Episode 94: Georgia Lininger

Georgia Lininger - Episode 94

Intro: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Pretty Powerful Podcast, where powerful women are interviewed every week to share real inspiring stories and incredible insight to help women or anyone break the barriers, be a part of innovation, shatter the glass ceiling, and dominate to the top of their sport, industry, or life's mission.

Join us as we celebrate exceptional women and step into our power. And now here's your host, Angela Gennari.

Angela Gennari: Hello and welcome to another episode of the Pretty Powerful Podcast. My name is Angela Gennari and today I am here with Georgia Leininger. Hi Georgia.

Georgia Lininger: Good morning. How are you?

Angela Gennari: I am wonderful. Thank you.

So Georgia Leininger can be found with her family on their little ranch surrounded by animals galore. An educator for over 18 years, she is the author of three children's books with more on the way. Georgia launched Salus Publishing LLC in January, [00:01:00] 2020. Salus is an independent book publishing house with the mission to publish incredible books and unforgettable stories sustainably.

With diverse and international authors and illustrators, Salis books are printed on 100 percent recycled paper. All mailers and promotional materials are on 100 percent recycled or tree free papers as well. And Salis public philosophy is to create, distribute, and promote high quality books with carbon neutrality and innovation at the core.

Georgia calls the hills of Northern California her home. I love Northern California. It's so beautiful there.

It is. So, I wanna just get started by asking what made you want to get into publishing?

Georgia Lininger: I, you know, writing and storytelling was always big for me. Yeah. And so I, you know, studied that in, you know, in college.

I actually got my master's in journalism 'cause I thought I'm gonna be a freelance journalist, you know, Nash Geographic. Here I come, I love it. And yeah. And my master's thesis was [00:02:00] actually on the history of paper. And the use of paper in books and magazines and newspapers. And so, yes, you know, it was fascinating to me, probably, you know, insomnia curing for others.

But anyway but it really kind of got me into not just looking at the writing side of a book, but also the publishing side of it and the environmental impact of it. So it was years later when I wrote my first children's book. When I was pregnant with my son and I started the process of like, Oh, I've written this beautiful story.

Yay. Now I get it published. And it is, especially for an unknown author, it's really hard. And so when you finally find a publisher who wants to publish your book and you're so excited, and then I get to say, okay, what about recycled paper? Or there's, you know, KNAF paper. What about this? What about this?

And they get to say, Oh, that's adorable. No, They have their contract, they have their, you know, their shtick down. And so they're like no, you know, we use this paper, we do [00:03:00] this and we're all set. Thanks.

And so, and then it was with my second book that I thought, okay, I really want to, you know, try to do this more kind of sustainably or environmentally friendly.

So Amazon has print on demand, Amazon KDP. And so one of the biggest problems with, I think book publishing especially, well even magazine and newspapers too, is the amount of waste that comes on the back end.

Both: And

Georgia Lininger: when the books aren't bought, when the newspapers and the magazines aren't bought, well they just get tossed.

And, you know, and so I thought, okay, well with print on demand, you're only printing the stuff that is literally being bought in demand, less waste.

Angela Gennari: Right.

Georgia Lininger: So then, and yet again, I was trying to even kind of contacting Amazon, like, Hey, recycle paper, even like a percentage of it, you know, something. And Amazon's like, Oh

Both: no.

Georgia Lininger: So with the third book, I had met a lot of like other authors. I've been going to conferences like the Pacific Northwest Writers Association. I'd been at one of the judges on, you know, for their panels and all this stuff. [00:04:00] And I just thought, you know, If I want to do this the way that I want to do this, then I got to do this myself.

Yeah. And so, yeah, I had the extremely convenient timing of launching a company in January of 2020.

Angela Gennari: Awesome. Yeah.

Georgia Lininger: Yes. And it was children's books and it was children's authors who were so excited about going into schools and doing events.

And so then of course we had the pandemic. So, you know, but it was an opportunity to kind of figure out, you know, like online and YouTube videos and zoom calls and author meets, you know, for with classrooms through zoom and, you know, We just got really kind of innovative and we went through there. So I guess it was basically, I started this company as kind of, I saw a need and I couldn't find anyone else who was fulfilling that need.

So it was like, okay, well, here we go.

Angela Gennari: Yeah. Yeah. Very cool. I love that. You've combined your passion for [00:05:00] sustainability with your passion for writing and you've made a career out of that and you've created a company and you saw a need. So I think that's where great entrepreneurs are born is, you know, you don't have to have a business background.

You have to have a passion and a cause, you know, something that you're willing to, you know, risk. You know, putting yourself out there for so well, good for you for taking that on. So why are trees such a bad, you know, that's just what we know of with paper. So why Because I've heard and I could be totally wrong on this.

And again, you know, I'm not getting you know, I didn't do a thesis on it. So you will be the expert, but why not trees and our recycle recycle papers really better because doesn't it take more energy and so forth to, to make that recycle paper or, you know, tell me what that means or what that looks like.

Georgia Lininger: All right. Phenomenal question. So, long story short paper, of course, for thousands of years has been made in a lot of different ways, like the ancient Egyptians, they used jute, right? And like the grasses that grew along the Nile. [00:06:00] In China, yet again, it was those long grasses. And so you have in the hemp family, there are like 12 different plants.

And what's incredible about hemp is the fibers that are in them. The fibers are very pliable, very movable. You don't need a lot of chemicals or a lot of treatment to get those fibers, to get into the shape and the texture and, you know, the fold of what you want. And so something like that, you know, it's very easy.

And so, especially, I mean, even looking at scrolls, Scrolls in and of themselves and you can roll up paper. That actually helps to protect it quite a bit. Less, you know, surface, you know, exposure. More protection from like, elements like water, stuff like that. So, those, for a long time, were extremely efficient ways of making paper, like say, because they didn't really have a lot of chlorine or acids back then.

Yeah. So then, of course, you look at the oldest books. Well, those were vellum. So those were leather, like animal skin. And so extremely durable. That's why we still have those books, [00:07:00] because that stuff, you know, yet again, protected, can last for a very long time. But of course, we can't use leather on, you know, on all of our books.

So when you have the printing press, and you have mass production of books, like, yay! Now you need much more material. So for a while, they were even, like, using recycled clothing. because it was cotton and stuff like that. Yet again, Like fibers that have already been treated. So it's a lot easier and faster and more efficient to get them to kind of reshape in the way that you want them to.

Both: So then

Georgia Lininger: discovery of the new world and Hey, there are all these, you know, billions and millions of trees, these huge trees. Well, gosh, they're in the way. What are we going to do with them? So it became the rise of the tree paper. Trees, of course, extremely strong, and so their fibers are extremely rigid, and so to get them to become pliable, now you've got chlorine, and now you've got acids, and now you have all these things that you need to treat this with.

to [00:08:00] really get it to the consistency and the thickness or thinness or whatever that you want or the color like the bleached white that takes a lot and so there is a huge process and even in the process of making paper and getting it to that color and that consistency. Now you have all of that runoff that typically just goes into the rivers.

So that's for the kind of the fresh paper, right? And so now as far as recycled paper. So yes there of course, as with anything, there's impact in recollecting that paper and getting it back. And then of course, all that paper has a color to it. It's already been dyed. It's already done that. So there is the process of trying to kind of recolor that.

Yeah. And so that's why it's like, if you go into, you know, your stores. You know, the recycled paper towels. Well, those are kind of the, like the brown because they don't need to be white and it's so much more efficient to kind of keep them, you know, you mix all colors together and you're going to get a brown

Both: and so

Georgia Lininger: it's easier to kind of keep that brown, like recycled toilet [00:09:00] paper, typically it's kind of off white or tan, fantastic.

It was already there.

Both: So.

Georgia Lininger: Yeah, so with recycled paper, the, you know, it is far easier and fewer chemicals to kind of get it back into the shape and the pliability that you want. But yes, to get it to that bright white, there are more chemicals, but far less than in the original process. So why

Angela Gennari: don't we go back to using hemp and why is hemp so expensive?

Because I've seen books made of hemp and, but why is it so expensive if it's so easy to grow and use?

Georgia Lininger: Phenomenal question, because yet again, we have corporations who already have their systems in place and why should they change if they don't have to? You know, when we look at everything, you know, it's like car companies, you know, car companies have been forced to try to make their cars more efficient, you know, gas companies and electric and all that stuff.

When you have, you know, a system that is in place to try to move and change that system is [00:10:00] hard. So, I mean, like, you know, years ago, so this was, you know, 20 years ago when I was doing my thesis, like, Companies like Georgia Pacific and all of these, they already had like hemp seeds and KNAF seeds. KNAF is a one form of jute that's phenomenal.

You know, KNAF, it grows super tall like a tree. You know, it's just, it's a phenomenal plant. And, but of course, you know, these companies, they already have their contracts with Madagascar and their forests in the Philippines and Brazil and all these other, you know, countries. So it's like, oh gosh, well if we have to, you know, plant new forests, we have to do all this, we've already got this, you know, why should we change if we don't have to?

Right, right. So I think it's, I think like with so many things in economics, you create the demand and the supply will come. Yeah. And so I think once more and more people know about like, Hey, this is an option, you know, Hey, these are something that we can do. Then suddenly you're going to see, you know, Oh, look, it's bamboo paper.

Yeah. Yeah. And bamboo is another [00:11:00] great one. I was about to say

Angela Gennari: bamboo. I've heard a lot about because it grows like crazy and exactly. Yeah. And there it's plentiful. It just takes a long time for it to first take root, but once it does, it's abundant.

Georgia Lininger: Yeah,

Angela Gennari: it's

Georgia Lininger: practically a weed. Yes. And so absolutely.

So I think it's, I think it's growing. I think it's starting, but I think it is, it's literally just, It's honestly, it's the consumers going into the bookstores and saying, Hey, do you have anything printed on this? Yes. And then it's the bookstores going to the distributors and to the publishers and saying, Hey, my customers have been asking about this.

And it's, it is that, you know, literally grassroots, pun intended you know, process. Yeah. Yeah, I think we're getting there. It's just a lot slower than it needs to be.

Angela Gennari: Interesting. Okay. Well, I love that. Yeah. So thank you so much for that very good description because I have worked, I've wondered about that.

I'm like, you know, if it is so plentiful and so right and expensive and it's [00:12:00] less, you know, Harmful to the environment. Why aren't we doing it? You know, and it's just one of those things where, you know, I was curious about the trees. Like, I just thought it was just more efficient to do trees. And so that's why I thought that, but I'm glad to hear that.

You know, if we just make the push, just like with anything, you know, the dollars talk. So, yep. Dollars talk. Absolutely.

Georgia Lininger: 100%.

Angela Gennari: Very cool. Very interesting. So then you went into after you after you graduated and you did your thesis you wanted to, did you specifically want to write children's books or was it just, you know, kind of came, how did that come about?

Georgia Lininger: So I, no, I didn't envision myself as a children's book author. I thought I was just kind of an author. Like I've written short stories, gotten published and, you know, kind of, and of course, like a lot of authors I've started novels, started them. They're still in process. You know, it's like, I've got them all kind of plotted out.

And one of these days, you know, I'll get to finishing it. But then of course, as life happens, I look at the novels that I started in [00:13:00] my twenties and now in my forties, it's that it's going to be a very different book when I, you know, when I do finish it, right. Our perspective changes. So no, so I yeah, I honestly thought of myself as more you know, historical fiction or stuff like that, but really it was when I was pregnant with my son, you know, it was this kind of.

It was this idea of like, you know, what about, like, what if there was a world where anything was possible and you know, what if, and it was kind of the what if questions, right? And so this kind of story popped in my head and I'm proficient in Spanish and so I wrote it in English and Spanish. And so, and yeah, and so it was just, you know, yeah, it kind of, kind of came about that way.

And then. For my second book very similar, it was an early, like, chapter book, and it was about two dogs that I owned, I, you know, they were two rescues, and well, actually three, yeah, three dogs, two were there, my little escape artists, and it was just kind of real life stuff, and they went on so many antics, and they drove me crazy, and so it was just, it was the idea of, I have to write [00:14:00] this down, because no one would believe me if I said this, You know, like two of my dogs escaped, they went to the local elementary school during snack time so they could, you know, kind of beg for, you know, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

And so, yeah, you know, and it's just, so I think like the second book was literally kind of to honor them, you know, my, my crazy dogs. And then it's just, and especially after that book, so many people, you know, who have read it have come up and just like, Oh, my dogs did the same thing. Like, Oh, you know, crazy.

And so it's just, it's a way to kind of relate to people. It's that universal, like, you know, gosh, we love them, but they drive us nuts.

Angela Gennari: Yes.

Georgia Lininger: Yeah. Yeah.

Angela Gennari: That's funny. Cause both of my dogs now it's like, they won't even leave the front porch, but the first, you know, my, my older one, when he was a puppy, he was constantly running away until he realized that there was no benefit to running away because he got right at the house.

He's very driven. And so, you know, he ran away for quite a bit and then he finally stopped. [00:15:00] And then and then the, I adopted another one from a rescue and he was a few years old Same thing though. He would be out in the neighborhood and I'd see a Facebook post saying, Hey, whose dog is this? Because we had just adopted him.

Hadn't even gotten his collar. I mean, hers is his dad yet. And whose dog is this? And I brought him into the house and I fed him and I gave him water and the kids are playing with him. And I, and this happened like two weeks ago. Four or five times. And so I finally had to say, if you see this dog, do not feed him, pet him, be nice to him in any way he will come home, but he's being rewarded for running away and then he thinks that it's fun because he gets to go out and visit with neighbors and get food and get played with and I was like just let him, and then sure enough, it stopped the running away.

Like I just said, he will make his way back home and he will realize the food and the attention is all here at home. Yes. Stay here. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yep. Absolutely. A hundred percent. Gosh, dogs. Yes. I love them. I know. They're the best. They're the most [00:16:00] loyal, wonderful little beings, but yeah. They have to learn.

Just like children. They're just like children. Yeah, absolutely. So do you find it difficult to write children's books that you know will resonate with children? Like, you know, I know that you said, you know, you, you wrote about your dogs because you thought this is a relatable. So how hard is it to write children's books?

Because that audience, you know, how do you capture that? Oh, yeah.

Georgia Lininger: That's a great question. Well, one, so my, you know, I'm a teacher. So I've been a teacher for 18 years. And so I and I've taught, you know, I started teaching high school. And so it's like when you get to know your students, you know, you do really kind of, you hear the things that they're talking about and the questions that they ask and the things that are concerning them.

And then I taught community college. And of course, community college is wonderful because it's a wide range of, you know, student ages. And then for the last six years, I've been at a TK through eighth. And so, you know, like my children have gone to that school and all this stuff. And yet again, it's like, I [00:17:00] think when you know kids and when you work with kids, there's kind of a different, you know, you kind of, you see kind of the things like, like they're jokes, like the stuff that they think is funny and, you know, And, you know, and just gather humor and yeah, and what they, you know, what questions they ask and what does concern them like what, you know, and stuff.

So I think that kind of gives you an insight into that. And but also I think a lot of it is trial and error, like one of my authors. Who writes a phenomenal series, his name is Andy Dolmick, and he took regular fairy tales, and he ruined them with cabbage. And so, yeah, so his first book was about gardening, because he loves to garden with his kids, and so, but cabbage has always been like the bane of his existence when it comes to gardening.

And he's, you know, hated it anyway. And so he, you know, is this idea of what about Goldilocks and the three bears? Well, what if you insert cabbage into the story and that just, you know, just ruins it. And so, so he wrote it and it was one of those, I remember like when I first read the manuscript for [00:18:00] it, like I was laughing and so then I'm like, okay, I've got to, you know, Where's my test audience?

So I sent it, you know, so I gave it like to my children for them to read and they start laughing. And so then it was just, and then, you know, even talked to some of my students about it. I'm like, what would you think about, you know, it's kind of a little test, you know, test audience. And so, and they thought it was hilarious.

And so I think it's, you know, it's honestly, I think there are certain things that resonate with everyone, right? Like, like, so like my third book is called the trees. And And it's about this little kind of tree seedling who's like, you know, trying to find home, right? And so through a forest fire, which is common in California,

You know, this tree, you know, seedling is sent on the wind and it's trying to find a place.

And I think that kind of resonates with a lot of people as far as trying to find where they fit in the world. Yeah. So, you know, it's, I think it's kind of a combo of a lot of things.

Angela Gennari: Very cool. I love that. So, yeah, because I think, you know, you definitely have an advantage being a teacher and listening in on these conversations.

That's a really nice added [00:19:00] benefit. So, so you got out of, you know, so when you graduated, you went straight into teaching.

Georgia Lininger: No, I it was kind of a circuitous route. You know, my grandfather, who is my namesake and my mentor, you know, for years he'd been saying like, Georgia, you should think about teaching.

And I'm like, Oh no, I don't, no, I don't want

Both: that.

Georgia Lininger: Oh no, I'm going to be the freelance journalist and I'm going to, you know, fly around the world and I'm going to do all these cool stories. And it was one of those, like, I, like I said, I I went to grad school. I got my master's in journalism and my mentor in the program.

She, you know, she was a freelance journalist. She had been one for 16 years. You know, she could tell you all these stories about like all the countries she'd been to, all the things she'd done, you know, she'd written for it, right. And she took the job at the university of Oregon at the time. And that was the first house she'd ever bought.

And she adopted her first dog at that time. Because of course, you know, when you're traveling, there's no time for family. There's no time for dogs. There's no time for any of that. [00:20:00] Right. And I remember at the time I was huh. And so, it was after I graduated, you know, I've been in school, you know, for 20 years and so I did some volunteer work, I went to the Galapagos Islands and I volunteered for an environmental organization there.

Both: And I

Georgia Lininger: remember sitting on the beach and there were these like, you know, these little Spanish speaking kids and they're all around me and they want to learn English and I'm practicing my Spanish and here I've been fighting invasive species all day. And the best part of my day was, is talking with these kids, you know, and they're asking me questions.

Yeah. And so it was. It was one of those, I kind of came back and after doing some some more volunteer work in Ireland and then I came home and I got to eat some crow with my grandfather and I'm like, yeah, all right, I'll become a teacher. And so he just, he's, I remember he was just smiling like, yeah, like I know.

So I, yeah. So, so I, it was kind of a, Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Angela Gennari: I love that story. So, you know, [00:21:00] sometimes people know us better than we know ourselves every once in a while. Yeah. That's true. Very cool. So when you find, how do you find inspiration for your books?

Georgia Lininger: I find it in kind of, I think a lot of different ways.

I think life experience is huge.

Both: You know, and

Georgia Lininger: like I mentioned earlier, you know, just like there's a novel I started in my 20s, and it's just because it was like, certain ideas hit you, and like, you know, it's kind of, it's the whatabouts, or it's this, or it's this. And then life experience, you know, it's just it changes you and it kind of, you evolve in so many ways because of what life presents to you.

And so I, you know, now it's like, I, you know, I would write a very, you know, kind of different book just because of the experiences I've had.

Both: So I think

Georgia Lininger: sometimes it's experience. Sometimes I think it's, you know, it's kind of what you read in the world and what you know, learn about and what you explore and things like so I think it, it comes from a lot of, you know, your curiosity.

You're, you know, your involvement in our world, you know, everything that's going [00:22:00] on and how it impacts you and how do you feel about it? I think inspiration can come from so many different facets.

Angela Gennari: Yeah. Yeah. And I love that you live on a ranch too, because you've got goats, chickens, dogs. I mean, that's so cool.

So I'm sure you get some inspiration there too.

Georgia Lininger: For sure. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So like our goats are, yeah, phenomenal. So yeah.

Angela Gennari: Yeah. My sister used to have goats and I could, she could just tell me some hysterical stories about how, yeah, they are very interesting animals.

Georgia Lininger: They're incredible. And it's funny because it was kind of a roundabout way to how we got them

Angela Gennari: because

Georgia Lininger: of course, you know, we live in kind of rural California up in the foothills.

So of course, you know, wildfire, you know, big issue for us. And so, In, you know, this land used to be a fruit orchard, it used to be gold mining way back when, and so, blackberries, so blackberry, like, bushes, are an incredibly invasive species around here. [00:23:00] Oh yeah. Huh. Like, so blackberries, like, the bushes can get over ten feet high.

They can just, Oh, and they just strangle out everything underneath them. They're horrible to like native plants and trees. They're awful. Well, we were kind of overrun by them. And so, you know, we had hired brush removal companies to come in and like clear it out. And that's great. And then six months later, the blackberries are like, yeah, we're back.

So, my husband and I were kind of thinking like, what can we do? Like, this is ridiculous. And we tried to kind of call like various, like, The traveling goat herds, you can see them on the sides of highways and all that. And so we'd said, okay, well, we've got a little ranch. Like, would you want to come out and, you know, you guys can eat our stuff.

And they said, oh, that, that's too small for us. Like, no. Like we, we go for the big pastures. And I was like, oh, yeah. Okay. So we got our first three goats. Cause we thought, all right guys, how about it? Yeah. And then we just kind of grew our herd from there and now they've done a phenomenal job.

And it's wonderful to see kind of the plants that are coming back and [00:24:00] yeah, very minds gone. And they're just they're fantastic. They're so fun.

Angela Gennari: Oh, that's ridiculous.

Georgia Lininger: It's so fun.

Angela Gennari: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. There was my brother in law had one of the goats, he used to joke, had a crush on him cause he would come in and he would immediately follow him every, he just couldn't be without him.

And we would wine when he left and it was just, yeah, it was pretty funny. So.

Georgia Lininger: We have a bottle baby. Her name is Pumpkin because she's the color of a pumpkin. And so yeah, and especially like, like with bottle babies, whenever they've been for various reasons rejected by mom. So then they're completely dependent on you for survival.

And so yes for our sweet little pumpkin, you know, she just, she got used to being brought into the house and it was the bottle feeding and then she gets to nap on your chest. And so now she's almost to the stage where she doesn't need milk anymore, but there's no telling her that. And then as soon as you leave the pasture, she's like, okay, yep.

Let's go inside now. Yep. Yeah. It's time for my nap. No. You did be out with the goats. [00:25:00] Thank you. Get to be just like no, I'm not one of them. Come on. Come on. I'm a baby

Angela Gennari: human.

Georgia Lininger: Exactly. Like it's my nap time. Let's go. Oh yeah. They're just they're wonderful.

Angela Gennari: That's awesome. So, so as an author and a teacher and a mom, how do you balance it all?

Georgia Lininger: That is a phenomenal, fantastic question. It is a work in progress, right? You know, it's just, I've had some phenomenal advice over the years from, you know, some incredible women. And it's, you know, one, you know, her advice was phenomenal. Because at some point, I was just Berating myself, like I should be doing this.

I should be doing this. I should have done this. I should. And she said, George, and she, you know, she said, Georgia, try not to shit all over yourself.

Angela Gennari: Yeah. That's such great advice.

Georgia Lininger: Exactly. So I was like, Oh yes, yep, absolutely. And so, you know, another advice of course is your calendar, you know, you just live on the calendar and, you know, and just the more you can kind of try to keep [00:26:00] everything organized and keep it ahead, you know, it's the balance.

Amen. I think the last thing is just to give yourself some grace. Yeah. Cause we're going to make the mistakes. We're going to drop the ball sometimes. And you know, it's just. You know, our kids are fed. My family is safe. You know, the home, you know, the home still standing, the bills are paid. We're doing fine.

We're doing okay. And in tomorrow's another to do list and it's another day and we'll knock it down then. Absolutely.

Angela Gennari: Yeah. Fantastic. So what advice would you give to your 18 year old self?

Georgia Lininger: Ooh, lighten up. Yeah. Lighten up on yourself, you know, just, I, um. I think so many kids, especially these days too, you know, you look at teenagers now and then it's just, they have so much on their shoulders.

Yeah, they do. There's so much, you know, there's so much kind of awareness of everything going on. And it's just that kind of, I think it is easy for an [00:27:00] 18 year old to feel overwhelmed. Yeah. And it is easy to You know, where do I fit in and how am I going to how? And I think it's just, I think the advice would be number one, lighten up and two, you know, play to your strengths.

And you know, like, so my grandfather, he he was an economist. He absolutely loved economics. And so he thought I would too. And so he's like, Oh, in school you should study economics and all, you're going to love it. And then you can get your MBA and then you can do all these great things that, Oh, won't this be fantastic.

And for a long time, my 18 and 19 and 20 year old self was desperately trying to make him happy. Yeah. And it was at the ripe old age of 21. Where you have to realize, like, you know, even my economics professors are telling me, you know, patting me on the head nicely and saying, this is not for you, like, let it go.

And so, and I think it's just, I, you know, looking back I would tell myself, like, Live your life for you, [00:28:00] you know, you know, you were given life so that you could live it. That's what I tell my children is that I gave you life so that you could live it. And you're not doing it for me. You're not, you know, and so it's make yourself happy.

Figure out your own path.

Angela Gennari: Yeah. Yeah. Well, good. Yeah. I agree. We can be very tough on ourselves and the 18 year olds. Now I don't like they, they have such a different worldview, you know, like when I was 18, my view was limited. I knew what I wanted to accomplish. I was hard on myself. But I didn't feel the pressure from outside as much as other kids do now, the outside pressure of social media pressure.

And now getting into college, you've got to like, have like a 4. 3 or something. Absolutely. Yeah. Same. So, and you have to be an athlete and you have to volunteer and you have to be in the band and you have to do like, it's just, it's not fair for these kids to have these ridiculous, you know, standards that they have to meet.

Because at, I mean, And I know so many. People have their children on antidepressants right now because the [00:29:00] pressure is just intense. Oh, yeah. It's not fair. Yeah. I tell my son, I'm like, listen, maintain a three, five and enjoy life and work hard. And you know, just enjoy life because you're only going to be 18 one time.

You're only going to be 17 one time. And, you know, you have your whole life to have to deal with the pressure of the outside world. I don't care about that right now. Like that is not my concern. Like, do I want you to go to college? Sure. Do you have to get an, I believe, actually, absolutely not. Like, do I even want you to know, cause I want you to have a little bit of balance and fun in your life.

And so, you know, I want him to enjoy being a kid and not have all the pressures of, you know, having to have, cause I can tell you, I, Killed myself in college, almost get, you know, getting on the Dean's list and making sure that, I mean, I did not enjoy college. I was so focused on my grades that for the first two years I did for the second two years, it was all about schoolwork.

And since then, not one person has asked me what my grade point average was [00:30:00] in college. Not one. Exactly. Oh yeah. No, exactly. They don't care that I graduated on the Dean's list. Nobody cares.

Georgia Lininger: So exactly. I was like, you're going to bring that up in conversation. So like I, you know, Dean's list, you know, it's like, you know,

Angela Gennari: in an interview, nobody's asking for your transcript.

It doesn't freaking matter. Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, the pressure we put on ourselves is ridiculous. And so, you know, just do the best you can, you know, work with the options you have, try your hardest and yeah just be happy. Just, yeah. The intense pressure.

Georgia Lininger: Absolutely. And especially like to that end, I remember, you know, freshman year of college and, you know, and like, I got into like UCLA and there are so many kids and this was the first time they're away from home.

This is the first time they're not constantly under the parent, you know, control and you need to do your homework. And my freshman year, there were lots of kids who'd like, they either flunked out, dropped out. Cause it was just, it was too much pressure. And, you know, and like years later teaching at a [00:31:00] community college, It was such an incredible insight because you have a lot of, you know, kids.

Or even people in their early 20s, people are in late 20s, 30s. And it's just, they come back to education because they know what they want to do. You know, they claim they know themselves more, they know what they want. And it's just like, some of my all time favorite students were community college students, because they knew themselves.

They had their goal. They'd figured it out, you know, and they were driven and, but they had their life balance too, because you're right. It's like they, you know, they were, they had enjoyed life. They'd gone on their travels. They'd done their stuff. And it was just such a different mindset, a different kind of vibe and feel.

And honestly, like I look at my own kids and it's just, and you're right. It's just the idea of kind of the Ivy league. Oh, heck no. Oh, I don't want that term

Angela Gennari: at all. You know, because I don't feel like you get the best life education out of a book. I think you get it out of experiences. And so I would much rather him.

[00:32:00] Yeah. Say, you know what, I'm going to ditch the Ivy league idea and I'm just going to go travel the world and spend some time meeting people from other cultures and having great experiences. Like he already started his first company. He already has learned a ton with that. And so it's like, those are the things I would rather him do.

I'd rather him focus on, you know, running a business right now and learning those. Versus, you know, sitting down and making sure he masters calculus.

Georgia Lininger: Exactly. Because there's so much of it is like, you have to learn about yourself at that age to learn about, you know, it's kind of like really test yourself and it's like.

What am I good at? What am I not good at? What am I comfortable with? What am I not comfortable with? You know, and that's the thing. It's like, you know, starting a business in my forties and you know, and just like you talked about, you know, before with like, I don't have a business background. I came into it because I was passionate about it.

Angela Gennari: Yep.

Georgia Lininger: But, you know, there are certain aspects where I think, and especially in a business when you can build your team, like social media. I am not good on social media. I'm a very [00:33:00] private person. I don't want to post stuff. No one cares what I ate today. I don't want to show them my food. You know, and so it's just, so I think it's just, as an adult, you get to kind of say, okay, this is what I'm good at.

This is this, and then I can, you know, Bring in the people that, you know, can help me with these other areas. That's right. But as a kid, as a, like a college kid, you have no idea,

Angela Gennari: And you think you have to be the best at everything. And, you know, like, that's one thing that's really a challenge is, you know, they force these different things on you in school.

Like you have to take all of these different standards and those standards are good for flushing out, like, you know, giving you the basics. But, you know, in college, I loved English. I loved writing. And so when I took my SATs, I had. I took whatever I had to take and that was it. You weren't going to see me in anything beyond statistics.

And so, yep. [00:34:00] Yeah, it's just like I, I took what I had to take 'cause it wasn't my forte and I had no exactly, I had no intention of going into a career where math was my main focus every day. 'cause I knew that would be miserable. So, but you know, some people, if I really like, I just hired a fractional CFO, why did I hire a fractional CFO?

Because it's not my skillset. I would rather hire that. Then you have to learn it and model your way through it. And so I stick with what I'm good at. I hire out the rest.

Georgia Lininger: Yep, absolutely. And yet again, you build your team. You build your team because that, those are their strengths. And you know, you can applaud them for their strengths.

And that's fantastic. Yep. Yeah. Absolutely.

Angela Gennari: Yeah. Play to your strengths. Don't force yourself into things that don't feel right because I'm going to do a bad job of it anyway. So might as well just give it somebody else who enjoys it. So, yeah. So, as women, we often give our power away. So we give our power away just in taking criticism or in giving somebody credit for our work or something like that.

[00:35:00] You know, we've given our power away many times as women. Can you tell me about a time that you gave your power away? Okay. Oh yeah. Um, I'm trying to think of which one. I

Georgia Lininger: know. It's

Angela Gennari: never the

Georgia Lininger: did I, it's always, oh which time? I know. Like, which example would be best here? I think it took me a long time.

And yet again, like, I love being in my 40s. Because in my 20s, I can't think of how many compliments I got. Where I immediately like nope, oh no, it's no, you know, yeah, like, it took me the longest time to actually call myself a writer. Here I have a master's degree. Oh, yeah because I had put this pressure on myself that I'm like, well, I'm not published yet.

So I'm not really a writer because I'm not published yet. It's like, oh, well, you know, It got published in this newspaper. Oh yeah, but well, but that's not a magazine. I'm not published yet. I'm not.

Both: Interesting.

Georgia Lininger: And it was just this kind of stigma I kept kind of on myself. So every time, yeah, like, I was given a compliment as like, oh, that was a great story or that was this.

Oh no. But you know, his was so much better. Huh. Oh, he was so great. [00:36:00] And so, like, my first internship was at Sierra Magazine in San Francisco for the Sierra Club. And the guy I was working under, so I was the research intern, so I was kind of the fact check girl. And so I was cleaning up everybody else's stories.

Yeah. When they didn't do their research. And so I, it was just one day where it's like the editor in chief, she gave me a compliment of like, Oh, that was a really great thing you did. And immediately I said, Oh, well, like my boss, he really helped me out with that. Like that was, you know, he, you know, he was, he's so great.

Like, isn't he so great. He's so phenomenal. Wow. And I just, I mean, it took me less than a second to change the subject of the conversation from me to him. Huh. And it was just, And I remember she kind of gave me this look like, huh? Yeah, I know he's good. I know. That's why I hired him, but I'm talking about you.

And it was just, you know, you look back on it now and it's just. Yeah, and then that's one thing I really try to kind of work with my daughter on, is just when someone gives you a compliment, accept [00:37:00] it, and thank you. You can be humble, and you can be gracious, and you can do all those things, but you do not need to deflect or immediately put yourself down.

Or, you know, or whatever, you know, it's just like, even in restaurants, you know, like with the waitress, sometimes I'm like, Oh, I love those earrings. Or, Oh, you know, that's a beautiful color on you or something like that. And it's incredible how women were so ingrained to just like, Oh, well, you know, it's got a stain on it.

So,

Angela Gennari: Yeah. Or, you know,

Georgia Lininger: it's just, so I, Yeah so I've definitely given my power away in many ways, you know, just to deflect. But yeah, keep the subject on anything other than me because that makes me uncomfortable. Yeah. Yeah.

Angela Gennari: So often, and I think that's why we also hold ourselves back. You know, we talk about how men advance so much quicker in the workforce, but I think a lot of that falls on the hand, it falls in the hands of the women.

Because we aren't promoting ourselves, we aren't, you know, we aren't putting ourselves in a position to get that praise and accept it. Yeah. And [00:38:00] then leverage it for something so we Exactly. We will downplay our accomplishments. Whereas, you know, men will generally. Overplay their accomplishments. And so that alone will, you know, play a big factor in it.

So for sure. Very interesting. So, so yeah, is there a time that you can say that you stepped into your power then?

Georgia Lininger: When I started my company, I would say that was kind of, you know, that was the first, cause, and I think sometimes I'm sure it's, you know, universal for everyone, but probably for women too.

It's sometimes you gotta get mad.

Both: You know,

Georgia Lininger: sometimes it's that sense of like enough, like, okay, enough.

Both: And

Georgia Lininger: I think it was like I say, you know, like my author, Andy Domick I had written the manuscript for my third book and he was showing me the, you know, the fairy tales like Ruined by Cabbage.

Yeah. And he was trying to shop it around to, you know, agents and he was trying to do all the things that you are traditionally supposed to do in this day and age with technology. with books, right? You're supposed to find the agent and then the agent is supposed to do the work and they're [00:39:00] supposed to get the publisher and there's, you know, all this stuff.

And he was doing everything he was supposed to do and it wasn't happening. It was like, it was the, it was always the almost, but not quite, almost, but not there. And it was just so frustrating and it was just, yeah. So it's sometimes you're just like, no, okay. Like we're going to do this. Like, you know, Andy, you're going to have your book.

You know, where it's going to be on 100 percent recycled paper. We're going to get it out. We're going to get you, you know, on social media and TikTok, and we're going to, you know, you're going to have fun and you're going to do your dad jokes because you're phenomenal at them. And we're going to do this, like, let's go.

And I think, you know, stuff like that. And like another example would be from my book, The Trees. The illustrator is, well, she was nine years old at the time. She's now 11. Yeah. And so, and it was her name is Emma Whaley and her story is incredible. And it was just kind of a scenario of I'd written this book and I had worked with phenomenal like illustrators before, like Joe Gershman, you know, just amazing.

And I was trying to figure out kind of the right [00:40:00] art for the story. And yeah, I'd kind of talked with and, you know, and not interviewed, but, you know, kind of, you know, discussed the book with multiple illustrators and nothing felt right. And then I met Emma and it was just her art. It was just like, that's it.

And she has come, she has overcome a great deal of adversity in her very young life.

Both: And

Georgia Lininger: it was just another kind of one of those things where it's just like, maybe not anger, but that kind of, sometimes you just kind of know, right? You get that feeling where it's like, yep, this is it. Yep. Like, here we go.

And it's just having that kind of assurance that it's just, yeah.

Angela Gennari: Yeah.

Georgia Lininger: Yeah. Like I'm going to make this happen.

Angela Gennari: That's fantastic. I love that. So this has been a really fun conversation, Georgia. I've really enjoyed it. This has been, I've learned a lot. So thank you for that. I just have one more question for you and what do you wish more people knew?

Georgia Lininger: Like we spoke about earlier, I wish more people knew [00:41:00] that there are other options out there, you know, than just kind of the standard, right? Yeah. I wish people knew, well, and like we spoke to, like there is power in the dollar, you know? It's just, you know, we have so much power in our purchasing power and in what we can decide, you know?

Absolutely. Like, you know, it's just with so many things. Like. You know, like the oat milk and almond milk and soy milk is kind of as an example, right? Yeah. You know, you go into most cafes now and you can ask for alternative milks and that's a thing.

Both: And

Georgia Lininger: people had to ask for that. People had to fight for that.

Yeah. And I think it's just, we can use our power in so many ways. And yeah, I just, I wish people could kind of, you know, really lean into that more. Absolutely. As far as like, yeah, where, like where we spend our money, you know, what companies we use and what we ask for, what we demand. And what we deserve.

Angela Gennari: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I agree. Money [00:42:00] talks. Yeah. Well, thank you so much, Georgia. I have really enjoyed our entire conversation. And how can people find you?

Georgia Lininger: We're on of course, online at sallispublishing. com. We're on Instagram, Facebook. Andy Domick has his own TikTok and, you know, he's phenomenal.

We have our YouTube channel, you know, where you could hear the authors read their own books. Yeah. One of my latest authors, Cy Swan, he's a frequent guest on the essential craftsman YouTube channel. They've got like 2 million followers or something like that.

Angela Gennari: Yeah. So very cool.

Georgia Lininger: Yeah. So yeah, we're out there.

Angela Gennari: Awesome. And you can also find Georgia on pretty powerful podcast. com. So if you can't find her links, just go to pretty powerful podcast. com and we'll make sure all of her links are on there and tell me the name of your books.

Georgia Lininger: My personal books are The Death Defying Daredevilish Deeds of the Outlaws Buster and Moony.

That's my, about my dogs. The Trees, and then The Land of Walu. Those are my personal. And then our stylus publishing [00:43:00] books are Andy Domek's series Fairy Tales Completely Ruined by Cabbage. We have Marva Diaz. She wrote a couple books for her sons called The Christmas Witch and Baby Dragons.

And then Cy Swan, this incredible guy at 87, published his first book, and it's called The Two Tales of Timothy Mouse. And he, it's hilarious. And then our first book of poetry just got launched by Noelle Baggins. And it's called Best Supporting Actress. So it definitely leans into, like, the woman power and kind of, you know, self affirmation and all that good stuff.

And yeah. So we're good.

Angela Gennari: Very cool. Well, congratulations on all your success. And I just wish you incredible success moving forward. And it just sounds like you're not just doing great things with publishing, but you're doing great things for the environment. So I just wish you so much success. And I really hope that I see you many more years and many books later.

So, thank you so much. I appreciate you. And for all you're doing for children, for the environment and. And [00:44:00] for providers. So congratulations on everything.

Georgia Lininger: Really appreciate it. Thank you so much.

Angela Gennari: So, everybody, thank you so much for joining us for another episode of the pretty powerful podcast. I'm so grateful to have had Georgia and I hope you all learned a lot from her too.

So, we will see you next week. Have a great day.

Intro: Thank you for joining our guests on the pretty powerful podcast. And we hope you've gained new insight and learned from exceptional women. Remember to subscribe or check out this and all episodes on prettypowerfulpodcast. com. Visit us next time, and until then, step into your own power.