IAM1079- Founder Inspires and Educates Others in the Book Industry

Award-winning author and founder of the publishing company, Cardinal Rule Press, Maria Dismondy inspires and educates others in the book industry. Her background in early education and research enables her to touch lives the world over while touring as a public speaker in schools, community forums, and national conferences. When Maria isn’t working, she can be found embarking on adventures throughout southeast Michigan and beyond, where she lives with her husband and three book-loving children.

• CEO Hack: (i) I make coffee in the morning (ii) Shutting down my desk, clean it up and look up to the next day
• CEO Nugget: Make time for systems
• CEO Defined: Finding joy in the work you do

Website: http://www.cardinalrulepress.com/

http://www.mariadismondy.com/

Instagram: www.instagram.com/cardinalrulepress

New book out this fall: Lila Lou's Little Library by Nikki Bergstresser

Full Interview:

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Transcription

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00:18 – Intro

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

00:46 – Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I Am CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Maria Desmond of Cardinal Rule Press. Maria, it's great to have you on the show.

00:56 – Maria Dismondy

Thanks for having me. I look forward to it.

00:58 – Gresham Harkless

Definitely looking forward to it as well. And before we jump into the interview, I want to read a little bit more about Maria so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. An award-winning author and founder of the publishing company, Cardinal Rule Press, Maria inspires and educates others in the book industry. Her background in early education research enables her to touch lives all over the world while touring as a public speaker in schools, community forums, and national conferences. Maria when Maria isn't working, she can be found embarking on adventures throughout Southeast Michigan and beyond where she lives with her husband and three book-loving children. Maria, it's great to have you on the show. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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01:36- Maria Dismondy

I'm ready. I should add that we have two puppies. I have two COVID-19 puppies added to that bio.

01:42 – Gresham Harkless

Oh, yes. So that's definitely a house of five or seven, I guess. So you definitely have your hands spoiled, so to speak. Well, perfect. Well, so I wanted to kinda kick everything off and hear a little bit more about how you got started, what I call your CEO story.

01:57- Maria Dismondy

Yeah. My CEO story began in the classroom. So I studied education, and I was guaranteed this job for a lifetime. And I just thought I would be a teacher in the classroom forever, and then something happened and, roles shifted and it really changed. So I was in the classroom looking for a book to read to my students about having the courage to be yourself, and I couldn't find books that had kids. I found books with dinosaurs that were talking and, you know, I found books about dogs that were dancing, but I couldn't find books that had kids that represented society today, you know, that represented the diverse community that I worked in.

And so I wrote a book, and I read it to my students, and it was published. It's called Spaghetti and a Hotdog Bun. And if you're watching the video, you can see the little girl. Somebody crocheted a little character for me right behind me. The book started to take off, and I resigned from teaching in two thousand eleven to grow not only my family but really this writing business because I started to see in the numbers that I could work part-time as a writer and a speaker and make more than a full-time teacher, which full-time teachers out there, hands down to you, like, you need you should be getting paid more money. It's just ridiculous.

But that didn't make sense to me. So I resigned from teaching, and I continued to write. And then what happened is a few years ago, about six years ago, someone had said to me, you know, I think you should publish other people's work. You're a really good mentor. You're a good teacher. And so I took that advice, and I started Cardinal Will Press. So that's really when I became CEO, of Cardinal Will Press. And so at the beginning, I kind of was able to make the mistakes as a CEO of my writing business and my platform and to kinda work out all of those, nooks and crannies by myself, and then I started bringing on a team about six years ago.

03:47 – Gresham Harkless

Nice. Well, I definitely appreciate that, and I will definitely echo that, about, you know, teachers and the impact that they make on society and and and on the world and the future of our world, how, you know, important that is and definitely, you know, need to be paid more. And I appreciate you for, you know, providing so many opportunities for people and two, to know about the process. Because I think so many times people think that you flip a switch and then you, you know, you have cardinal rule press, you're doing.

So many phenomenal things, but to go through the journey and hear, you know, the kinks, the nooks, and the crannies, and all those things you had to go through along the process to get you where you are is just as important, I think, as going through them.

04:21- Maria Dismondy

Yeah. Yeah. And, actually, I, you know, the state of Michigan put out a call to, educators about three weeks ago well, I guess, about six weeks ago that need teachers because of COVID. And I actually just popped back into the classroom about six weeks ago. I took a position, just for the last, like, eight weeks of school. And, so I'm dipping my toes back into the field, and it actually feels really good. And I'm only gonna do it till the end of the school year, but getting back into the field, I think, is really important too. So being CEO doesn't mean you take a step away from everything that you stand for. I think it's important to get back into the field and really be a part of it.

05:00 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. And that makes so much sense, and I appreciate you for sharing that because I almost wonder, like, sometimes when you, you know, you start to, I guess, reach, a certain level of success and you get to a lot further along the journey, sometimes we forget those things that kinda brought us there. And I love that you've been able to kinda go back and do that. And I feel like it probably, the shoes probably fit differently, but it still probably is something that energizes you in a completely different way, and you can still make that impact in the classroom like you're doing, you know, through your books and everything.

05:30 – Maria Dismondy

Yeah. And how do I know what books to produce if I'm not talking to the teachers and I'm not interacting with the kids? My own children are getting older now, so it's it's important to me to stay in touch with our target audience.

05:41 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. It's like a a focus group you have right there, so I absolutely love that you're building those relationships and connections and, planting the seeds for future books. So absolutely appreciate that. So I wanted to drill down a little bit more. I know you touched a little bit on how you're working with your clients and how that goes. Could you take us through a little bit more about that and what you do there?

06:00 – Maria Dismondy

Yeah. So we, so, basically, our process is on the timeline. So we repeat, you know, the same timeline. It's very, systematic. We open up our doors for manuscript submissions for about four months per year, which means anyone who's interested in writing a children's picture book, or realistic fiction can submit their manuscript to our team. We go through those manuscripts. We narrow them down, and then we start a selection process. Process. So we usually get about fifteen hundred submissions, and we select three to four. So it is we really have to narrow things down. Yep.

And then once we select them, we sign our authors and our illustrators, and we start the process of, you know, the artwork and the graphic design in the production process of the book. And then after that, it moves into more of the printing process of the book, the distribution, the marketing, the sales, and then we repeat over and over again. So once we launch a book, then we go into, like, this backlist re-engaging the title. So, you know, if we launch a book, it's in into the world, and, we don't usually say goodbye to that book.

We continue to work on that book for the life of the story until, you know, the sales are going nowhere and we might put it out of print. So it's a really cool timeline that we go through, and, there are different people, different players at each step of the way.

07:18 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. That makes so much sense, and I love, you know, everything, you know, that you've been able to kinda create and build and, you know, bringing those manuscripts, you know, to fruition kinda like, birthing them, I guess, you can say to some degree and seeing them kinda go through that process. And I I love too how you kinda talked about, and I this to me rings with, you know, true truly, the definition of entrepreneurship is seeing something that's missing in the world and rather than saying somebody should create it to kind of decide that you're gonna create it yourself. So I appreciate you for providing that conduit for so many other people and initiating yourself to do that great, great work.

07:53 – Maria Dismondy

Thank you. You know, I don't know if you know about the word of the year, but I love choosing a word every year to kind of guide me through my business and through my personal life. And this year, my word of the year is light. And so it's really how can I help other people to find what is their light and how can they leave an impact on someone or something in this world? And that's what we get to do through our books, and through working with authors and illustrators.

08:19 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. That's so powerful. And I and I'm a big believer in, you know, all of us having, you know, gifts that we have not for us to hold on to, but to actually shine just like you said, you know, with light so that not only does it help you to to do really phenomenal things and make an impact, but it also helps so many others. And, like, when you see somebody's light, you're also, you know, excited and you feel like you can shine yours as well too.

So I think that's, you know, a powerful word, you know, to have, you know, for this year. And I think it's something that we can remind ourselves of every single year and how we can kinda be our best selves and remind others how to do that as well.

08:49 – Maria Dismondy

Yeah. That should be a quote coming out of this right there.

08:52 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. Mark it down. So, what would you consider to be what I call your secret sauce? And this could be for yourself personally or the organization or a combination of both. But what do you feel kinda sets you apart and makes you unique?

09:06 – Maria Dismondy

You know, I'm not afraid to take a risk, And so when I think of an idea, I am I'm all for it. Like, let's test it out. Let's test it out. And if it fails, we won't do it again. You know, I'm not gonna spend a ton of money on an idea until I see if it's gonna work, but I'm not afraid of things. And so at the beginning, a lot of how our company grew was through through something we call grassroots-style marketing.

We did a lot of marketing that didn't cost money, but we were just engaging with our audience, and it was a very organic way of getting the word out there about our books. And many other people who I talked to be like, we would have never tried that because of the fear of failure. So that's the secret sauce because I don't have a fear of failure. I know it's gonna happen at some point, but I'm not afraid of it.

09:50 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. Was that something that you feel like you picked up over this over time? Was that something that you always kinda had in your DNA, so to speak?

09:58 – Maria Dismondy

No. I was a perfectionist, for a long time, and the last marathon I ran, afterward, I realized that I was running it not for the purpose of enjoying running. I actually hated the whole process. I was doing it to provide to the world, to to to show to the world that I was good enough. So I did a lot of, you know, self-work there, and I was like, no. No. I'm gonna find joy in the things that I do. It doesn't have to look perfect. So that's just it came out of self-growth on my own journey through my twenties.

10:28 – Gresham Harkless

Nice. I appreciate you sharing that, and I feel like that's a great thing, you know, for all of us to take in, especially if we feel like, you know, we aren't really in love with failure or in love with the entire process, how you can, you know, develop that. And I'm a big believer that, you know, failure provides a lot of learning, a lot of lessons. So even if you do have that opportunity to fail, especially if you can do it without it being, like, extremely costly in terms of resources or time, then you can learn so much for it. It's only gonna make you better and better, you know, as life and our businesses and journey go along.

11:00- Maria Dismondy

Yeah. So much. So that's the secret sauce is, you know, being able to do some grassroots style kind of marketing and things that don't cost a ton of money, but just take time and effort.

11:09 – Gresham Harkless

Absolutely. Absolutely. And so I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I want to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

11:21 – Maria Dismondy

Yeah. I do. I have I've created some really good habits, and I think for anyone out there who, is listening, a habit can completely be formed. And what I've done is I've connected these habits that really work for me to other things in my life that I've had for such a long time. So let me give you an example. Number one is, I make coffee in the morning. Right? It's something that I've always done. That habit has just been around for, like, twenty years. And I created a habit about eighteen months ago where I put the coffee on and I sit down, and I take all of my self-help, my affirmation books, my gratitude books, and they're sitting next to my coziest chair in the kitchen.

And, they're on a little bookshelf. And I sit down and wait for the coffee to be made, and I spend about ten minutes reading those books, and that gets me my mind in a really good place first thing in the morning. It's before anyone in the house is up. It just gives me that little bit of time for me to kinda get get that, mind right. And so then the other one that I have is not really connected to one of my daily habits, but I shut down my desk every single day. I shut it down. I clean it up, and then I look at the next day.

So it takes about thirty minutes, and I take a look at it the next day. I map everything out. I mean, I write everything on this thing. If it says, you know, if I need to give the dogs a bath, this is gonna be on the list. If I need to exercise, it's gonna be on the list. Because what I found is if I have an extra chunk of thirty minutes, instead of thinking, well, what can I do with this thirty minutes? I have a list of things that can be done, and it makes me more productive. So, I make my list the night before, and then when I wake up in the morning, I can hit the ground running.

12:59 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So I want to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So this could be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. It might be something you would tell a client, or if you hop into a time machine, you might tell your younger business self.

13:11 – Maria Dismondy

Yeah. If I happened to be a time machine, I would tell my younger business self to make time for, systems. So really setting up workflows and systems because that's truly what has saved my company in the last year. And what I mean by this is, like I told you, we have a timeline that repeats throughout the year. And those first few years, that timeline was coming from my brain. And so I signed an author, and I'm like, okay. I need to think about all the things I do when I sign an author, and it literally was weighing me down because all of that information was stored in my brain. And now all of that information is in a workflow program called Asana.

If something, you know, god forbid, happened to me, my husband, my team, they could just hop in there. They know everything that's in my brain, everything that happens in the business. And like I said, I popped back into teaching for this last, like, you know, six to eight weeks of school. And I'm running a company as CEO working full-time as a teacher right now. The only reason that's happening is because we have systems in place, and I have my team who can just pop in and say, we know what Maria does on a day-to-day basis. It's all written out in Asana. It's all logged here for us. We're gonna pop in and help her out over this next, you know, thirty days or whatever.

14:21 – Gresham Harkless

Yes. Huge. And I wanted to ask you now my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're open to having different, quote, unquote CEOs on this show. So, Maria, what does being a CEO mean to you?

14:32 – Maria Dismondy

Finding joy in the work that you do.

14:36 – Gresham Harkless

Truly appreciate that definition, and I appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is just pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know and, of course, how best they can get a hold of you and find out about all awesome things you and your team are working on.

14:50 – Maria Dismondy

Yeah. I think just to kind of, you know, sign off on a last note, I would suggest that people listening, if you have an idea and you want to start a business, just try it. Just go for it because life is short. I know it's a cliche, but it truly is, and we just never know. Maybe it's gonna be a raring success and we're roaring its success. Maybe it won't, but you'll never know unless you try.

If you'd like to connect with me, I'm usually over on Instagram under Cardinal Rule Press or Maria Dosmandi books, and I answer emails. So I'm one of those people who I try to get down to zero once a week in my inbox. So I love connecting with people, and I value your time. So if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me at Maria at cardinal rule press dot com.

15:37 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. We'll definitely have the links and information in the show notes. Inbox inbox zero, you're definitely my hero for sure in being able to kinda do that. And I love that last point as well too. I always say, like, we think the biggest fear is in failure, but a lot of times, the biggest fear is in regret. And sometimes when you don't take that chance, you don't, you know, try that marketing grass root approach, you don't start that business, whatever it is that you have that might be something. It's it's worse if you don't try, I think. So I appreciate you so much for giving us that last kinda word of wisdom, and I appreciate you, of course, for taking time out, and I hope you have a great rest of the day.

16:13 -Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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