Speaker 1: I love your name. I got to tell you that
right now. I love your name. I think there's a
vibration about it. There's something very positive about it. I mean,
but what was it like growing up in the image
of that name.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, thank you so much. No, I was.
Speaker 3: I was born and raised in Nigeria, and there my
name is normal. But then when I moved to the
US is where my name became very special because people
could not pronounce it. And I think my name has
always been something that I've wanted to protect because I
actually really do love it too.
Speaker 2: So growing up with kids who I knew.
Speaker 3: Could not pronounce if Lua, which is my first name,
love you became a thing. So but I think kind
of why I even wrote this book is because I
just know how many of us have spent our lifetimes
not seeing our names on key chains, having our name mispronounced,
no matter how much we tell people how to pronounce it.
So I wanted to write something to kind of heal
that piece of all of us. That's like dealt with
the frustration of graduation, your name being butchered.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 3: So yeah, no, thank you for affirming that you like
my name. That still matters Man.
Speaker 1: You talk about your name not being on a like
a little a key chain, what about Coke? Right now?
Coke has got all those names on there. And I'm
not saying this is my real name. My real name
is Clarence. I have not seen Clarence on that bottle ever,
and it gets inside my heart and it makes me go, well,
why am I being you know, ruled out of the game.
Speaker 3: I'm telling you, like you know when we go into
a souvenir shop at six Flags afterwards, and I'm just like, nope,
I already know my name is not there.
Speaker 2: That's crazy.
Speaker 3: So yeah, right, it's it, And I don't think people
recognize how much it does affect them. So throughout this
process of launching the book, I've been surprising my friends
with keychains.
Speaker 2: Of their names. Oh god. Some have cried.
Speaker 3: Some have cried like them like, oh my god, I
didn't even know how much I needed this, And I'm like,
I know, right, like, imagine, we've never seen our names
on keychains. I finally made one for myself and now
it's on my keychain ring and every time I look
at it, I smile, because yeah, I think adults are
just big kids.
Speaker 2: Anyway, So of course we are.
Speaker 3: This book is something that even though for kids, the
adults who've read it so far like yeah, no, no, no,
I'm keeping my copy and buying my kid a new one,
because no, I'm.
Speaker 1: Keeping right here in my notes it says it right here,
It says, don't you think that adults in each children's
stories as well? I mean, you hit it right on
the head. Yes we do.
Speaker 3: We absolutely. I mean, so much of what we deal
with as adults actually start as kids. So like a
lot of times, we get stuck at the age that
whatever the trauma is.
Speaker 2: Happened. So I love children's books.
Speaker 3: Before I even started writing them, I used to collect
them because I just think there's something so pure that
takes us back to a time where we might need
to heal a piece of ourselves. So when I write
my kids books, I'm really writing them for big me.
Speaker 2: Somebody message me.
Speaker 1: I find that inspiring, And I want listeners who are
locked up inside their homes writing stories but hiding them
in boxes to follow you. And the reason why is
because you stepped out with your idea and you're now
sharing it with the world. That to me is where
real storytelling is when you step out into the real world.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and we need that step out right.
Speaker 3: And I think so many people question everything so much
and then they end up being silent.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 3: And what the world needs more of his stories because
that also humanizes all of us. It allows us to
find common ground. It allows us to see each other
in our beauty. So I think, whenever we hide our stories,
we're hiding kindness, We're hiding the ability to connect with
each other.
Speaker 2: So yeah, we gotta tell them.
Speaker 3: And as a creative a writer myself, being able to
tell my stories is an honor. To be able to
use my gift in this way as an honor.
Speaker 1: So what is your writing process in the way of
the discipline? Because I have a discipline, I have to
be behind that writing instrument at seven o'clock every single morning.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: See, I don't have a writing discipline unless I am
under manuscript. So if I have that is due is
when I create a writing discipline. Otherwise I write when
I feel like writing. I typically don't force myself to write,
so like, for example, I have a manuscript that's doing
a few months for my for another book. Then is
when I create a writing discipline of saying all right
from two to four, and my brain is activated more
in the afternoon. That morning, I'll go, okay, from two
to four, it's me in the computer screen. Let's just
figure it out. Let's remove all distractions and just focus.
And that's usually my writing discipline. But otherwise I write
when the words come, whether I'm sitting in an uber
or whether I am in the middle of a meeting,
and I'll be like, oh, let me jot this down
before I forget what. Sometimes I'm sleeping in their words coming, yes,
and I'll pick up and grab a notebook and write
it down.
Speaker 2: So I simply try to honor the words when they come.
Speaker 1: Do you believe in the in the the gift of
stream thinking, In other words, it comes to you in
this moment of now, and all of a sudden you
have to trust it.
Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, full too, me too.
Speaker 3: Fully when I tell my when I tell my students
and my clients, and I'm like, let the words do
what they're gonna do. Because if the words decide to
come to you in the middle of the night, get
up and put them down on paper, then you sleep better. Afterwards,
you will sleep better. Just get the words down on paper,
because they're clearly here you.
Speaker 1: I think what's so interesting about this book is that
it's about a little troublemaker. But haven't we all been
called the troublemaker in our lifetime? And that's why we're
so attracted to this story.
Speaker 2: Yes, because who are the biggest troublemakers?
Speaker 3: Those tiny broke best friends that we all love, the
kids who have no filter, but they have such a
big heart, and that big heart will get them in
trouble every time, and they really.
Speaker 2: Are the purest form of disruption. So why not honor that?
Speaker 3: Like kids are the ones who will give you the
truth and it's from a pure place, it's not malicious.
They're so funny, and yeah, I think we've all been
called troublemakers. And for me, it's a badge of honor.
You know, to live in a world that is not
as just as it should be. To be a troublemaker
is a badge of honor because it means I'm somebody
who is trying to be a part of positive change.
Speaker 1: And I love getting in conversations with with with the
little little ones. And the reason why is because you're
right that honesty, Because that to me is where the
laughter is and it is. They will say things you're going,
oh my god, where did that come from?
Speaker 3: They and they're so and you just have to laugh
sometimes because they'll sometimes drag you about yourself. Like my
favorite thing is talking to parents, and I'll be like
your kids said, what like they will hurt your feelings
with a smile. But let's lean into that. Let us
let us use that to even show that sometimes it
is okay to make mistakes. It is okay to not
get it right. It is okay to have a big
heart that will get you a big trouble. But can
you move forward with growth?
Speaker 2: You can?
Speaker 1: Boy, Like you said something that that you know, that
really touched me in the way that I would love
to see this on a T shirt or a poster somewhere.
Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. I just think that is
so so positive in so many different ways.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's also the title of my TED talk, and
it's because I mean, like I said in the talk,
comfort is overrated. Comfort has never gotten us where we
need to go. Comfort keeps you stuck and stagnant. Comfort
is a lack of growth. So that's not where we're
supposed to be. You know, our comfort zone exists because
it's supposed to be a bubble. But we're not supposed
to live in bubbles, So we do got to get
comfortable to being uncomfortable, because it's in the discomfort that
we will grow and get what we want.
Speaker 1: How did you grow into the author that can take
something so simple and put it into words, because I mean,
you know, so many people when they sit down to write,
they've got to use their this source they've got, they've
got to make it, you know, make it look pretty basically,
But you've got this way of really making a connection
in the most simplest way.
Speaker 3: I mean, I just really don't overthink it. I don't
overthink it, I don't overthink my words. If it feels true,
I'm gonna try to say it in the most thoughtful
way possible. And I think that's really the difference between
me and some other people who might be like, hey,
you're churning a lot of content. A lot of people
spend time being like should I should I?
Speaker 2: Yes, it's good enough? Is this somebody gonna be upset?
Speaker 3: So then because of that, how much art has never
been seen the light of day simply because somebody questioned
it too much.
Speaker 2: Infinite amounts of art that could.
Speaker 3: Have actually changed somebody's life, somebody's day, somebody's mood has
not seen the light of day because the artist who
created it is questioning it and says, ah, it's okay,
I'm not gonna do it.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I spend less time questioning myself and my work. It
doesn't mean that I always think I'm gonna get it right.
It doesn't mean that I am that I think I
am perfect, nor does it mean that I don't think
there's improvement. What it means is that I honor what
feels true without constantly doubting it.
Speaker 1: You sharing that with me right away. I go back
to Mark Twain's book where Mark says that he says,
you've got to be able to write in your own accent.
And I thought to myself, of your accent, I said,
oh my god, all writers have their own accent. We
may not hear it, but we can see it. And
that's what we see on your pages, is that you
write it with your own accent.
Speaker 3: Yes, and that's why I can write fast, because I'm
not spending time trying to sound like anything but who
I am. Right, So my first draft is my first draft,
because that's how I thought about it, That's how it
came to me, and that's how the words flowed. I
didn't go back and say, oh, I need to make
this funny. I need to make it punch you. I
need to make it sound like this other person. No,
it's going to sound like Lovey.
Speaker 1: Do not Move. There's more with Lovey coming up next. Hey,
thanks for coming back to my conversation with Oh and
the name of the book, Little Troublemaker defends her name.
So how much was social media part of this journey?
Because and the reason why I bring that up is
because my last book, I put it out there all
the way through, from the beginning of the book, all
the way to the end, and then when it was
finished and to the point where I wanted to create
talk and social media is so important to you as well.
Speaker 3: Yeah, No, social media kind of got me started on
my writing journey because in two thousand and three, I
started my first ever blog while I was in college,
and then you know, deleted that blog in two thousand
and six when I graduated and started Awesomely Lovey, which
still exists today. But it's through the audience that I've
built online that I've been able to build, you know,
this career because they've always supported me, invested in my
work and have seen my journey as a writer, as
a thinker, as a human being, and a lot of
that has been social media driven. But I also know
that because my audience can they're not just on Facebook
and Instagram and LinkedIn, also find me still on my blog.
They can still find me on my newsletter. So even
though I build some of my career on social media,
I don't depend on it as a way to reach
everybody all the time.
Speaker 1: Oh, Lovey, I'll tell you what you know. Back in
the early part of this millennium, you know, I was
trying to do the blogging and the podcasting and stuff
like that, and people are going, I.
Speaker 2: Need you exclusively on this site.
Speaker 1: Quit trying to go every place else. And now they're going, oh, well,
I didn't understand where you were coming from. And it's like,
you understand that, Lovey, that you got to be everywhere.
Speaker 2: All at once, but you got me in the right places.
Speaker 1: Yeah you do. Now that study that's doing to me.
That's the business of what we do, not just the art,
but the business.
Speaker 2: That's it.
Speaker 3: Like we have to be We have to be visible.
That's actually the word you gotta be, right.
Speaker 2: I don't.
Speaker 3: For example, I'm not on Snapchat, Like why would I
be on Snapchat? On Snapchat and see if I show
up on Snapchat, Like, I'm gonna leave that to the kids, right,
But you will find me on Facebook, on Instagram, on LinkedIn,
you'll find me on my newsletter. So it's about being
visible in the right places. The place is where your
people are, right, So it's not about chasing other people.
It's really about how can I deepen the communities in
the spaces where they're already spending time.
Speaker 1: One of the things that I'm inspired by from you
is the fact that you pretty much put it out
there that we all face conflict, but you're very transparent
about it. And I think that's such a teaching tool
that you that you've got the strength to be able
to say, Okay, this is what happened. Now what are
we going to learn from it? Let's locate a solution.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I never purport myself to be an expert in anything.
Speaker 3: I am simply a guide who's trying to figure out stuff,
just along with everybody else. So one of the things
that happens is that people, whenever they see platforms, will
put people on pedestals, and I'm just like, nah, pedestals
are for statues, not so there's any pedestals anybody has
me on, kick me off. It just you set me
up to fail, because I definitely can't live to that.
So for me, I do talk about my failures. I
do talk about the mistakes that I make because I
don't want people to forget that I'm a human. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I might look like I have it together on a
regular basis.
Speaker 3: But I am just a human being trying to figure
this out, just like everybody else. And sometimes when people
attach extremely high standards and expectations of you, it also
means they're setting you up for disappointment because it means
the things that you do disappoint them more often or quicker.
So I'm always like, don't forget I'm a human. Behind
this platform, behind the books, behind the best sellers, behind
the coaching all of that, I'm still a human first.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's when usually, like, especially when I make a
mistake and the boss has to come in and remind
myself over and over again how I made that mistake,
and my mouth because I'm a little troublemaker. I'll look
at the boss and a heartbeat and say, where on
my resume did I say that I was Jesus, I
am not perfect. I'm going to make mistakes.
Speaker 2: That's it. That's exactly I'm like.
Speaker 3: Even Jesus said I'm not perfect ease and he flipped
the table. I'm not perfect either, So I just think
for me. And one thing I'm always telling people like, look,
i'm gonna disappoint you. Follow me for I'm gonna say
something you're not gonna like. At some point, I'm gonna
do something you're not gonna like. So just expect that
of me. Because and the thing about me, bo I
always promise is that if there's a lesson to be learned,
I will learn it. You know, if there's better to
be done, I will do it. I will do better.
That's all we can do in this pursuit for humanity
is like, can we all just do better?
Speaker 2: Day by day?
Speaker 1: Where in your heart did you find the trust and
strength to collaborate? Because I always fear collaborations, but yet
you created with Joey, and you've got something from that collaboration.
And because I'm not alone there, listeners are gonna go
I don't want to collaborate with anybody either. I don't
trust them, I don't about And it's like, how how
did you find that? To be able to do that
with Joey.
Speaker 3: Art is collaboration. We must learn how to share the gifts.
And Joey has an amazing collaborator. He's understood my vision
for this little character. He brought her to life like
him and I literally would get on the zoom. I'll
be like, oh, do this to her eyes?
Speaker 2: My gosh, like you have her frolo a little bit
more curl. And one of the things that I love
about this.
Speaker 3: Character is how good her haircut is. Her haircut is
top notch. My girl's haircut is top notch.
Speaker 2: And that's Joey.
Speaker 3: I told Joey. I said, Joey, I need her haircuts
to be fire. Okay, he said, I got you. So, Like,
you know, collaborating with somebody who's willing to take feedback,
who is like making the process fun.
Speaker 2: We also have fun creating these books.
Speaker 3: We have a good time with the colors like him,
and I would be like, Okay, what color are we
thinking about for the cover?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: And we'll sit there playing with different colors, because art
and creation of art can also be fun. It doesn't
have to be all laborists and oh the tortured artist.
You ain't got to be tortured to be an artist.
You don't, Yeah, you don't.
Speaker 1: I always say that, you know that being an artist
that gives you permission to make mistakes and to learn
from them to build upon. That's which is one of
the reasons why like painting on a canvas is because
just go in.
Speaker 2: There and screw.
Speaker 1: It up and and figure it out and then and
then because who was it that it was? Peter Maxett
told me the color red. You need to have the
color red because it will take the eye off the
mistake on the canvas. I'm going the color red. I
like that.
Speaker 3: And you know, I'm a fan of branding. I'm a
brand in geek. That's been my professional background too. So
even the use of color is intentional, yeah, right, Like
your color is red, and red is the color for
boldness and power and energy, and that's that's what I represent.
So in the books you will always see some type
of red in there.
Speaker 1: When did you realize that that you were the artist?
Because a lot of people don't understand our path and
our trail in the way. They just think we're weird.
So I say, then, then let me prove how weird
I am by being an artist.
Speaker 2: Why we got to be? I mean, here's the thing, though,
we're all weird.
Speaker 3: Let the record show like we are all weird those
different way.
Speaker 2: And that's all right.
Speaker 3: I'm a weirdo in a way, you know, So listen,
just choose your weird as long as you're weird, is
your true weirdness? For me, my weird Let me see.
One of my weirds is I always have to match. Yeah,
like I have to coordinate my outfits. They gotta go together,
the colors gotta match. Even today, my outfit matches my
book cover. That's my level of weird in my day
to day life. I'm going to the grocery store, I'm
still going to match. So I'm weird like that.
Speaker 1: So now where do you grow from this point forward?
Now that the book is out? Because I know what authors,
we're always working on the next book while promoting the
last book.
Speaker 3: Facts actually facts. I'm working on two books right now there.
I have two books coming out next year. The third
Little Troublemakers coming out May twenty twenty six, and then
my next bigger book is coming out in the fall
of twenty twenty six. So I'm absolutely working on books
while promoting this book.
Speaker 1: So do you look at yourself as being an author
or a writer, because people tend well when I tell
people I'm a writer, they go ooh, and it's but
you know, but what do you what do you think
you are an author or a writer.
Speaker 2: Some people are authors, but they're not writers.
Speaker 3: I'm a writer, right right, some people are I'm a
writer first. I'm a writer first, and then my work
is now bound and published. Now I'm an author too,
But at my core, I am a writer.
Speaker 2: The way I'm able to.
Speaker 3: Use words to communicate is my gift, and that's what
my career also is, because i mean, why not merge
career and and what's that vocation?
Speaker 2: So I mean gift and vocation.
Speaker 1: I'm shocked that you aren't writing music and performing music
because I can hear it in your voice that you
that you because you speak perfectly in tune.
Speaker 2: Really yeah, I've never heard that I speak in tune.
Speaker 4: That's incredible, It's it's it's one of those you know,
it's like it's to me, it's it's the That's how
you can spot what what kind of moves people are
in by listening to their vocal tones when they when
they I'm doing fine.
Speaker 1: I'm okay. It's like you God, I'm staying away from
you today.
Speaker 3: Wow, I'm actually curious. So you're saying there's musicality in
my tone.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, You've got perfect pitch, volume and
tone in it. I mean it's it's like you're using
your voice in such a great way. And I just
I just love it when I when I when I'm
associated with something like that, because it's positive energy.
Speaker 3: Yes see, I love affirmations like that. I don't hear
that often. I have heard that. Somebody actually did message
me once and said that their kids stops crying when
they play my podcast, and my podcast became some like this,
like lullaby for their kid because like apparently my voice
was soothing to the kid.
Speaker 2: And I was like, that's amazing affirmation. Thank you. I'll
take that. Wow.
Speaker 1: Where can people go to find out more about you
and give you lots of love?
Speaker 2: Lovey Oh? Yes, I am all over social media.
Speaker 3: I'm easy to find my user name on all the
platforms is l u v v I E and you
can find my blog at.
Speaker 2: Awesome lea love dot com.
Speaker 3: And if for Little Troublemaker defends her name, which is
out today, you will find it anywhere books are sold.
You know, I always ask people if they can, if
you can support an independent bookstore, it's really good to
get the ND's some business. But otherwise Barnes and Noble,
target Amazon, it's everywhere. It's everywhere, so just go ahead
and place in order. But I have one ask of
your audience. I do have one to ask, go for it.
Speaker 2: On top of that.
Speaker 3: So one of my missions with this book, because I
think this message is so important and so critical, is
to get this book into as many hands of kids
in classrooms as possible without their teachers having to incur
more costs because teachers do not get paid enough.
Speaker 2: And shout out to today's Teacher Appreciation Day.
Speaker 3: We are doing a sponsorship train to have people cover
the costs of the books for a classroom and people
would love to join. LT sponsor train dot com. Lt
sponsor dot com. Let us know if you want to
sponsor whether five books, whether it's ten books, twenty books.
Our goal is to get this into the hands of
ten thousand kids in classrooms, and so far we are
at two thousand.
Speaker 2: Oh wow wow yeah, joy wow. Join us.
Speaker 1: I love where your heart is. You've got to come
back to this show anytime in the future. The door
is always going to be open for you.
Speaker 2: Listen, I'll come back next year.
Speaker 1: Okay, I expect that.
Speaker 2: Then let's do it.
Speaker 1: Will you'd be brilliant today?
Speaker 2: Okay, thank you. Have an amazing day, you too.
Speaker 1: Thank you.