Taking the Leap: Author Meredith Newman On How To Learn To Believe In Yourself
An Interview With Savio P. Clemente
Practice, practice, practice — if you’re a writer, write. If you’re a painter, paint. If you’re a cook, then cook….as much as possible. You will learn where your sweet spots are and what you want to do more of versus avoid, where your joy is and subsequently, it will show up in your work.
Starting something new is scary. Learning to believe in yourself can be a critical precursor to starting a new initiative. Why is it so important to learn to believe in yourself? How can someone work on gaining these skills? In this interview series, we are talking to business leaders, authors, writers, coaches, medical professionals, teachers, to share empowering insights about “How To Learn To Believe In Yourself.” As a part of this series, we have the pleasure of interviewing Meredith Newman.
Meredith Newman writes books with lovable, whimsical characters that incorporate beautiful, detailed illustrations to delight young and old audiences alike.
Meredith graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Penn State University with a Bachelor’s degree in English, and she completed a Master’s degree in Elementary Education from the University of Pennsylvania. She taught early elementary school before starting her own family.
Meredith married her high school sweetheart, and they have two children and two dogs, Ralphie and Stuie. They are the inspiration behind many of her stories. Meredith lives in Villanova, Pennsylvania and she spends time in her favorite places: Jupiter, Florida and Stone Harbor, New Jersey.
Meredith Newman is the author of The Lost Umbrellas of Lexington and Bakery Babies.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
I grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, a proud Pennsbury High School graduate, of the famed “Best Prom in America”. (You can read all about it online.) I lived in Yardley, a quiet suburb about an hour north of Philadelphia. Twenty-eight years later, the boy I went to that high school prom with is now my husband and we share two kids and two dogs :). Yardley was a beautiful, idyllic place to grow up in the 80s and 90s. Replete with its own Main Street and duck pond, it was very much small-town USA. Holiday parades and Harvest Day, middle school dances, neighborhood sledding extravaganzas, bike riding until dark and Friday night pizza and frozen yogurt was how my friends and I came of age. I always had an appreciation for books from a young age. In elementary school, I poured over the Scholastic Newsletter and when the book fair came to school, I was like a kid in a candy shop! I couldn’t wait to get home and lay out all my new books on my bedroom floor. A prolific reader herself, my mother instilled a love of reading in our family. We frequented the local library and still to this day, I carry my first membership card to the Bucks County Free Library in my wallet. It is one of my most prized possessions.
What or who inspired you to pursue your career? We’d love to hear the story.
Pure and simple…kids! When I was an undergraduate at Penn State, I was studying English literature. While I loved my studies, I wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted to do after college. During my junior year, I volunteered to tutor reading at the Mid-State Literacy Council of Pennsylvania as well as at a local preschool to see if education was something I might be interested in pursuing for graduate school. I completely fell in love with the kids and with being in a classroom setting. I thought, “Wow, if this is what you call work, then sign me right up!” I looked into graduate programs for elementary education and I was fortunate enough to be accepted to the University of Pennsylvania. Once I became a teacher and was managing my own classroom, by far, my favorite part of the school day was read-aloud time. Whether it was reading a beginner chapter book for pure enjoyment or using a read-aloud of a picture book or a big book to spark a lesson, reading to kids was pure delight. Their smiles, giggles and aha moments were what made me want to be a teacher. I saw firsthand the power of the children’s book genre. When I had my own children, I began reading to them as early as during my pregnancy. I would read classics over and over again so they could hear the cadence of my voice. And then as my children grew, reading throughout the day, visiting libraries, bedtime stories and quiet reading time all became part of the rhythm of our days. I continued to love children’s books as a genre and found myself writing them all the time in my head. Everything I looked at became some sort of a children’s book idea. Thank goodness for the notes app in my iphone. That’s where I started to write all these ideas down and then eventually, my ideas became complete stories.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
The funniest experience I had when I first started out was when I did a book signing for my first book and we didn’t get a confirmed number of attendees beforehand. We heard that the book signings were well-attended in the past so we planned for many kids and adults to be there. We brought books, snacks and craft activities to the event and we excitedly set up the room
for the book signing. I even had my illustrator come as well. Unfortunately, it ended up pouring rain that day and I guess people didn’t want to venture out in the bad weather. We had one little boy show up. Needless to say, that little boy and his parents ended up with a very intimate and personalized author/illustrator meet-n-greet experience. I learned that when planning book signings, you can’t always guarantee the number of attendees but you really should try!
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?
I’m currently working on a children’s book about being small and how that can sometimes lead to bullying by peers. Not only was I small when I was younger, but I know countless stories of kids who were small and then were terribly bullied. I want those kids to know that being small shouldn’t make them feel limited in any way. Children’s books can do wonders for kids who are struggling. They might see themselves in the characters and they are a great springboard for deeper, more meaningful conversations with students and families.
OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the core focus of our interview. This will be intuitive to you but it will be helpful to spell this out directly. Can you help explain a few reasons why it is so important to believe in yourself? Can you share a story or give some examples?
When you care deeply about the finished product or the end result, there will be times when the people you’re working with or the output they’re delivering isn’t up to your standards. And sometimes, even your own work isn’t up to your standards. You know you can do better. You know “it” can be better, whatever “it” is. So, you keep going. You keep pushing through all those ups and downs because they will inevitably come. And no’s will come, too. They are a part of the process and the journey on the road to dreams. But, just because you encounter a “no” or a closed door doesn’t mean you should stop knocking. When I wrote my first children’s book, I queried many agents and publishing houses. No one got back to me. Not one single response. Later, when independent publishing exploded on the scene around 2010, that was the first time I thought ok, here is another door. I’ve since discovered hybrid publishing and that is what I used to publish my first two children’s books.
What exactly does it mean to believe in yourself? Can I believe that I can be a great artist even though I’m not very talented? Can I believe I can be a gold medal Olympic even if I’m not athletic? Can you please explain what you mean?
At its core, believing in yourself means a steadfast belief in your capabilities to achieve your dreams and goals. I believe that if you put enough time and dedicated energy into something, just about anyone can do anything. We are capable of so much more than we realize. But, there are no shortcuts. You have to do the hard work, listen to the feedback and be patient along the way. Sometimes, that feedback might signal you should take a different approach and/or scrap a particular idea altogether and start over. It’s a delicate dance between having a firm belief in yourself but also being able to pivot and not get stuck in attachment.
Was there a time when you did not believe in yourself? How did this impact your choices?
Thankfully, I never had a lengthy phase of not believing in myself but I do have ongoing momentary doubts. They’re usually related to social media and my use of social media as a tool to market my children’s book business. Social media is an avenue I began exploring a little later in life due to personal privacy preferences. However, the nature of book marketing these days sort of requires you to have a social media presence. There are many times when I’m not comfortable posting or sharing about my personal life because it feels like I’m engaging in attention-seeking behavior. I’m working through it by posting a little more than I would normally be comfortable with and by trying to look at it as another creative outlet for sharing my books and life with the world. There is a purpose and an end goal to social media for me so I try to push through my preconceived negative beliefs about it. As such, I have come to appreciate the many benefits of social media and I have personally experienced them, including connecting with old friends and colleagues and meeting new friends and colleagues in the art, publishing and literary worlds.
At what point did you realize that in order to get to the next level, it would be necessary to build up your belief in yourself? Can you share the story with us?
I am introverted by nature — I think many writers are. But, we all know books don’t market or sell themselves. So for me, I had to believe I could be out in the world in a public facing way to begin to build my career into what I envision it to be. I had to believe I could write a high-quality children’s book; I had to believe I could partner with the right illustrator to bring my ideas to life; I had to believe in my ability to use social media to market my books. I’m still learning about book marketing and publishing every day. There’s so much I still don’t know but I believe I can and will learn and ultimately, I believe in what I am creating. I am so excited to bring my books to the marketplace for kids and families to enjoy for years to come.
What are your top 5 strategies that will help someone learn to believe in themselves?
1 . Practice, practice, practice — if you’re a writer, write. If you’re a painter, paint. If you’re a cook, then cook….as much as possible. You will learn where your sweet spots are and what you want to do more of versus avoid, where your joy is and subsequently, it will show up in your work.
2 . Educate yourself — I own a library of children’s books, but I keep acquiring more. I study them as individual works of literature and art to try and understand what makes them so special and loved. Become an expert in your field and that will bring self-confidence.
3 . Test out material on friends and family first — friends and family members usually will give you honest advice and feedback before sharing with a wider audience. This helped me to gain confidence with my work before putting it on a more public stage.
4 . Social media is a necessary tool — I didn’t have a social media presence before I began my career as a children’s book author and quite frankly, I was intimidated by it. Little by little and one failed and then one successful reel at a time, I began to learn about the process. Now, instead of viewing it as something unknown and scary, I try to have fun with the creative aspects of social media. No matter what the industry, it seems social media has a role to play. The quicker one learns how to navigate it as a tool for their business, the more confident they will be at using it and making it work for them.
5 . Take breaks by doing activities that have nothing to do with your particular industry. Explore and experience inspiring people and places. It simply can be a walk through a beautiful park or museum or even having a thought-provoking conversation. Doing so can renew your energy and spirit to keep working on your current project with confidence, drive and newfound enthusiasm. One of the most inspiring places I love to visit every year is The Met in New York City. I see something different and interesting every time I go there and I walk out with a feeling of reverence for all the wondrous beauty and talent there is in the world. Further, it gives me the confidence to make my own artistic contribution to society.
Conversely, how can one stop the negative stream of self-criticism that often accompanies us as we try to grow?
Negative thoughts will come. That’s a natural part of any process that involves taking risks and putting yourself out into the world in some capacity. I try to not fight against the negative thoughts and then they tend to sort of move along like waves. I also actively try to counteract negative thoughts with positive affirmations. So, it might sound something like this:
Negative thought: Why is my book taking so long to publish?
Positive counter: You’re working hard to produce a high-quality, finished product and that takes time.
Are there any misconceptions about self-confidence and believing in oneself that you would like to dispel?
Yes, I think many people look at successful individuals and think their road to success must have been straight and not have involved doors closing. Quite the contrary. Most people only see the end result, not the years of toiling and closed doors behind the scenes. It’s the perseverance that ultimately takes the project over the finish line. Many determined people have a dream but they often stop short of seeing that dream become reality due to lack of perseverance and patience. Building something you’re proud of takes time and oftentimes, much more time than you initially expected.
What advice would you give to someone who is struggling with imposter syndrome?
Do the work. Day in and day out, do the hard work. Show up each day and commit to the tasks at hand. Over time, the expertise grows and so does the confidence to do better and better work. With that, I think the imposter syndrome feelings slowly start to fade.
Ok, we are nearly done. You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
I would love to inspire a movement of book appreciation. As we all know, knowledge is power and today, our commonly-agreed upon knowledge base is being threatened by AI and other types of manipulated information. Books can be used to counter some of that. Book appreciation should be taught from a very young age. Keep reading to your kids. It’s learning and it’s loving all in one.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we both tag them :-)
I would love to have breakfast or lunch with Alyssa Sapire, Head of Disney Jr., Original Programming and Strategy. I would love for the opportunity to discuss potential animation of my children’s books. Specifically, Bakery Babies would work well as an animated television series for young children. The babies would be so entertaining as they find themselves in all kinds of messy adventures!
How can our readers further follow your work online?
My books are sold at Barnes & Noble, Amazon and at local children’s shops, bookstores and hotels around the country. Please follow me on Instagram @meredith.newman_author and check out upcoming releases and news on my website: meredithnewman.com
Thank you for these really excellent insights, and we greatly appreciate the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success.
