Escapade! Mogul Moments with Mogul Maker Camille Jamerson & Guest Mogul Tenita Johnson

Hey guys, how you all doing? It is so good to be back with you. I am Camille D. Jamerson, host and mogul maker and CEO of both C.D.J. Associates and The Camille Company. Speaking of The Camille Company, The Camille Company is the sponsor of this show, and I'd like to thank myself for sponsoring, um, this season of Mogul Moments. Now, if you want your company, your product, your event, um, to be a sponsor of a Mogul Moments episode, just let me know We have 30-second spots, we have a minute spot, we can make it work. We include your logo on all of our promos and information, and it's a cool way to get your business out there. So if you want to be a part of Muggle Moments, just let me know. Now, today's show I've entitled Escapade, and if you notice, the show before this one was entitled Before I Let Go. Kind of got a song theme going here. And the reason I titled— entitled this one Escapade, if you guys know the Janet Jackson on, it's all about adventure and, um, a daring journey and just a wild ride. And if nothing else explains what entrepreneurship can be, that does. Okay, and the thing that I really want you to take away from this episode is that everybody's journey is different, but just because your journey is different does not invalidate the fact that you too are an entrepreneur, no matter what it looks like. If you're working a 9 to 5 and building your business, if you're working two jobs and your business right now is a side hustle, whatever that looks like, um, it does not invalidate your journey. It's just different. Now, there are things that every entrepreneur needs to have. You need to be tenacious, you need to be courageous, um, you need to be diligent. Okay? The characteristics that we all need to have are very similar, but the way that we get to entrepreneurship, the way that we build our business and businesses, um, may all look different, and all of those journeys are valid. So we're going to talk today, um, with an amazing, amazing mogul, um, by the name of Tanisha Johnson, and she is the CEO of So It Is Written. And we're going to talk with her about her journey, which is an amazing story, and hopefully it will encourage and motivate you your journey. Let me tell you something about Tanisha. I'm gonna read some of her bio here. Authors worldwide write better thanks to editorial guru and authorpreneur Tanisha Johnson. Perfecting manuscripts for hundreds of bestselling authors, she's on a mission to end the prominent everyday abuse of the English language and rectify punctuation pet peeves. As the founder and CEO of So It Is Written, Tanisha collaborates with industry professionals to take manuscripts to the market marketplace, positioning authors for success in the literary world. Well known by many as a human spellcheck, noun nerd, and grammar police, she proudly wears the badge of honor to correct and serve. Dubbed the editor's editor and the book bully by many, she empowers aspiring authors to write from the editor's point of view to save time and money. In the self-publishing process. Listen, I know all of that to be true. Even when I send Tanisha an email, I am checking and double-checking and making sure my commas are in order because I will jack an email up without even knowing. And I don't want her to see it wrong because I know she looking at me side-eye like, really, Camille, you gonna send this to me? But anyway, she positions writers as experts in the industry, empowering them to develop multiple streams of income from just one book. To connect with Tanisha and for ghostwriting and coaching and publishing, you can visit her on her website, soitiswritten.net, and we'll talk more about that. But right now I want you to meet her. So will you guys put your hands together and help me welcome my guest, Tanisha Johnson.

Hey, Camille, it's been a while. So good to see you.

Good to see you too. It seems like we haven't been together forever. Yes, girl, I'm so over this pandemic keeping me from all my friends.

Yes, we have to get together soon.

I know we do, we do. Um, now I, I gave, uh, the viewers a little bit of your bio, um, which is just amazing. I shouldn't have expected anything less coming from you. My bio don't sound nothing like that. Um, but why don't you give the viewers an idea of kind of what, what went into your decision-making, um, to create So It Is Written. How did, how did you even get to entrepreneurship?

Yeah, so Camille, I tell people I was forced into entrepreneurship. I was unemployed for probably 2 and a half, 3 years, and literally God said to me, what do you have in your hands? And a lot of times we feel like what we have in our hands is not enough. But it was just enough to get started. It was just enough to keep me afloat at the time. And so I started working with a publisher out of Dayton, Ohio. I didn't have a company name. I didn't have an LLC or anything. I just knew I had a journalism degree. I knew I had an editing and proofreading skill set, and I knew I loved books, and I knew I was on the cusp of publishing my first book in 2010. And so this particular person, she gave me a chance, and I was actually editing and proofreading her manuscripts. Thus the company was born. And then eventually I went into more contract work roles in corporate America. So I was still running So It Is Written on the side, but I've had the company since 2009. Wow.

Yeah. So something you said there that's really key that I want to make sure we talk about. You said you started with what was in your hand.

Yeah.

What's in your hand? And you said something there that I really want to bring to the forefront for the viewers, because sometimes we do have a tendency to think that what we have isn't enough, isn't enough, or that we've got to have this big layout in order to get a business started. How do you speak to that? How do you work through that?

No. So the biggest thing for me, I mean, I was in my living room with a desktop at the time. This was like 12 years ago, so I didn't even have a laptop. It was a desktop, right? But literally it was like, what problem do you solve? What problem do you solve well? What skill set do you have? How can you monetize off of that? And who can you solve that problem for over and over again? So for me, it's authors. Every author is going to need an editor. No matter if they're a great writer or a horrible writer, they're going to need an editor till the cows come home. So that's a market that I knew I could tap into. I just needed an open door, and it only took one open door. But I got my start, you know, like I said, with the publisher out of Dayton, Ohio, who took a chance and said, hey, I'll start sending you manuscripts and pay you to edit. I think I was making maybe a dollar or $2 a page, but it was something. I was unemployed at the time, so I was unemployed for almost 3 years.

See, what's eating at the back is that we were talking about this before. That open door doesn't look like the opportunity that you were dreaming of. You know, you want the high-rise and, and, oh yeah, receptionist at the front desk and your big office with your name and lights.

Right.

But when your opportunity looks like $1 or $2 a page, yeah, don't despise the small beginning. I guess that's what I'm getting at.

Yes, yes. Because it's like that open door led to where I am now. And it's like, had I not started there— and so a lot of times we're asking God for the big, but it's like, can I trust you with the little? Can you just start here? You know, like that. Yeah.

One of the stories that I tell is most people know now that I have political figures as a part of my scope, and I would have never been a part of that world had I not did something for someone for free. I mean, I really did it for free. She needed a speaker at the last minute. Her speaker dropped out. Her husband and I are actually colleagues. He called me and said, hey, can you do this favor for my wife? I don't even know what she got in her budget. It was in Chicago. Wow. Rode to Chicago. I was like, no problem. I said, I need a weekend getaway anyway.

Wow.

Whatever. Went, did it for her for free. I mean, they gave me a stipend, you know, a little token or whatever, right, based on what they could afford. But I went and did that for free. 2 years later, she remembered that I did that for her and said, I cannot take on this political client right now because I'm I'm getting ready to bring out my book and some other things. Can you just hang with him, get his brand together and what have you? It should be a quick, you know, 6-month job. No problem, I'll take them on. Don't know anything about politics, but I can brand until Jesus. Um, come on. And that led to another job, led to another job, led to another job. And now, you know, I, I've got city council people and senators and stuff that, that for and that are a part of my daily scope. And that would not have happened had I not had the humility to do that thing for free. So I'm so glad that you brought that up about how you started and the small beginning.

Yeah.

Entrepreneurs are looking for that big thing sometimes. It's like, no, not how it might jump off. You need to—

Not immediately.

Right. Not right off the rip. Now, what's something in your business that you know now that you had wished you knew or was aware of when things first jumped off?

Yeah, so Camille, I would definitely say, um, how to package my service offerings as opposed to offering à la carte. So even though I was in the writing, editorial publishing world and all of my services were centered around that, everything was à la carte. So you could come to me and just say, I just need a bio today, you know, I just need Yeah, you know, I just need a synopsis today. I just need, you know, editing for my manuscript today. So it was one of those things where I found myself adding services, adding services, speaker one sheets, media kits, press releases, all of those things that you're going to need to be successful as an author. And it never dawned on me until literally last year when I hired a coach that was like, package all that stuff together. Why are you $100 yourself and $200 yourself? To death. And so, you know, then you look up and you got 10 clients that are just bios, or you got 12 clients where you just have to do press releases for. And it's like, no, just either do away with it or put it in a package. So now I have consolidated everything, consolidated everything into 3 packages. But the other piece, Camille, is not knowing how to price properly.

Um, oh, that's so big.

Yeah, because where I am now is definitely not where I started. I was doing the, you know, I was scared ask for $75, $100. Yeah, when you start asking people for like, oh, it's $199, and you, you kind of timid to ask them, and it's like, no, Camille D. Jamerson, in 2021, going from $200 clients to closing $20,000 clients, come on, that's nobody but God. But the confidence came from God, and it came over time. I've been in business 12 years, so now it's like Yeah, ghostwriting, because I'm writing your book for you, is anywhere from $20,000 to $25,000, period.

Because you don't know how much they're gonna make off that book.

I have no clue, and I don't take royalties, but you're gonna pay me well up front. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

See, gosh, that is so funny. I remember in the beginning asking for— I think it was like something— I don't even know what I was offering. That was like almost $200 or whatever. And I remember asking for it, like you said, really timidly. They had asked for the price. And then they said, okay, so fast. I knew immediately that it was—

Yeah, you're undercharging.

I knew immediately because they said, okay, should have asked for double that or triple that or whatever. Yeah.

And so a lot of times it's the lack of confidence. It is in us. And so customers will let you charge what you charge. They're like, Okay, I'll pay that. Great. I thought it would be—

because you're not negotiating at TJ Maxx. Yeah, it costs what it costs.

It costs what it costs.

And the thing that I want to ask you too is when you got to the place where you were charging more and clients or potential clients would say things like, oh, well, I can't afford that, what was your response to that? How did you take that?

So initially, the initial response is to start offering payment plans. Yeah. Or start taking your price down. Well, I can do it for this.

Yeah.

Uh-uh. No. Today I can stand firmly and say, all right, well, God bless you. You're probably not my client. You know, if I can refer them to somebody else, I refer them to somebody else. That's not in my budget. Okay, well, God bless you. You know, because I don't, I don't, I don't know how you want me to respond to that's not in my budget. My price is my price. You know, when you go to Chick-fil-A, that combo is $12, right?

Yeah.

Whether you feel like it's worth it or not, it's $12. So, you know, I'm, I'm no longer negotiating because of the level of excellence I know I bring to the table. And I'm going to work to make sure that your book is tip-top shape. That is quality and we're not putting out mess. Um, and so even for my coaching program, I'm telling people, listen, we can write the book in 21 days, we can write the book in 30 days, but it's $5,000. And honestly, Camille D. Jamerson, that's probably undercharging. That's probably undercharging, you know. But a lot of people will hear that and be, uh, okay, well, you're the one that's been sitting on a book for 10 years. How much more do you want it done in the next 30 days?

Yeah, what's it worth to you?

What's it worth to you? Yeah, yeah, because I know I'm the solution to the problem. It's just a matter of what is it worth to you? Wow.

Yeah, and I, I think we undersell our worth when we charge too little as being the answer. Yes, being the answer. It's like, I'm looking at your branding, it's jacked up. You got 17 different fonts, 14 different colors. Your tagline doesn't make sense. None of this matches your website. Your Facebook page looks like this shit. And I'm looking at all of these things. It's like, I can fix this. I can make it congruent for you. But if it's not worth it to you, you want to do it yourself, I mean, I can refer you to somebody on Fiverr if that's what you want to do. But you going to get—

Piece by piece, Fiverr quality. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

You try to tell the people, but—

Oh, I love when people come to me and say, do you use Grammarly? Grammarly, and do you— like, no, I don't. I don't use the automated systems for editing. No. So I'm not familiar, but if you want to go right ahead, just like, go for it. Yeah.

Oh, that's funny. So, okay, here's a good question. Now, what did you, or what, if anything, what did you waste money on when you first started your business?, that you should have done differently, or what should you have invested in that you didn't? So either way, was there something that you did that you wasted money on or something that you should have invested in that you didn't?

I would definitely say at the time, I wish I would have invested in a branding coach, um, and, and/or a business coach, because for so many years I was just winging it. Nobody in my family is a business owner. I have a cousin who's an entrepreneur, but she left corporate America, like, after I did. So it's like, unless you count my cousins who are drug dealers and street, you know, that's not, you know, I don't— business acumen, you know.

Oh, yeah, because they entrepreneurs like a mug, right?

Right. And so I tell people every coach should have a coach. You've probably heard that before. Um, but since I've just been in the book coaching space probably the last few years, it's one of those things like I need a business coach of how package my services and how to pitch and how to market and all of those things that I didn't have at the beginning. For so long I was running off of word of mouth, which was good enough, but there was no overflow. Okay. Yeah.

So it was once that, that line drop— dried up, then that was it.

Okay. Yeah. And so I would say some type of system in place. Um, a lot of business owners lack systems, and I'm guilty of this as well. So some type of systems in place for lead generation, um, client attraction, all of those things. I have never had— I'm starting to create those now, and I've been in business like 10, 12 years. Um, but those things probably would have generated more income and more stability as opposed to me just sitting back at home and saying, oh well, I'm waiting on the next client to come. No, go get it, go get the next client.

Yeah, yeah. Now, what do you think? There's some people that hear that you're entrepreneur and they immediately have these stereotypical images or misnomers about entrepreneurship. What do you think some of those are? What are some of the things you've heard or people have assumed about entrepreneurship?

I think that people assume that we're like at home watching TV all day, which is not true. Which is not true at all. I'm like, would you shut down? I am taking this laptop with me all day, all the time, in the airport, bathroom. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, and, and I think the other misnomer is that, you know, people make it look easy on social media. That may be 5 to 10% of the person's reality.

That's right.

You know, we choose what we post. Of course we're going to post the successes. We're not necessarily posting the failures. Um, but I think people believe if they build a business, if they build a clothing line, if they build a jewelry line, that people are just going to start supporting randomly. No. The other part is, um, thinking that your family and friends are going to be the first to support. They will probably be the last.

They're not your clients. They're not your clients.

Yeah, they're not your clients. Yeah, yeah.

So that's family. Just let them be there.

Yeah. So that's the biggest misnomer. The other thing is I think a lot of people believe that the more they offer, if they are offering multiple services, multiple products, the more money they will make. I have come to the realization the quicker you can scale your business to one or two things and just focus on that at a high-ticket premium price, You will soar. You will soar.

So narrowing your scope.

Narrowing. Not like I said, I was offering all of those à la carte services.

Jack of all trades. Yeah.

And even though it was all centered under writing and editing and publishing, an author is going to need all of these pieces. Why was I giving them the option? The truth of the matter is I was doing them a disservice offering it à la carte when you're going to need this. You're going to need it. You're either going to come back to me later or you just won't have it, but you're going to need this.

Yeah, because you've seen it time and time again with previous clients that'll get one piece from you, then they'll come back and get another piece, and then they're just like, if I had just given you all this in one shot and one thing. Yep. Now, who is your target market?

So for me, what your target market looks like, what does that look like?

Yeah.

So for my target market, it is generally speakers, entrepreneurs, and authors, but more so speakers and entrepreneurs who don't have a book. And I say who don't have a book but have a book around their area of expertise. Right. So whatever makes you an expert in the marketplace, eventually you will be speaking about it. You will be presenting about it. You will be on webinars and podcasts and all of that. You need a book centered around that. So for me, it just happens to be books. But for other people, for you, it may be business. It may be your political figures. Do they have a book? And whatever their messaging is, whatever your key message is to the marketplace, do you have a book around that?

And that's good that you said that. That's another thing our mutual friend Katrina has been yelling at me about.

To get your book done.

Yes, when she see this, she gonna pass me out. But, um, she— I mean, she's right because I have a book, but I don't have a book about this particular— this particular area of my business, right? What, what I teach clients is that your book is like your business card. Yes, it's not— it is a stream of income, but it's not necessarily a stream of income.

It's your business card as a lead Yes, a stream, the other stream of income. So what I tell people is the book is what will unlock the doors to opportunity. So it's, it's the ebook, the paperback book. Um, now you're speaking on podcasts, now you're a speaker at conferences, or you're coaching. Maybe you build a coaching program around that book. I've done a stage play off of a book. I've done a short film off of one of my books. So it's about the streams of income that are tied to the book as opposed to just the book. Now, if you just sell a $10 book, will you become a millionaire? Probably not, right? But it's the streams tied to the book that are going to unlock doors and opportunities for you.

And I'm glad you mentioned that. I think that was in your bio too, how you can develop multiple streams of income from one book. So it's not just— and I teach clients this about articles that they write. It's like, yes, you can write the article, But now we can also break this up and make this graphics and posts. We can put this in smaller pieces and use this. You can put this on your, um, if you've got an apparel line, if you do t-shirts or whatever, you can take quotes from that and put it there. Yes, use this, the shorter video version for— so, um, just know, those of you who are out there and you're interested in perhaps writing your first book, or you know as an entrepreneur, you're going to need to have that book. Understand that it's not just the book, it's the bigger picture of what that book brings to the table. And that's one of the things that Tanisha and So It Is Written can help you do.

Yes.

Oh gosh. Okay, couple more questions while I got your attention. So what are your thoughts on this whole working a 9 to 5 and building a business? Because I know you had a piece of that going on for a while.

I did.

People say that you have to burn all the boats and go headlong into business. And then other people say that you need to leverage your 9 to 5 and do both for a period of time until one can stand on its own. What are your thoughts there?

I will say that, Camille, I got to a place where I could not serve two masters, and that's exactly what it felt like. I remember being in my very last contract position and getting to a place where I just didn't have work. I would come to work every day and I would sit for 8 hours with no work. Now, I'm making great money. I was making almost $50 an hour, but I got to a place, Camille, where the money wasn't enough to keep me. Like, I would literally be jittering in my seat, like, I got to go. I got to go do something. And I remember them telling me one day, go around and ask people, do they have any work for you? And something in that, Camille D. Jamerson, yeah, with a master's degree and a bachelor's, I was like, I'm not really feeling this because that work could be admin stuff. That work is not necessarily editing and proofreading. It could be anything. It could be anything. And so I remember sitting in the parking lot asking God to release me and just crying and praying and saying, how much longer do I really need to be here? And because of who I'm married to, I had to stay there until they released me. Because I was— I was making almost $50 an hour, but I had got to a place in my mind where I was physically there, but I was already gone. Yeah, I was not committed to them. And in my heart of hearts, I knew there was purpose was calling me out of the boat and it was safe. The $50 an hour is playing it safe.

Okay.

To get to where I am today, which is closing $20,000 clients. Yeah. But $50 an hour was safe. And you look back on it now, like, I can't remember. $50 an hour, right? Yeah, yeah. And so just getting to a place where you choose purpose over a dollar amount or a certain money, or, you know, it is not going to be enough. So I was pushed out of the boat. I don't think I ever would have jumped. I don't think I ever would have chosen to walk on water. The Lord— yeah, the Lord knew, like, I have to remove this from her because she's not going to leave. She will stay here, you know, just because we've been taught for so long, don't leave your 9 to 5 until you have 3 to 6 months in your bank account. I didn't have any money in my bank account. I didn't have a savings. I didn't. I didn't. Now I'm married. But on the flip side of that, people also say, oh, well, being an entrepreneur for you is easy because you're married. No, we had bills based on two incomes. I just—

yes.

Yeah. Yeah. So it wasn't an easy jump, but we made it. We made it. So I've been out of corporate America July. It'll be 4 years. 4 years. Yeah. And we are doing better now than we ever have before.

That's awesome.

Yeah. I always laugh and joke. I'm like, they would probably have to pay me $250,300 to go back into corporate America. Like, it would have to be sweet, Camille. It would have to be real sweet.

Real nice.

I'm talking about vacation time. Yeah. Working from home. Yeah.

It would have to be real sweet. Jump in the car.

Yeah, yeah. Because when I left, I was making probably $89,000 or $90,000. Yeah. And to cross the 6-figure mark in my business last year was like, oh, I can't go back to corporate America. Once you cross that, it's like, oh, well, if I can do that.

Yeah, yeah, I get that. I get that. And I'm glad you brought up that part about I'm being married too because people look at me, oh gosh, you got a husband, you know, paying all your bills and blah blah blah. And yes, I— full total disclaimer, Mr. Jamerson is the bomb.

Yes, I love it.

Yes, uh, you know, however, the hour cometh and now is, right, that Miss Jamerson is getting ready to retire, you know. And so life is going to look real, real different if Camille D. Jamerson didn't have her own stuff together.

Correct.

Um, and I got grandbabies and, and, and, and stuff that I'm building for, and that don't necessarily— aren't necessarily his responsibility on my behalf, you know what I'm saying? So, um, yes, I, I was able to make some decisions that some people may not have been able to make, um, because I knew I was still gonna eat every day. But don't, don't get it twisted. It's, it's not, um, it's not easy. It might be easier, but it's not easy. Just right, you're married and have, um, a spouse that—

yeah, and people will try, people will try to diminish. I had somebody try and diminish my success.

It's—

wow, because they're single. Hear me, they're single and they're entrepreneur and they're struggling. And the comment was It's easy for her to be an entrepreneur because she has a husband supporting her and paying most of her bills. I'm a real entrepreneur because I'm struggling and I, and I'm like, my business goes through the same highs and lows as yours. It's not—

and I not only am I running a business, but I'm also managing a marriage, right?

And a house and children.

Yeah, that's a business in and of itself. What?

Yeah. Wow. Yeah.

So it's— wow. I don't even know what to say to that.

Yeah.

The struggle determines whether you are valid or not.

Well, and because we have this grind and hustle culture and everything is grind this and hustle this, and I'm at the stage where I'm trying to do this stuff that solves problems, but it's easy for me and get paid well to do it. I don't want to grind. I don't want to hustle. I want to stay up all night.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think I read on somebody's post not too long ago that whole Team No Sleep thing, it's like, that's abuse. What you're really saying to yourself is that you're, you're not deserving of rest, of rest, like, you know, that every other human needs on the planet. You're not deserving of that. Like, Team No Sleep is some kind of positive moniker. It's not. Now, does that mean that you won't have some days where you're up late and you're working and, you know, you burning the midnight oil? Don't get it twisted. Absolutely, yes, you will.

Sure.

But to make that your, you know, badge of honor, no, that— no, no.

And Camille D. Jamerson, I've had those late nights and I've had those sleepless nights. I've been in business 12 years. It's not like I'm just starting. So the grind and hustle is not appealing to me at this point. No.

And it's not that you won't have to grind and hustle, but the goal should be to get to a point where that's not the norm.

Yes.

Am I hearing you? Okay. I get it. Um, okay. I ask everybody this. Um, it doesn't necessarily have to be about business, and I know this must be an interesting question for you given your line of business. So what book are you reading or what book do you recommend?

So I am reading The Big Leap, which talks about the upper limit problem of basically our mindset and what keeps us stuck. And so it's kind of like the concept of going from the good to the great. And it's like, yeah, you might be doing something in your zone of excellence, but what is your zone of genius? Like you may be good at this. Yeah, so I'm good at editing, but what's really my zone of genius? Um, and so getting to that place of what's keeping us stuck, those mindsets that keep us stuck— we talked about undercharging and overdelivering. It's a mindset issue. So a lot of times entrepreneurs are frustrated, they're overworked. We talked about the grind and hustle, and we're scared to ask people for $100 or $200. But it's, it's literally a mindset issue of what is it in you that told you you weren't good enough.

Wow.

Yeah, yeah. So they call it the upper limit problem. So I'm reading The Big Leap, um, and then I just finished a really good book called Forgiving Forward, which is totally based on forgiveness being a decision, not a process. Because yeah, Exactly. I'll never forget the day God said to me, if, if you tell yourself decision is a process, it will be. If you tell yourself, I'm making a decision to— Camille, fix your face. I'm making—

y'all can see me?

Yeah, I'm making a decision today to forgive. Not— it doesn't have to be a pro— the healing may be a process, but the decision is is to forgive. Wow. Yeah.

Oh, that was irritating. Okay.

Yeah. So I'm reading some pretty heavy books because I'm yet doing mindset work, emotional work to get to the next level in my business, to figure out what is blocking, because all that's energy. So something is blocking the quality of clientele that I know I want to work with and I can serve. Preventing them from finding me?

Oh, that's good.

Yeah. Or they find me, but why are they not closing? So it may be them, but most times it may be me.

What energy am I giving off? Could be blocking. Oh, that's good. That's something else that I'll say as an entrepreneur, and I'm sure Tanisha can attest to this, is that you will spend a lot of time working on yourself.

Oh yes.

Um, as an entrepreneur, because, um, the biggest brand ambassador for your company is you, is you, you know. And if, um, you are dealing with things like the imposter syndrome or, um, low self-esteem, and, you know, you might not come off as you do, but it'll leak. It'll leak out.

It will leak.

Yeah. In your interactions with potential clients or in making business deals. So please know going in that you are going to do a lot of work on you.

A lot of work.

Do the work.

Yeah. And so, Camille D. Jamerson, one of the biggest things is understanding if you have the root of rejection or abandonment and how that translates to clients and closing customers. You won't close if you're not confident. So if you're afraid that they're going to reject you because the price is $5,000, $10,000, $20,000, whatever it is, you're already projecting, they're not gonna, they're not gonna accept this, they're not gonna accept it. You have already rejected in your mind because of the root of rejection, like, this is not—

yeah, wow. I remember dealing with a potential client, and it was one of the first clients that I sent a proposal to when my prices had gone up. And literally, I mean, everything I was saying was like, I was worth this amount and I had this referral and that referral and whatever. But in my heart, I was like, this girl ain't going to buy this package. I remember literally saying that to myself. And I talked to my husband about it later and he was like, whatever happened to such and such? I was like, she ain't bought a package. He was like, you said that from the beginning. You realized that. I was like, yeah, I know, because I knew it from the beginning. And I'm just going out and he's like, you're not even listening to what you're saying, right? And it was like, you probably have more to do with sabotaging that package.

Self-sabotaging. And how many, how many business owners are self-sabotaging their own business saying nobody's going to pay that? I ain't never had nobody pay this to me ever in my life. That doesn't mean it's the first time for everything. Yeah, that doesn't— like, my first client didn't know they were my first client.

Yeah, I'm not going to tell you that. Yeah, and I'm not going to tell you the first client that paid me this.

Right, same result. Yep, same result.

Yeah, and I think it's so true that I look at what I do, and this is, this is definitely a message to somebody. I look at what I do and I love what I do. It comes easy to me, um, I'm gifted at it, it's my thing. Yes, but because it is, sometimes I diminish its value because I'm thinking it's so simple, it's so easy, it's so this, it's so that, anybody could do it, right? Anybody can't do it. Just because it comes easy to you doesn't necessarily mean that it's not a valued gift that would not necessarily come easy to somebody else. I do not have the grace on my life to do what Tanisha does. I already know that would get on my nerves. I do not have that grace. I do not have the grace to be a coach. That's not my thing. I'm not going to handhold nobody.

Handholder. Yep.

Because that's what it is. Handholding people. It's like, nope, I raised 5 kids. I'm all done with that. So I don't have the grace on my life for that. But I would tell people in a minute, they are worth their weight in gold. Whatever they charging you, pay it because I know their value. Just because I don't have the grace on my life to do what it is that they do, I don't devalue what it is that they do because I know I can't can't do it. So as an entrepreneur, you need to realize the same thing about what you do. It's like what you do is your thing and you can do it in a way that, um, you might think is easy or natural to you. That's because that's your gift. But it ain't easy for the person that's getting ready to pay you $5,000 to do it.

So, and that's another thing, Camille, I think a lot of entrepreneurs have to get out of the mindset of I'm charging what I'm worth per hour, or I'm charging what I'm worth per project. It's like, no, you're paying— they're paying for the solution. They're not paying for—

you're paying me on it.

No, you paying me for the master's degree, the journalism degree. You paying me for the 20 years of editing that I have. I didn't just start—

yeah, for my time on YouTube University to figure out How did you do this? And I just did it like that.

That's right. Right. So I think a lot of times people are charging based on the market or what they think it should be hourly.

Um, yeah, yeah.

And so I stopped hourly altogether because I said, listen, this is doing a disservice to my book coaching clients. You don't need me for 1 hour. You probably need to work with me until you get this book done. So I'm doing a disservice by charging you $100, $200 an hour, whatever it is an hour. There is no hourly consultation. We can talk for 15 minutes. Here are my programs and services. Which one would you like to sign up for? Because the truth of the matter is I can give you a strategy for an hour, but it's not going to get you the results of actually working with me.

Yeah, because that's merely just a lead generator. Right. But it's not the answer. It's just a little bit of the answer.

Yeah. And so when I see entrepreneurs that are like, oh, it's $50 an hour for a consultation, or it's $100 an hour, I'm like, yeah, I remember those days. But there is no transformation, Camille D. Jamerson. Hear me, there is no transformation happening in an hour. Yeah, it's not.

You can't adjust the mindset that quickly.

And most of the people I'm working with need a mindset shift. They want to write a book, but they don't want to talk about the book when it comes out. They don't want to be the brand ambassador for the book. They don't want to speak. It's like, so we got to get past all of this fear to even get you to write the book and actually promote it. I have a client who paid to publish her book. I ain't seen her from— I said, where is the book? Are you promoting at all? Okay, you spent $4,000, ma'am. And you have books in your garage because you let fear even mention it. No. So again, we have to do that mindset work. Yeah, with our clients as well, because it's like, I can get you the product, I can get you the service, I can get you the result, but if your mindset hasn't shifted, it's not going to keep you there. You're going to resort back to Same old, same old.

Because now if you're not using the book to put you in places where you can actually sell the book, like we were talking about before, conferences, what have you, where you can pitch your book at the end, that sort of thing, then you basically just wrote a big business card, right? That's, that's all it is.

I, I tell people, I'm like, I can take your whole book and break down each chapter into a webinar, sell that webinar for, let's say, $49.79, get 100 people on that webinar. Or, okay, that's $8,000. I mean, literally, like, we can generate the money, but you've got to be willing to step out there and do the work.

Wow.

Yeah.

Okay. So is there any advice you have to new and aspiring entrepreneurs? And that's actually going to be good because the show after yours, I'm going to have on two sets of brand new entrepreneurs. Who are like literally just starting their business. So I want to catch them before everything goes haywire, see how they're feeling about entrepreneurship right now. And then I want to catch them near the end of the season and see how they're doing. So if you had any advice or points that you wanted to make to entrepreneurs that we didn't cover, what would that be? What would that look like?

So the first thing would be hire a business coach early. Yeah. Um, I am just now hiring a business coach, maybe the last year, um, and I wish I would have hired her a long time ago because it literally has transformed my business and my mindset. The first thing she deals with is mindset, and I can say that at every level in your business, as you scale, as you grow, it's going to be an issue of mindset. It won't even be about the money, it will be about your mindset around the money and charging or offering what you're offering.

That's good. Yeah.

The other thing I would say is don't be a jack of all trades. Stick with the one thing. Camille D. Jamerson, I go all the way back to 2009. I was just editing and proofreading from my living room. I wasn't writing bios and press releases and speaker one sheets and media kits and stage play scripts and all the rest of that stuff that I offer now. I was just editing. That was it. Yeah. And so I think a lot of times people feel like they need to do this big launch and be offering so many services and so many packages. And it's like, just focus on the one thing. Yeah, the one thing, the one thing that you do well that nobody else can do like you. And so for me, that was editing and proofreading. You only, you know what that is. I can't really help you define that.

And I think it, it, to that, it's like, because you have the fear that whatever you jump off with, you can't change it later, you know. I'm a witness. You, you can scale up, scale down, you know, reinvent the whole business if you want. Whatever you start with doesn't necessarily mean that that's what you're stuck with, right? You had an actual client tell me that she couldn't, um, do something because on her website it says such and such and so and so, and I was like, take it down.

It's real simple.

I was like, Your website is on what?

Okay, you can edit that.

Yeah, delete, delete, delete, delete. Yeah, I was like, okay, so that problem is solved, you know. But don't feel bound by where you start, um, but don't feel limited by it either. Because just because it's that, like Tanisha was saying, that one thing that only you can knock out of the park, start there and don't be afraid to start there.

Yep, that's good. And then, and then as you grow, don't let people keep you stuck. So I've been editing Camille D. Jamerson 20+ years, um, not so much for So It Is Written but for corporate America too. So when you add up all the years in corporate America and newspaper and magazine and all of that, it's 20+ years. I'm moving on to do something else, and so now it's just publishing ghostwriting, and book coaching. Those are my 3 areas of focus. And even in all of those programs, they don't get me, they don't get access to me. Um, but when I made the announcement, oh, people went haywire. They went crazy. Like, why? I don't understand. Like, what do you do? I'm allowed to grow. I'm allowed to grow and move and shift. It's like people want to keep you at the place where they met you. Yeah. And it's, it's like I tell people, sadly, you will come looking for me at the same place at which we met, and I won't be there anymore.

Come on.

Yeah. And so I got people from 3 years ago who are like, I'm on my next book, can you edit? Yeah, or, or I have people who come to me like, I need my bio updated, you did it 5 years ago. That's great, I no longer offer that service. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Wow.

Yeah, so don't let people— because people will keep you stuck because it serves them, you know. But how is it serving you? Ouch.

Yeah, y'all hear that? Yeah, because when you watch, you need to rewind that. Yes, to that line again.

Yes. Oh, one more thing, Camille D. Jamerson. The biggest thing I try to teach is collaboration over competition. Um, I can be doing the exact same thing as you. We both can be publishing books. We both can be book coaches. How can we collaborate so that we both can get paid, as opposed to saying, oh, she does what I do, I'm not talking to her, I'm not promoting her services. You know, I think a lot of times it's that, that crab— what is it— crabs in the barrel.

Yeah, yeah.

And it's like, it's enough for us all to win.

It's enough.

It's more than enough. There is no short— the Bible says there is no shortage of publishing books. This— so there are people who are going to be writing books, and you can't publish them all. Yeah. So why do we always have to look at someone as competition versus a collaborator? How can we do a webinar together? How can we do a conference together? Yeah. How can we both get paid in it? But again, Camille D. Jamerson, that's a mentality shift, because if you're intimidated by people who seem to be doing what you do and doing it better and closing bigger clients than you, then you're always going to see them as competition.

And you're going to be insecure. You're not going to want them in your space because you have a fear that they can take something from you when in fact, if they can't— they can't, they can't. They can only add. Yeah, that's good. So now you got something coming up in May that I want you to talk about. I know. We don't have all the details yet, but I want, want you to have an opportunity to get that out because like I said, those of you who are entrepreneurs and, um, you want to have, um, a book about your area of expertise, you definitely might want to get in on this. You want to be known as a subject matter expert in your particular field, and a book is one of the best. It's not the only way,, but it's one of the best ways to do that. So, Tanisha, tell us about what you've got coming up.

Yes. So this just popped in my head, and you and I probably need to collaborate. So I run a— seriously, I run a monthly cohort called Brand Book Bestseller. And what it is is to get people to write a book in 21 days. But it is the book that sets them apart as the expert in their field. So this is not a devotional. This is not your life story. This is the book that you know you need to write for your particular brand. So whatever you do as an expert, um, that is this book. So I will be running a webinar in May. I'm still working out the logistics. I'll post the link here. Um, but it will be, you know, how to write a book in 30 days, because you get the 21 days of support, and then I, I put a buffer in there for people to actually get the content done. But I have successfully helped people people write their book in 21 days. So I have clients who come to me and they're like, I've been trying to do this for 10 years. Why? Because it doesn't take 10 years to write the book, but you need a strategy. And so it's called Brand Book Bestseller. And I'm like, for the brand part, I can just bring Camille on. Hey, yes, yes, because Camille, it's the idea that The book is one piece, but you're also in the midst of that building a brand for yourself, not only as an author but as an expert. And that's what will yield the bestseller status. Sure.

And how are you going to brand yourself and that book so it gets the most bang for its buck?

Correct.

Because your book can't be saying one thing and then your brand, personal or otherwise, say something totally different.

Say something totally different.

You got to be married. Oh, yeah. Let's get together. That's going to be fun.

Yes, brand book bestseller in May. Yes.

But for those who have been sitting on there, she's not gonna let me play or let me do nothing. But, um, yes, that, that sounds amazing. So guys, watch for that, um, in this link under Facebook or under YouTube, wherever you're watching it. We'll make sure that we get the link back. Um, if I get it back in enough time before I edit, I'll put it right here on the screen for you., but we want to definitely make sure that, um, you make yourself available to that. And Tanisha, before I let you go, I want to make sure you tell people how they can find you, because, um, I'm sure more information about that event will also be, um, on your website and social pages.

Absolutely. So they can visit me at www.sowitiswritten.net. It is dot net, not dot com. Um, they can email me info@sowitiswritten.net. They can also reach me on my business line, 313-777-8607. So awesome.

You guys got that info at soitiswritten.net. So it is written.net is, um, her website. We'll definitely get all of that. Um, if it— if this is on YouTube, I'll definitely put all this in the description for you. Um, and on Facebook, we'll make sure we get it in the link. So, um, would you guys put your hands together and thank my wonderful, amazing guest? And I knew this was gonna go overtime, but Thank you, Camille D. Jamerson. We good. Thank you so much for joining me and giving up your time to talk to entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs about your journey and being so transparent about how we got here. We weren't having these conversations back when we started.

We were not.

We were not. We were not, especially people of color, just to be transparent. And, and women, um, not as much so as we are now. So I'm really glad, um, that we have this forum and this opportunity and this, um, uh, platform to use to really, um, be transparent and open about the process and take some of the fears and misnomers out of the way. So if you're called to entrepreneurship, um, you've got, um, a good idea going in what you're going to to be facing and what's coming for you. And it's not all bad, y'all. It's scary, it's wild, but oh yeah, it's worth it.

And it's a roller coaster. Just put your hands up after the first drop.

Yeah, that's why— that's exactly why I named, um, this episode Escapade, because it's wild, it's an adventure. But yeah, put your hands up and enjoy the ride, you know.

I promise you're gonna land safely, you're gonna be fine.

That's good, that's good. It won't kill you.

We still living, we still here, right?

We're still here. So thank you so much, Tanisha. I'm gonna let you go, and then you guys hold on because I'm gonna tell you about, um, our next episode. Thank you. So guys, really quick before I let you go, I just want to tell you a little bit about the next episode that's coming. I have two brand new entrepreneurs um, well, a husband and wife couple and, um, another entrepreneur who are just starting their businesses. So we're going to catch them early in the game. I think I mentioned a little bit about that in the show. We're going to catch them early in the game. I think neither company has launched yet, so this is right before their launch. We're going to talk to them about their experience so far, what they've learned, um, what they wish they knew, what's gone right, what's gone wrong. What their businesses will entail, why they got into entrepreneurship, what encouragement or advice they have for you just getting started. And if both of them could do it, certainly you can too. And so we hope that by looking at their journey, you'll have an opportunity to kind of take some of the good, some of the bad, some of the advice that they have to offer and make it applicable in your own journey. And the name of of that, um, show is going to be entitled My First, My Last, My Everything, right? So it's their first business, um, and sometimes when you are birthing a business, you like, this is the last time I'm gonna do it. But eventually you get to the part where like, this is amazing, this is fun, this is my everything. So, um, I hope that that's how it's going for these entrepreneurs, but you have to come back, probably next week and, um, take a listen at that particular episode. So thank you guys for joining me. I hope you guys enjoyed, um, this episode of Mogul Moments and my guest Tanisha Johnson. Please make certain that you follow her on all of her social platforms. Um, make yourself available for, um, her event in May, um, How to Write a Bestseller in 30 Days. So those of you who need to get your books done, really, you want to get in on that. That's going to be in May. So like I said, connect to our social media. So when that jumps off, you'll be one of the first to know. Hope you guys enjoyed this. Hope you learned something. If you have any additional questions or comments, hopefully you'll just add them to the chat and myself or Tanisha will definitely swing back around, check those comments. And questions, and be certain to, um, respond. So until next week, this is Camille D. Jamerson of CDJ and Associates and The Camille Company, and a special thanks to my company, The Camille Company, for sponsoring this season of Mogul Moments. Until next week, I'll see you guys then.

Bye!