When you read the following interview I think that you'll agree that Kimberlee offers an interesting perspective on writing, blogging, and business.
Work From Home Momma: How many years have you worked from home?
Kimberlee: I have been working from home since August 2006 when I became an editor for Know More Media; so a little over a year now.
Work From Home Momma: Why did you choose blogging as your business?
Kimberlee: It would seem that blogging chose me.
When I graduated from college (California State University, Long Beach) I was on a quest to find a job I loved that involved writing and creating. I applied mostly to jobs in PR and marketing agencies, but my lack of experience was really getting in the way. I saw Know More Media's ad on the CSULB career center website and thought that the position would be perfect for me. It was by virtue of my applying and getting the job with Know More Media that I became a blogger, social-bookmarker, and online media gatekeeper of sorts.Work From Home Momma: I understand that you were involved with the Freedom Writers. Can you explain to our readers a little bit about what that is?
Kimberlee: Well, that's a loaded question with no real short answer. I became a Freedom Writer (before we'd named ourselves that) in 1996 as a Junior at Wilson High School. A friend of mine was in the class and kept talking about her teacher with crazy ideas who was teaching her students about life and through community service. We all have different stories about when Ms. Gruwell said we'd be writing a book to deliver to the president but I remember her telling us about it the first day of class and thinking, "this woman is crazy..." It didn't take me long to discover that Gruwell's crazy ideas were not all that crazy and it was as I wrote about my own teen-aged angst, that discovered I was destined to be a writer.
The other thing about the Freedom Writers is that we each have our own ideas about exactly what that means. For me it is largely about the journey I took in Ms. Gruwell's class, the process of making positive choices that help to change first myself and by extension, the world around me. As a group we focus much of our efforts on diversity/cultural awareness and teaching educators how to connect with their most challenging students.
For more information about the Freedom Writers and a more concise description of who we are and what we do, please visit our website at www.freedomwritersfoundation.org.
Work From Home Momma: How has the Freedom Writers made a difference in your life?
Kimberlee: We all have moments in our lives when we are searching for something to belong to, someone to look to for guidance and through all of that, searching for ourselves. It was during this stage in my life that I met Erin Gruwell. My journey as a Freedom Writer has taught me that we can only be who we are meant to be - but that we should always be the best person we can possibly be. We cannot make excuses for why we cannot be successful, but rather must aspire to achieve goals that we never thought we could achieve.
Without telling my entire FW story, I can say that Erin Gruwell has been the kind of mentor everyone wishes they had. This is not to say that we did not have conflicts - I believe part of the job of a mentor is to push a person well beyond their comfort zones. It was this pushing that helped me discover my passion for writing, fulfill my desire to help others in the community, and has largely shaped how I view the world.
Even after graduating from high school Erin sought out as many FWs as she could and offered us a scholarship to CSULB. It was taking on this opportunity and challenge from Erin that enabled me to graduate from a university (at the time I was studying interior design at Brooks College) with a Bachelors of Science. I'm sure I would have continued to pursue my education but I don't think I would be working for Know More Media or doing this interview; my life might have been very different if not for Erin Gruwell.
Read more about my experiences as a Freedom Writer and how those experiences shaped my life.
Readers can also check out the Kimberlee Morrison archives on The Publishing Spot.
Work From Home Momma: What is your biggest challenge?
Kimberlee: I believe I have two major challenges: time and procrastination. There is never enough time and I constantly feel as though I am being pulled in a million directions. Sometimes I am working and suddenly I look up and the entire day has gone but I feel as though I have done nothing. As far as procrastination goes, I have a tendency to put things off until the last minute for various reasons. I know that procrastination is the enemy of success and while I feel moderately successful, in order to accomplish my other goals, I have to work hard to be proactive and do what needs to be done to get to where I want to be.
Work From Home Momma: What is unique about your business?
Kimberlee: Know More Media is unique because it seeks out business experts to write about targeted niche topics. Granted there are plenty of journalists that focus on particular areas of news or have a specific beat, but they always had to attribute information to an expert or witness or some sort. Know More Media's model bypasses that need for expert attribution by getting the experts to write and publish information directly.
Work From Home Momma: Where do you see your blogging and online business going in the next year? In the next five years?
Kimberlee: I'm hoping that blogging continues to grow as a legitimate form of journalism. It may not be traditional and even when it is mostly editorial; I think the voices are very important. I personally don't believe that journalism is all about chasing down the story, but rather it is a vehicle for getting information to the public. The public should then use that information to make decisions about business, politics, fashion...whatever.
Right now there are a number of very popular and well-paid bloggers, but from what I could tell most of them write about pop-culture, politics and technology. I'd like to see Know More Media become a go-to site for information on a wide range of business topics. The tradition of news is changing in that people are seeking out alternatives to the mainstream media (MSM). It's my hope that in five years Know More Media and other such citizen journalism publishers will be even more of a force to be reckoned with. Even writing it, it seems like an abstract concept, but everything is so shaky right now...I don't really feel qualified to make a prediction.
Work From Home Momma: Is there anything else about your business that you'd like to tell the readers of Work From Home Momma?
Kimberlee: Honestly, I'm still learning and I still feel green. I am truly blessed to be working for Know More Media and have so many great minds to pick if I so choose. I take nothing for granted and I look forward to learning more from the authors on the network as well as on the staff and company leadership.
Do you have more than two years of experience in a home business? Would you like to share your story on Work From Home Momma? Contact me at Laura [at symbol] workfromhomemomma.com.
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