Daily Inspiration: Meet Kara Peterson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kara Peterson. 

Hi Kara, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
I think everyone has a dream job. Mine was to write the blurbs on the back of books. You know, the ones that people read to learn a little about what the book is about and then decide if they want to buy that book. The thought of being paid to read-that was my dream job. 

As I have journeyed through my life, career, and passions I realize everything I have done has led me to where I find myself today. 

That dream job was based on a love of reading and led to a desire to write. As I grew older and wanted children, I wanted a career where I could spend time with my family, but also share my enthusiasm for writing. I became a teacher. I was blessed to be able to stay at home with my children. It was while my children were little that I began to write children’s stories. I never wrote thinking I would publish; I wrote because I had creativity inside of me that simply needed to come out. 

In 2017, I decided to publish my first book, “The Possum’s Tale” as both a limited-edition hardback and as an app. I reveled in the new challenges I faced. I was just on my way to marketing everything when my writing journey came to a halt. 

Our country had faced a bitter election season. It seems lines were drawn in the sand more clearly than ever before. I am typically a positive person; I always see the good. All of a sudden, I saw a lot of angry people. I was deeply affected and not being a person to sit back, I started a non-profit. 

My journey took a huge detour, or so I thought. Kind Defined was launched. We ran programs for children that taught everyone has a voice, everyone deserves to be heard and we can all respect each other in the end. 

Kind Defined, the non-profit, was a casualty of Covid. I was able to go back to my books. I looked at “The Possum’s Tale” and realized, I was trying to do the same thing with my book as I was with the non-profit. “The Possum’s Tale” is all about bullying. With both the book and the non-profit I was trying to “fix” a societal problem. 

“The Possum’s Tale” and any books that follow are now under Epic Publisher. I have started Epic Publisher simply because my vision grew. I have grown up a little, accepted reality just a bit, but a part of me still looks for ways I want my world to be better. Now, I am working on connection. 

When I was a mom with young kiddos all the way until they were teens, I felt like I was constantly running. I also felt like I was alone…a lot. I am now working on my first summit, Epic Mom Life Summit, which will be April 26-April 29, 2022. The entire goal of this summit is to create sanity for busy moms. 

I am also creating Epic Mommy Masterminds. This is where moms can feel connected. I have written a workbook: “How to Create, Join and Contribute in a Mommy Mastermind.” I have been in a successful mastermind for six years. While most masterminds are focused on businesses, I feel that moms can come together, brainstorm, connect and help each other with the unique challenges they face. 

While everything I have done has produced different results, they all seem to have been spurred by my need for making the world around me just a little kinder. 

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I am laughing. Most people probably have a list of great challenges to learn from. Honestly, I think I am my biggest challenge. I dream so big. I see so far down the road. I forget that it takes a lot of work and time, I hate time, to get there. I also forget that I often do not have the skills to realize the vision I have. 

My biggest struggles are trying to figure out how to achieve what I want while not having a clue how to get there. As an example, I really wanted a digital version of my book. I am tech adverse. I cannot even create landing pages and link them to where ever it is they are supposed to go. My book is incredibly complex. I had to hire someone. I also had to figure out what questions to ask. I only knew what I wanted, I had no idea how to interview someone or how to convey what my vision was. 

I can go back and everything is like this. I wanted to change the world so I started a non-profit. I knew nothing about non-profits. “Non-profits for Dummies” was my Bible for a year. 

I want to do a summit, but I have never been a part of a summit. I have had to look at what I want my mom’s to feel. What do I want them to receive and learn? Then I have to work backwards and try to think of every single thing. Finally, I have to solve all of the issues that come up. 

My Epic Mommy Masterminds I have been thinking about for over a year. I worked backwards on this too. The workbook ended up being 93 pages long. 

Have I failed? I don’t look at my experiences that way. Someone else can say Kind Defined was a failure. For four years, during some of the angriest times in our recent history, people were always kind to me. They never sent me nasty Facebook posts. They never engaged me in toxic political conversations. I guess what I noticed, is people noticed. Peopled noticed the message I was trying to send. When they were around me, they tried to be their better selves. I see that as a win. 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a visionary. My ideas flow out of me in various ways. I wrote a children’s book. My book, “The Possum’s Tale” is not an ordinary book. I have created a motto because of it: Expect more from a book. While the physical copy is intended for children ages 7-12, my older son took it on vacation when he was 19. Every night for five days he looked for all of the hidden images and did not find them all. He was thoroughly entertained. 

The digital version is intended for a younger audience. I love that because of technology I am able to help children with early word recognition. The hidden images are much easier to find and when found they sparkle and make a sound as they float to the top of the “page.” 

I am thrilled with my new venture the Epic Mommy Masterminds. The workbook I created guides moms so they can create and manage their own groups. I am also offering masterminds so these busy moms do not have to find group members, schedule the meetings or manage the communications. 

What sets me apart from others is simply my need for more. I create something that I feel will make the world better in some way. Then I let my vision go and it becomes more. I always ask myself, “How would this have made my life better?” And then I add everything it needs to be just that much better. 

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
My first venture into letting my creativity out was with my book. A children’s book is not anything without its illustrations. I was so fortunate to have found Venus Nguyen. She is beyond amazing. Her illustrations brought my story to life. She also does digital illustration so she was able to do the work for the digital version. She also keeps me on track. I have another book I am really excited about. I sent it to her and she sent it right back. “Kara, you have got to get those animals out of that darn tree in the end, more than 1/3 of the book has the exact same picture!” I do not see in pictures; my books would be nothing without Venus. 

Sean, my husband deserves a huge hero award. It is incredibly difficult being married to a person who says, “I am going to write a book and create a digital version” or “I am going to start a non-profit and change the world.” When I get started on a project, I become completely engrossed. Sean always simply believes in me. Every now and then I can get discouraged and I remember a few years back I was having a really bad day and he said to me, “You know Kara, everyone dreams, but only 8% of the people actually go for it and achieve it, you have done this twice. This makes you an incredibly rare and wonderful person.” If I did not have Sean thinking I was amazing (and not an annoying Pollyanna) I don’t think I could have made it. 

Contact Info:

• Email: Kara@epicpublisher.com
• Website: ThePossumsTale.com
• Instagram: EpicPublisher
• Facebook: EpicPublisher
• Other: Pinterest Epic Publisher