Plotting a brighter future for all children

By Gina Gallagher | Citizens Contributor

As a psychologist, author, entrepreneur, and mother, Melissa-Sue John has had a successful life.

But she's never forgotten where she came from.

Melissa was born and raised in Jamaica, her island home that she loved for many reasons, including the unique cultures of its residents.

"I love the diverse people. I went to school with Black, white, Indian, and Asian kids. We never referred to ourselves in those terms. We were all the same –  Jamaicans.”

It’s that appreciation for human behavior that brought her to America to pursue a career in psychology, and eventually, create a black-owned, mother-daughter publishing service, Lauren Simone Publishing House. The East Hartford, Connecticut-based company, recognized as a 2021 Citizens Small Business Community Champion, is re-writing stories of diversity and of what children of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities can strive to be. 

As a psychologist, Melissa-Sue believes that people have certain fixed mindsets of what they can become. She was no exception growing up in Jamaica. 

"I was going to study pre-med because that's what good students did," she shares.

She knew where she wanted to pursue that career –  in the melting pot of New York City.

“In college, there were so many immigrants from South America, Central America, and Europe,” she recalls. “It was amazing how we all interacted and bonded.”

She did, however, notice a disappointing trend when she ventured off-campus to ride the subway.

“I saw all different types of people coming and going, but it was like people from the same ethnic groups had assigned stops – whether it was Chinatown, Little Italy, or Brooklyn,” she recalls. “I remember thinking, Wow! New York is so diverse, but even within those cultural communities, people live in segregation.”

It was that experience and her love of psychology classes that prompted her to pursue her master's in a different field of study: racial disparities and stereotyping.

After graduate school, she wrote a grant to build a curriculum to teach science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to pre-K children. The kids were involved in Head Start, a program that promotes school readiness for low-income students.

In her research, she noticed a troubling disparity.

“I was looking at children's books and none of them had characters who looked like the Head Start children who were primarily immigrants.”

Later that evening at the dinner table, she shared her frustration with her husband and daughters.

"We talked about how most of the books I read to them never featured Black people," she recounts. "They were always just about animals or white people. And when a Black person was featured in a story, it was only because they were the first to do something."

Upon hearing those concerns, Melissa-Sue's then 7-year-old daughter, Olivia Lauren, looked up at her mother and shared some powerful advice. 

“She said, ‘Mom, don’t complain about the problem, be the solution,’” laughs Melissa-Sue.

Melissa-Sue couldn’t argue with her young daughter's wisdom, but she was unsure how to make it happen.

I thought, I'm a scientist. Not a writer.

But after giving it more thought, she decided to enlist the help of Olivia and her older sister, Alyssa Simone.

Each already had an impressive creative background. At just 7- and 12-years old, her daughters were taking on small acting roles in New York City, including appearances on popular television shows.

One of the first books they would write was Olivia Lauren’s Guide to Becoming an Actor to answer the questions children and parents would often ask about acting.

That book would lead to a series of books that included Olivia Lauren's Occupations A to Z: A Children's Guide to Jobs and Careers to help children of all backgrounds explore traditional and nontraditional careers.

It offered an important message.

"A lot of immigrants come to this country thinking you’re not successful unless you become a doctor or a lawyer, but there are really so many fascinating careers," emphasizes Melissa-Sue.

It would also help create a broader understanding of what diversity means.

“We weren’t just depicting Black or brown kids, but all types of kids ... kids with red hair, kids with albinism, kids in wheelchairs,” she explains. "We wanted to let every child see that they matter and are important."

The book also went beyond traditional occupational stereotypes, depicting an Asian basketball player and a Black female doctor, for example.

"If a child never sees a doctor, policeman, or firefighter who looks like them, it's hard for them to imagine becoming one."

By 2016, Melissa-Sue's plan to create diverse books was taking off. But she was just getting started.

When word spread about the books Melissa-Sue and her daughters were creating, people reached out to her to publish their books, too.

That would lead to the creation of Lauren Simone Publishing House.

“We were going to create books that have diverse representation to show children that everyone matters,” Melissa-Sue shares.

Fulfilling that mission would go far beyond simply publishing diverse children's books. Melissa-Sue wanted to not only feature children in stories, but also have them be a part of the creative process.

So, she reached out to young local artists to illustrate future books, as well as an established graphic designer who would work with young illustrators to help them develop skills.

As part of that focus, she created a virtual summer program where children from all backgrounds and abilities could come to learn. With the impact of COVID-19, Melissa-Sue knew that she had a unique opportunity to provide an outlet for children who were limited in the activities they could do.

“Every day we did a workshop that taught a different skill to help children learn how to write their own books," she shares.

The workshops were an instant success, drawing children from all over the world, including the Bahamas, Canada, and Jamaica.

Melissa-Sue, who juggles the business and her career in teaching and psychology, is thrilled by the success she and her daughters, now ages 13 and 18, have achieved with the publishing company. But she knows that they can accomplish even more thanks to the $10,000 grant from the Citizens Small Business Community Champions program.

She'll use the funds to enhance the summer camp and hire a social media marketer to increase awareness about the program and opportunities for young children.

Through Lauren Simone Publishing, Melissa-Sue John is sharing that legacy and illustrating an important point for all children: you can be whatever you strive to be.