Exploring Life & Business with Summer J. Robinson of Silver Bangles Productions

Today we’d like to introduce you to Summer J. Robinson.

Hi Summer J. , thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Summer J. Robinson, and while I officially entered the publishing world in 2021, storytelling has been a part of my life since I was a little girl. I grew up writing, and in high school I fell in love with filmmaking. When I was 17, I wrote and self-published my first book, “Discovering Summer Abroad: A Teen’s Journey to Africa.” A few months later, I was entrusted with writing the memoir of Sheila Baltazar, whose stepson, Patrick Baltazar, was one of the victims of the Atlanta Child Murders. That project showed me just how sacred and impactful personal storytelling can be.

From 2020 to 2022, I worked for a publishing company as an author coach and manuscript editor. Most of the writers I worked with were documenting their life stories, and witnessing how healing, empowering, and transformative that process was for them deeply moved me. At the same time, I was in film school at Georgia State University, completing my Master’s. I already knew I wanted to launch a production company, but working in publishing during film school reconnected me to my love of reading and writing, and introduced me to a new passion for helping people tell their own stories.

That led me to create Silver Bangles Productions in January 2021, a multidisciplinary storytelling agency committed to telling and elevating stories that inspire Afrikan diasporic, intergenerational healing. We do that through book publishing, film, television, documentary work, community programming, and education.

Today, I’ve published four books through my company and am on track to publish five more within the next six months. It’s been a beautiful journey, and I feel grateful every day to do work that honors our stories.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. Running my business hasn’t always been perfect or seamless, but it has always been intentional. Even though I launched Silver Bangles in early 2021, it wasn’t until 2024 that I truly got clear about its mission—to inspire Afrikan diasporic and intergenerational healing, and to remind us of the nuance, complexity, and beauty within our communities. My North Star has always been to create work that centers Black people across the Diaspora, especially Black women, and to illuminate our humanity back to us.

Some of the challenges along the way have been finding balance. There were seasons when I was running my business while working a full-time job, and others when I was running my business while searching for one. Holding both realities at once can be exhausting, and it forced me to get honest about capacity, boundaries, and pacing.

Another challenge was figuring out systems that actually supported the work. It took nearly a year and a half to publish my very first client’s book. Much of that delay was due to personal life circumstances on their end, but at the time, I didn’t yet have the structured processes or alternative pathways I now have in place to help clients stay on track even when life gets complicated. Looking back, I wish I had those systems earlier, but the learning curve made me a stronger business owner, and ultimately helped me build a company that can support real people, with real lives, telling real stories.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Silver Bangles Productions is a multidisciplinary storytelling and publishing agency rooted in the belief that our stories are medicine. We heal by remembering, and in remembering, we find the freedom to imagine what comes next—who we want to be and the life we want to create.

We specialize in helping Black people across the Afrikan Diaspora – especially Black women and elders – preserve, reclaim, and share their narratives through books, film, memoir, and community-centered programming. Everything we do is anchored in our mission: to inspire Afrikan diasporic and intergenerational healing through storytelling.

We offer a range of services that reflect that mission. On the publishing side, we provide ghostwriting, manuscript development, editing, and full-scale book production for memoirists, elders, and writers at every stage of their journey. Many of our clients come to us with life stories they’ve carried for decades, and we guide them through a process that is both creative and deeply healing. I give thanks for my ability to honor a person’s voice, preserve their essence, and help them tell the story they were always meant to tell.

Beyond traditional client work, I’ve expanded Silver Bangles into community-based storytelling programs. One of the projects I’m most proud of is Senior to Senior, an intergenerational oral history and memoir-writing program that pairs local elders with high school students. Together, they build relationships, document stories, and create living archives that honor Black Southern memory. Seeing younger and older generations connect through story has been one of the most powerful parts of this work.

We also host retreats and learning experiences, such as the Sacred Woman Storytellers Retreat and our upcoming memoir writing cohort and self-paced course. These offerings create space for Black women to gather, share, unearth memories, and craft stories in community—something I believe is essential for our collective healing.

Whether someone wants to write their memoir, just begin their healing journey through reflective writing, or learn the publishing process from the inside out, Silver Bangles has a pathway for them.

What sets us apart is that we don’t just produce books or films; we create avenues for transformation. Storytelling is not transactional for us; it’s ritual. It’s ancestral. It’s a tool for remembering who we are and imagining who we can become. I take pride in leading a brand that treats storytelling as sacred work.

Today, Silver Bangles has published multiple books, supported countless writers, and is steadily growing its slate of cultural programming, workshops, and film projects. But at its heart, our work is simple: we help people tell the stories that help them heal. And I want readers to know that if they have a story inside them, whether clear or still unfolding, there is space for them at Silver Bangles.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
I want everyone to know that their story matters, deeply. Every story is meaningful and beautiful. We are layered beings, with multiple chapters in our journey, multiple lives lived within a single lifetime, and countless versions of ourselves we’ve grown through. We owe it to ourselves to explore the fullness of who we are—who we’ve been and who we are becoming. When we choose to remember ourselves in wholeness, we open the door to forgiveness, radical acceptance, awareness, love, and healing. And when we decide to put those memories into a book, we invite others to join us on that journey of remembrance.

I’d also love to invite readers to visit our website to explore all of our offerings, programs, opportunities, and storytelling experiences. There’s so much on the horizon, and we’re excited to continue growing our community.

I encourage readers to support our Senior to Senior program, which uplifts elders and preserves intergenerational memory through storytelling. And keep an eye out for the announcement of our inaugural memoir writing cohort and the next Sacred Woman Storytellers Retreat, both beautiful opportunities to write, heal, and connect in community.

There’s a place for everyone at Silver Bangles, and we’d be honored to have you join us.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.silverbanglesproductions.com/
• Instagram: silverbanglesproductions
• Facebook: silverbanglesproductions
• LinkedIn: Silver Bangles Productions
• Youtube: summerthegriot

Image Credits
Reginald Duncan – Cranium Creation