In this episode of Drop and Give Me 20, Lindsey is joined by two of her friends, Judy Davis and Lauren Cecora, to talk about becoming an author.

Judy Davis is a military spouse and a successful entrepreneur. The motivational speaker is known nationwide as the Direction Diva. The published author and co-founder of DASIUM is also considered an authority on military life and small business success and is leading the way in depression, addiction, and suicide prevention in teens/young adults.

Lauren Cecora is a military spouse and the author of the book Past-Partum: From Shattered to Sane. Lauren is a postpartum mentor. In 2015, after the birth of her daughter, she was diagnosed with postpartum depression and later postpartum anxiety. In her book, Lauren shared her postpartum depression and anxiety story as well as her sanity saving tips to help any mother regain their sanity.

Important topics they discuss:

• [01:24] Getting to know Lauren and Judy
• [03:00] Judy's books
• [04:06] What made Judy start writing a book
• [04:45] How depression hit her son
• [05:04] Her motivation in writing her book “Warning Signs”
• [06:14] Lauren's book
• [07:11] Some of the sanity saving tips
• [10:50] The traditional way of publishing
• [11:45] Tips on finding a publisher
• [13:57] Self-publishing
• [17:19] Process of getting your book published
• [20:08] On marketing
• [21:22] On having a vast audience
• [23:21] People's review/feedback

Quote:

"There's no better joy than holding your published copy when it's all done. I don't think there's a better feeling other than the first time you hold your baby. It's one of those things but writing the book is only a fraction of what it means to even have a publisher or self-publish. It's just the beginning." - Judy Davis

Links:

Hands Free Mama by Rachel Macy Stafford
CreateSpace

Social:

Judy Davis:
The Direction Diva
DASIUM 
Right Side Up by Judy Davis
Warning Signs by Judy Davis

Lauren Cecora:
Lauren's Website
Lauren Cecora - The Sanity Saver Facebook Page
Lauren on Instagram
Past-Partum: From Shattered to Sane by Lauren Cecora

In this episode of Drop and Give Me 20, Lindsey interviewed two of her online friends—Kristen Smith and Moni Jefferson. They talked about the concept of collaboration and how it works.

Kristen is the founder of Blog Your Genius, an online education community for women who are looking to create out of the box professional opportunities. She's also a longtime blogger and digital marketer.

Moni is an entrepreneur, PR professional, and accidental app creator. She runs a public relations and social media agency and is also the brains behind MilSpouse Creative, a virtual global networking community for military spouse entrepreneurs to connect, collaborate, and create relationships. Plenty of gold nuggets in this episode so don’t forget to tune in!

Important topics they discuss:

• [01:32] Kristen's background
• [02:20] Moni's background
• [04:20] Business relationships
• [08:29] Advice to people when a collaboration is not working
• [12:05] On giving each other a heads up
• [13:06] On divorcing if things don't match up
• [14:52] What to do first when collaborating

Quote:

"As you grow and you go through different stages with your business, you are going to need relationships, you're gonna need other people to talk to and support you to point you in the right direction." - Kristen Smith

Social:

Asana
Trello

Kristen's Website
Moni's Website