"I think the biggest challenge for women entrepreneurs, as it is for everyone, is learning how to deal effectively with rejection."
Melinda Shelley understands why we have a major literacy crisis in Australia with 7 million adults struggling to read every day. She doesn’t want any more children left behind. The solution is simple: reading aloud to every child every day.
Unfortunately, a huge barrier to success for too many children is a lack of access to books. Her charity 123Read2Me has already donated over ½ a million books to underprivileged kids
Melinda is also busy home-schooling her 13-year-old son Jack and is challenging herself to declutter her life so she has time to exercise, garden, and sort out her photos.
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Table of Contents
Thank you for joining us, please introduce yourself to our readers.
Melinda Shelley: My name is Melinda Shelley, a wife, a Mum, homeschooler to a 13-year-old, and the Founder of the Free Children’s Book Charity – 123Read2Me.
I understand why we have a major literacy crisis in Australia with 7 million adults struggling to read every day and I don’t want any more children left behind. The solution is simple: It’s reading aloud to every child every day.
Unfortunately, a huge barrier to success for too many children is a lack of access to books because when you are struggling to put food on the table children’s books are a luxury.
That’s why my charity 123Read2Me The Free Children’s Book Charity has already donated over 1/2 a million books to vulnerable and disadvantaged children across Australia
Can you tell our readers in what ways you are disrupting your industry?
Melinda Shelley: Children’s books are expensive and libraries are daunting to those families who are struggling to put food on the table.
I give books, free of charge, to children who don’t have books, to make it as easy as possible for them to access quality children’s stories.
Families donate the books their kids have finished with via donation bins in strategic locations in the community. We then sort them into broad age categories and donate them to schools, kindergartens, childcare centres and via cardboard ‘Free Books’ boxes out in key community take-away shops for the children to take home and keep.
We know that there are too many children starting school who have never even opened a book and the harsh reality is that if you start behind you never catch up. We know that when kids have books at home there is a greater chance that someone will read to them than if there are no books.
Did you become a disruptor by choice or by necessity? Tell us more about the journey.
Melinda Shelley: I have become a disruptor by choice and necessity. When I became aware of the level of disadvantage in my community where 50% of the children were already at risk or vulnerable and who didn’t have easy access to books, I realised that there was something that I could do, and I still feel this 10 years later.
I am committed to finding more ways to give more books to disadvantaged children because I know that it helps them succeed at school. I need to continue my important work because our children are our greatest natural resource and they need books so they can succeed at school; so they can contribute to the future of our great nation.
Now for the main focus of this interview: Many readers may wonder what are the biggest challenges women entrepreneurs must overcome to be successful?
Melinda Shelley: I think the biggest challenge for women entrepreneurs, as it is for everyone, is learning how to deal effectively with rejection. The reality in this busy life is that most people are going to be either too busy or not interested in what you are doing. I have now learnt that I am looking for the choir; those few people who get what I am doing and want to get involved and help make a difference.
I have found that the best way to do this is to work on myself. The great Jim Rohn said, “work harder on yourself than on your business”. Strengthening your belief in yourself: that you can find the solutions to the problems that need to be solved to create a better world.
How did you overcome these obstacles? Who helped you during these difficult times and how did they?
Melinda Shelley: Starting and leading my charity is the best self-development course I have ever been on! I have learned that persistence is important, don’t give up. Not everything is going to be successful.
My husband Jeff has helped me through these difficult times. Often it is just having someone to talk to when things don’t go as planned. Having just one person who is on my side, who believes in what I am trying to achieve makes an enormous difference. I have found it important to keep perspective and laugh at some of the silliest things and then there are the moments of having someone who will sit with me while I deal with disappointment and frustration in trying to be heard and make a difference in the world.
I am always interested in new ideas on how to live a better life. I have trialed many different strategies and techniques to overcome my limiting beliefs about myself and challenge what I am capable of doing. I find that simple ideas that are easy to do often have the biggest impact.
The top 3 ideas that have helped me the most are:
- I created a video on my phone of images I found on the internet. The video is what I want to create and the life I want to lead so I can stay on my path to where I want to go.
- I found a great simple meditation program that is so simple, all I have to do is put my headphones on last thing at night and when the alarm goes off in the morning.
- Declutter- keep life simple so I have time to focus on what is important because I only have 24 hours a day.
How did these lessons shape the way you conduct business today?
Melinda Shelley: I tell myself that one day when they make a movie about my movement, all the setbacks and lessons will add to the plot twists. I am looking for the “choir”, those people who get that books are important for kids and want to get involved however large or small. I don’t have to be perfect. I just have to do what I do.
What advice you wished you had received when you started, that you’d like to share now with aspiring women entrepreneurs?
Melinda Shelley: I have two pieces of advice.
- The first is that it doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be done (and this includes me!) and
- Do what is important to you even if no one else understands why.
Out of all of your proudest moments as an entrepreneur, is there a particular one that stands out the most?
Melinda Shelley: One of the proudest moments has been giving books to children who don’t have books and seeing how excited they get, especially when they find out they can take them home and keep them. It is better than Christmas and Birthday rolled into one. The realisation that this is a direct result of the time and effort I have put into this charity makes this a magic moment every time it happens.
What do you plan on tackling during the 2022 year? Share your goals and battles you expect to face.
Melinda Shelley: We are desperate to find a permanent warehouse. The community is always so generous with donations of books that their kids have outgrown, we just need somewhere to store and sort them so we can get more books in the hands of more kids who need them
I have big plans to start publishing our own books, especially for babies and toddlers so when people donate money we can reach more children. There are too many children who don’t have access to books and this is unacceptable to me. Current research tells us that reading books to children is the most effective way to help children learn to read and but to do this they need books.
I expect the usual challenges with running a charity, sharing my story with anyone and everyone who will listen to me, so I can find the choir who loves what I do and want to help me reach more children.
I’m sure our readers will be very thankful for the insights you have shared. What is the best book you’ve gone through lately and please share some take away lessons from it.
Melinda Shelley: My favourite book at the moment is “Decluttering at the speed of life” by Dana K White from the website ‘A Slob Comes Clean’. I have the audiobook and listen to it in the car when I am on my own. The most important lesson I have learnt is the “container” concept. This is a simple process to declutter your life without making a bigger mess. I choose the favourite items that you use all the time to fit in the space and then when the container is full get rid of the rest by donating it so someone else can use it.
Thank you so much for your time but before we finish things off, I do have one more question for you. When was the last time you did something for the first time and what was it?
Melinda Shelley: I did my first PowerPoint presentation online via Zoom to a Lions Club with children who have collected books. I had a few technical difficulties and now understand I need a second computer monitor but, through it all, I reminded myself that it doesn’t have to be perfect – it just has to be done.
Mike Weiss, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Melinda Shelley for taking the time to do this interview and share her knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Melinda Shelley or her company, you can do it through her – Linkedin
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