 Think Tech Away. Civil engagement lives here. Sharon's sister power conversation with Mutea Vision. Welcome. I'm your host Sharon Thomas Jarbrough and this is Sister Power. My VIP guest Mutea Vision is an engine of talent on many levels and uses her agency to inspire, entertain and transform lives. In addition to being a comedian, Mutea is an educator, inspirational speaker, publisher, poet and award-winning author of 11 children's books. Her comedy exploratory, provocative, quirky and reflective of her life experiences as a wife, mother, black woman and proud member of the handicapable community. Mutea co-hosts the podcast Between the Sheets and is a producer host of monthly ladies comedy show entitled Twisted Lipstick Comedy. Welcome to Sister Power Mutea. Thank you for having me. I'm so happy to be here Sharon. Thank you. Oh, I'm so happy to see you. I'm so glad we worked this out. We only met what, 20 minutes ago, two weeks ago? That's right, but you make things happen. I'm telling you to. And I was admiring your beautiful crown. Your hair is absolutely lovely. Thank you. And we were talking about that. You know, there's so much to say about you and I want you to tell us a little bit about yourselves. Well, I am a mother, a mother of five girls and three boys, a wife, an educator. I'm, I don't know, I'm just here to master different areas of communication. And I feel like in the process of doing that, then I'm helping others to master theirs, you know. And I feel like all of those purposes are intertwined somewhere around writing, you know, whether that's poetry or comedy or children's books or, you know, just communicating. But what motivates you? I'm motivated by life. I'm motivated by the things that I learn. I'm motivated by learning. That's what motivates me. I mean, I just kind of like, I experience things. I master them. I want to learn more. And I'll dive into different areas of that. I'm motivated by the things that I see that need to be changed or improved. You know, growing up, I feel like my mom taught me to create the world I want to see. And I'm constantly doing that. You know, I read a little bit about you and your mom. And you're such a courageous woman. You were speaking about that you saved your mom from committing suicide twice. She was an alcoholic. She was addicted to alcoholism. Tell us a little bit about that. At a very young age, you were doing this at 15. Right. Well, that was 15. But way before then, when I just remember being in elementary school, and I came home one day, and my mom was taking a bath and she was, I must have been somewhere around seven, I want to say. And she was giving me her items, like a few, I was taking off my earrings and like my, these are things that I want to give to you and leave to you. And so that's kind of when I discovered that my mom, you know, was dealing with depression. I know how to categorize that or what to do with that. But I did make her pinky promise, you know, as a child, because she was all that I had, you know, her and my sister had to stick around. And I feel like she kept that promise. I'm very happy that she did that. But later on, fast forward to high school, I became a peer counselor. And I learned that some of the things that we were dealing with that kept us in this place, you know, because my grandparents were, my grandmother was a registered nurse. My dad was an electrician. You know, they were devout Catholics. You know, it wasn't the kind of the way that we, the struggles or challenges that we had were based on I learned my mom's alcoholism. And I remember being 15 and taking, telling my mom that I wanted us to have a mother-daughter day. And I took her to some church or something that had an AA meeting at the time. And that's where I ended up taking her. And we stayed there for the whole hour. And she was very upset with me. And, but I feel like it was within three months, she checked herself into like a alcohol rehabilitation center, like a 90 day program, you know, or 30 day was one of those kind of things. And she became sober. And so it was a beautiful, you know, and, and, and I could see how our lives turned around from that point moving forward. What a beautiful story. And tell Sister Howard viewers about the differently abled community. That was so interesting to me. Yes. As I was born with one hand, I had, when I was in the womb, I had something ambiotic strings wrapped around my arm and either amputated or prevented it from growing. We don't know how that would happen. But in any case, I learned as a writer that words are very important and how we categorize ourselves. And, you know, and I hated that I don't, I personally don't like the term disabled. Yeah. Because whenever I hear that, it feels like I don't work and I work real hard. And you know what I'm saying? I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't know. Look at this. This shows that you work very hard. Right. And so I felt like I need to change that. And I feel like I am differently abled. I am, I am handy capable. I am that just different phrases that I've coined that I've, I haven't heard of handy capable, but people may be using it, you know, and I hope it becomes part of Webster, you know, you know, they're adding all these other words and new things in. Yeah, they're listening. People are listening. Well, do you approach your writing as an occupation? I want to say that when I started writing, writing was something, it was, it was an escape. It was something that helped me to live. It helped me to turn some sad times into joyful times. I could write something that made me gave me joy. And as I grew up, it, it, I discovered that it also gave others joy, or it also impacted them and they got something out of it, you know, especially when it as I grew and had things or messages that were designed to share and empower and inspire others. So do I approach it as work now? Writing is writing is my passion. It was my lifeline. It has become my passion. And no matter where I funnel it, it has become a source of inspiration and hope for others. So no, it's it, it turned out to be something that turned into something that I can market. But but no, it's not work. It's not work at all. This is something I love doing. So no. And so you and your husband, your team, a team of authors. So tell us about your publishing company. Back in 2000, and I want to say 2004 2005. My husband is very he's talented. He's he's he's he's a philosopher. He's a thinker. He and then he's multi talented as well. And so we definitely feed off of each other in terms of inspiration. And he's a music producer. Oh, so he, you know, he challenges his communication and everywhere he wants to focus it as well. But in any case, in 2005, I thought what a great idea that these stories that started as seeds that we shared with our children, you know, because each one of them have messages, whether it's self acceptance or a family love, some of the books here. And this is very interesting. I can't read it from disabilities. Yes, disabilities was a very interesting story because I remember shopping. I was close shopping somewhere. And it was an it was an Indian store, Middle Eastern Indian store. And I remember that as I was shopping, the gentleman there asked me, you know, what was wrong with my arm or something he asked me and he asked me in such a way where I was like, there's nothing, you know, something wrong with my arm. It was just the way I was born doesn't stop. I got defensive. It doesn't stop me from doing anything blah, blah, blah. And then, you know, he said no offense or something like I apologize, you know, if he offended me, he was sorry. And then he came back to me and he said, you know what, it gave God great pleasure to create you. And when he I had never heard it phrase that way. And I was like, yes, it did give God great pleasure to create me. And it the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. And that became the first lines of the poem. This is written as a poem. And it opens with a gave God great pleasure to create me. And I said, you know what, I'm going to take that. I'm going to take that home. And I'm going to write a piece. Can I can I use that? You know, he's like, Sure, absolutely. And that weekend I went into myself. And this poem was born. And the character in this book happens to have no arms because I remember seeing a 60 minute show where there was a character, a young, a young boy who was that way. And he was rolling and he was doing everything that he needed to do. And, you know, it was amazing, you know, he was eating with his feet. And so this, the character in this book is modeled off of him. But the story really is about no, you know, I was born this way, but I'm not cursed because I am because there's also in society where they're not used to seeing people who are different from where people come up and they're like, that's such a pity, you only have one hand because you're such a pretty girl. Oh my goodness. They just say the darn thing. They do. People do. You know, I was like, Oh, so if I had a hunchback in one eye, then that would be perfectly, what are you saying? You know, but this book is about just sharing with people that we are all in this together. And having one hand, my heart, my mind is not in my hands. You know, that's, that's in me. And, you know, I'm complete. Even if you don't see that, I am complete. And I am doing and all of us who are differently able to wake up every day and face the challenges that we all share, you know, as humans, you know, that well, it comes to you, what you're saying is you have to love yourself first. Absolutely. And that's what it's all about. Love yourself. And when you're talking about this, I had a little major surgery on my arm. Okay. And the the same day that came home from surgery, I thought they amputated my arm, I couldn't feel anything. Oh, long story short, my husband let me have my pity party. And he saw me right back. Immediately, he went to the whatever store and purchased the movie Soul Surfer. Yes. And you remember that story? Is she the one? The one who from Hawaii and shark? Yes. Immediately when I saw how she embraced loving herself again, she did everything she could do with both arms. I felt so, you know, you just wake up sharing. Yeah. Get a grip. Because life moves on and it's just how we embrace life to move forward. And because you can be not a nice person. Right. And that's a disability as far as I'm concerned, you know, because they're far more kind of people in this world than not. But getting back to you, and you're publishing company. And I did read somewhere that to sell a book, you have to have a killer cover. So I'm loving this book right here. My very best friend. My very best friend. We talk about everything. We're very provocative. And I nursed all of our babies, all of our children for two years each. Okay. And we felt that it was a very special, important message to share with families. Because in the modern day, oh, that's, sometimes it's taboo, we hear, you know, you have conversations about women nursing in public and all these things. But my very best friend talks about how that special bond that is created from that nursing experience, if that is one, something that that family wants to do, that's their, their personal choice and how Bresson goes from being this child's very best friend to the mom transitioning into the child's very best friend. And it was it's just a very warm, you know, heartfelt story that encapsulates, I hope positive memories from from breastfeeding. Absolutely. Well, we have so much more to cover in such a short time. And we'll be right back. Welcome back to Sister Power. I'm your host Sharon Yarbrough. And we are talking story having a wonderful conversation with my special VIP guest, Matia. Matia. Matia. Love that name. Thank you. It means the nurture there. The giver of life, by the way. Tell that. Tell me that again. It means it's Arabic and it means the nurture the giver of life, the giver of life. You have eight children, 11 children's books, 11 children's books. Before the commercial, we were talking about your you being a comedian. And we have something up this coming very soon. And I love the your monthly ladies comedy show entitled Twisted Lipstick Comedy. Yes. And I'm a woman of lipstick. And I will talk about that later. But let's show our viewers where you will be performing soon. And tell us a little bit about the the female comics of Hawaii. Yes. I will be performing at the dragon upstairs on the 18th, which is a Saturday coming up. Doors open at 6 30. Showtime is at 7 30. And I'm really excited since I've been in Hawaii to be able to find a network of of sister comics and and can continue that tradition of because in comedy, comedy is a male run world. Yeah, you know, so I love the opportunities where I can network and work with so many funny talented women. Okay, so the female comics of Hawaii Saturday, August 18th at the dragon upstairs 7 30 to 9 30 p.m. and said 10 38 new Anu and is hosted by Erica hosted by whom Erica Erica and she hosts. I feel like she's definitely a leader in the women's comedy movement out here in Hawaii. Okay, you know, yeah. Well, we look forward to seeing you on the 18th. Yes. Are you a rule follower? Or do you like to make up your own rules? I don't know if I should tell my secrets. No, seriously, seriously. I I improvise. Okay, I improvise. I mean, I feel that they're, you know, they're crucial moral codes. You know, there are certain things that are right. There are certain things that are wrong. And there are certain things that are deemed to be a norm or correct in different time periods, like during slavery. You know, so would I have been a rule breaker during then? Yes. Oh, yeah. You know, so it really just it depends. Yeah, it depends. Well, what would you tell your younger self? What advice would you give to your younger self now? Hmm. I would tell my younger self to I would tell my younger self to be more patient. I would tell my younger self to there would be advice I would give them as it relates to interacting with others. Oh, that is a very tough question, Erica. There's so much there. That's okay. Comedy, comedy. I love it. Sharon. Okay. There's so many. There's so many. There's there's so much. I tell I tell them to be patient. I would tell them to that timing is everything. And to look for look for science, because they're everywhere, you know, and they're always guiding, guiding us. I feel like there's a different way that I did things when I was growing up. And I want to say another thing. Each of our children's books also offer tools, you know, to children, whether it's dealing with adapting, or the fact that what makes me beautiful, that this is what this is simple. That's what makes me beautiful. What makes you and what makes me beautiful talks about the things that we do that make us beautiful, you know, because often children are looking in mirror clothing, name brands, and they think that that's defining them. And basically, we're sharing in that story that it is the things that you do that's defining who you are. You know, I'm trying to think. Persevere, you know, that's a lesson that I learned in life, you know, that you keep pushing through. And the light might not be where you think it's supposed to be. But if you keep pushing through, you'll get to the end of that tunnel. Well, my husband has a saying that school is never out. So we're always learning. And you just have to keep a broad open mind and not take everything so personal. And I think that that's what happens too. But I know the USA Best Book Award for your book, My Choices Make Me Who I Am, honoring the best and educational children's book. Tell me about that. My choices make me who I am really is a book that I don't have that here today, but we sold out of that one. That's why I didn't bring that one. But it really is a book. Every child should have it's a lesson plan. Every page is a lesson plan that gives parents the opportunity to share with their child that we wanted them to know that you might be here where you are, but you're not stuck. You might have made a wrong choice, but you can turn that around by making a different choice is going to take you somewhere else. It has lessons in it that deal with being respected as much more important than being liked. That they have the power like that the bumblebee was told if they were told that they couldn't fly before they even began, you know, how might that have been different for them? You know, that that don't let people's labels. You can't be confined by labels of others. You know, you have to define yourself and demonstrate to the world because sometimes the world doesn't know what you're capable of until you actually show them. You know, people didn't know people didn't know that we could fly. Yeah. You know, until it was a people. That's silly. That's ridiculous. No, but someone dared to be courageous enough to do it and keep doing the work until they made the vehicle that did it. And now look at us. You know, well, you are an award winning author of 11 books. Give us your best marketing tips. What works to sell more books, gain notoriety and expand your literary footprint. I want to say in terms of marketing, you have to simply you have to simply get your product out there to market. The more you share what you're doing with other people, you never know who you're going to run into. I share it with everybody. And that's how many connections have been made. You know, I before I started doing author visits, I shared I'm writing books and I do author visits. And I told it to someone at a Staples and she said, why don't you come into my school? I'd love to bring you I'm a librarian. You know, so I'm just saying there's six degrees. You never know who you're meeting. So word of mouth is going to be your your biggest seller. Yes, we went to bookshows and, you know, put together brochures, sent it out to schools. You know, you have to make people aware of your product. You have to have a good product. First of all, we have to start with having a substantive product and something that you're passionate for. And then you get out there and that passion shows and people see the heart in your work. And if they're not seeing it, you need to go back into whatever it is and torque it, you know, and so that it's ready to be marketed. When did you realize you were an author? I was I always realized I was a writer. That's something that my mother nurtured in me from very young. I mean, as soon as I was able to write. But I realized the power that my writing had, you know, when teachers took to note and they would pull me to the side. My creative teacher, you know, in high school or whatever it is. And then I started sharing it at at poetry venues, let's say, because I started with spoken word. And then, you know, you see the response, you know, those words and then I wanted to take it to the next level and bring it to something that, you know, at the mic, your words fade. I wanted something that people could have as a keepsake. They could bring it home. They could read it over and over and over again. They put in the library. I learned that these books, after the fact, as a marketing tool, that they're character education books. And they're used in schools all over the U.S., you know, as a result of that. Adapt is a book that shares with children. You know, children are only limited to concepts by how we present them to them. And adapt shares with children that that's something that you can do when things don't go your way. You know, if you're inside and can't go out, the worst thing to do is scream and shout. Imagine that you're in a, you know, pretend to be a movie star, go under a bed with a flashlight. Like, there's so many ways that you could use your imagination to pass time, so that we don't have to get upset. That's a choice. Everything that we're doing is a choice that we make, but that's written in rhyme and it's just fun and playful. And I love that you said imagination is my friend. I use it when I pretend. Yes. Oh, I love that. Well, Mutea, what gives you pause? What do you mean when you say what? So much is happening in the world today and you're an inspirational speaker. And if there was one subject that you would like to speak to motivate, empower, and educate, and educate a room full of women who are becoming of themselves, what gives you pause that you would want to share with them? There are several things in the world that give me pause, but the thing that I would want to share with women, children, in particular, with everyone, but with my my focus would deal around women and children is would and and the reason that I'm even thinking about this is because of the fact that I feel like women and children in our society have been taught to play it small, that they shouldn't be heard, that we are not we are not in charge like or there there's just different messages that we get and all the way throughout society and I would say that I would want us to claim you know to claim our destiny is of greatness to to realize our self-worth and to and to be empowered to not be afraid to shine you know that we are not here just to be the backdrop you know that we are here we offer so much we carry as women I'm talking about right now sure we are we give birth to this nation you know the and and to come out of the shadows and to claim your destiny and to and to shine and to do the work that is before us we're doing it anyway take our credit for it you know and and not to be not to cower away from or you know to shy away from you know the things that were called to do that is such an excellent closing for us there's so much more than we can say I've just totally Mutia enjoyed this short conversation that you and I have had and thank you thank you thank you thank you for the all the children's books and we were talking about earlier that a mother should start reading to their children while they're in their womb exactly and start early next year yeah well everyone thank you for spending part of your day with mutia and myself Sharon Thomas Yarbrough sister power