Today we’d like to introduce you to Itto Outini
Itto, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
A whole book wouldn’t be enough for my life story. I know because I’ve got a memoir on the road to publication, and there’s still much more to tell.
Briefly, I was born in a preindustrial community in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, orphaned at a young age, abused by my family, and deprived of education. I started school for the first time at the age of 17 and survived six years of homelessness while finishing high school. I’m now an author, Fulbright scholar, and business owner, married to my best friend, and living in the United States.
If you follow me on LinkedIn and subscribe to The DateKeepers (https://www.thedatekeepers.com) newsletter, you’ll be among the first to know when my memoir’s available. You can also keep up to date with our other books and projects there.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There have been struggles, absolutely, but if my life had been easy, I wouldn’t be a storyteller. I would have nothing to say.
Too many people shy away from hardship. They hide, they shirk responsibility, they make excuses—and hey, maybe that works for them in the short term, maybe they get a little comfort out of it, but so what? Who’s going to remember them? Forty, fifty, sixty years from now, those people will look back on their own lives and not even be able to remember themselves.
The only way to taste life is to learn that hardships are like spices. Sure, you can overdo them, but what’s a meal with no flavor? What’s life with no growing pains?
I don’t write for the prestige. I write because I was born to tell stories. Imagination can be useful, but lived experience is indispensable. I’m full of stories that no one else in the world can tell.
Frankly, I’m grateful now to everyone who’s tortured me. As it was happening, of course, I hated it, but those memories don’t torture me anymore. They have become my tools.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
In addition to both being writers, my husband and I run a business together, The DateKeepers (https://www.thedatekeepers.com), where we help our fellow authors navigate the craft and business of writing and publishing. We offer a full suite of services, from editing and book coaching to support with grants and fellowships to market research and negotiation training—basically all the things we wish we’d learned while getting our degrees, and which we’ve had to teach ourselves instead.
We also write and publish our own work and that of our contributors on our blog (https://www.thedatekeepers.com/blog), and we promote our clients and collaborators to our international audience on our Friends Page (https://www.thedatekeepers.com/friends).
Not everybody dares to stake their livelihoods on art. Most people think the money’s somewhere else, in real estate, financial services, manufacturing, but believe me, there’s money in stories. Writers could be the most successful people in the world if they would just realize the power they hold.
Unfortunately, most writers never learn how to tell the most important stories of all. They write to escape from the stories they’ve been told all their lives—by friends, family members, teachers, bosses, playground bullies, etc.—when really, what they need to be doing is writing to change them. In those stories, too often, they’re not really themselves. They’re not talented. They’re not successful. They’re not good at business. They don’t know what their books are worth. They can’t stand up for themselves. They’re nothing. If you’re stuck inside such a story and can’t figure out how to change it, it will be the death of your career.
I love to help my fellow authors learn to tell their stories on their own terms. That’s why I do what I do.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success is when you can tell your own story without shame, without guilt, and without fear. There’s not much more to it than that.
Pricing:
- Our services start at $100 and may vary depending on the nature and scope of the project.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thedatekeepers.com
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-datekeepers-–-a-hub-for-writers-and-creators-372831275/; https://www.linkedin.com/in/mekiya-o-1157b9184/
Image Credits
The DateKeepers logo was designed by Jamila Morcel. The photos were taken by Mekiya Outini.
