July 30, 2025 • 16 mins
Tina Neely wrote a children's book about her faith and her pet pig Bacon, which developed into an entire brand with guidance from her SCORE mentors! They join her on this episode of My Cincy Small Business Story to talk about how Tina's vision has evolved into a finalist for SCORE Client of the Year finalist in the established business category.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
My name is Michael Bellison. You're host of Scores My
CINSI Small Business Stories. On this episode, we've been talking
with Tina Neely, owner of I Am His LLC. Firstcore
mentors Jamie Bryant and Dick Baker. We'll be right back
after this message.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Did you know twice as many small businesses survive past
five years when they had the support from a mentor.
My sincey small business story is brought to you by
the volunteer mentors of Score Greater Cincinnati, a nonprofit organization
that helps launch hundreds of new small businesses and even
more jobs in Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, and Indiana every year.
Our vision is to give every person the support they
(00:39):
need to thrive as a small business owner. Visit score
dot org Slash Greater Cincinnati to request a free business
mentor or share your own expertise. You can also listen
and subscribe for more stories about overcoming challenges, clearing obstacles,
and owning a successful small business.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Welcome everyone, right, good, good. We have a room for
so it will be interesting. Tina. First of all, congratulations
on becoming a final lesson Scores established Business category for
Client of the Year.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
Thank you. That was very exciting and to honor.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
So okay, I wrattled off a bunch of initials at
the beginning, So tell us what it is, Tina.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
It's simply I'm his and I pushed it together.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Guy, I have a faith based business and I wanted
to acknowledge my Lord.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
That was the simplest way I could come up with
doing that.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Very good. Tell us about your business. What do you do?
What services you provide? Like to hear everything?
Speaker 4 (01:39):
Well, Ignurce built me a business.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
By that, I mean I thought I was writing a
cute little picture book about my pig and illustrating it,
and I put it on Amazon and you sell it
and that's all you did. And I did not realize,
which I'm grateful for, at the beginning, that I was
actually building a business. So it started with the creation
of the first book. And now I am in the
(02:04):
process of building a brand based around.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
My pet pig, Bacon. And what's your pet pig's name, Bacon? Bacon?
All right, very good. Why did you contact Score? How
did you find out about Score? How did you get
involved with them? Tell me about that.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
When I'm starting out, I had had somebody that I
had hired initially to help me set up establish a
business plan, and I thought, there's no way I'm going
to be able to finance that long term. And I
was just talking to an acquaintance since she mentioned to me,
have you heard of Score? So that's when I lifted
up online and lit the button and was pondered to
(02:44):
meet Dick.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
And you have been working with Jamie and Dick for
how long?
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Oh? You guys are probably a better account that than
I do with Dick. I think we've been over well
over a year now, probably.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
That nine ten months.
Speaker 5 (03:00):
Yeah, I'm coming probably, Yeah, we're coming upout a year.
Speaker 6 (03:03):
I started in last July, so I'm guessing probably I
started with yeall in September last year.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Jamie, tell me why you became a score mentor and
how long have you been doing it?
Speaker 5 (03:14):
So I've been a score mentor for about a year.
I just had my year anniversary earlier this summer.
Speaker 6 (03:19):
And I became a score mentor because I at one
point was actually a SCORE client.
Speaker 5 (03:24):
So about twenty years.
Speaker 6 (03:26):
Ago, when I was looking for guidance on expanding a
freelance business into a business with employees and a larger footprint,
I reached out to score for mentorship around building a
marketing plan and some of the finer details. I come
out of product development, so I knew how to build
the product, but I needed some guidance with the wrap
(03:48):
arounds and the other business functions and so that I
found very useful. And so when I found myself so
I retired, I thought, you know, I would love to
be able to give back. I've had a lot of
experienceances in my career that I felt could be helpful,
and so that's when I decided to do that. And
so I'm really I love my clients. I love working
(04:11):
with startups and new business to just help them get
further faster.
Speaker 7 (04:16):
Dick, what about you, Well, I've been a store mentor
for over twenty years, so obviously I thoroughly enjoy it.
A wise person once told me that once you retire,
most people worry about money and how long it's going
to last, and how much you need and things like that,
but they really don't talk about the two other things
(04:37):
that are as important, and I've found out equally important
to really have a good retirement. You lose when you
retire from your job, you lose the other two aspects
of it. One of it is the technical challenges that
you have, problem solving and all of that other type
of thing. And then you also lose the people you
go to lunch with and be able to have a
(04:59):
conversation with, and so from a social aspect, you lose
that group of friends itself. So SCORE basically replaced those
two you. I mean, you certainly have the very varying
degrees of problems, completely new and different for me, but
you use this same problem solving aspect to go through
(05:21):
and help the client itself, and then you have a
whole new group of friends that you can be with,
you know, over lunch or some people play golf or
bowling or what other things. So that's the other aspect
that SCORE provides. So I had had three other organizations
I was looking at, but SCORE really stood out from
that aspect.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Well, while I'm talking to the mentors, let me ask
you something. As I mentioned Tina on Or was a
finalist in the Client of the Year in the established
business category. Why did Tina's work stand out? I mean,
what made her a finalist in this in the Plan
of the Year.
Speaker 7 (06:01):
Well, for me, I had obviously I've had many, many
clients over twenty years of Score. In my previous life
with Procter and Gamble, I've managed teams and I've managed
other managers and stuff like that, and one of the
things that always stands out is an individual with their
own initiative. They really work on problems itself. They don't
(06:25):
wait for people to tell them what to do. So
what really stood out about ten is that we would
have conversations, she'd have options she could choose from, and
then she'd go after it, and very seldom did we
have follow up to see what she was doing. She
would run into issues like any other new business itself,
(06:46):
but she had continued to work in themselves. So that's
what has really stood out, not only from a score standpoint,
but from my previous managing other people.
Speaker 5 (06:58):
For me, it was that as a startup.
Speaker 6 (07:01):
Most of the other businesses in that panel of finalists,
they were all business owners who were leading into an expertise.
Speaker 5 (07:07):
That they had had in a certain capacity.
Speaker 6 (07:09):
They were either they had either previously been you know
they were One woman was a classical musician and she
built a business around that expertise.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
Tina.
Speaker 5 (07:19):
For me, she was starting with something new, she.
Speaker 6 (07:20):
Was going in a completely new direction from the heart
and determined to make a business around something that she
believed in and had zero previous experience in publishing, and
yet still was willing and able to learn and ask questions,
you know, to fill the gaps of what she needed
to know in order to be successful and to keep
moving forward. And so that you know, it's not uncommon
(07:43):
to find a business person who moves builds a business
around something they do well or something they know, and
Tina was really building a business around a set of
activities that were completely new and foreign to her, and
yet she tackled them with vigor and really went after
them and just really persistent, determined, deliberate, willing to learn,
(08:06):
and so I think that just made her stand out
for me against the other competitors.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
So, Tina, how long have you been in business?
Speaker 5 (08:14):
A little every year?
Speaker 2 (08:16):
So what's been the biggest challenges for you so far?
Speaker 1 (08:19):
My goal is to be debt free through this process,
So the financial part of it, providing the materials that
I need and paying them along the way, that would
probably be my number one thing.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
And then the.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
One that Jamie I think she gets a kick out
of me because she knows it's another way.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
My brain keeps calling.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
But I want, I feel the need to have many
options of my merchandise, and the sooner the better.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
So you have merchandise tied around your publication.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Correct, So I have right now I have two different
of the main characters and production for stuffed animals.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Very nice. I wish you'd have brought bacon to this interview.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
That would have been thought, I want to bake bacon
there it is.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
So what are you looking at now? What's coming up
on the horizon for you that is either new or
important to your strategy that you just mentioned?
Speaker 4 (09:25):
I am right now.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
I just have my third book edited this week, so
I'm still I probably have about half the illustrations ready
for that. So it is my goal to have that
third book ready for publication for the fall of twenty six.
And then I have a fourth book that I had
written twenty two years ago. I also had that editor
and that has nothing to do with bacon. That's just
(09:47):
a little Christian book about taking my son in at
night and teaching him about praying.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Now do you just do you sell your merchandise just
through your website or do you have a retail distribution.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
I do have a distributor now, so the book will
they're doing it flipped. The first book will actually launch
that I wrote will launch in April fifteenth, I believe
it is of the Spring, and then September fifteenth of
this year they'll launch the Christmas book. In reality, I
had developed them in the opposite direction, the opposite So
(10:23):
with that they are pretty open to me being able
to present the other books in the collect to them
to carry them.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Now do you do the illustrations or do you work
with somebody?
Speaker 1 (10:34):
I do the illustration, so I kind of teach myself that.
But they're very simple and basic because I did that
with intent, because I want kids to be able to
reproduce the characters.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Gotcha. Very good for the mentors. What do you predict
or suggest for Tina continue its growth? More books, more merchandised,
a mixture. What do you guys think, Jamie you take
a shot.
Speaker 6 (10:58):
I think really, once you have a portfolio, it's really
about driving deep into the market. So when she builds
out a portfolio that she feels comfortable a core portfolios,
I know she does. I'm more conservative in my buildout
than Tina. She's been very, very aggressive and ambitious in
building out her portfolio. So really there's going to be
a moment where the emphasis is going to have to
(11:20):
go on really building out that sales funnel and marketing
so that she can really maximize and stay that debt
free as she continues to grow her business. I think
that big thing is going to be getting those eyeballs
onto her products so that they start to do the
work for her.
Speaker 7 (11:39):
She tried Amazon, therefore you see a lot of eyeballs there,
but it also takes an awful lot of your money,
so you don't make a lot on Amazon. So we
went through that, and then she's talked to schools to
see if they would be included in that. So she's
got other things that she will personally go and talk
(12:00):
with people to promote a book and as well as
the other merchandise itself. But you know, it's really directed
for grandparents like myself or parents that are really looking
for something that has a moral value to it.
Speaker 4 (12:17):
Yeah, just get my first big order.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
I have a summer reading from August eighth, and they
just ordered eight one hundred copies of my books.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
Fifty eight.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Very good. So, Tina, what age group would your book
appeal to not the grandparents or parents, but I'm the
child self.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Right, So it's categorized for three to eight year olds
that I personally would if somebody had exposed me to
that book, I would buy it as a shower present
as well.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
So where will I find your books? Tell me about
your website, Give me the UURL. How can people reach
out to you to buy your products?
Speaker 1 (12:55):
As of now, I do have a website that's Tinaneli
dot com and then you can me on LinkedIn, Instagram
and Facebook at Tina Neely author.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Very good. Is there something that you would like to
add that I may not have asked?
Speaker 1 (13:11):
One? Thank you to Score and for the volunteers and
do this. That's amazing. It's just so helpful. And I'm
so grateful because I would probably be taking one bardem
right now if it weren't for these two. So very
very grateful for Score for that and introducing me to
these two lovely people, and then for anybody else, I
(13:31):
would say, just go for it. I don't mean to
sell like Nike, but I life short and I just
think that sometimes we go I can't because I'm this age,
or I can't because I don't have this or and
none of that's true. We're just limited by our thoughts.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Very nice. I like that from the mentors. One last
thought I'll start with Jamie.
Speaker 6 (13:52):
My last thought is that I think Tina has done
an amazing job getting herself up and moving and going
and with alacrity.
Speaker 5 (14:00):
She has really moved swiftly, and I just think it's an.
Speaker 6 (14:05):
Amazing story what she's done to start from, you know,
just an idea and starting to build it out and
get distributors and schedule author visits and all those things.
Speaker 5 (14:15):
It's a lot.
Speaker 6 (14:16):
So my party thing would be like keep the faith
and you know, don't get discouraged because it is.
Speaker 5 (14:24):
It's a roller coaster.
Speaker 6 (14:25):
You know, it's never it's not just a continuous growth
line always. So you know, just when you when you
hit those down moments or those tough moments, just you know,
drawing your faith and keep keep moving, keep your chin
up and keep going.
Speaker 7 (14:38):
Let's I think this is really a good example of
someone who has a very clear vision about what they
want to do, as well as have the motivation for fourteen.
Obviously it's her faith. It is also helping drive this.
She wants to contribute to young children's morals, values and
(15:02):
teach them in such a way that it's easy for
them to learn. So, based upon other businesses that I've
helped start over a period of time, I think Tanna
will be successful because of her.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Faith, you know.
Speaker 7 (15:17):
I mean she will run into issues like any person,
but I think she'll have the faith to really drive
through those.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
I will say that the motivation too is the children.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Like my gym just had a grill out and they
had some vendors there, and so I just put my
nose in there and.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
Like, is it okay if I come in the adventure?
So set my brief up and a.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Family came in and the little boy goes, it's here,
And so he had discovered my book at another event,
so then he comes running over and he had to
get the second book because he loves bacon already. So
those moments excite me. I had another school from Canada.
All the kids sent me pictures that they drew of bacon.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
And so when you're feeling like, oh my gosh, is
this go anywhere? Do they even like it?
Speaker 1 (16:05):
And then you have those moments and you're like, yeah,
just keep chutting along here because the baby seem to
appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Well, Tina one more time, give us the places where
we can find your book.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Tinanealy dot com, on Instagram, Facebook, and.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
I'm forgetting one LinkedIn at Tina Neelie authored.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
If you would like to sign up with a mentor
or would like to become a mentor, go to score
dot org and click on the appropriate link. Please subscribe
to this podcast, share the link, and very much so
thank you for listening.
Hello.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
My name is Michael Bellison. You're host of Scores My
CINSI Small Business Stories. On this episode, we've been talking
with Tina Neely, owner of I Am His LLC. Firstcore
mentors Jamie Bryant and Dick Baker. We'll be right back
after this message.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Did you know twice as many small businesses survive past
five years when they had the support from a mentor.
My sincey small business story is brought to you by
the volunteer mentors of Score Greater Cincinnati, a nonprofit organization
that helps launch hundreds of new small businesses and even
more jobs in Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, and Indiana every year.
Our vision is to give every person the support they
(00:39):
need to thrive as a small business owner. Visit score
dot org Slash Greater Cincinnati to request a free business
mentor or share your own expertise. You can also listen
and subscribe for more stories about overcoming challenges, clearing obstacles,
and owning a successful small business.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Welcome everyone, right, good, good. We have a room for
so it will be interesting. Tina. First of all, congratulations
on becoming a final lesson Scores established Business category for
Client of the Year.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
Thank you. That was very exciting and to honor.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
So okay, I wrattled off a bunch of initials at
the beginning, So tell us what it is, Tina.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
It's simply I'm his and I pushed it together.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Guy, I have a faith based business and I wanted
to acknowledge my Lord.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
That was the simplest way I could come up with
doing that.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Very good. Tell us about your business. What do you do?
What services you provide? Like to hear everything?
Speaker 4 (01:39):
Well, Ignurce built me a business.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
By that, I mean I thought I was writing a
cute little picture book about my pig and illustrating it,
and I put it on Amazon and you sell it
and that's all you did. And I did not realize,
which I'm grateful for, at the beginning, that I was
actually building a business. So it started with the creation
of the first book. And now I am in the
(02:04):
process of building a brand based around.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
My pet pig, Bacon. And what's your pet pig's name, Bacon? Bacon?
All right, very good. Why did you contact Score? How
did you find out about Score? How did you get
involved with them? Tell me about that.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
When I'm starting out, I had had somebody that I
had hired initially to help me set up establish a
business plan, and I thought, there's no way I'm going
to be able to finance that long term. And I
was just talking to an acquaintance since she mentioned to me,
have you heard of Score? So that's when I lifted
up online and lit the button and was pondered to
(02:44):
meet Dick.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
And you have been working with Jamie and Dick for
how long?
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Oh? You guys are probably a better account that than
I do with Dick. I think we've been over well
over a year now, probably.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
That nine ten months.
Speaker 5 (03:00):
Yeah, I'm coming probably, Yeah, we're coming upout a year.
Speaker 6 (03:03):
I started in last July, so I'm guessing probably I
started with yeall in September last year.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Jamie, tell me why you became a score mentor and
how long have you been doing it?
Speaker 5 (03:14):
So I've been a score mentor for about a year.
I just had my year anniversary earlier this summer.
Speaker 6 (03:19):
And I became a score mentor because I at one
point was actually a SCORE client.
Speaker 5 (03:24):
So about twenty years.
Speaker 6 (03:26):
Ago, when I was looking for guidance on expanding a
freelance business into a business with employees and a larger footprint,
I reached out to score for mentorship around building a
marketing plan and some of the finer details. I come
out of product development, so I knew how to build
the product, but I needed some guidance with the wrap
(03:48):
arounds and the other business functions and so that I
found very useful. And so when I found myself so
I retired, I thought, you know, I would love to
be able to give back. I've had a lot of
experienceances in my career that I felt could be helpful,
and so that's when I decided to do that. And
so I'm really I love my clients. I love working
(04:11):
with startups and new business to just help them get
further faster.
Speaker 7 (04:16):
Dick, what about you, Well, I've been a store mentor
for over twenty years, so obviously I thoroughly enjoy it.
A wise person once told me that once you retire,
most people worry about money and how long it's going
to last, and how much you need and things like that,
but they really don't talk about the two other things
(04:37):
that are as important, and I've found out equally important
to really have a good retirement. You lose when you
retire from your job, you lose the other two aspects
of it. One of it is the technical challenges that
you have, problem solving and all of that other type
of thing. And then you also lose the people you
go to lunch with and be able to have a
(04:59):
conversation with, and so from a social aspect, you lose
that group of friends itself. So SCORE basically replaced those
two you. I mean, you certainly have the very varying
degrees of problems, completely new and different for me, but
you use this same problem solving aspect to go through
(05:21):
and help the client itself, and then you have a
whole new group of friends that you can be with,
you know, over lunch or some people play golf or
bowling or what other things. So that's the other aspect
that SCORE provides. So I had had three other organizations
I was looking at, but SCORE really stood out from
that aspect.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Well, while I'm talking to the mentors, let me ask
you something. As I mentioned Tina on Or was a
finalist in the Client of the Year in the established
business category. Why did Tina's work stand out? I mean,
what made her a finalist in this in the Plan
of the Year.
Speaker 7 (06:01):
Well, for me, I had obviously I've had many, many
clients over twenty years of Score. In my previous life
with Procter and Gamble, I've managed teams and I've managed
other managers and stuff like that, and one of the
things that always stands out is an individual with their
own initiative. They really work on problems itself. They don't
(06:25):
wait for people to tell them what to do. So
what really stood out about ten is that we would
have conversations, she'd have options she could choose from, and
then she'd go after it, and very seldom did we
have follow up to see what she was doing. She
would run into issues like any other new business itself,
(06:46):
but she had continued to work in themselves. So that's
what has really stood out, not only from a score standpoint,
but from my previous managing other people.
Speaker 5 (06:58):
For me, it was that as a startup.
Speaker 6 (07:01):
Most of the other businesses in that panel of finalists,
they were all business owners who were leading into an expertise.
Speaker 5 (07:07):
That they had had in a certain capacity.
Speaker 6 (07:09):
They were either they had either previously been you know
they were One woman was a classical musician and she
built a business around that expertise.
Speaker 4 (07:18):
Tina.
Speaker 5 (07:19):
For me, she was starting with something new, she.
Speaker 6 (07:20):
Was going in a completely new direction from the heart
and determined to make a business around something that she
believed in and had zero previous experience in publishing, and
yet still was willing and able to learn and ask questions,
you know, to fill the gaps of what she needed
to know in order to be successful and to keep
moving forward. And so that you know, it's not uncommon
(07:43):
to find a business person who moves builds a business
around something they do well or something they know, and
Tina was really building a business around a set of
activities that were completely new and foreign to her, and
yet she tackled them with vigor and really went after
them and just really persistent, determined, deliberate, willing to learn,
(08:06):
and so I think that just made her stand out
for me against the other competitors.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
So, Tina, how long have you been in business?
Speaker 5 (08:14):
A little every year?
Speaker 2 (08:16):
So what's been the biggest challenges for you so far?
Speaker 1 (08:19):
My goal is to be debt free through this process,
So the financial part of it, providing the materials that
I need and paying them along the way, that would
probably be my number one thing.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
And then the.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
One that Jamie I think she gets a kick out
of me because she knows it's another way.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
My brain keeps calling.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
But I want, I feel the need to have many
options of my merchandise, and the sooner the better.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
So you have merchandise tied around your publication.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Correct, So I have right now I have two different
of the main characters and production for stuffed animals.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Very nice. I wish you'd have brought bacon to this interview.
Speaker 4 (09:06):
That would have been thought, I want to bake bacon
there it is.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
So what are you looking at now? What's coming up
on the horizon for you that is either new or
important to your strategy that you just mentioned?
Speaker 4 (09:25):
I am right now.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
I just have my third book edited this week, so
I'm still I probably have about half the illustrations ready
for that. So it is my goal to have that
third book ready for publication for the fall of twenty six.
And then I have a fourth book that I had
written twenty two years ago. I also had that editor
and that has nothing to do with bacon. That's just
(09:47):
a little Christian book about taking my son in at
night and teaching him about praying.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Now do you just do you sell your merchandise just
through your website or do you have a retail distribution.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
I do have a distributor now, so the book will
they're doing it flipped. The first book will actually launch
that I wrote will launch in April fifteenth, I believe
it is of the Spring, and then September fifteenth of
this year they'll launch the Christmas book. In reality, I
had developed them in the opposite direction, the opposite So
(10:23):
with that they are pretty open to me being able
to present the other books in the collect to them
to carry them.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Now do you do the illustrations or do you work
with somebody?
Speaker 1 (10:34):
I do the illustration, so I kind of teach myself that.
But they're very simple and basic because I did that
with intent, because I want kids to be able to
reproduce the characters.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Gotcha. Very good for the mentors. What do you predict
or suggest for Tina continue its growth? More books, more merchandised,
a mixture. What do you guys think, Jamie you take
a shot.
Speaker 6 (10:58):
I think really, once you have a portfolio, it's really
about driving deep into the market. So when she builds
out a portfolio that she feels comfortable a core portfolios,
I know she does. I'm more conservative in my buildout
than Tina. She's been very, very aggressive and ambitious in
building out her portfolio. So really there's going to be
a moment where the emphasis is going to have to
(11:20):
go on really building out that sales funnel and marketing
so that she can really maximize and stay that debt
free as she continues to grow her business. I think
that big thing is going to be getting those eyeballs
onto her products so that they start to do the
work for her.
Speaker 7 (11:39):
She tried Amazon, therefore you see a lot of eyeballs there,
but it also takes an awful lot of your money,
so you don't make a lot on Amazon. So we
went through that, and then she's talked to schools to
see if they would be included in that. So she's
got other things that she will personally go and talk
(12:00):
with people to promote a book and as well as
the other merchandise itself. But you know, it's really directed
for grandparents like myself or parents that are really looking
for something that has a moral value to it.
Speaker 4 (12:17):
Yeah, just get my first big order.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
I have a summer reading from August eighth, and they
just ordered eight one hundred copies of my books.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
Fifty eight.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Very good. So, Tina, what age group would your book
appeal to not the grandparents or parents, but I'm the
child self.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Right, So it's categorized for three to eight year olds
that I personally would if somebody had exposed me to
that book, I would buy it as a shower present
as well.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
So where will I find your books? Tell me about
your website, Give me the UURL. How can people reach
out to you to buy your products?
Speaker 1 (12:55):
As of now, I do have a website that's Tinaneli
dot com and then you can me on LinkedIn, Instagram
and Facebook at Tina Neely author.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Very good. Is there something that you would like to
add that I may not have asked?
Speaker 1 (13:11):
One? Thank you to Score and for the volunteers and
do this. That's amazing. It's just so helpful. And I'm
so grateful because I would probably be taking one bardem
right now if it weren't for these two. So very
very grateful for Score for that and introducing me to
these two lovely people, and then for anybody else, I
(13:31):
would say, just go for it. I don't mean to
sell like Nike, but I life short and I just
think that sometimes we go I can't because I'm this age,
or I can't because I don't have this or and
none of that's true. We're just limited by our thoughts.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Very nice. I like that from the mentors. One last
thought I'll start with Jamie.
Speaker 6 (13:52):
My last thought is that I think Tina has done
an amazing job getting herself up and moving and going
and with alacrity.
Speaker 5 (14:00):
She has really moved swiftly, and I just think it's an.
Speaker 6 (14:05):
Amazing story what she's done to start from, you know,
just an idea and starting to build it out and
get distributors and schedule author visits and all those things.
Speaker 5 (14:15):
It's a lot.
Speaker 6 (14:16):
So my party thing would be like keep the faith
and you know, don't get discouraged because it is.
Speaker 5 (14:24):
It's a roller coaster.
Speaker 6 (14:25):
You know, it's never it's not just a continuous growth
line always. So you know, just when you when you
hit those down moments or those tough moments, just you know,
drawing your faith and keep keep moving, keep your chin
up and keep going.
Speaker 7 (14:38):
Let's I think this is really a good example of
someone who has a very clear vision about what they
want to do, as well as have the motivation for fourteen.
Obviously it's her faith. It is also helping drive this.
She wants to contribute to young children's morals, values and
(15:02):
teach them in such a way that it's easy for
them to learn. So, based upon other businesses that I've
helped start over a period of time, I think Tanna
will be successful because of her.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
Faith, you know.
Speaker 7 (15:17):
I mean she will run into issues like any person,
but I think she'll have the faith to really drive
through those.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
I will say that the motivation too is the children.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Like my gym just had a grill out and they
had some vendors there, and so I just put my
nose in there and.
Speaker 4 (15:33):
Like, is it okay if I come in the adventure?
So set my brief up and a.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Family came in and the little boy goes, it's here,
And so he had discovered my book at another event,
so then he comes running over and he had to
get the second book because he loves bacon already. So
those moments excite me. I had another school from Canada.
All the kids sent me pictures that they drew of bacon.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
And so when you're feeling like, oh my gosh, is
this go anywhere? Do they even like it?
Speaker 1 (16:05):
And then you have those moments and you're like, yeah,
just keep chutting along here because the baby seem to
appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
Well, Tina one more time, give us the places where
we can find your book.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Tinanealy dot com, on Instagram, Facebook, and.
Speaker 4 (16:22):
I'm forgetting one LinkedIn at Tina Neelie authored.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
If you would like to sign up with a mentor
or would like to become a mentor, go to score
dot org and click on the appropriate link. Please subscribe
to this podcast, share the link, and very much so
thank you for listening.
Popular Podcasts
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com