Kathryn Starke is the CEO and founder of Creative Minds Publications, a national literacy consultant, reading specialist, and keynote speaker. A native of Richmond, Virginia, Starke graduated from Longwood University with a BS in elementary education and MS in literacy and culture. She has written six books and created the 9th annual Tackle Reading event with the National Football League. Her award-publishing company turns 20 this year; to celebrate, CMP is publishing 20 books and currently taking submissions.
Company: Creative Minds Publications
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Kathryn Starke: I’m Kathryn Starke, a former inner-city elementary school teacher and reading specialist, author, and the founder and CEO of Creative Minds Publications. Our company, Creative Minds Publications is an award-winning publishing company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. We help authors bring their books to life and are always open for submissions (no literary agent required). Based on my educational background, the literacy consulting side of my company allows me to help train teachers in the teaching of reading and writing and help elementary schools around the country increase their literacy success. My company just kicked off the 9th annual Tackle Reading event we created with the support of the National Football League earlier this March.
What inspired you to start your business, and what were the biggest challenges you faced in the early stages?
Kathryn Starke: I started my business initially to sell and market my first children’s book twenty years ago, when I was a full-time second grade teacher. I taught all day five days a week then ran my business every evening and every weekend. I emailed and called publishers, bookstore owners, school librarians, and fellow educators to share my book, which happened the first children’s picture book to teach all seven continents. It also happened to have a Latina girl as the main character. In 2005, diverse characters were not as common as they are today in literature.
Despite the great idea and my qualifications in teaching, I realized very quickly that I was not being taken very seriously as a twenty-something female without a business degree in publishing or educational leadership. I had to put my head down and get to work showing, not telling, how Amy’s Travels could make an impact in any classroom, home, or educational event around the world. No matter where you live in the world, you learn about the seven continents. I celebrated some wins when the California Department of Education selected the title for their recommended multicultural list and global education center in Melbourne selected the book for their program. I started speaking at reading and literature conferences using Amy’s Travels as the basis for teaching with children’s books. It was in these opportunities where fellow educators began to see the value of my book and work.
At what point did you realize your startup was gaining traction, and what key strategies helped you scale successfully?
Kathryn Starke: When I didn’t more days in a school year to provide literacy consulting services to new school clients, I knew I was gaining traction in the field of education. I was able to work with other organizations like BER (Bureau of Research and Education) that provided me opportunities to lead virtual and recorded seminars for even more elementary schools across the country. My books, Tackle Reading and A Touchdown in Reading: An Educator’s Guide to Literacy Instruction, also helped my literacy consulting business scale. On the publishing side, we continue to grow a great network of more authors, illustrators, designers, and partners to help expand our reach in teaching the world to read.
How did you approach funding and financial management during the scaling phase? Did you bootstrap, raise capital, or take another approach?
Kathryn Starke: My company is 100% bootstrapped. It is through the addition of great clients in both consulting and publishing as well as powerful, strategic partnerships that we have been able to grow, expand our impact, and scale.
What role did company culture and team building play in your growth, and how did you ensure alignment as you expanded?
Kathryn Starke: By nature, I am an observer, a motivator, a teacher, and a “big picture person.” Therefore, it was very important for me to surround myself with partners, interns, and freelance contractors who were creative, hard-working, self-motivated, self-starters who shared in our vision to publish engaging and educational books, Tackle Reading across America, and teach the world to read. I find when you give like-minded people the freedom to develop ideas and projects that match your mission and trust them to bring the ideas into fruition, you are supporting a positive, collaborative company culture. It’s because of great ideas of team members that Amy’s Travels was turned into a musical by the Latin Ballet of Virginia and all of our books or authors are award winners. When we follow our overarching goals, we remain aligned as we continue to expand our reach and impact.
Looking back, what is one critical lesson you learned about scaling that you wish you knew earlier?
Kathryn Starke: Bringing more people on your team instead of trying to do everything yourself is a key component to scaling. I spent a lot of years working as hard as I could on my own before seeking out the talent, time, and expertise of others.
