Verity Credit Union Chief Marketing Officer Shari Storm has taken multitasking to a whole new level. In addition to working full-time at the $380 million credit union, Storm, a wife, mother of three girls ages 6, 4 and 2, and a popular blogger, landed a book deal with a big publishing house in New York resulting in her penning her first book, Motherhood Is the New MBA.
A young author contest winner in grade school, Storm dreamed of being a writer, but in college, she couldn't figure out the practical business side of how to make money, so she tucked her dream away. A few years later after having children, inspired by her husband quitting his job to live his dream of working in the film industry, Storm discovered just what story she wanted to tell.
"When I had my kids I found it to be motivating helping me be a more creative, more energetic problem solver, but the books out there for working moms were about how hard the work-life balance was or the wage gap or how to deal with post-partum," Storm said. "There was nothing about what I was experiencing and what a powerful management training program parenthood can be. Once the idea solidified I saw parallels everywhere."
So, four years ago, Storm then bought a book about publishing. Dedicated to working one hour a day-between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m.-she wrote a book proposal and began querying agents.
"I'd get up before everyone else was awake and decided that whatever I crank out will be my progress. I had a blog and wanted to hit it from different angles," Storm said. "My youngest daughter was six weeks old at the time. What the book told me, at least for nonfiction, is to pitch an idea so I wasn't writing much of the book since an editor might change it."
Once she finally got a literary agent, the first round of pitches to publishing houses resulted in some interest, but she was requested to make the book have either a more serious or religious slant. After weeks of "nothing. Not even a nibble from editors," Storm joked she might be able to write in a more serious tone, but her agent told her to stay true to herself.
When she finally got approval from a publishing house, Storm said she was thrilled, but then it hit her she'd actually have to write a book. She had four months to deliver the book, which the publisher wanted framed as an advice book with input from 60 working moms. She stuck to her one hour a day writing regimen and then took a three-day retreat to a cabin to get it all done.
"I'm lucky that the publishing house is big enough to have Barnes and Noble distribution, but my book is still one among thousands so it doesn't guarantee you can sell it off the shelf," Storm said.
--mdigiovanni@cutimes.com
