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

Hi Cherelle, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Well I believe we all consciously and subconsciously take risks everyday. Every choice you make could lead to a risk resulting in a potentially good or bad outcome. There are thousands of examples we could reference in history and how so many risks has helped shaped this world to what we know it be be today, and that is a combination of the pains along with the pleasures. Some may perceive a “risk taker” as being a bit extreme, but I believe taking risks plays a crucial role in creating that balance throughout a persons lifetime.

Taking risks definitely withdraws you from your comfort zone, but my experiences have taught me that sometimes when you’re most uncomfortable is when you actually come to discover many truths about yourself or your surroundings. An example is I am typically a private person, so naturally I was a little apprehensive and scared when my brother presented me with his idea of transforming my three young daughters into mini cosmic superheroes through the lane of literature, and that I would have to assist in co-writing it. From that moment I knew this process would remove me from my comfort zone because the goal is to reach the masses by delivering an empowering message through children’s literature yet I’m an introvert. But if I did not take that risk to co-create and co-author our children’s book series “The Elle Rays”, I would not be having this interview right now, and I would not have had the honor to collaborate with other platforms including this one to help us spread our message of self-evolution.

My three daughters are the inspiration behind my journey of self-discovery so every choice I’ve made up to this point was a risk, and if I had to do it all over again I would. I couldn’t imagine a world without risk takers, it would be a pretty boring world. Would civilizations have evolved without risk takers? How do you make progress without taking a risk? It’s almost impossible to fathom but I think in the journey of finding one’s purpose a risk has to be taken.

What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
The Elle Rays brand is very unique in terms of children’s literature as it is the first of its kind for an early readers series to incorporate short chapters. Some may even refer to it as an advanced early readers book series. With our target audience being generation alpha, which are children 9 and under, we wanted to entertain the early reader and also introduce them to the traditional art of storytelling by the use of ACT I, ACT II and ACT III. The outline we applied to the series sparks that curiosity and anticipation for the young reader to want to know what will happen next by reading on. The continuation into the next short chapter then fulfills that curiosity. We’ve received so much positive feedback with regard to the story’s message and layout of the series, as well as the vivid eye catching illustrations. Our mission is to empower and condition our youth with powerful positive imagery that will ignite that confidence in our early readers to know the power they have within, and what better way to do that than through literature.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Being fairly new to Georgia I’m still exploring and have yet to scratch the surface of things to do. As a single parent of three who juggles a heavy workload, kids school, The Elle Rays brand, and daily after school activities, our outings to various parks, libraries or other kid friendly centers like the Georgia Aquarium or the Center For Puppetry Arts just to name a few are always exciting. Parents looking for a live family show to take the kids to I do highly recommend reserving tickets for a showing at the Aurora Theatre, you won’t be disappointed.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

First and foremost the most high deserves the initial credit for the ability to manifest itself through all things. My family is my biggest support system and I’m truly grateful for them. Within that system I have to give recognition for “The Elle Rays” brand to my brother Amari Yarbrough who is the mind and co-author of the children’s book series. If it wasn’t for his vision of seeing an alternative to female action and adventure and showcasing it through the lenses of my three daughters I wouldn’t have this story of me becoming a children’s book author to tell.

When I asked myself how can I take my testament of self-evolution and disseminate it to the youth, primarily our young black girls, a few days later Amari comes to me with an idea that came to him about a children’s book series after seeing my three daughters preschool graduation picture. Amari is a seasoned writer and freelance editor who has already self-published a few novels and children’s book, so when he came to me with his epiphany I knew at that moment it had a divine purpose attached to it. We were able to infuse his ideas of showcasing these kid female superheroes with my Kemetic Science studies and create a phenomenal concept and storyline for a children’s book series that we hope to become a household name for children and families throughout America and abroad.

Website: www.theellerays.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theellerays/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLvuPNCoXS-XT7NJjtS2NTw

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