3 Golden minutes with Kim Gosselin, Blogger Extraordinaire
Hello Kim!
Q: Tell me about your latest exploit
Currently, I enjoy painting pictures with words in my personal blog at http://kimgosselinblog.wordpress.com/. At the present, I don’t own a company, nor am I employed by one. Rather, I write my days away while answering messages, working on new story ideas, and capturing memories from long ago. Back in the mid-90’s, before Independent Publishing or ‘Self-Publishing’ was ever a popular trend, I formed a children’s publishing company to help educate elementary peers of kids living with chronic conditions and/or special needs.
Q: Wow! So, what inspired you to step out?
I was inspired and motivated by my own two young children who were at the tender ages of three and six at the time. They were in the midst of attending innocent pre-school and kindergarten classes. Suddenly, both were diagnosed with forever illnesses within six months of each other: insulin dependent diabetes and asthma, respectively. Looking back, my life became one giant quest to save them in all ways possible. “Mother’s Instinct” kicked in, taking me on a forever mission. Nothing would have stopped me, then.
Q: Awesome! Please tell us about some of the areas you prided most about your organisation?
At the time, I was most proud of my attention to detail. Everything had to be perfect for my consumers. After all, I was one of them. I took great time researching medical information, always having my books reviewed for accuracy prior to publication. I sought young, new artists in my area who were affordable. Some were still in college! They drew magical watercolor pictures for children and adults to delight in. Writing fictional picture books from non-fictional topics was often quite a challenge, but always lots of fun! So delightful to write medical terms ion ‘peanut butter and jelly’ levels.
Q. How exciting! Areas/aspects that posed the most challenges in business?
Some of the most challenging aspects of running a company was trying to do it alone. Finally, I hired an assistant who was sent from God above. In the beginning, we didn’t have computers yet. Everything was done by hand. Orders, correspondence and writing stories in loose-leaf binders. The Internet was barely heard of in the early to mid-90’s, and Amazon.com was barely out of the nest!
Q. Finally, your advice to someone starting out?
My advice today for someone starting up would probably be much the same today as it would have been back when I began. Everyone needs to do their homework before beginning anything:
- Research, research and more research!
- Know your competition and price point.
- Set your bar high and stick with it.
- It’s okay to be afraid.
- Don’t give up. Hang in there.
- If it’s possible, discover a niche that you love.
- Always treat your customers with respect. You are in business only because of them.
- Be the best that you can be, and no matter what…don’t ever settle for something less.
Great! Thanks for your time. For further information on Kim Gosselin:
(314) 378-2665 Phone
St. Louis, Missouri
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