Today we’d like to introduce you to J.D. Williams.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was raised in one of the poorest regions in Alabama, the Blackbelt region. In this region, dreams were always met with the normalcy of reality. It is an area not only poor in resources but also academic opportunities. My mother, having been born and raised in the area, believed that the only way I would ever become something different from my environment was through education. So, she taught me how to read early and placed a high expectation of academic success upon me.
I became an avid reader by age four and officially fell in love with literature in the 3rd grade after reading The BFG by Roald Dahl. After that, I began to explore literature of every kind, growing fond particularly of African American classics written by black authors who surfaced during the later 19th and early 20th centuries.
In addition to literature, I also found a love for teaching others… Throughout my elementary/high school academic career, my teachers would allow me to visit other classrooms and teach and assist students who were behind academically. In 12th grade, I was given the opportunity to student teach for an entire semester.
After being advised in high school not to go after a degree in Journalism or Literature because it wasn’t easy to get a job in those areas, I set out to gain a degree in Education at Alabama A&M University.
After becoming a teenage-mom during my sophomore year in college, I began offering editing & “ghost writing” services under the table for my colleagues. I would edit or write essays, dissertations, etc. I also began substitute teaching in the city my college was located.
After I graduated college with honors, I landed a job in the same school system I substituted in and taught Special Education (K-6) about three years before becoming a full-time business owner.
In 2014, I felt the urge to get back to literature in some way, so I created an editing company, Keen Vision Editing. We edited literature for college students, newspapers, magazines, web designers, social media influencers, and authors. Around 2015, our book editing services began to sky-rocket, so we cut away everything and only edited books.
In 2016, people began requesting our assistance to help them develop content for their books, so we developed a writer coaching program. Our first Write with Ease 30 Day challenge attracted 35 aspiring writers. Of that group, 27 finished writing their books.
In 2016, we also noticed that many of our writers faced challenges finding a place to publish their work. So, we developed book publishing services. In 2017, I relaunched as a full book publishing company, Keen Vision Publishing.
We celebrated five years of book publishing in 2022. To date, we have published over 400 projects for authors in 27 states and three countries.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The path was far from smooth. For the first two years of owning a company, I had to balance the growing demand of our services with being the single mother of a toddler, as well as a full-time job.
After leaving the school system and becoming a full-time business owner, the ups and downs of the company’s finances made it difficult to stay afloat financially. Looking back, I definitely wished I would have planned my transition out of the “9-5” better. Nevertheless, I did what I believed God was directing me to do at the time. God took care of my son and I during the transition, we never went without anything we needed.
One day, I will write a book for aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners, as there is no way I can summarize every challenge we endured in a few words. However, there was so much I didn’t know about having a business. Honestly, the only thought in my mind when we initially launched was meeting the needs of our clients and glorifying God through it.
I didn’t know anything about marketing, customer service, budgeting, operations & systems, gaining financing, projections, etc. So learning these things along the way while staying on top of providing services to our clients was very difficult. I am extremely grateful for the clients who gave us grace to grow as a company.
In addition to business challenges, I experienced obstacles personally as a CEO. I battled with depression and anxiety from 2017-2019. For the first year, I didn’t realize it was depression and anxiety, I just kept pushing myself to go. I pulled back from the public scene around 2018, and my company laid low for a year or so. We still took on clients but didn’t advertise or promote our services. I took that time to really heal and deal with disappointments and frustrations that led to my depression and anxiety. I even considered closing the company for good. In March 2020, I decided to keep going and allowed God to breathe on KVP again, and He did. Since March 2020, we have published over 100 projects, expanded our team, and added many new services for our authors.
Now, I realized that every mistake, failure, closed door, etc., was necessary and worth it. I’m no longer discouraged by the lessons we learned along the way. I am grateful for them and excited about what we will learn along the journey in the next five years. What helped us prosper through every obstacle was learning how to gain a renewed, refreshed, and Godly perspective of the obstacles in front of us. I’ll carry that lesson in my heart forever.
As you know, we’re big fans of Keen Vision Publishing. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Keen Vision Publishing is a one stop shop for all book publishing needs. We provide authors and aspiring authors with book editing, publishing, marketing, and writer coaching services. Our specialty is working with first-time authors, helping them find and embrace their unique sound and calling as a writer. Our company is known for its “keen vision”, the ability to see the story hiding in both the content and the writer and pull it for the world to experience it. We consider ourselves to be more than a publishing company, we are guardians of literature. We believe that the words we write today will echo through history, crossing both cultural and generational chasms. Therefore, we do our best to ensure the quality of the literature we release. I am most proud of our team’s ability to not just connect with clients professionally but also purposefully. Our team cares about people beyond their purchase. Our goal is to see all of our authors achieve success and build legacy with their words, and we do everything within our power to ensure it.
If we ask those who knew you growing up, how would they describe you/young Jessica?
My mother would probably say I was especially head-strong. Teachers would say I was one of the best students they’ve had to date. My friends and peers would probably say I was a nerd, always had my nose stuck in a book. Those who knew me closely would say I was a lot of fun.
Growing up, I always knew I was different, but I didn’t fully embrace it until I was an adult. I always had this inner desire to get away from my environment and become someone great. I wanted to influence the world and show people in the area where I grew up that they didn’t have to settle for what they saw. As a child, I believed the only way I could do this was to read everything I could put my hands on, perform well in school, and go after different opportunities (even if it required a tussle or two with my mother). So that’s what I did. I was a natural leader and learner. I took every opportunity to learn anything that was available to me.
I didn’t have many friends until I began attending Upward Bound, a Trio Program. That’s when I was able to meet and connect with other individuals like me. I no longer felt out of place in school. I realized that I wasn’t so odd, I just didn’t have a lot of people around me with the same desires. On the other hand, once I made it to undergrad, I was a completely different individual and a lot more social. I had tons of friends with different backgrounds, belonging to different social groups on campus. I walked to the beat of my own drum and had a lot of fun.
Beyond the hustle to be something different, I was a pretty fun kid with those I was comfortable with. I was the fun friend, always having a funny story to share or being willing to try something crazy. I had a wild imagination and always created funny skits or games with my siblings and cousins.
Contact Info:
- Email: publishwithKVP@gmail.com
- Website: www.publishwithKVP.com
- Instagram: @https://www.instagram.com/kvpublishing/
- Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/KeenVisionPublishing
- Youtube: Keen Vision Publishing
