Today we’d like to introduce you to Jamele Medina.
Jamele, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I have loved to read ever since I can remember, and learned to read at a very young age. I loved to read Nancy Drew; the mysteries that she would solve in each book were so captivating. We had a bookcase in our house that was full of the classics, and there are some that stuck with me, such as Little Women and Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, which is my all-time favorite book to this day. When I was in the 4th grade, I remember seeing one particular book on those shelves, The Adopted Family, and obviously I was confused. When asking my mom, ‘Umm, what is this book doing here?’ she casually replied, ‘Jamele, you were adopted; why wouldn’t we have this?’ I was stunned and still remember an immediate feeling that I was different from everyone else, that I no longer fit in with my family. She then went on to remind me I was told about this huge event when I was 3 and that clearly, I should have remembered this fact, further cementing my feeling different from everyone else. This moment in my childhood has always stuck with me, and reading has served as an escape while I went on a long journey of not only overcoming insecurity but also one of being driven both in school and my career to prove I was as good as anyone else in the room.
I went on to college, earning both my master’s and bachelor’s degrees at the same time in accounting and obtaining my CPA license shortly after that. I’ve had a successful career in Consulting and in Risk Management in the Financial Services Industry, but it is my personal life that has not been what I envisioned, and reading was my outlet to escape. I married my high school sweetheart right before graduating college; he was one of the few people in my life at the time that made me feel good about myself, and yet, he was an addict with an undiagnosed mental illness. Fast forward many tumultuous years later, I am still successful in my career, we now know he is bipolar, and he is still using rather than taking the medicine prescribed to help his mental illness. I am loyal, however and held up hope that he would recover when many would have given up years ago, but I eventually had to take a hard look at the state of the union and realize this was not how I wanted to look back on my life, and I was exhausted to the point of getting sick a lot myself. It still took me a couple of years to exit the marriage from when I made that decision, but when I am done, I am done. In the meantime, I turned back to reading, but this time I started to write reviews of the books I read, and a couple of friends encouraged me to make it a ‘thing’, so I did.
I started a page on Instagram, ‘Books with Jams,’ which is based on one of my favorite nicknames. I learned more and more about reviewing books and realized there is an entire community of authors, other book reviewers, publishers, and public relations individuals out there, and I knew I had found my passion. I also realized that staging and taking photos of books was a creative outlet that I absolutely loved, and I was pretty good at it.
I am now happily divorced, still working in the Financial Services Industry, and my free time is spent reading and reviewing books. I have met so many great people as a result of doing this, have made so many friends, and most importantly, I never knew the impact I could have sharing my thoughts on a book. I have learned so much about the industry and how hard it is for authors to get published, especially diverse authors, and I am grateful for the opportunity to help and to have read some amazing books. I finally feel like I belong, doing something I have loved ever since I was a child.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
This was in no way a smooth road. As I mentioned before, being in a marriage like that was rough, and there are not many, if any, people you can talk to that won’t look at you sideways and just tell you to leave. And believe me, they wouldn’t be wrong if they did; I just didn’t want to hear it. I am stubborn, don’t like to be told what to do, and truly thought we would prove everyone wrong. Mental illness is something I wouldn’t wish on anyone, and to watch a loved one struggle is one of the hardest things I have ever done. Many times, I thought I couldn’t leave, especially when I made a vow to God that was ‘in sickness and in health’ and ‘until death do us part.’ But yet… When your other half is draining the finances and refusing to get proper help, you begin to pray for a sign that it is ok to leave. I worked so hard for my career and wanted to enjoy the money I was making, not see it go out the door and contribute to my spouse’s addiction. I was working too much and had no outlet other than shopping and eating, and so I found myself a workaholic who was in debt and overweight. I only had myself to blame for that, and while reading books could alleviate the pain for a little while, things had to change if I was to have a life I wanted and not dread coming home every day. I’m happy to say it has been about four years since the divorce; I am doing well on my own and am about 85 pounds lighter.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I currently work for a commercial bank headquartered in Texas and have been with the company about 9 years. I recently took a new role building out a centralized risk and control function that supports the business and operational functions of the Bank. It has been a large undertaking but has also been incredibly rewarding, as I have learned so much about not only operations but how they function together with the revenue-generating units.
Because of the personal things I have gone through, I am resilient and have thick skin, which is needed in this role. Not everything goes smoothly or as planned, yet I can take things in stride and try and think outside of the box, as a key part of my role is ensuring individuals from different teams can come together, agree upon a decision, and move forward. Having a consulting background also helps me work effectively with a lot of different personalities, and I have seen some things throughout my career, both good and bad, and a huge strength is being able to read the room and knowing when to pick my battles.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Reading makes me happy, obviously, as I love to escape within different worlds that the author has created. I love to read thrillers and true crime the most, but I do enjoy a good historical fiction or contemporary read every now and then. I also host a classic buddy read every month with two amazing ladies that live in California, as I love to read and discuss the classics that I have not been able to get through.
I love spending time with family and friends as well as traveling. One of my best friends and I decided a little over a year ago we would meet monthly and try new restaurants in Dallas, and I look forward to our outings so much. I’ve been able to travel more this year; I did a solo birthday trip that will most likely become an annual event, as I found I absolutely enjoyed it. I have so many places and countries on my bucket list, and I want to start checking them off, with Iceland and Ireland at the very top of the list.
Dogs also make me very happy. I unfortunately just recently lost my baby, Pepper, to cancer the last week of August. She was 12, my best friend, got me through my divorce, had the biggest personality, and everyone who knew her loved her, even if it wasn’t reciprocated. (She was a diva…) I loved that nugget more than anything, and it is definitely a lot quieter here without her.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bookswithjams/
