Today we’d like to introduce you to Meredith Coleman Mcgee
Hi Meredith Coleman, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I launched my first Entrepreneural venture at age 23 from my mother’s living room on Liberty Hill Rd in North Jackson, MS in 1986-1987. My mother’s three brothers were impressed. The youngest brother Authur Meredith had a business names Sunrise Foods. He taught me how to maintains books manually and how to markup retail items and how to conduct inventory. The following year, my Famous Uncle James H. Meredith loaned the money to start a convenience store business which I named Sunrise Foods # II on Mayes Street in Jackson off Bailey Ave.
I moved my business from a small building to a larger building and went out of business in my fifth year of operations. However, I learned a lot during those six years. I obtained an entry level writing job at the oldest Black Newspaper in the state in December of 1993. I loved writing but my job was short lived. I obtained a job in 1994 at the Mississippi Association of Cooperatives where I provided administrative and business support for small farm coops. I also published the company’s newsletter and assisted the director with grant writing. I worked in the nonprofit world for eight years as a data entry clerk, the assistant director development and as a community organizer who provided demography and redistricting training to community groups.
In 2003, I started a writing and typing services. In 2012, at age 48, I became a published author. In 2013, I started a small press. Since then, I have written 13 books and produced 38 titles with 22 authors.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There were always huddles to climb. When I ran Sunrise Food # II, I worked 78 hours a week for 5 years. Anytime, one enters a new field one races barriers when it comes to professional growth and development. When I advanced from a professional writer to an author, I faced obstacles. A service business is different from retail. When I had my first convenience store site, I relied on walk-in traffic for steady business. When I moved to a larger business, I was located between a middle-class community and a working-class neighborhood. Middle-class client shopped at the grocery store more where working class residents relied on my convenience store business for fresh sliced meat, eggs, bread etc. In other words, there is always a learning curve. Books is a niche market. Authors do book tours and rely on radio, newspaper, and or magazine promotions to get the word out about the book tour. Libraries, book fairs, book festival are important.
When I shopped for a commercial publisher for the biography I wrote on my famous uncle “Jamed Meredith: Warrior and the America that created him, I received 16 rejection letters before I found a textbook publisher in Santa Barbara, CA called ABC-CLIO willing to take a chance on a novus author.
Today, while I have made a name for myself as an author and publisher, at age 61, I am hard at “it” in terms of work. I have multiple income streams. I operate my typing, writing and resume service, the small press, and a non-profit called Community Library Mississippi where I host book festivals, poetry contests, and a speaking series. I also write occasionally for the local newspapers and take contractual writing assignments for organizations.
It doesn’t look like my workload is slowing down anytime soon. I am writing my 14th book and multitasking. One thing is for sure. I love books. I love mentoring youth writers. I am where I want to be professionally. Thankful.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
McGee is a contributing writer for several local newspapers and is a professional writer @ Typing Solutions Résumés & Etc – https://typingsolutions.biz/. She chairs Community Library Mississippi, where she organizes Jackson Book Festival Poetry Contest and a speaking series. She is affiliated with the Sankofa Reading Group, the Learning Tree Book Club, the Book Toasters, and the Rural Development Leadership Network. McGee is a niece of civil rights icon James Howard Meredith; she founded Heirs United Investment Club and co-founded Heirsskymallcom Inc. shopheirs.com. McGee holds degrees from the University of West Florida, and Antioch University McGregor (Antioch University Midwest). She resides in Jackson, Mississippi.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
All business ventures are risky. Inventory is risk. When I had a convenience store business, there was a lot of risk. A business break in is costly. Employee thief is costly. Unsold goods are risky.
In the book business, books are inventory. You can have too many books or not enough books. Some titles sell better than others. Book inventory on hand is future sales.
You have to spend money to make money. A business owner cannot avoid risk. Risk can be reduced.
Pricing:
- the price must be right
- the price must meet market expectations
- the price must be reasonable.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://meredithetc.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meredithetcdotcom/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/typingsolutions
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/meredithetc
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MeredithCMcGeeAUTHOR
- Other: https://typingsolutions.biz/
