We had the good fortune of connecting with Shavon Carter and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Shavon, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
I started Purposed Publishing Company in 2011 after following a prompting to write a book. Since I was a little girl, I have always journaled to capture my thoughts and emotions, so I loved to write. In 2007 I started writing daily devotionals and emailing them to a group of family and friends. They started sharing them with others and my email list grew to over 1,000 subscribers. After writing the daily devotions for a few years, I was encouraged by a family friend to compile them in a book. When I started researching info about publishing a book, I realized there wasn’t a lot of information available about how to publish a book from beginning to end. I had to do a lot of researching and consulting with other authors to figure that out. Eventually, I published my first book “Living For Today: Inspirations for the Soul” and thought I would just publish my books. However, after publishing my autobiography “Dear Ms. Wholeness” in 2016, I was prompted to begin helping other authors publish their books. Remembering how overwhelming and challenging the publishing process was for my first book, I wanted to simplify the publishing process for authors so they could focus on creating. Now, we walk authors through the publishing process from book vision to publication.
What should our readers know about your business?
Purposed Publishing Company, LLC is a small, hybrid publishing company that operates to simplify the publishing process for our authors. Our mission is to publish powerful, non-fiction books from authors for the purpose of spreading hope, inspiration, and encouragement to the hearts of readers. We are known for our “Head and Heart-centered” service, which integrates project planning/management and ontological coaching to help authors explore inner healing when writing their stories. We are most proud of the growth that we’ve seen in our authors after working with us. We’ve seen them embrace being an author, improve their writing skills, and find the courage to market and promote their books. Through prayer, collaboration, teamwork, research, patience, and perseverance, we are where we are today. It hasn’t been easy and there were many times when I wanted to give up, but through prayer and encouragement from my support circle that this is what I was born to do, I chose to keep going. Along the way, I’ve learned the importance of being patient and gentle with myself as I grow my business, celebrating the wins (big and small), connecting with a talented and professional team, and embracing constructive criticism to help improve processes. I want the world to know that I am passionate about helping authors write and publish their stories so that their voices can be heard. Many of us have survived the most traumatic experiences and the world needs to know how they survived, so others can be encouraged to do the same. My company provides a platform to help authors do that.
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.
I’ve been living in the Washington, DC metro area for the past 20 years and I love this area! Here are some of the fun things we would do on the weekend: Friday – go to Jaspers Restaurant in Largo, MD and enjoy the social setting and good food (crab dip and baked stuffed shrimp are my favorites!)
Saturday – visit some of the museums and walk around the National Mall to view the Washington monument and other historic monuments; during the evening we would go to the National Harbor and ride the Capitol Wheel to see a nice view of the city and then head over to Redstone American Grill for more good eating. I’d recommend the buffalo shrimp appetizer and the Cedar Plank Salmon.
Sunday – we’d go to brunch at Sequoia’s in Georgetown and enjoy the views on the water.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to shout out my sister and mentor, Dr. Trenace Richardson. She is the founder of REAL Women Rock, Inc. which creates a safe space for women to do personal development work on themselves. I joined that organization in 2013 and have been attending monthly since then. I believe attending those meetings and being connected to Dr. Richardson has helped me to grow my confidence as a leader and business owner. She was also the visionary of the first two books that I published, outside of my own books, entitled “Real Women On the Journey: A Traveler’s Guide for Everyday Life” and “Purpose Pushers: The Journey of Discovering & Walking in Your Life’s Purpose.” Because she believed in me and offered opportunities to publish for others, I was able to hone my skills as a publisher and grow my business.
Website: www.purposedpublishingcompany.com
Instagram: instagram.com/purposedpublishingcompany
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/shavon-carter-5b274980
Facebook: facebook.com/purposedpublishing