Today we’d like to introduce you to Mei Lin.
Mei, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
“Mommy is a project manager” is the story of a professional mother and her baby. I wrote it for parents to read to their children to help them connect the important dual roles of mother and professional. There are many possibilities for our future generations to choose their career and way of life. Mei wants to empower all working mothers to be strong and be proud of who they are.
I was born and raised in Taiwan. I grew up in a conservative, blue-collar family, and the expectations from both the family and the overall culture were to be a mother, but not a working mother. Against my father’s wishes, I pursued my education and earned a dual BA in Law and Socal Work from National Taipei University. I emigrated to the U.S. in 2008 and earned a Master of Business Administration from Texas A&M University-Commerce. I’ve been a Project Manager for the past nine years and became a working mother in February 2017. At this point, my eyes opened to the subtle and not so subtle societal pressures put on working mothers. I’ve felt a myriad of emotions getting back to work. Friends, family and colleagues would often start conversations with one of these questions: “When are you going to quit your job?”, “Don’t you want to spend this valuable time with your baby?”, “Who can take care of your baby better than you?” or “Does your husband make enough money to support the family?” Others would say, “Once you see the baby’s face, you are going to change your mind about working.” Writing the book became a way for me to make peace with my dual roles as a working professional and a proud mother. It became a passion project and it started coming together, it was something I know would help me answer the questions to my son, Blake, about where mommy is during the day. I also realized that there are very few children books out there highlight women in working roles.
I want to support all working mothers and future generations to break gender stereotypes, especially female professions/ choices.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
No, it has not been a smooth road at all. There have been several obstacles and challenges on my path. First, English is my second language. Since I didn’t know anything about writing a book or self-publishing, I had to educate myself on that whole process. For the book itself, it was very challenging to try to make the very abstract concepts of project management into something that could be easily understood by children. I was very fortunate to find an illustrator that could take the concepts I explained to her and create pictures that both perfectly explained my roles at work and at home.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I focus on empowering working mothers and helping children connect with their mother’s profession. I utilize my project management skills to get my first book written and published in less than six months with no prior experience. However, I am most proud of seeing people sharing videos or pictures of reading the book and spending time with their little ones. Those smiles and laughter are priceless.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up I was independent, loyal, driven, confident, and caring.
As a domestic violence survivor, my strengths are from my mother and brother.
They have been supportive of my education which that was not my father’s beliefs. Books are the key that opens my endless possibilities. Now, writing a book for future generations is my way to contribute to others.
Pricing:
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.fnovapublishing.com/books.html
- Phone:9728506582
- Email: fnovapublishing@gmail.com
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mei-lin-pmp/
Image Credit:
photo credit: Lang Nguyen ( Personal Photo)
photo credit: Joe Chan ( Photo)
Book cover
Book sample pages
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