Check Out Jasmine Merrill’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jasmine Merrill.

Hi Jasmine, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
In 2017, as a single mom of 2 girls, I felt led to serve the single-mom community. One day, I envisioned developing a ministry outreach that allowed me to pour into the lives of the single mom community, thus where SMILE (single moms inspiring leading empowering) came from. That same year, I wrote my first book, Unveiled, which was the debut of my testimony as a divorced single mom of 2. I started hosting women’s empowerment conferences under my outreach SMILE, and my speaking career began to catapult. I started accepting speaking engagements across Missouri and Kansas, reaching college campuses and nonprofit organizations. As an avid writer, I began to focus more on establishing my voice as an Author, thus having me self-publish 4 additional titles over 2 years. As I started to emerge as a speaker and author, additional opportunities showed up that allowed my writing pieces to reach International platforms. Circa 2018-2020, my work was featured twice in Inspiring Lives Magazine, an international women’s magazine. Additionally, I contributed 2 dozen hand-written articles to a black-owned newspaper company in Missouri called The Dispatch Post USA. I owned my news article column, where I could feature my work. During this same period, I joined several co-author opportunities where I helped co-write 2 more books.

Many people began to notice how easy it was for me to produce my written work, and the questions of how to publish naturally occurred in almost every conversation. So, after long thought about it, I started my own publishing company, The WRITE Goals, LLC. At this company, I aimed to make the self-publishing journey as easy as possible by removing the actual task of editing, designing, and publishing from the writer – thus allowing them the joy of just writing their story. I was able to help dozens of aspiring writers become successful authors successfully.

Although publishing books became successful, I always stayed within my passion for writing. After a few years of offering publishing assistance, I retired from that line of work to return to being an inspirational voice to all. In the past 6 years (since 2017), I have self-published over 10 books, including 2 budget planners, a Bible study notebook, and a Christian devotional.

Although I am no longer a single mom (I am a proud, devoted wife and mom of 4), women will forever remain as my audience for my literary work. Interestingly enough, I am working on a new project focusing on women with a purpose. As a wife and busy mom, I know firsthand how easy it is to get lost in the duties of life and to feel like you are unable to operate in your purpose. Having the skill and knowledge of merging passion with entrepreneurship, I feel an inner purpose of helping busy moms and wives thrive in their families and their purpose. A few prayers and a vision later, RECIPE FOR PURPOSE was birthed. RFP will be an all-inclusive brand and outreach that strives to inspire and motivate while servicing the community of purpose-driven women. This initiative is my creative way of merging my love for being in the kitchen with my love for helping women tap back into their purpose. And, of course, there will probably be a few books (or maybe even a cookbook) that come of this, so stay tuned.

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It hasn’t always been a smooth road. Sometimes, I thought about giving up because I didn’t have the support I needed. Financially, the money earned from book sales wasn’t covering the overhead costs of self-publishing and being a publisher. Because of this, I still had to work full-time jobs while having these businesses on the side.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
As a speaker, 10x author, and community advocate, I take pride in being able to help others build strategies and creative foundations for their ideas and passions. I specialize in assisting people to actualize their ideas and monetize their passions. I am most proud of taking the shallow moments of my life and turning them into opportunities to inspire others.

Can you talk to us about the role of luck?
I don’t believe in luck- I believe in intentional moments. Everything that happens is either a result of something I did or didn’t do. Either way, nothing happens by coincidence. Everything is intentional in life. I wouldn’t call it “luck”; I would call it favor.