Episode 08: Jelani Memory
Jelani Memory: Founder & CEO of A Kids Company About
Interviewed by Rashad Floyd
I wrote a book for my kids on a whim back in 2018. Having a blended family and raising White kids and Black kids, they were already navigating race, culture, color, and especially the idea of racism. I wanted them to know that it was always cool to come talk to me. That's where this massive light bulb went off in my head, "I think every kid needs this," and not just every kid, but every grownup, and every parent; to create a bridge and a connection with the kids in their lives that they're having meaningful conversations. We knew we needed to create a whole new pathway when it came to who tells their stories, what those stories are about, and who they reach.
Welcome to A Kid's Company About, this is our headquarters in Portland, Oregon, and we make books, podcasts, videos, apps, on challenging, empowering, and important topics. Starting a business, we went from zero to 100% in seven months. I had 12 books, ready to launch and in a lot of ways, it should not have worked. A Kid's Book About Money, About Cancer, Body Image, Creativity, Anxiety was a part of the first crop. We press go on our little Shopify site, and the orders started coming in. There was something about the attraction of it, the importance of it, and the obvious necessity that we should be engaging on these tough topics with the kids in our lives.
We've had authors like the iconic LeVar Burton, Taboo from The Black Eyed Peas, and kids like Orion Jean, who, just won Time's Kid of the Year. It's about disruption, it's about, "Why do we have to do it the way that it's always been done?" I've chatted with many CEO of large publishers and I’ve not yet talk to one who looks like me.
We can take flyers on things that other companies may back away from. To be able to do that, with folks that look like us and come from where we've come from, leads to new angles on topics we think we all know, and brings a completely fresh perspective.
As soon as I decided to start this crazy kid's book publishing idea around hard topics, finding talent was easy, because we all walk around with these stories.
Everyone has a story, but most folks don't know how to tell it. We are experts when it comes to talking to kids, being honest with them, talking up to them, not down to them, all while focusing on type, layout, color, and design that treat kids like they're smart. Kids notice good design when they see it. They don't need colorful dragons and mountains to be engaged in an interesting story. With this business, I have been able to embrace the full me and be a storyteller. Now our books, podcasts and videos, have gone around the globe. We sold hundreds of thousands of copies, and got to bring all these different voices together with this idea that, "The next generation deserves better.” It’s thrilling work to do. It's important work to do. I don't think I'll ever stop doing this work.
