both studied early childhood development and earned a Master’s in Social Work. Our paths converged again in adulthood and the idea for Black Girl, Brown Girl Books was born. A shared frustration with the lack of representation of Black and Brown characters in children’s literature was transformed into a shared passion and realized dream.
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?
Our brand is built on the belief that representation matters and the beauty that comes with pride in the color of your skin, where you’re from (city/neighborhood), and self-love. Often Black and Brown children, especially those from South Central Los Angeles, aren’t represented in children’s literature. As Black and Brown women business owners, authenticity is foundational for us. It’s important that we are honoring who we are as women of color and using our creative talents to highlight the beauty in diversity for children, families, and communities. We’d have to say that our success is due to a few important factors. 1. We believe in the work we’re doing, so much so that we’ve invested personal financial resources and time into our business. 2. Authenticity, we name Black and Brown communities. We highlight, name, and celebrate neighborhoods that aren’t normally seen in a positive light in the media (books). 3. Partnerships with local businesses, school districts, and community members. Support from family and friends has also been a major contributor to our success. 4. Ownership of our brand and publishing company allows us to tell and share our stories in a way that is authentic and special to us, in hopes to connect with our readers.
Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
Although, we’re the owners, founders and faces behind the Black Girl, Brown Girl, Books brand/business, we’ve had and continue to have so much love and support. We definitely have a few folks/ category of folks we’d love to shoutout Thomishia Booker- Hey Carter! Book https://heycarterbooks.com/ Our children’s book publishing mentor from start to finish.
Figueroa Street Elementary School. Our very own elementary school, where we (Co-Founders Crystal and Ingrid) met and the setting for our Soul Sisters book. Figueroa Elementary School has been a strong supporter of Black Girl, Brown Girl Books from the start. They purchased over 450 books, enough for each student and staff member to have their very own copy.
Human Rights Commission. Dr. Sheryl Davis, hosted our very first Authors Chat/Book Signing event in San Francisco and purchased the remaining books we had in stock. Resulting in us officially selling out of our first children’s book, Soul Sisters.
Tandem, Patterns in Early Learning. Our partnership with Tandem provided us with the opportunity to have our book, Soul Sisters included in the StoryCycle school-to-home book lending program that provides children with diverse books in order to create more opportunities for book-sharing experiences at school and at home. The selected books intentionally reflect the cultural and linguistic diversity of the communities we serve.
LAUSD utilized their funding to purchase hundreds of copies of Soul Sisters as a tool for educators, students and families to have age developmentally appropriate conversations about race, culture, diversity, differences and friendship.
Family and Friends have shown us unconditional love, encouragement and support from the very beginning.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.blackgirlbrowngirlbooks.com
- Instagram: @blackgirl_browngirl
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BGBGBooks
