We’re looking forward to introducing you to April Grob. Check out our conversation below.
Good morning April, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What is a normal day like for you right now?
A normal day right now is busy, hahaha. It’s a good busy, but it is busy. It also depends on the day as to how busy, it is. Some days there are immediate after school activities for myself, hosting an after school activity that is, or when my husband and I aren’t working after school activities, after we get off work, we are taking one or two of our boys to their after school activity, Bible Study, or hangout. On days where we have nothing scheduled, which is not very often, I chose between writing (currently working on 2 books and 2 journals and a planner), working on material for my business whether it be online or for a craft fair, I’m reading, hanging out with friends, family, or just with my husband and the boys. I try to enjoy the craziness more and more, especially since we have 8 years until our youngest is out of high-school and a different crazy busy schedule comes along, ya know college fun for them and becoming grandparents sort of busy, lol.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hello World, My name is April Grob. I am first and foremost a child of God, a mom of three boys, #boymom Woot Woot, shout out to all the boy moms, it’s a crazy life. I am an author and small business owner of CraftyPicks25. I currently have one book self published through Amazon Kdp and for my small business, I have two Bible Study Journals published through Amazon kdp. I have a storefront on Etsy for my business, not many sales there, I’m still learning how to promote myself on there. With my book, I’m still a new author so I am also still working on that as well. I’m currently working on my second book and co-writing a book with a fellow author friend. I’m also working on two new journals and a fun Halloween planner for my business. Halloween is my favorite holiday and so I want a cute planner that I can use for my classroom that won’t scare my students when I pull it out of my bag. Both the journals and the planner will be digital and published through Amazon kdp. Other than that, I’m just working on fighting to continue keep God as my foundation and center of this busy life of mine by having nice quiet times where I can read the Bible and have discussions with the ladies in my small group at church.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
I was a doormat before I decided to listen to God. I feel like the world told me not so great things about who I was supposed to be as a black girl/woman before and after learning to comprehend most of what I read around 6th grade but really learned to comprehend things I read more deeply by 8th grade because my 6th grade ELA and social studies teachers saw something in me. I’d been in advance and gifted classes for the entirety of my high-school career after that. I still fought to not be this lonely kid that everyone saw as a push over that would get tripped, pushed around, or talked to like crazy. It wasn’t until I met a girl in college that I ended up going to church with that I learned to value what God said about me more than what others said about me, then I was like, “Girl, just be yourself!! Be who God made you!” Now this didn’t mean that God didn’t want me to grow and be a better version of myself, of course He did, it meant growing for the better while being who God made me. I love this version of me!!!!
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
Keep going!! God sees you. Your family sees you. You are so loved. Things will get better. Don’t be sorry about your weird, corkiness because you will find your weird and strange friends that love you to your core and they will to do life together with you. When you cry, they cry with you, when you laugh, they laugh with you, not at you, when you are being goofy they are being goofy with you and they love to see you smile!! Not just the surface you smile, but that deep down you that tried so hard to protect, that you forgot you there. Lastly, I would say, stand up for truth first and what you believe in second because what you believe may not always align with biblical truth and you’ll have to move out of God’s way. It’s ok that your feels will be hurt for a little while, it’ll grow you, and you’ll be a better woman for it #proverbs31 Love you!!!
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
As far as education, my industry tells me that I have to endure verbal abuse from children and sometimes adults, instead of being firm and consistent in telling them no and that what they say is not ok. This isn’t an everyday thing, but it happens enough that teachers are leaving in droves because of the lack of accountability from the kids and the adults that are confirming that the verbal abuse is ok. It’s not ok and we need to be more proactive in education, rather than remaining reactive. As far as being an author, my industry says that if you aren’t already famous and well known, it’s not gonna be a successful career for you, especially as a black woman. If you aren’t Stephen King or Sarah J Maas or someone else very well known and that’s white, that I’ll be lucky if it happens. I personally think that if I’m good at what I do, success will happen and if I’m not good at what I do, then suceess won’t happen. I don’t believe it’s always a race thing. I mean Stephen King doesn’t always make books that are a hit and same with other authors. It will happen for me if God wills it. I also think, I just have to get better with promoting myself. Same with my small business, I just have to be better at promoting myself.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
I would stop being a teacher, immediately and no further discussion need to be had. Teaching is a very high stress job and while I love my students, I don’t want the added stress of the behind the scenes of being a teacher, the paperwork, the having to make sure students perform well on tests to keep my job, and so on. I want to spend my time reading, writing, hanging with friends and family, and doing Bible studies. Doing things that make me happy and not so super stressed.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/craftypicks25
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aprilgrobauthor?igsh=am1tbDhkYzNsbzQ1
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/april-grob?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app
- Twitter: https://x.com/GrobApril?t=PaF56S2Fu3ds-j-wELXsMQ&s=09
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1JsiGCgZ8g/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@nerd-tastic3622?si=A_QXajbVKzgseZqn
- Other: https://www.goodreads.com/aprilgrobauthor
Image Credits
Not applicable, I took all pictures.
