#017: Expert Interview with Beverly Winters [Podcast]

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Subscribe: RSS This was a great interview to do with Beverly Winters. She’s an amazing woman with some really concrete wisdom gathered from her eclectic background. I hope you enjoy this episode and please I encourage you to leave a comment below.

Below are the items mentioned in this episode of the podcast.

The Online Training Course is coming… click here to get VIP access!
Gay or LGBT… which do you use?
www.jenntgrace.com/podcastvip
The power of making a commitment

Links mentioned in the show:

Listen to the podcast by clicking the play button below!

Would you prefer to read the transcript than listen to the podcast? No problem! Read the transcript below.

AUDIO START: [0:00:00]

Jenn T Grace: You are listening to the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast, episode 17.

Intro: Welcome to the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast where you’ll learn how to do business with and market to the LGBT community in an authentic and transparent way. We’re talking about the $790 billion lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender community. We’ll help you grow your business, gain market share and impact your bottom line. And now your host – she’s an entrepreneur, a marketing maven and an advocate for the LGBT business community. Jenn, with two N’s, T. Grace.

Jenn T Grace: Well hello and welcome to episode number 17 of the podcast. I am your host, Jenn T. Grace. And as always I am super excited to be sharing with you another fine episode of the podcast. So one thing before I even begin, I want to get your feedback on things. You may have noted that we are in episode 17 right now, and episode 16, 15, and 14 were all around expert interviews. So I bring this up because for the longest time since I started this podcast, my method was to have one episode per month that was an interview with me and someone else, and then another one that was just me teaching you some sort of new educational type of content. So the last couple of weeks I have been posting just interviews because I’ve had a plethora of people who are perfect, and I just want to share their stories with you. So I ask you this because I’m curious to know if you would prefer to hear all interviews, or if you like the hybrid mix of interviews and me teaching you something. So what I was thinking of doing is doing half an episode with some sort of update on something educational that’s helpful for you, and then going into an interview. I’ve seen a few other podcasters do it that way, and I’m genuinely curious to find out what you would be looking for. So yeah, I’m genuinely curious to know what your preference is, because I want to do what the listeners would like to hear. So if you wouldn’t mind sending me an email, putting out a tweet, however you want to get in touch with me, that would be fabulous, and just give me your thoughts on it. It doesn’t have to be long or elaborate, just a simple, “Go with a new flow,” or “Stick with the original.” So either way, just let me know what your thoughts are, I’m really curious to hear this. And you can find out all of my contact information by going to the website, and all the links that will be mentioned in the following interview at www.JennTGrace.com/017 for episode number 17.

So I do have an interview to share with you during this episode, but I have a couple of things that I want to announce to you first. And I’m going to do a personal announcement, and I’m going to do a business announcement that’s going to be super exciting for you; I know I’m really excited, and I’m really hoping that you are going to be as well. So I’m going to start off with that, because I’m just really- I can’t contain myself, I’m so excited that this is finally here. So I have been alluding to, either on my blog, or on the podcast, or in interviews for a little while now that I have been working on an online training course. And the training course is titled, ‘How to Authentically Market to the Gay Community.’ And for those of you already ready to pillage and plunder for me saying the gay community, there is a lot of reasons why I chose to say gay community instead of LGBT, which are also very similar reasons to why the name of this podcast is called the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast. So for those who are wondering what that’s all about, I will post a link to a blog that I’d previously written about the specific usage between gay and LGBT.

So anyway, so back to my main message. And so that is that I have this online course available. I’m really excited, the launch date is September 30th, which it will be available for purchase on the 30th, and between now and then I have a host of videos that I have put together that are short sneak peeks and previews into what the course is going to cover, what the course will entail, and that’s 100% free. It’s just a free mini training available to you, my loyal podcast listeners, or readers of the blog; however you’re consuming this information, I want to make sure that you are getting the benefit of this awesome three part mini training video series that I’ve been working on.

So to find out information on this. You may already be subscribed to my mailing list, which is amazing, and if it’s not I would highly recommend hopping on it. I only email probably about once a month. I try to keep it limited because I know your inbox is precious, and I don’t want to be cluttering it up any more than necessary. So I really only stick to about once a month. But if you can join this secondary email list for VIP’s, which I would consider you to be a VIP because you’re amazing, and you’re a podcast listener. All you have to do is just add your information in there, and you will only get information related to this new online training course by joining into this list. It doesn’t automatically opt you into the other list. So I just want you to be aware of that, so that way you don’t think that you’re going to be barraged with all sorts of information that you weren’t asking for. So to get on that list all you need to do is go to www.JennTGrace.com/podcastvip. And what that will do is it will send you some information about the course, it will give you access to the three videos, and then it will give you information about how to purchase the course if that’s something that you choose to do. Whether you want to, or don’t want to purchase, it’s certainly not a big deal but it will be available. And the mini training is 100% free regardless. So I want you to definitely at least take advantage of the training because I put some blood, sweat, and tears into it, and I would really love for you to check it out and let me know what you think.

So that’s the business thing that I’m really just super excited about. The other thing that I wanted to mention is that a couple of weeks ago I wrote a blog post titled, ‘The Power of Making a Commitment.’ I wrote this post because it was the one year anniversary of me going on a journey of self-discovery, very cliché, I know. And transformation, and really just trying to change myself for the better, be it mentally, physically, emotionally, the whole package. I’ve been really working on for the last year. So wrote this blog just to kind of commemorate that this is what I’ve been doing, and it really does relate to business in many, many ways. So if you haven’t checked out that blog post, definitely head on over and check it out because it will give you a little bit of a frame of reference for the next thing that I’m about to throw out at you. And that is that I have decided to make another commitment, because I’ve recently lost 42 pounds, and I’m trying to figure out how exactly I can just maintain keeping that weight off. And for me if I don’t have a goal, or if I don’t have a sense of purpose for doing something, it doesn’t get done. It’s very simple, it’s just how I operate. So my goal of losing 42 pounds, that was a goal so I had to keep working until it happened. So now that I’m here I’m kind of stagnant. I’m like, ‘Well now what am I going to do?’

So what I’ve decided to do, and I’ve decided to do this with a friend of mine named Virginia, who is actually the inspiration for my LGBT Questions from a Friend blog series that you get to enjoy on Tuesdays. I’m sure she’s appreciating right now listening to this as I’m calling her out. But that’s neither here nor there. She and I have decided that we are going to run a half marathon together, and I am not a runner in any way, shape or form, nor have I ever been. I’ve always chose sports that did not require a lot of running- or positions within sports that didn’t require running, such as being a pitcher in softball.

So I’m telling you this because I know nothing about running a half marathon, and she doesn’t really know a whole lot either, and she and I are going to chronical our journey of trying to figure this out. I know that running marathons, and half marathons, and Iron Man’s, and all of those different really endurance related things are really just kind of popping up everywhere, and I hear about people doing them all the time. So I want to hear from you- and I told you this is totally unrelated to business other than the fact that you need to make a commitment to do something. But I want to hear from you. If you’ve run any type of long distance marathon, half marathon, 10k, 5k, whatever it happens to be. I just want to know what your thoughts are, and what types of tips you have, or what types of recommendations you have. Just curious to hear from you. I’ve developed such a great relationship with you, and we’re always talking about business, but I kind of want to throw in a little bit of personal in there as well. So reach out to me, let me know if you have run a marathon of any kind, or just any distance running, and let me know what types of apps you’re using, what types of food you’re eating, what types of running shoes you’re using; any of that stuff. Because I’m so new at this that I have no idea what I’m doing. And I’m the first one to admit when I don’t know what I’m doing, and I would love to find out from you what I can do that will cut off and save some time, and all that kind of great stuff.

So as I’m recording this I’m only on day seven. So I’m on day seven of running, and I already feel like I’m going to die every time I’m out there. So any advice you have, I would love, love, love to hear it.

So there we are, there’s my little rant and tangent for the day. So I have two really exciting things happening right now. Trying to train for a half marathon, and I am launching my online training course. So I hope that these are two things- well clearly you’re not going to be excited that I’m running a half marathon, but if you have and you want to get excited about trying to guide us through, I would love your information on that. But I’m really hoping that you’re going to be excited about the online training course that is now becoming available.

So I’m only telling my podcast listeners, yourself, and people who are subscribed to my email list that the launch date for the online training course is September 30th. So if you want to get in on that action and find out what is going to be available on September 30th like I said in the beginning, head on over to www.JennTGrace.com/podcastvip.

So now that I’ve gotten those couple of things out of the way, I do want to just remind you that if you liked what you heard already, or you like what you hear in the upcoming interview, to head on over to www.JennTGrace.com/love, and that will pre-populate a tweet into Twitter that will share the message of this podcast to those that you are following, or are following you, so that way we can spread the word that there’s good content to be had, and just to say that you like the show.

So now without further ado, I’m going to dive into my interview with Beverly Winters. I hope you enjoy it.

Okay so I am delighted to be talking with Beverly Winters today. She is a woman of many trades. She has experience within the arts including fine arts and photography, as part of her business which is called Studio Winters. This business focuses on helping small and medium sized businesses with their design and advertising needs. And in addition to her arts background, she also has a great deal of experience in the mental health areas. And Beverly and I became acquainted through Dennis Velco, and some of you listening may remember Dennis, he was one of my guests on the 30 Days, 30 Voices project that I had done back in June.

So Dennis had told me about Bev’s ground-breaking work that she’s been doing within the bisexual and bicurious teens and tweens and their parent’s information, and studies, and all sorts of great stuff that she’s been working on. So Bev I’m delighted to have you here, and I certainly want to dive into all of the stuff that you’ve been doing in the bisexual arena. But before we get into all of that stuff, I’d love for you to just share a little bit about your story, and tell us a little bit more about yourself and your eclectic background.

Beverly Winters: Thanks Jenn, thanks for having me here. Let’s see. I have been wanting to write these books, or write in general, for many, many years. I’ve been told all my life that I should be writing by teachers, friends. I never took it on because I wasn’t sure that I would be dedicated, disciplined enough to see it all through. It wasn’t until I really got into the mental health field and met some people, and realized the difference that writing could make for people. And of course in the LGBT community, which was a passion of mine all my life, it just made it even more exciting and meaningful for me. So pretty much everything I’ve ever done has led me to the writing of these books. And it wasn’t intentional, it just seemed like every time I did something new and different, it brought me closer and closer to this until I finally the woman that I co-wrote the books with, and from then on it’s just been the easiest road, the most enjoyable and fulfilling thing I’ve ever done. I really feel like it’s exactly what I’m supposed to be doing.

Jenn T Grace: It’s nice when things feel easy, then you know you’re on some sort of right track. So that’s definitely good to hear.

Beverly Winters: I do believe that.

Jenn T Grace: Yeah, I totally agree. And so before we get into some of the more serious questions, because we have a lot of stuff to cover today, which I’m really excited about. I do like to start off my interviews with asking for a fun fact, or something about yourself that maybe few people know or would expect to know from you.

Beverly Winters: That’s funny. Sure, I love miniature things. Teeny, tiny miniature replicas of everyday items. So I don’t know if you ever saw on CSI they had an episode where they recreated a crime scene with tiny little miniature desks, pencils, items. Absolutely having everything that was in the crime scene there for them to look at on a table. And I just fell in love with the whole idea and concept. I began collecting and buying all these little miniature dollhouse items. And what I started doing was creating little scenes of everyday memories. Like one of my favorites is my Dear John scene, where I have a desk, and a little piece of stationary, a pen, a glass of wine, a bottle of wine, the glass is almost empty, there are tissues, Kleenex thrown all around the floor near the waste paper basket, there’s a pair of women’s shoes under the table- or the desk as if she’s just kicked them off, and she’s gone to get more wine, and the letter says, ‘Dear John,’ on it.

Jenn T Grace: That’s funny.

Beverly Winters: And I’ve done other scenes too, like the holidays, and personal scenes that mean something to people. I just love doing that, it’s very creative, and it’s relaxing, and fun.

Jenn T Grace: It definitely is your artistic side coming out for sure. That’s very interesting. So okay, so in your intro we have alluded to your books. So I know that you’ve spent a great deal of time writing a series, or co-writing a series of four books. Could you talk a little bit about maybe what the book titles are first, and then explain to people what the books are about, and what your impetus for writing those books were.

Beverly Winters: Okay. I actually put my profile on a freelance site, and I saw a posting for a ghost writing position, and I applied for it. I didn’t know what the subject would be, but I applied for it anyways. That’s how I met my co-writer and eventual business partner. We connected and we started talking about the book that she wanted me to be a part of, and she let me know at that point that it was going to be a GLBT book about bisexual and bicurious teens. I just flipped. I thought, ‘Oh my God, I’m doing something that I want to be doing, that I’ve been waiting to do, and the icing on the cake is that it’s on a subject I absolutely am passionate about. Began doing the work on the parent book; we wrote a parent’s survival guide. The four books include two books for teens, and tweens, and kids- different age groups. The third book is a parent’s survival guide, and the fourth book is a journal to go with the teen books. The book series is called, ‘He, She, Me,’ and the name of the first book is, ‘The Essential Handbook for Bisexual and Bicurious Teens and Tweens.’ The parent’s book is called, ‘The He, She, Me Survival Guide for Parents of Bisexual and Bicurious Kids.’ The books took two complete years to do. The original book was going to be ten chapters, ten pages. It turned out to be twelve chapters and over 300 pages.

Jenn T Grace: Wow.

Beverly Winters: Yeah, it was a complete labor of love, I had a blast doing this. Not that it was all easy. Many times writing just turned into a struggle, which it should be, which it definitely should be. But thank God I also did research, I travelled and talked to people, I networked, I talked to people on the phone, I wrote to people; that was the amazing part of it, just all the people that I met and became friends with, people that I’d met that had the same vision and passion for LGBT youth, and changing the current landscape of the isolation they feel, and all the bullying, and all the suicides that are happening. So having the chance to actually make a difference in that was, and is, just something I absolutely love and means a lot to me. So the books are educational in nature, and supportive in nature. They give the kids definition, a history, even how-to’s when it comes to dating, safe sex, talking with their parents, of course there’s an entire section on coming out to your parents, coming out to your peers, how to handle reactions. And then the books have many, many, many links to referrals and other books, and other places for them to get help locally and nationally.

Jenn T Grace: Just you giving that little bit of background actually I have a couple of questions about it, because I know from my involvement in the LGBT community that a lot of the information that exists for LGBT folks is really geared towards the ‘G,’ so it’s usually just towards men. And oftentimes the- even lesbians are left out, and even moreso the trans community. And then I think even after trans is the bi community. So when you were putting together research and just digging around for the appropriate information to utilize to make sure that you’re providing the best resource available in your books, was it difficult to find the information because there just seems to be such a lack of it available?

Beverly Winters: I’m so glad you asked that, because you’re right on. There was absolutely nothing out there, absolutely nothing. Not in the regular public arena, but not even in the clinician and psychology community; nothing, there was absolutely nothing. One of the reasons that I think that the books are right on time is that all these celebrities are now coming out. The ‘G’ in the LGBT umbrella has made such strides that now most of the country is accepting everyone, and acknowledging marriage, and civil rights, which is opening the door for the next letter in the acronym to come forward. And there’s more and more about transgender. Lesbians seem to be put in the background a little bit, but I think what people do in their minds is lump it with the ‘G,’ the gay. Gay is kind of like this encompassing word for everyone here in the LGBT umbrella. But there is a lot out there. Not maybe talked about and advertised about, but there’s a lot out there for lesbians. A lot of fiction to read, a lot of fiction stories that do very, very well. And the transgender community is getting a lot of press and a lot of notice right now, and they’re stepping forward with stories and just visibility. The bisexual community is one of the most misunderstood, and invisible communities out there- populations out there. Even the LGBT community- they gay men and lesbians, they even have sort of a perspective of not understanding. Many, many gay people think that bisexuals are just people that haven’t made a choice yet. There’s a large contingency in the world of straight and gay people that don’t even believe that bisexuality is real. So part of getting these books out there, and part of becoming part of the whole educational background that’s being brought out there into the world, is to get people clear that yes, bisexuality is a specific orientation, it does exist, and we need to look at that, and we need to accept that because our kids are struggling with it themselves, and if we don’t get to a place where we acknowledge it and deal with it, how are we going to be there for our kids? How are we going to be there for those kids?

Jenn T Grace: Yeah, absolutely. I’ve found that there’s such a big gap in what people know and understand about the bisexual community. And I feel like it’s unfortunate because when you have people that are part of the LGBT community as a whole who don’t understand it, it’s really difficult to expect the rest of the world to understand it as well. And I’ve written a couple of times on my blog around this particular topic, and every time I do, it seems to get a lot of people reading it, and a lot of people talking about it just because there’s such a lack of information available. So it’s very evident that you’re passionate about this area, which is so exciting, and I know that in your beginning statements when you were talking about how you came across writing this to be a ghost writer, I’m imagining that somewhere along these lines you had some sort of ‘ah-ha’ moment when you just realized that this is what your life’s calling was. Could you talk about that a little bit?

Beverly Winters: Yeah, sure. When I started writing the books, it was only three weeks after that my partner came to me and said, “You are an amazing writer, you’re prolific, you have so much knowledge in the LGBT community, and you also have the advertising and marketing background. Why don’t we make you a co-author? A full-blown co-author and partner?” And I think that was the moment where I felt like I fell into the right shoes, my shoes, the shoes that I always wanted to be in. And from that moment on, it was a new game. It was just a bigger, newer game for me. That put more of a sense of responsibility, a sense of urgency, and pulled out of me some kind of passion that was greater than I’d ever experienced before. So I would have to say it was early on when we originally started, just right after we started, that we both came to seeing something within each other as co-writers, and taking off with that. By the way, her name is Tracey Adams, she’s a Psychologist who is in a private practice and had started seeing families with kids who were coming out to her bisexual. And when she started looking around for information for herself, she found nothing. She found absolutely nothing. And when she found me on that site, she had no idea that I was bisexual, and that I was bringing that to the party so to speak. So it was a mutual sort of coming together and realizing, ‘Wow, we’ve got something here. Let’s go for it.’

Jenn T Grace: Yeah it seems like the stars were aligning in that case because you weren’t openly labelling yourself at that point, it just happened to come together very naturally.

Beverly Winters: Exactly, exactly.

Jenn T Grace: That’s when you know everything is meant to happen the way it happens.

Beverly Winters: Yeah, I believe that.

Jenn T Grace: So along these lines, what inspires you and keeps you motivated to do what you do every day?

Beverly Winters: You know, that’s a great question because I don’t know if there’s one specific way to explain that, other than to say that there’s this internal driving force that just is there. I don’t have any control over it. To the point where even when I want to take a break, or tell myself, ‘Okay, I’m done, I want to retire, I want to stop, I want to go on a vacation.’ I might take a little break but eventually it always, without a doubt, there’s this drive that just pops right back up, and gets me back on the horse, and back into the game, and I just have no control over it. It’s just right there. I think maybe it’s because I haven’t finished everything that is happening now, or that I want to do in the future. Maybe at some point there will be a feeling of, ‘Okay you can stop, you can relax,’ but at the moment it’s just this unrestrained driving force inside me. That’s the best way to explain it.

Jenn T Grace: That’s really interesting. And just your story seems very entrepreneurial, like that’s just been kind of your path your whole life. And obviously seeing that the bi community hasn’t been properly represented, and there’s not enough information out there, that clearly you’re in your life’s calling because you’re not only doing something you love, but you’re also fulfilling a need that other people need this information, and you’re the one that’s providing it, which is really exciting.

Beverly Winters: Yeah, yeah.

Jenn T Grace: So I have a couple of questions that are completely unrelated to this, and then I want to get back to the book for a bit. So my seemingly unrelated questions are around business advice. For you personally- because I know looking at your past history the amount of different types of endeavors you’ve been involved in. Has there been one piece of business advice for you that’s just kind of been one of those guiding principles that’s helped you throughout these multiple careers you’ve had?

Beverly Winters: Yeah, there is one, and I learned it through a curriculum of courses that I took for personal development and leadership. And the advice is prevail. And the way to prevail is to make your self-talk more important than what anybody else says. Without exception. Because when you commit to that you really take yourself on, and embrace that you and you alone govern your results- your future. Nothing anyone says or does matters as much as that. There’s so much power in living your life like that, and in business it’s paramount because we all run head on into what I like to call the drift in the world. It’s everything that gets in your way, or slows you down. You can either let it define you and impact your choices, or you can remember to prevail by championing yourself through it. And that’s through self-talk.

Jenn T Grace: That’s really good advice, that hasn’t come up yet in this podcast. That’s really good. And just having that inner self balanced, and understand that you control your destiny. That’s really good stuff. Yeah, I like that. So my next question is around marketing. And as someone who is part of the LGBT community, what do you think somebody listening to this who’s trying to put together some sort of marketing outreach program to the community, do you have any advice that you would give them that you think would help make them successful?

Beverly Winters: Yeah, I would say be yourself and don’t hold yourself back. If you find something you truly believe in, and it takes your breath away so to speak, do it. Do it, no holds barred. And when you get tired, or discouraged, do it anyways. In spite of what’s saying no to you right in front of you, just keep doing it. For the practical part I’d say do your homework. Take the next step in front of you, and the following step with reveal itself. We all want to have a game plan right in front of us, but it’s not going to happen. So don’t be invested in that how-to part of it, just trust the journey. And today, in this world, network, network, network. That’s the way we do business today. Social media is taking over and we can reach anyone about anything. So network. If what you’d doing is beneficial, people are going to recognize that and get right behind you. I like to think of it like this, if you have a great idea; a great book, an invention, or a cause that’s at the heart of what you’re doing, then you get to be the steward of this beautiful thing that you’re driven by. The focus then stays on where it needs to be, on what you’re doing, and what you’re creating for the benefit of others. I believe people are remembered by what they make happen. We give credit to them, but what we’re amazed by is what they did, what they made happen, and it’s such a satisfying way to live.

Jenn T Grace: That’s another great, great answer. You are on a roll, now I’m curious to see what number three is going to bring. So again, as an LGBT person, have you found that you have been able to leverage that status whether that’s in your business, or personal life, or even your most recent endeavor?

Beverly Winters: Yeah I believe that people are drawn to people who embrace themselves. And that includes our sexuality, our relationships, and the work we do. In business I think people want to see that you’re walking the talk. They don’t want to feel any hidden agendas. It’s just you out there and they can feel that acceptance, and they want to be a part of it. Who doesn’t want to work or deal with people who are comfortable with themselves, who respect themselves, who are confident and self-trusting? It’s what everybody wants to be, so why not be that so that others can- you open the door for others to see that also. So I think authenticity is a powerful magnet; it breeds trust.

Jenn T Grace: Yeah I’m constantly preaching about authenticity, and being genuine, and being transparent. Because to me, that’s the only way to be. Just it makes sense with what I do, and I think with what most people are doing as well. So do you have any particular book, or some sort or program or tool, or anything around that in terms of a tactical thing that you’ve used that’s really just helped you either transform or just streamlined the way that you go about things?

Beverly Winters: Well yeah there was something that I consider life-defining, enormous in my life. When I was in college I was introduced to this company that did courses for adults on personal effectiveness, personal development, and leadership skills. And I took the courses, I took the entire curriculum, and it changed my life forever. From that moment on, I used the distinctions that they teach you in the courses to define every choice that I ever made from that moment on. Any time I came up to a new situation, a new struggle, challenge, whatever, I would bring these ready-made tools, these ready-made understandings about the distinctions, and they helped. They helped me to figure things out, think about them, where to be coming from when I think about them, and how to then take them and do something with them with the choices I make. Very powerful, very powerful for me. Today we call that entire industry transformational experiential training, and at the time back then, very few people knew about it or did it. Today everybody- most people have taken some type of training or course or workshop regarding transformational experience. And for me it was really- it changed my life. I have to say that I cannot imagine my life and how it would be if I had not done that early on. Today a lot of different companies are out there; many, many, many companies. One of the ones that I like to tell my friends to look into is one that is in Raleigh, North Carolina. It’s called Legacy, and it’s owned and operated by this amazing woman, Cora Sanchez. And she really gets it about doing something bigger than yourself, and giving the tools and information to anyone who wants to live your life in an extraordinary way, and producing credible results. She’s an incredible example of stewardship. She’s clear that she’s not the message, just the messenger. She keeps it in perspective. So I did mine in the early eighties, so you can imagine all these years I’ve been using it, and I really feel blessed that I came upon it. It really shaped my life.

Jenn T Grace: Wow, and so for those listening, there is a blog post that goes with this particular episode. So for anyone listening that may want to know more information about that specific thing that Bev was just mentioning, you can head over to the website and check it out there, and the link to that will be at the end of this episode. I just wanted to throw that in there, so if anyone’s driving and trying to write something down while they’re driving, that’s dangerous, please stop, it will be available on the website.

Beverly Winters: Terrific.

Jenn T Grace: So I have two more questions for you, and then we will say goodbye. Bringing us back to your book, I feel like the natural question on people’s mind right now is probably how can I get a copy of your book? So I know there’s a little bit behind this, so would you mind going into that a little bit for us?

Beverly Winters: Sure. The book, all four books are going to be coming out one at a time. The first two are the original teen book, and the parent book. And the way they’ll be coming out at first is in eBook format. Within the next four to six weeks, they’ll be online. We’ll also post on your blog if you don’t mind, the venues that people will be able to go get them at.

Jenn T Grace: Oh absolutely.

Beverly Winters: Great. And I’ve also set up a website for myself about the book, and where people can come and learn more about the book, and what’s going on with the book, and we’ll have testimonials and blogs about how the books are impacting the world as they get out there. So originally it will be in eBook format, and then hopefully by the end of the year it will be in print. We’re going to be in Barnes and Noble bookstore, so that’s something to look forward to. This is the very beginning, and your interview is actually the very first public thing I’ve done to promote and let people know what’s going on with the books, and that they exist. From here on I’m expecting to pace and get out there, snowballing, and just everything coming together within the next six months or so.

Jenn T Grace: Yeah, absolutely. It’s really exciting stuff, and that’s actually my last question for you. Is everything that you’ve been talking about is really exciting. But for you is there that one thing right now that’s just off the charts exciting for you?

Beverly Winters: You know earlier this year in March we entered the first book, part of it, into the San Francisco Writers Contest. It’s a yearly contest for writers, a national contest, it’s one of the most prestigious contests. And we actually placed in the top ten finalists in the youth category. And I have to tell you, that was so thrilling. To have my first book, my first contest, just place in the top ten finalists among hundreds of entries.

Jenn T Grace: That’s impressive.

Beverly Winters: Was just off the charts. Now that we’re here, all these months later and getting ready to put it out to the public, it’s a whole new thrill. And I really- probably in six months you can come back and ask me the question again, and I’ll have a whole new answer for you.

Jenn T Grace: I’m sure of it. That’s really exciting, that’s totally awesome for you to have been writing for your whole life- I know that when we had talked previously, writing has always been something that you enjoy. And for you to come out with your first book, and for it to place in the top ten, that’s impressive. And it also just kind of goes to show what a need that this book is fulfilling.

Beverly Winters: Yes, I agree. I agree. I don’t know if it was just my writing, or the nature of the book that had it come in the top ten honestly. But either way, it’s thrilling and exciting.

Jenn T Grace: That is super exciting. Well thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me today, and talk to my audience. It’s been great and you’ve given us some great information, and certainly shed some light on the mysterious bi community that not enough people know about. So thank you for doing that. But before I let you go, how would you advise people get in touch with you if they wanted to?

Beverly Winters: Okay, I am on LinkedIn and I would love for anyone and everyone to connect with me, become part of my network, that’s the best way to really stay in touch with what’s going on, and what’s happening regarding the books, and people talking about the books. Again I’ll have my website up in the next few days and it’s www.HeSheMeBooks.com, which will be another place for teens and adults to go to and be a part of the bisexual teen book community. And pretty much through the LinkedIn page we’ll also have a company page and we’ll eventually have the Twitter and Facebook fan pages, and all the social media. But for right now I’d say the LinkedIn profile and the website, best way to get ahold of me. And I really, really invite everybody to get ahold of me. I’d love to hear what everyone thinks, and that everyone cares, that these matter, and very exciting to be able to be in contact with people about that.

Jenn T Grace: Absolutely. You’re doing such an awesome thing, and I’m so honored that I am the first to interview you, because I’m certain that many, many more interviews are headed your way once this starts going out.

Beverly Winters: Well thank you, Jenn. I really appreciate you inviting me on here. It really has been great.

Jenn T Grace: Well thank you again and you and I will certainly stay in touch.

Beverly Winters: Absolutely. Thank you.

Jenn T Grace: Alright, welcome back from the interview with Beverly. I hope you enjoyed what you heard. And as I mentioned before, there will be show notes that go with this episode, so if you need information that you heard from Beverly, you can head over to www.JennTGrace.com/017 for episode number 17.

So before I let you go, I do want to thank you for listening. I know that you’ve taken some time out of your day to sit here and listen to myself, and my guest, and I really appreciate that time. And if you could leave a review for me in iTunes, I would always be forever grateful. You know the more reviews that are in iTunes, and the more stars it gets, the more people are able to see that it’s available. So if you know of colleagues or friends that would benefit from this information, heading over there and leaving a review would be absolutely fantastic.

And then finally I do want to say thank you to my sponsors of this podcast, the Entrepreneur Circle, which is the www.MentalCompass.com. You hear from Mike every episode, so it wouldn’t be an episode without hearing from him, so stay tuned for just a minute, have a listen to Mike, and I will be right back.

Okay fabulous. I always enjoy hearing from Mike. He’s pretty awesome, Maria’s amazing, they’re a great, great group of folks over there at the Entrepreneur Circle. So if you get a chance to head over to their website, I would highly recommend it. And you may recall that they were the last podcast, episode number 16, I did an interview with them. And they actually just recently interviewed me for their podcast. So if you are interested in hearing my interview with them, which really talks about more of my personal story as it relates to business, but it’s definitely focused on the journey of the last year that I’ve been on that I was talking to you about in the beginning of the episode. So if you want to know a little bit more about that, I would definitely recommend heading over to their podcast which is called Mental Compass, and that is in iTunes. But I will put a link to the show that I was on directly in this podcast which is at www.JennTGrace.com/017.

Again thank you so much for listening. I look forward to talking with you in episode number 18.