Welcome back to the show, my fellow extraordinary Americans. For today’s guest, we have Tanya Brockett. Tanya is the founding editor of Halogen, Inc., an author services company located in Charlottesville, VA. She serves her author clients as a ghostwriter, copy editor, book coach, and podcast host of the Write Something Worthy Podcast. 

Tanya’s professional years were spent as a cheerleader for small business owners wanting to launch, finance, grow, and harvest their businesses. She worked with venture capital through the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. 

She was the director of two small business development centers in two states, namely Maryland and Virginia, and she taught thousands of university entrepreneurs. Through courses, private training, and business training workshops, she wrote her first book, The Loan Solution, to help her clients prepare themselves for securing debt capital for their businesses. 

That same year, she received the nomination as financial services advocate for the year of the year. For the US Small Business Administration, she helped over 200 clients secure capital that year. That book led to her helping a new nonprofit launch its loan programs and landing her on a radio show that interviewed Tim Ferris, the author of the well-known book The Four Day Work Week.

Tanya is what I’d call an extraordinary American, and I’m glad and honored to have her on the show. Tanya, are you there?

Yes, I am. Thank you so much for having me. It’s so wonderful to be. I’m here with you today.

Tanya, thank you. So. Thank you for taking the time to be on this show; I’m honored, Tanya. I know you’re the ghost rider; you have a Halogen Inc. company and educated entrepreneurs. Can you tell the audience more about yourself, your background, and how you started?

Wow, so I did not start in the whole entrepreneurship realm until I had taught thousands of people how to be entrepreneurs. At the time, I was working at the universities. I worked at small business development centers. I was a consultant and a coach for small businesses but hadn’t launched my own business. It was through my education that. I was sharing—that and living vicariously through my client. 

So it went in, and after leaving the small business development center and starting on my own, I started as an entrepreneur, which was exciting. Go to it. As an entrepreneur and to help other entrepreneurs live that life, but couldn’t all of my training, the learning that I had done throughout the years into my ventures, and those I was serving to make life much richer? I have to admit it.

It was much more Enjoyable. 

So, Tanya, can you tell me a little more about the trajectory of how you got into education and how you started? How did you start the entire process, like when you were teaching entrepreneurs, and then what made you go through this journey?

Yes. So, I went through the McIntyre School of Commerce, one of the country’s top business schools. And there, I discovered that, when I was at Macintyre, there wasn’t a lot of emphasis on entrepreneurship. 

So, I pursued every small business finance course and every opportunity to work with the local small business development centers to do client work while at school, leading to my interest in entrepreneurship. I went to the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland. And I was able to further my education in entrepreneurship by working with venture capitalists, working with Intellectual properties, and helping businesses spin intellectual property through the commercial realm. So, that fostered my growth in entrepreneurship. 

Then, when I returned to Virginia after working at the University of Maryland, I started teaching at the University of Virginia and working with the small businesses in that community. And it just blossomed from there. 

You know, I have an interesting story that I learned about just recently from one of my students that I rejected from my entrepreneurship class when I was at the University of Virginia and went on to become a huge tech entrepreneur and investor in the entrepreneurial community. And it’s so Funny that you think so.

Wow, how did rejection lead to your success? And quite frankly, entrepreneurs are familiar with failure. They’re familiar with having setbacks and working through growth problems, financing problems, production issues, etc. 

So, one thing to keep in mind as an entrepreneur is failure. It is only feedback failure. Is this your next step to the next breakthrough? It is innovation, so don’t get caught up in it. Oh man, I’m an entrepreneur and didn’t do this well. No. You’ve got other opportunities to help you get to that next level.

I love it, too. I love what you just said about failure being feedback because many people feel ashamed of failure. But it’s a stepping stone to success. It’s like you have a macro scale, and then you have individual steps, and most people think of that one step as the entire thing, right? They see the entire forest for that one tree, but no, it’s a stepping stone. And yeah, you need to have feedback and data. And then see where you’re going wrong and learn from others. And then do that. 

The other part is about rejection, at least for me. I know it inspires me. If somebody tells me I can’t do something, I know I will do it. Prove that person wrong, you know.

That’s right. And this guy sure did. He went on to do a lot bigger and better things from that experience.

I would. I was going to say. Maybe you. I motivated him by rejecting him because, like, many times, people get fueled with rejection and have to do something after that, so yeah.

I must admit it must have to some degree because later, he wrote a book about his success and included my rejection letter so they could impact it. That’s all I know.

That explains everything, but yes, some people say that if you haven’t failed, you haven’t tried enough, you haven’t done enough, and you haven’t grown enough. It is interesting how we can perceive failure as negative, but it doesn’t have to be. All we have to do is say, Get up, dust off, take the next step up, and make it the next time.

I am telling many people—they say a lot of people—to stop short of their dreams, right? They stopped short of their goal. They have a failure, and then they’re like, Oh, I can’t do this. I’m not going to. Go on, and they will just. Inches from where they were trying to get. They could have if they had gotten off that one last time and gotten back out there.

That’s very inspirational because it’s true. You know, a lot of people try something for a little bit, and then they just give up, you know, but they have to be persistent, and they have to know that there’s a grand vision and strategy, and then you just have to keep trying. If you are failing, then you just get data collection, and you just pivot. 

It’s more about motivation, right? So many people have to go within themselves and have the motivation that allows. To go and continue to succeed despite getting hit with rejections and failures. 

So, Tanya, which brings me to the next question: what was the motivating factor for you during your entire career? When did you go through this entire journey?

Well, you know, One thing I keep on my wall is my wife.

And it is My three daughters and getting them through college—that was one of my initial intentions when I started my first business. I think my first daughter was 3 1/2. And my second daughter was, you know, less than a year old.

So they’ve had to grow up with an entrepreneurial mother. They inspired me to continue working hard and trying to make things happen because I wanted to see them grow up—awesome, talented, beautiful, magnificent, brilliant women. I have three daughters, from 25 to 20, and my youngest is in her third year of college. 

So, she’s almost done. And that’ll be the third one out. All of them are. She is usually successful and dynamic. Some are driven, and I’m just excited that I was able to inspire them in any way because, you know, sometimes they have to channel their inner mom and try to remember to be positive when things aren’t going great and to, you know, keep that motivation going, keep that fuel. Sometimes, passion is the fuel for persistence you need to keep going. 

And so, if you’re passionate about what you’re doing, giving, helping, succeeding, or whatever, It is that. It creates that passion and fires you; that’s what will fuel it. Your persistence to go through whatever it is that’s necessary. So, my biggest worry was my family. That was my biggest one. 

My second reason for developing halogen ink was to assist others. I wanted to help nonfiction authors remove those books from their hearts and minds. Get them out onto the page to positively impact the world because so many people, whether 80% or more, claim they want to write a book, but less than 5% of them publish it. So, if you have all these people, we’re not getting those stories out of them. Then, millions of people aren’t positively impacted. 

So, if we can get those stories out, then those words, however they’re given, whether they’re in a documentary film or a book, can positively impact someone else. Inspires somebody else to move up in their own lives and fulfill their dreams.

I’m taking some time to process it because you’re right; many people want to write their stories. They are never. Please do so, but their stories could. Impact somebody else’s. Life, you know? We have no idea how our actions impact the people around us because we just go about living life. But if we tell our story and people hear it, somebody will be impacted, you know?

That is right. That is right. And you know, one of the things that I say a lot on my Write Something Worthy podcast is don’t hog your journey. It is not just for you. So often, that story you had makes you think, oh well, everybody goes through this, everybody’s done that, or I’m nothing special. 

That story that you tell, you are the only one who can tell it because you’re the only one there, and the way you tell it is right. It can have a profound impact on someone. You wouldn’t know. Let me give you one example: I was teaching a rather boring understanding of financial statements. Of course, this is right for small businesses. And you think that’s rather a dual subject, right? Not big. 

So, at the end of this course, one participant cried. And she came up and hugged me. And she said, “Oh my Gosh.” I said this is understanding financial statements. “Why are you crying?” And she said, “Because. All the time. She had gone through classes on financial statements. It went right over her head. Today, she said, “How did you explain it to me? Finally got it.”

If I get it, I’m ready now; I understand this. And so that just goes to show. You don’t know what impact you are going to have. They could have been taught something a million times, but because you said it cosmos because you did it, now they understand, and it resonates with them, which they can take. That and do something.

Well, I want to get more into it. Like when I asked you about how engineering works later in the podcast. But I wanted to ask you first, Tonya, because you’ve been around hundreds of entrepreneurs during your lifetime. 

Can you tell me and the audience the biggest lesson you learned during that time? Well, what does it take to be a successful entrepreneur?

Hmm. Wow, there are so many experiences I have had over the years. Let me think about that for a minute. I don’t know if this is the topmost message. Still, one of the keys to success as an entrepreneur is not just having an idea and thinking, ” I’m going to create a job for myself doing this. Still, I will create a vision allowing me to have a company that will create opportunities for others in this field. 

So, instead of thinking of yourself as a business owner and saying I’m just going to create a job for myself. Oh, I’ve been a plumber all along. My life, this guy, you know, that I’m working for. I could do that and better. I’m going to do it for myself. 

So then you go off and create a Job instead of creating a vision for a company that allows others to use their skills and blossom and grow while you create the perfect home for others with your plumbing services. So, that mentality of creating a job versus creating a business and an entity. I think it’s a really important distinction. 

And it’s one of those things that often when we create businesses, we’re just thinking, oh, I want to do this; I want to create a business doing that, and I’m going to do that. If you can think bigger than that and go to your vision for why you would want to have a company that serves others in that way, then you can have others aligned with that business to serve people. In a bigger way, better. Right. I think that’s an important thing for entrepreneurs to think about.

No, I couldn’t agree more because, as you know, vision is everything if you have a big. Vision. Then, others will get on board, and some people will even offer their services, which are sometimes free because they believe in the vision, but many people like them don’t; they’re not thinking big enough. And, like, you have to think big, but you also have to be practical about it. How do I go about it altogether? So, I see what you’re saying. You know that it’s true.

And a lot of people are also in their early days. I haven’t been creating business plans, and I’ve written a lot of business plans; I’ve read 1,000,000 Business plans, but It’s not the plan that has to be some big radio thing. Still, if you can at least set out in writing what your intention is, then you have a much greater chance of achieving what it is that you’re setting out to do because it’s so easy as entrepreneurs, especially to say, OK, I’m going to do this. You just think I will do that, but don’t write it down; instead, create some steps and actions you can take as a result. 

And so, the next thing that comes along, you’re like, Oh, yeah, that looks. Good. I could do that. So now, what happened to this thing over here? You said you’re going to do it now. You’re running off and doing that—that, Squirrel syndrome.

Right. 

The shiny object syndrome.

Writing down your intention, even if you don’t want to do a full-fledged business plan, is at least like writing out an executive summary. What is it that you intend to do? Who do you intend to serve? How do you intend to serve them? What problem are you solving? What benefit is it to those you are serving and getting that from writing so that you can at least have a clear intention about what you’re doing with your business?

No. Yeah. Many people do business plans, but I don’t think they ever feel like they don’t ride the business plan away where they know how to reach their vision and goal. So, is there a tip you could give the audience as well? How to have a proper business plan.

How? How do you go about doing it, you know?

One very easy way is to take a concept document template. It doesn’t have to be that hard, and if they want to reach out to me and ask, hey, do you have a, you know, one-page executive summary that I can use to start my plan? Reach out to me, and I’ll give you what I have. 

One tool I also like to use is a book by one of my clients. How are your profits? By Susie Carter, published by Simon and Schuster. She is Dynamic. She has a profit coach. She has a fractional CFO. She knows how to make money. She can just look at your business and see dollar signs falling out everywhere, which will help you find where your money is in your business. 

So, per book power, your profits help people to think through each aspect of their book and have fun with the money part instead. I’m dreading it. And have fun planning the sales aspect. Of it because. Sharing your business with the world is positive; many people look at this thread, oh my gosh, I have to sell my stuff. And they’re afraid of sales, right? But if you’re doing something that you believe in, that you believe has value to others, that will make a positive impact on the world, then you want to share it, right? You want to say, oh, you, I would be. 

I could not have gone through this day without sharing it with you. About this opportunity, you can then be more excited about sharing your business, right? How are your profits? The book can help work through the business planning for any particular venture. Whether it’s a $10 million business or whether it’s a small one, stop shopping. Also, if you want a template for an executive summary or something that covers the basic aspects of what you need to do, think about it as you start your business. We talked to me, and I’ll be glad.

That’s awesome, Tonya. So, Tanya, that is another thing I wanted to do. What was the question? During your time with all these entrepreneurs, what was the biggest challenge? You realize that entrepreneurs face challenges while doing their business, and what do you think they should do to overcome them?

Fear is one of the challenges I found, both in my authors in the book publishing process that I’ve taught and in my entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurs of courses I’ve taught. It is. I feared that. It can be described in a variety of ways. One is the fear of success. Right. If I’m successful in doing this, then I’m going to have to do this, and people are going to look to me for that, and they’re going to want to come to me for money, and then they’re going to do this. 

And then there is the other, so they have all these fears about success. And then there’s the fear of failure, like, oh, my gosh, if I do this and so and so, no one sees me be as successful as them. Oh my gosh, what am I going to do when, you know, I don’t do well? So maybe I shouldn’t even do it because I don’t have to worry about failing.

I don’t try, right?

So, fear tends to be one of those things that entrepreneurs deal with a lot, and authors are one way to recognize that. It is just. Well, there are a couple of definitions of fear—that fantasized event appearing real. The future event appears well. You are here now. The future doesn’t exist yet, so there’s nothing to say that what you do now can’t lead to a positive result. So, fear is unknown. Found it. It is faith used in the wrong way.

You know it’s used in the negative, so if you can believe. If you can do something that will make a positive impact and work through your words if you can believe in that, then you can start taking steps to make that so, and as one of your other guests indicated once before Lorianne Garner, you write something down. You are more likely to bring that to fruition, so if you can, acknowledge that you have this fear of success, let’s say. And I’m afraid that if I’m successful, everybody in my family will want money from me. 

So you acknowledge that fear, and then you can say what you like to believe instead. And you can turn that around. Consider whether you can do those six things you fear or want to experience instead. I want to feel good that I am successful. I want to be able to give and be looked to as somebody who is philanthropic. I want to be able to be, you know, successful and have so many zeros in my bank account that, you know, I have to spread it all over the place. I want to feel that success. 

So. Turn that around for yourself so that you can start feeling the positive rather than the negative, and then focus on that positive as you take steps, and then allow the universe to support you because you are focusing on that positive in that direction. You want to go through letting go of the fear, recognizing just the belief, and that you can change that belief whenever you want to; you can choose what to believe and then act on that belief.

A lot of people think that their beliefs are their identity. So, what you’re saying is profound in a way because I think, and I talked about it with a few of the guests as well, that your identity and who you are don’t have to be you like your beliefs can alter according to your will because of your awareness behind those beliefs. 

But a lot of people identify with their beliefs so strongly. They’re kind of being stuck as a rock, you know. Because to become an entrepreneur, you have to change your identity. If you’re like in the 99%, you’ve got to become that person, a different person. But many people get confused during that transition period, where they have to change their beliefs around how they look at money and many other things. They have the old identity and then look at their new identity. 

And they also wrestle with imposter syndrome, right? It’s like, well, I’d say I want to be a successful entrepreneur, but I’m just to pee on right now. And so how can I act? When I know I’m not right, what you can do is create what it is that you want in your imagination, and then you can truly be who you say you want to be because, in your imagination, you can be whatever you want to be. Nothing is stopping you. And so, when you decide to live up to this imaginary version of yourself, you can start acting in a way that that imaginary version of yourself would. What kind of decisions would I make as an entrepreneur? Who was successful? 

How would I choose to budget and spend my money? Who would I want to work with to allow me to get into this business and be successful? Then you start making those decisions and moves and end up being what you imagined you could be.

Well, Tonya, that’s pretty true. I would also add that they must develop the action steps once they have that thing. So that’s where the business plan comes into play. You imagine that ideal version of yourself, and then you’re gradually developing the action steps. Be there one step at a time, but it’s stupid.

Open, be open in that one step at a time. Be open to that business plan to allow it to change as needed. You can hold you. But the strategy for getting there can change, right? So, you have to allow yourself to grow to the next level. Allow yourself to shift over here when the businessman no longer makes sense for reaching that vision. Because now you’re at a different place. 

So, you allow those changes to happen to get to the final vision, but you keep your eye on the prize, and then you allow yourself to get there in whatever way makes sense because that’s when you might have that little failure, right? But then you just get back up, keep that vision ahead of you, and strive for it. 

Now, one of the things regarding belief is that often, an issue for people is that they’re programmed by the time they are very young to believe certain things, and they operate on that belief. Whether you realize it or not, there could be a belief that your parents gave you because they argued about money. And you can see them arguing about money.

So, you believe that money is bad and makes you argue and makes people unhappy together, so I don’t want to have money because I want to be happy with people. Right. And you don’t recognize that you’ve made that decision, but in your youth, you did. 

And so you grow up, and you’re like, Geez, I never have money or a relationship, which is better when you can go back and say, you know what, that belief served me. At that time, but right now, it no longer serves me.

So, I choose beliefs as facts you can change to believe something different. It can be harder to change just because they’re ingrained in you. You habituated. That way of being is right. But you can choose to believe something different. And if it’s a choice, why not choose something that serves you right now? Why not choose? I can be wealthy and have a great relationship. People do it. I see it happening out there. It is possible. So that means it’s possible for me. 

So, I think I will choose to believe that now instead. And then you can start asking about that.

Tanya, there was a book written by T. Harv Ecker. I forgot the exact title. It was like something about success. Or the millionaire mind.

The millionaire mind

The millionaire mind. Yeah. What you just discussed here is exactly what T. Harv Ecker mentioned about a millionaire’s mind. Like many times in our childhood, we don’t even realize what subconscious beliefs we have put in. And when we’re starting to, when we’re trying to start a business, we have to do an analysis or introspection of what our subconscious beliefs are. And it’s so insidious.

You know, because we do. We grow up, and we don’t even realize it.

Absolutely. It’s so funny. I discovered something in me that I liked. I’m late. No, I was in my 30s when I discovered a belief I held. And I discovered where it came from. And it was when I was, like, 11 years old. And I realized, Oh, my goodness. So, I have been operating on that all this time and have had no conscious recognition. 

But when it came to my awareness, it was like, OK. Nope, I don’t believe that anymore. I’m switching that game, and we will start believing something else so I can act accordingly. So, you know, a lot of authors feel the same way. I don’t believe I can write a book that’s going to be successful; I’m not going ever to finish it. So sometimes they’ve got books stacked up on their desk that they’ve written but won’t publish because they don’t want the world to know about it?

So they don’t. They believe they can be successful, so they hold back.

No, I mean, it’s true. We could go on this for hours. Hours because it’s true. Belief is everything you know. Ultimately, if you want, Become the person you want to be. It would be best to have that person’s beliefs right, which is what I think. I think so. The thing that people find harder to do is that. And I like going over the impostor syndrome and like the transition process. But if you do it the way you suggest, they can. And do it.

So, Tanya. On a different note, I want to ask you this: Like I know, I mean, you know, America is the land of the free and the place where dreams are made. Do you agree or disagree with that?

I agree with the intention. This is where we should be able to come and be free and act accordingly. I must always disagree with implementing that; not all our systems, institutions, and everything make that true for everyone. Hopefully, I also can’t imagine being anywhere else but in America. 

I believe in the ideals. We have opportunities here, but we must be persistent and create that opportunity for ourselves sometimes. Sometimes, we must Get past other things happening around us to continue seeing our vision. And pursue our dreams and fulfill them for ourselves. There’s a land of opportunity here, but we must seize it. We have to go for it. It will not just be late in our lives, at least for many of us.

It’s not going to be late in our lives.

I mean, no. Yeah, we’re just saying it’s true, Tanya. Like obviously, there are imperfections and flaws in every country. But America’s ideals are pretty good, right? And I would say that the identity of. America and the. Belief would be based on an entrepreneurial immigrant identity and like that. Why? Like we’re? That’s why so many people start businesses here because it’s the expression of freedom when it’s coming to. Like finance, the financial front is you.

That is right. That’s one reason I’m excited to be working on creating documentaries in the coming year for entrepreneurs of immigrants who have come in and had to overcome. And then succeed in creating their entrepreneurial vision here and achieving the American dream. As they see it, and then share that with others. 

So when you can share your journey, not hog it, and allow others to see the possibilities so that they can also elevate themselves, it’s such a wonderful thing. So. My joy is being able to help. Entrepreneurs should write that story in a book or documentary film to help them express the possibilities to inspire others to achieve them.

Wow. Yeah. I mean, that’s like the Great American Story. We think about it, right? Like, ultimately, people love hearing stories about, like, the success stories, like, of immigrants that come from overseas, they come to America, and then they make it because that’s what that’s the story that America is essentially founded on, you know, like.

Right. And if you think about it, think about the inspiration that it creates. I mean, even for someone who is born in America, they see an immigrant come over. They don’t have a dollar in their pocket. They sometimes come into a land where they don’t know the language. And yet, they can be so inspired and driven that they create success around them. They raise their family here that truly loves the country they live in, and they blossom. 

So when you can watch somebody come in in those circumstances and then look around yourself, you’re like, What the heck am I complaining about? I need to get up there and fulfill my dream, too.

And give that inspiring story to help others elevate themselves so they can do the same.

No, totally. And you know Tanya, like American identity, is also about pursuing happiness. But, like, how do you? Do you think Americans? We should go about pursuing happiness because we have become a materialistic society. In large swaths of the country, we know that materialism ultimately does not lead to happiness because, as we do, a lot of Americans think that by buying goods and services, they could be happy. But what? What is your opinion on that, though?

Well, you know, I live in the land where Thomas Jefferson talked about the pursuit of happiness. I’m only a few minutes from Monticello, so we frequently hear about that pursuit of happiness here. But one thing that I believe is that happiness is not external. Happiness comes from within, and you can be happy in any circumstance where somebody else would be miserable, right? So. If you can create happiness within yourself, then you can create that happiness. Around you as well. 

It can be infectious in some cases, in a very positive way. I was listening recently to UM, a book by Ken Honda called Happy Money. And in that book, he talks about how you can choose to be wealthy, which is OK. But you can also be unhappy and wealthy. You can have all the material goods in the world and be unhappy. So yes, to a certain degree, money. It can buy you happiness, but then there’s a point where money no longer ceases to inspire you. And so if you’re just striving to create a business, To make money.

It will soon lose its allure. If you can create something, whether it’s book business or otherwise, that makes you happy, that brings you joy, that brings joy to others, that makes you feel good because you’re a part of it, then you can have that happiness that you pursue. So, I think happiness is internal.

Is it available to all of us? We chose it. And I think that being in America certainly allows us to have greater opportunities to choose it. But we have to make that choice. We have to choose to be happy. We could grouse about everything about our lives, right? We can power ours. Yeah. And all that’s going to do is create more to browse about, and then we’ll just browse, browse, browse down to the ground. But if we could choose to be grateful just for what we have, whatever it is, I’d be grateful. I have a car to live in. I’m grateful to have a house to live in. I’m grateful to have whatever it is that is around me. I’m grateful for where I am now, knowing I can grow even higher. 

If you can just express that gratitude and feel that gratitude where you are now, that leads to happiness, and that leads to greater reasons to be happy because then there are more things the universe says, oh, she likes being happy about, you know, having a house over, you know, a roof over her head. Oh, right. Let’s give her more reason to be. I’m happy about that. And then you just start creating more reasons to be happy, and then you surround yourself with people who also want to be happy. And then they want to be around you because.

You’re happy, and so am I. I think that happiness is achievable, but it’s from within. It’s not external or in an Xbox, a car, or whatever. Those things can be fun, and having resources to play with is OK. That’s not where your happiness lies. You’re being happy. Inside is where that will be, and if you can enjoy it, It’s while you’re. In the car, right? It starts here if you can enjoy it While on the yacht.

No, I am. Agree. I asked you questions because I’ve noticed over time, like during my stay, that many people are looking for happiness outside of themselves or have the wrong belief system, which gives them misery for no good reason. 

But yes, happiness starts from within, and it starts with you perceiving the world. With the right mindset, you can look at things the same way. The thing is right, you. You can look at an entity, a person, or a thing with the same color with a white or a black-colored lens. Building your lens is your perception and your belief system, and through that, it’ll either make you happy, or it’ll make you sad. You know. Two people can look at the same thing; one person will be happy, and the other will be sad, and it’s not that thing. It’s like their perception of it. So yeah, that’s true.

So choose happiness; choose it. And then. You’ll find more and more reasons. To be it.

Yeah. So Tanya, can you? Tell me in front of the audience. Here’s a bit more about halogen ink, what you do, and the premise of how it started.

Yes, well, listening was designed to help others, to ditch the fear, the confusion, and the overwhelm of writing and publishing equality. Best-selling book Now for me. I’ve never been one who just wanted to help people throw trash out on Amazon fast and try to make a bet; that’s never been my approach. My approach has always been quality. It’s always been that if it’s not a best seller, it is best seller-worthy. 

It’s worth it. Whether it achieves that status or not, I believe in quality writing, books, and publishing, and I started halogenating as an editor for independent authors. Over time, we grew mostly because of our client’s needs. They’re like, could you help with the next step in the publishing process? Can you help me figure out how to publish a book? Can you help me get a position with an agent? Can you help me find a publisher for all those kinds of things? We grew over time, and what we did started with just editing a book, and now we. Do soup to nuts, top to bottom. We can help you get their idea. Transform it into an outline. Write a book from it. Get that book edited, designed, laid out, published, and to best-seller status now. So, we’ve come a long way.

We have spent two decades helping and serving authors, so we do that through ghostwriting—and copy editing. We are book coaches, and you know we train authors so that they understand the publishing process. So, hopefully, over time, our clients will need us less and less. You will always need a professional editor, no matter what you write. You know, somebody asked, What books do I need to have edited? It’s like. Only those that you want to sell.

If you’re going to sell a book, you need to have one. A professional editor needs to be quality, and you don’t want your readers to be turned off by what they see, not because of your content but because of how it’s presented. Because you wrote it like an amateur and didn’t have a professional look at it, not everybody is a stellar writer. Either. And sometimes people don’t have the time to write. They can’t write, and that’s when it’s perfect to have a ghostwriter write your book. That way, you can just have a conversation with someone like me, a ghostwriter, and I can take that conversation and lay it on the page for you. And then all you have to do is say, Those are the words that sound just like mine. 

That’s exactly what I want. To say that’s it. And then you take that book and go with it because it’s yours. It’s still your ideas and your thoughts. I just helped you get it out of your head and onto the page. Did you know that 70%, or about 70%, of nonfiction books are ghostwritten? That means they’re written by somebody other than the author, whose name is on the front cover—70%.

Never feel bad. First of all, about ghostwriting or having a ghostwriter for you, but all it is. I’m just helping you to get your thoughts out of your head and put them on your page. That’s it. Now, ghostwriting is not for everybody. Some people want to spend their time and do the writing themselves. Wait, that is awesome. I helped all of my authors go through their process however they wanted to go through it. I’ve had authors who needed the ghostwriting process, and we worked through that and got them to best-seller status. After that. I’ve had other authors who just had their book edited by us, and then helped them through the rest of their publishing. Process. Others just come in and get the edit, then get out and run. I’ve had others say, OK, Tonya here, work your magic. I’m going to be speaking on this stage in six months. I want that book there. When it gets in, you know I don’t even.

I need to see it before we arrive, but I wanted to arrive because I know you made it. So it just depends on what it is that they need.

Can we provide it? But we can have them from soup to nuts, from idea to bestseller.

Well, if anybody in the audience hears us now if you want to write a book and you’re looking for. A ghost writer that. Tanya is the person for you, so. Yeah, do reach out to me. Her, you know, and I. I support what you’re doing so far. So, Tanya, are there any other projects you’re doing right now that you want the audience to get A glimpse into?

Well, yes, I would love for those two to believe they have a strong story to tell that would benefit from the visual element of it. I would love to help them get that story out and do it visually through a documentary. And I am working with a team of people and a production team that can make that happen. And so, I want the opportunity. I want people to recognize that they have the opportunity to express themselves in their stories and make a positive impact with their words. Page, but they could also have that done. 

In film, it’s such an exciting way for people to be able to share their stories and leverage that tool in a variety of different ways. Now, mind you, I have podcasts on how you can create multiple income streams with your words. Various things can be done with your words to help you make money and increase your influence. Increase your credibility, help you leverage your speaking engagements, and do all kinds of things you can do. 

So, both in books and in film, you can share your story in a way that positively impacts your audience. But it also has a positive impact on your streams of income. Your growth and development as an entrepreneur or someone just pursuing their dream.

Awesome, Tanya. So, Tanya, how can my audience connect with you and learn more about you, your work, your company, and all of that?

My Link Tree account is the best way to reach me right now; that is probably the best place to connect with me. I put in there any current events that are going on. For example, I’m having a replay of a great program I did to increase your influence with publishing. I have the replay for that. 

And I also have access to my coaching. I coach bundles so people can have 390-minute sessions with me spread over; however, they need to achieve a specific goal—publishing purpose or documentary idea. 

And so, we can express that, explore that, and come up with a strategy so they can accomplish that and know that it’s not as scary as it could be because, you know, we’re here to make it easier. We are here to make it more fun. We’re here to make it happen. Enjoyable and successful, so. Reach me on Link 3 right now and on LinkedIn. That’s another great way to tap into me right now.

Hey, that’s awesome.

It’s coming soon, by the way.

That’s awesome. Tanya, I’m so honored you did this podcast with me. Your words of wisdom, especially about failing and how to do business, are impeccable and true today. You know, it’s all about your beliefs and all. It’s all about your mindset. And I appreciate you. You are taking the time to do the show with me.

Thank you for having me. It has. It’s been an absolute joy, and I look forward to another time we’ll get together on a podcast.

I’d love to have you.

Maybe you can do something worthy with me when you want your netbook.

No, totally. I would want you to come back later, and I would want to. I would be. I am honored to be on your podcast. Well, yeah, and I Want to conclude this podcast by letting my fellow extraordinary Americans know that… Hey, look, there’s something extraordinary within every one of us. We must awaken it and unleash it.

Until next time. Bye for now.