Meet Elissa Vassar: Writer & Operations Manager

We had the good fortune of connecting with Elissa Vassar and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Elissa, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I’ve always been a risk taker. I jump before I think about falling and getting hurt. In my writing career, I had the opportunity to use a publisher which would’ve helped me greatly with getting the word out and so forth with my brand, but I had choice 1. Sign with them and have my marketing controlled and writing censored 2. Self publish, edit, and design my books and have complete creative freedom and no censoring. I picked option two. It was a major risk, because there’s no team behind me to back me up, no one to help with editing, and no company helping push my books. I’m grateful I picked option two. I’ve had support from family and friends, I can publish at my own pace, and I can give my brand the image and ideals that I want it to have.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
So truthfully, by day I am an operations and marketing manager for Prime Finds Liquidation in Alpharetta! I’ve been in management from the time I was 19 years old, but started with Prime Finds right as COVID-19 hit the states. My company is amazing, the owner has helped me enhance my managerial skills so much and it’s amazing in this day and age to work for a company that cares about you as family, and doesn’t just make work about work, its about the team. As far as writing, it’s been a scary thing for me. I write poetry and prose, and everything I write is from my heart, my feelings, and most importantly my own experiences. Sharing those with the world and opening yourself up to that type of judgement is almost petrifying. I was able to get through it from the support of my friends and family always reminding me that I have a story to tell. I’ve learned a lot of lessons. I learned how to take criticism (wanted and unwanted), how to be more open and understanding, I’ve become much more expressive since I started writing, and so much more that would take pages and pages to explain. What I think sets me apart in my writing is the fact that I am completely 100% raw and honest. I don’t hold anything back, I don’t censor anything, and I let my truth be the full truth. What I want my brand to be known for is it’s honesty and relatability. There are hundreds of people who share similar feelings and experiences that I’ve gone through but don’t have the words or ability to express it, so if me sharing my story and my words helps even ONE person, that’s enough for me.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If my best friend was in town it would go like this: Breakfast: Cinnaholic… if you’ve never been there you a truly depriving yourself of some of the most AMAZING cinnamon rolls you can have, anything you can think of.. they make. We’d definitely go for a hike at Vickery Creek at Roswell Mill. Dinner would have to be at Rock N Taco, margs are bomb and food is even better. Skyline at Ponce is a must, so is walking the beltline and going to Little 5 points. At night we’d hit up Believe Music Hall to see all my favorites and catch a show, because I’m also a bottle girl there too on the weekend. The next day would be the relaxing day by going to R.Thomas for brunch and hitting up the aquarium afterward.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My shout out would have to be to my son, and my two best friends Katie and Rome. My son pushes me every day to be better and serves as a reminder to me to never give up on my dreams. To my two best friends, they’ve read drafts, helped me name chapters, let me vent, and have always supported me as a writer telling me my words need to be out there and how much they can help me. Without the 3 of them I would not have had the courage to publish my first book, In My Head.

Website: https://literallyliss.home.blog/
Instagram: @blameliss

Image Credits
Steph Johnson (@mxxkxxgxx) for pink hair picture and flower