Entrepreneurship isn’t just about selling—it’s about building something that matters. In this episode of Hello Chaos, Jennifer “JJ” Sutton chats with Mandy Jo Squires, founder of Creative Slingers of Ink, about turning setbacks into success, dodging industry scams, and why energy management beats time management. Mandy Jo gets real about the hustle, the power of community, and trusting your gut to build a business that actually works. If you’re ready for raw insights on resilience, smart moves, and making your own rules, this one’s for you.
Key Takeaways:
1️⃣ Community Fuels Business Growth
Mandy Jo Squires built her success by fostering a strong writing community. For any entrepreneur, relationships and networks are just as crucial as the product or service itself.
2️⃣ Watch for Scams & False Shortcuts
In publishing and beyond, bad actors prey on eager entrepreneurs. Mandy Jo stresses the importance of vetting service providers and avoiding "pay-to-play" schemes that promise success.
3️⃣ Resilience is the Game-Changer
From moving across states to turning a passion into a business, Mandy Jo’s journey proves that adaptability and persistence are key to entrepreneurial success.
Timestamps
00:00 Welcome to Hello Chaos
01:01 Mandy Jo's Entrepreneurial Journey
02:59 The Birth of Creative Slingers of Ink
05:57 Navigating Challenges and Opportunities
09:56 Transitioning from Hobby to Business
14:59 Empowering Writers and Building Community
19:57 Understanding Publishing and Avoiding Scams
24:20 Exploring Fantasy and Genre Challenges
25:01 The Realities of Running a Business
26:20 Event Coordination Across States
29:12 Navigating Major Life Changes
31:01 The Roller Coaster of Entrepreneurship
35:12 Aiming for Financial Success
37:04 Self-Discovery Through Challenges
39:19 The Emotional Journey of Founders
41:00 Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
43:40 Connecting with the Community
🔗 Learn more
Website: https://www.creativeslingersofink.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mandyjo/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/creativeslingersofink/
Twitter: https://x.com/creatslingink
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@creativeslingersofink
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (00:00.714)
Welcome to Hello Chaos, a weekly podcast exploring the messy and chaotic minds and lives of entrepreneurs, founders, and innovators. Each week I have the privilege to speak with founders across the spectrum, founders from different industries at different various stages, from startups to mature businesses, all shapes and sizes. We get to listen, our listeners get to hear the real, the raw, the unvarnished viewpoints.
getting incredible insights on what it takes to start and scale a business, become a better founder, become a better CEO, or just becoming a better business leader. Today, so I'm excited to have on our show today, we've got Mandy Jo Squires. She is the founder of Creative Slingers of Inc., which is, I love the name. I love it. Welcome to Hello Chaos Mandy. Mandy Jo.
Mandy Jo Squires (00:49.822)
Yeah
Mandy Jo Squires (00:55.517)
Hehehehehe
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (00:56.748)
Manage your squares, all right. Welcome, thank you for being on the show. Yeah, well I'm excited to hear all about the creative slingers of Inc. and how you came up with that name and started that business. But why don't you just start us out. Tell our listeners what got you into entrepreneurship and starting your own company. And I don't think this is the first one.
Mandy Jo Squires (01:01.716)
Thank you for having me.
Mandy Jo Squires (01:09.172)
You
Mandy Jo Squires (01:22.296)
No, this is not the first company. I've actually, I've been doing some kind of business for a while since probably the mid nineties.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:23.533)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:36.936)
you're like, I can not go work for anybody else.
Mandy Jo Squires (01:42.99)
I've tried. I did contract work. was a Kelly Services Secretary for many years because then I was on assignment. I skipped from here to there to there and met a lot of good people along the way.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (01:58.83)
Yeah, so what inspired you to start Creative Slingers of Ink?
Mandy Jo Squires (02:06.536)
which those of us in the group, we just call it CSI. It's so much easier. CSI. And yes, it was, when I was naming CSI, I actually put my favorite shows, CSI and NCIS, and what names could I come up with that fit in the acronym? So,
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (02:16.706)
Yeah!
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (02:29.836)
Yeah.
Mandy Jo Squires (02:35.526)
Yes, it CSI was on purpose. and it was just, I had been in another writing group.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (02:35.822)
Okay.
Mandy Jo Squires (02:47.71)
Things when awry.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (02:49.152)
Okay, talk about, what do you mean by that? Like as in, like, Fight Club?
Mandy Jo Squires (02:57.716)
There was drama that I didn't know there was drama of and then there was the fallout and it was like, I guess I'm out. I had no intentions of leaving that group. I absolutely loved the group. I loved all the people in the group. So I was just like stunned. And then
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (03:03.31)
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (03:19.374)
Wow. What do they do? Start like meeting and not telling you where to meet? Like how did you?
Mandy Jo Squires (03:25.384)
I was supposed, I had, we'd actually gone on a different business convention and the one lady called and said, Hey, I need to talk to you. I'm like, I'm in the middle of packing right now. And I was literally like in the middle of packing. wasn't just a phrase. was physically putting things in the luggage and I'm like, I'm sorry, but my attention is not with you. So I'm going to grasp about every fifth or sixth word.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (03:44.994)
Right, you were.
Mandy Jo Squires (03:55.028)
Um, and I really didn't give it any more thought. She goes, okay, just give me a call when you get back. I'm like, okay, that'll be sometime Tuesday. I don't know when. And I didn't give it another thought. Well, then Monday comes, she tries to call me. I'm on the road. I do not take phone calls. They better be dire emergencies for me to take a phone call when I'm on the road with my husband in the car. I love the road trip. I love being with him in the car. And it's like,
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (04:15.138)
Right.
Mandy Jo Squires (04:25.37)
No, I'm not taking this call. So I let it go to voicemail. She didn't leave. She said, give me a call when you get in. I said, okay. And then Tuesday comes and she tries again and I'm still on the road, not home yet. And I'm like, I'm just, I will give her call tomorrow morning. She gives me a call. First thing, no voicemail. Hmm. That's interesting.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (04:31.532)
Yeah.
Mandy Jo Squires (04:49.468)
Okay, so I try to call her back. go to the voicemail. like, I don't know what's going on. I'll see you tonight because that night I was doing a writing session. I went to get into the writing session. I was locked out.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (04:56.782)
Okay.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (05:01.934)
Literally.
Mandy Jo Squires (05:04.036)
Literally. So I called a friend of mine and I said, I can't get in. Can you send, did they send a new thing out? Let me find, send it. So she sent it to me. Cause at this point her and I had no idea what was going on. And I went to get in and of course, Zoom has you go into this waiting room and she would never let me in. And I'm like, I don't understand.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (05:19.214)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (05:33.891)
Yeah.
Mandy Jo Squires (05:34.682)
So there was some political politics going on that I was unaware of.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (05:41.718)
Is it because, I'm assuming this is a club of writers, how to elevate yourself, and then to get published, is that what the...
Mandy Jo Squires (05:54.216)
The goal was for people to self publish or use her or one of the other girls as a publisher or self publish. And it was great. I loved the group. I had no intention of leaving. And then she said, no, you're out. And I'm like, OK. Now, as I sat back and I looked,
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (05:57.58)
Okay.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (06:04.587)
Okay.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (06:10.243)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (06:16.43)
without any...
Mandy Jo Squires (06:23.344)
over the past few months, I should have seen it coming.
but I didn't because I had no, I had no intentions of leaving. So I'm like, okay, whatever. And took a step back and finally went and said, okay, I'm moving forward and got the name, got everything else set and
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (06:32.962)
Right. Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (06:48.108)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (06:53.09)
When one door closes, a window opens.
Mandy Jo Squires (06:55.54)
And the funny thing was is that then I'm not looking for a group. I am looking for book signing events. So I was at an arts and crafts show at a library and at this library, nobody did very well. Typically authors don't do, don't sell very well at libraries because people go to libraries for free books, not to buy them.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (07:06.731)
okay.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (07:24.814)
Correct, yeah.
Mandy Jo Squires (07:26.932)
And even at the Arts and Crafts show, the only one that did well that day was this adorable little 10 year old that had these cute little drawings. And he was absolutely adorable. But on the other side of him was a gal with a coffee shop. I had met this gal at many events and I overheard her say that she was doing pop-ups in her coffee shop. And I'm like, ooh, can I come do it?
a book signing, she goes, yeah, why don't you come by the shop? Because I'd never, even though I had met her and we got along and all that, it's a coffee and tea shop. I don't drink coffee. I don't drink tea.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (07:55.5)
Yeah.
Mandy Jo Squires (08:11.284)
So I'm like, I have no reason to go in. What I didn't realize was that they had awesome lemonades and hot cocos and wonderful snacks. so, you know, so when I went over there and I found this out and I saw the size of the shop, I said, hey, can I bring friends? I've got some friends, we're doing this other program right now. We've got these little two by four folding tables that we can bring in.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (08:14.434)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (08:23.8)
Perfect to read a book.
Mandy Jo Squires (08:41.236)
and sell our books and she's like, certainly. We'll even give people that buy your books 10 % off their purchases that day, excluding catering. And I'm like, great. Can I put a sign up? Yes, you can. Wonderful. I put this, just this little eight and a half by 11 horizontal sign up that said which authors were gonna be here, what date, what time, what they write.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (09:03.63)
Yeah.
Mandy Jo Squires (09:09.876)
And all of a sudden I started getting emails from Karen, the owner of the shop, so and so would like to be a part of your book signings. And I kept getting these. And so it just snowballed. It's like we went from the four of us to having a rotation. And then I'm like, I can't do this for free anymore.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (09:19.662)
yeah.
Mandy Jo Squires (09:40.114)
I need to start charging people because of all the work I'm doing behind the scenes. I'm creating the Facebook event, I'm doing all their graphics, I'm doing all the advertising. And it was a nominal cost, it was like 10 bucks. And it, exactly. And then it's like, okay, we're gonna go from there and fast forward, we decided that we're gonna up,
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (09:43.074)
Yeah, absolutely.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (09:54.253)
Yeah.
But you gotta start somewhere.
Mandy Jo Squires (10:10.016)
and add some things to it. We have virtual writing sessions, and so we added a little more cost to it. People freaked out every time we added the cost. And then everything was going really well. We were moving right along. And then we decided that we were going to move.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (10:35.969)
How did that go?
Mandy Jo Squires (10:37.812)
that went over just fantastic. They freaked out. I have a gal that goes to all of the events in person. So the in-person events are still going on. I got married in the process. So we got married last May and we moved two weeks later from Michigan to South Carolina.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (10:56.164)
my goodness.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (11:08.226)
You're not supposed to do that, Mandy. Haven't you heard that?
Mandy Jo Squires (11:10.932)
They freaked. mean, it was like the mass exodus because they're like, my goodness, we can't what's going on? You know, and I'm like, you do realize that most of our stuff takes place online.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (11:20.008)
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (11:25.23)
Just gotta comfort people.
Mandy Jo Squires (11:27.636)
we have an online community, we have virtual writing sessions. I can be anywhere. And so when we moved, it was like, okay, now we're going to take this from a hobby to a business and
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (11:35.074)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (11:47.182)
What was that transition like?
Mandy Jo Squires (11:51.008)
it's been interesting because I had to figure out and navigate South Carolina stuff. What do I need to do? What, how am I doing all of that? And so that's been an interesting journey because South Carolina is so different from Michigan as far as Michigan. You can pretty much set up and sell anywhere in Michigan.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (12:02.542)
Yeah.
Mandy Jo Squires (12:21.636)
And South Carolina, you've got to look at what's the county say, what's that city say. Yeah. Yeah. And so.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (12:27.374)
So a lot more a lot more little regulations that you got to just be aware of okay How did you navigate was there a resource that you use to navigate those things like
Mandy Jo Squires (12:40.692)
I actually went on to the state of South Carolina's website and did research. What am I gonna do? How am I gonna do an LLC? What do I need to do? And just navigated through it, read everything, line by line. I highly recommend people do that anyways, but reading documents and then pausing and then rereading them is so important.
Mandy Jo Squires (13:11.198)
But yeah, I mean, it's been a journey because now when I was up in Michigan, because my husband has a separate business that's completely different, it was really hard for me because everybody assumed I was part of his business. So we made a conscious effort when we came down here. Okay, everyone's going to know. And in fact, most of the time when I introduce myself, I don't even use my last name during events.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (13:28.398)
Yeah.
Mandy Jo Squires (13:40.71)
so that they, so it doesn't automatically lump us together in that way. And so we've joined Chambers, we've joined networking groups and really got the ball rolling. I did farmers markets and arts and craft shows and just to get my name out there. And then we added in
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (14:06.797)
Yeah.
Mandy Jo Squires (14:10.1)
in-person writing sessions down here.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (14:12.744)
where do you hold those in bookshops or online? At the Chick-fil-A?
Mandy Jo Squires (14:17.684)
Actually, the Chick-fil-A. Go figure. We're in the South. holding a writing session at the Chick-fil-A. Right. So we gather at 634 dinner. And then at 7, we start writing. We go until close at 9. The Chick-fil-A that we're at is.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (14:26.658)
That's right. Need to do that. Got to be done over chicken.
Mandy Jo Squires (14:44.756)
It's the one on Pelham Road in Greenville and we get the front room. So it used to be their children's play area and they turned it into a room that you can rent and they're not charging us anything. They just want us to buy a meal. It's like, okay, I can do that all day long.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (14:51.982)
That's right. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (14:59.374)
Yeah.
That's perfect. That's right. So what's been the most rewarding part of this journey? And going from a hobby to now you're a real LLC, you've got online community, you've got in-person, like what's been the most rewarding part of that?
Mandy Jo Squires (15:16.02)
Sorry.
Mandy Jo Squires (15:22.56)
say actually most recently is when one of my writers that she decided she was going to come out her husband gave her my information and she came out to my writing sessions and she is now publishing her book.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (15:39.167)
fantastic.
Mandy Jo Squires (15:40.796)
That is my goal, having other people get to the point where they can publish. And she's been writing for a while. She's got a seven book series. She's got two and a half books written. And so she came out and she needed that extra push. And what direction do you go in? How do I find an editor?
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (16:03.191)
Yeah.
Mandy Jo Squires (16:05.726)
How do I find an editor that's not going to scam me? Because this is my biggest thing is... it's huge! The scammers are out in full force. Try...
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (16:09.87)
Yeah, because that's what I've heard. That's a big lot of scam artist and yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (16:20.478)
How do you find the legit ones? What advice do you have or have you built a network of real editors?
Mandy Jo Squires (16:32.532)
That's exactly what we're working on, is building the network of real editors. And so that is a slow process because I don't want the scammers. I actually had someone, when I went to publish my first book, I had someone call me and he must have looked at my profile and really looked at my LinkedIn profile. And he's like, wow, you know, I published so-and-so's book.
And he got to the New York Times bestseller list. And I'm like, I worked for so-and-so and I know how he got to that list and you weren't a part of it, And yeah, by the way, can you send me five grand and I'll, no. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (17:22.56)
Yeah, is that like the big no no of you don't pay because I've heard that like if somebody says pay me X we'll get you published and I've heard don't don't do that that's like a that's a sign of of a scam is that true okay
Mandy Jo Squires (17:39.796)
Yes, yes. Those are vanity presses. So there's different types of presses. There's print on demand, which is where you're self publishing and they're only, you're only uploading your book to their site. So KDP, Lulu publishing, Draft2Digital, IngramSparks, you're uploading. They do not charge you to upload to their site. The only time they charge you is if you
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (17:44.131)
Okay.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (17:57.005)
Okay.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (18:04.717)
Okay.
Mandy Jo Squires (18:09.876)
get a proof copy and you only pay for the printing of the proof copy. So that's like 10 bucks, 10, 20 bucks depending on the size of your book plus shipping. so there's that print on demand where you're self-published. And then there's vanity presses. Vanity presses will promise you the moon.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (18:18.606)
Gotcha.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (18:22.894)
Yeah.
Mandy Jo Squires (18:39.508)
Seriously and charge you I've I mean I personally had people asking 5k, but that was back in 2018 2017 and now I'm hearing people getting caught up in Things where they're they're doling out 30 grand
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (18:40.973)
Yeah
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (18:49.794)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (19:01.432)
Whoa, whoa, not necessary.
Mandy Jo Squires (19:03.858)
Yeah, first of all, nobody needs a ghostwriter. That's what editors are for. You write it, they pretty it up. You can find reliable editors. We're working on, I have a couple editors that I can send people to. And one of those editors also has other editors that she can say, this is a good one.
So we're collecting those. But also you can go on like ReadZ and different platforms and actually get real editors. Fiverr, you really have to watch out for. You really have to research them. I'm not saying that they're all bad, because there are some good people on Fiverr, but you really have to weed through them. And if someone's going to... Yes.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (19:33.826)
Right?
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (19:48.888)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (19:57.794)
Yeah. Just with anything, just with it, like when you hire anybody. Yeah. Yeah.
Mandy Jo Squires (20:03.71)
Yeah, yeah, and even at that, you're not guaranteed, even if you get something, like I had someone that did a graphic, did some graphics for me, and I loved the way they turned out. I went to go back to them years later. It was like four or five years later, and they're gone.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (20:24.984)
Yeah, that's right.
Mandy Jo Squires (20:26.43)
I don't know. know, mean, COVID was in there, so I don't know what happened because I had the designs done pre-COVID. So I don't know what happened along the way, but yeah, I mean, so you have to really learn to pivot, you know, okay. Yeah, I've seen, I've heard too many stories and lately the number seems to be 30K and no.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (20:32.108)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (20:53.506)
Wow, and that's just for editing and someone publishing. Are they promising, ooh, for that you'll get on the New York Times? Is it like these lofty promises of things?
Mandy Jo Squires (21:06.718)
There are lofty promises and what they don't tell you is that, well, there's only about five traditional publishers that are left. There used to be quite a few more. But as that number shrinks, that means your chance of getting traditionally published is going to be less and less. Because it's fewer companies vying for a big pool of people.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (21:20.43)
Hmm. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (21:36.642)
Right? Well, I-
Mandy Jo Squires (21:36.724)
And who are they going to take their chance on?
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (21:40.494)
And I think with everybody's their own media platform, I think it's easier to kind of go to market maybe. I don't know, know.
Mandy Jo Squires (21:51.922)
Well, and the biggest thing is that one thing that authors have to know is that not only are you publishing, but just because you put your book up on Amazon does not mean you're going to be a bestseller and people are going to come to it. My friend and I refer to it, she's always referred to it as the field of dreams concept. That is so false.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (22:11.16)
Great.
Mandy Jo Squires (22:20.35)
Just because you publish a book does not mean people are gonna buy it. You have to tell people that you wrote this book and yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (22:20.59)
All
That's right.
You gotta invest it into yourself and the, it's a product just like anything else, yeah.
Mandy Jo Squires (22:33.416)
Yes. Yeah. You have to tell people that you wrote it. I mean, I publish all I, when my first three books came out, I was on social media all the time letting people know. And I still get family members that go, you wrote a book.
Mandy Jo Squires (22:53.502)
And they're on my social media. Yeah, it was in between the other comments that you were commenting on.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (22:55.16)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (22:58.744)
Right, right, Well, what's your genre of writing? you a business book writer? Are you a science, like a sci-fi, since with CSI, know, the dramedy?
Mandy Jo Squires (23:11.284)
Actually, I haven't figured out what I want to be when I grow up yet. So my first book was actually a self-help book and it was because I was training walkers to go from anywhere from a 5k up to a full marathon. And I kept getting the same questions over and over. So I wrote a book answering those questions, put it in the story format because nobody wants to read the training manual. I've written them and I don't want to read them. So.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (23:27.17)
Well.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (23:36.579)
Right.
Mandy Jo Squires (23:41.512)
This way it was easy to read, it was fun to read, and I incorporated part of my story into it. My second book was actually fantasy. Complete. I used all of the characters. I don't think I left anybody out. I hand drew the maps at the back of the book. So that was fun. And then my third book is actually time travel with historical fiction in it.
is based on my great grandfather when he and his brother came to the US from Germany through the port of Antwerp and there's multiple time hops throughout it.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (24:20.27)
That sounds fun, I love that.
Mandy Jo Squires (24:24.476)
And I'm working on something that's, don't even know where to classify it as. I know that it falls into fantasy part way because it does have dragons in it. But other than that, I'm gonna let my editor friend tell me where. And go, girl, you gotta figure this out. I don't know what genre to put in. I know it goes in the fantasy realm because there's.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (24:26.551)
gonna it.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (24:41.89)
Let him figure it out.
Mandy Jo Squires (24:51.4)
There's different realms and there's dragons and there's magic, but other than that...
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (24:54.881)
Right?
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (25:01.646)
So how did you, well I should say, when you kind of launched this business and now it's an LLC, were there myths that you had or that you were thinking this is what it's like to run a business and now that you're in it, you're like they lied. Have you had any of those moments?
Mandy Jo Squires (25:21.044)
Well, it's definitely not easy. I work a ton of hours. I do a lot of behind the scenes work. coordinating events is not easy because that's part of the biggest part of what we do. and the biggest one is now we're coordinating events.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (25:38.803)
yeah. So many details. Yeah.
Mandy Jo Squires (25:49.3)
I still have events in Michigan even though I'm in South Carolina now. we have a... You can't, you can't and I won't. we've got the small events. We have a large event coming up in June. We're gonna have like about 50 tents of, and some of those will have multiple authors in them.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (25:53.454)
Well, of course, can't abandon your first community.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (26:16.898)
that is that going to be based in in South Carolina or Michigan or Vegas?
Mandy Jo Squires (26:20.036)
That one is going to be up in Novi... That one is actually going be in Novi, Michigan. So, and we are going to have our first South Carolina Book Festival in the fall in October. I'm so looking forward to it. And that's going to be 32 authors. It's an indoor event. It's going to be at the Historic Greer Depot, which I think is a gorgeous place.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (26:27.202)
Okay.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (26:37.134)
Nice.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (26:47.598)
Yeah, that's a nice place. Yeah
Mandy Jo Squires (26:49.32)
beautiful setting and so it's it's gonna be interesting because I'm meeting all new people I mean some of my Michigan people are coming down at least one of them I have at least one Michigan person
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (27:07.342)
You can get them to come down. It's summertime here. That'll be fun.
Mandy Jo Squires (27:15.004)
Well, in October, it's still pretty nice weather, especially compared to Michigan. We'll be indoors. There is an outdoor event going on downtown at the same time. So we're going to have lots of foot traffic downtown. it's just, yeah, I'm so looking forward to it. But I guess the hardest part was
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (27:23.054)
That's right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (27:33.035)
Eh, curious people, yeah.
Mandy Jo Squires (27:43.932)
I didn't realize how hard it would be coordinating events out of state. So like for our June event, the venue hasn't dealt with somebody else doing an event there. just trying to get measurements. had to send the girl that actually helps me.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (28:00.974)
Mm.
Mandy Jo Squires (28:11.996)
with my smaller coffee shop events, she went to the new venue and did all the measuring for me because that's something that I would have done on my own. But I needed to know how many can we put tents there? many can we fit? So yeah, so that has been definitely a learning curve in just figuring out
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (28:24.279)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (28:29.528)
That's right. You gotta delegate that stuff.
Mandy Jo Squires (28:42.252)
Where is a good place to put those advertising dollars?
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (28:46.518)
Yeah, yeah. What's been the, have you hit like an shit moment yet? I mean, I'm not talking about the, you know, the everyday challenges, but like a, no, was that the big move of like, we're moving to another state? Or when you got down here, you were like, like what?
What has happened? Have you had any, and you might not, we've talked to other founders who are like, I'm in it right now.
Mandy Jo Squires (29:19.858)
that ultimate moment because I always knew that I was moving out of Michigan. It was a matter of when not if. And so we knew that was coming. Things rolled amazingly faster than I thought they would. So we had gotten engaged between Christmas and New Year's last year.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (29:37.058)
Yeah, those are good things.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (29:45.186)
I don't, okay. In Michigan.
Mandy Jo Squires (29:48.614)
in Michigan. And then we came down here in January just to look around. Of course, the apartment that we liked was ready. We weren't. I'm like praying going, come on. And they would only hold it for 30 days. So with that holding for 30 days, we, I was like, man.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (29:58.318)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (30:15.169)
Okay, very... No, not that. We gotta go out and come back in.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (30:28.847)
I don't remember them.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (31:00.298)
All right, I'm back. I'm so sorry me. I have a little weird wire on my microphone and I knew as soon as I put my arm down I was like, I just disabled so what we're gonna pick up where we left off and then we'll just let it out though a little in between okay so we were talking about the the move the ocean like that's like your big bear so talk about the move
Mandy Jo Squires (31:01.543)
You
Mandy Jo Squires (31:15.55)
Okay.
Mandy Jo Squires (31:21.85)
move. Yeah.
Mandy Jo Squires (31:27.782)
So the apartment would only hold for 30 days. So it's like great. So we had to figure out a wedding date. We wanted to get married in Michigan because that's where all of our friends were and family. So we set a date and as that date kept getting closer, I am stalking the apartment complexes website. I mean, literally I'm going like every day.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (31:38.864)
Right. Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (31:54.482)
Don't lose it!
Mandy Jo Squires (31:57.908)
Don't lose, and so about two weeks out, I'm like, they're only gonna hold up for 30 days. It's still available. How long do we wanna risk it? And so the biggest thing was we wanted to make sure that my married last name was on the paperwork instead of my maiden name. And so we let the apartment complex know we're getting married on May 4th. This is what we need.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (32:15.841)
yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (32:25.554)
Right.
Mandy Jo Squires (32:26.536)
And they were so good. They were so good. And so we're like, okay, May 15th it is, you we'll move in on May 17th. left. So we got married on May 4th. yeah. Did I mention that we had a spring book festival at the beginning of April?
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (32:28.305)
Nice.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (32:48.018)
You just gotta pack it in.
Mandy Jo Squires (32:49.524)
So, book festival in April, then get married four weeks later, two weeks later pack up and move multiple states away. my goodness. So that was...
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (33:03.398)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (33:08.466)
That's a big, that's a little bit of a shit there. Just.
Mandy Jo Squires (33:12.912)
Yeah, I mean it it was just you're just and then two weeks later we went back to Michigan for my dad's 80th birthday
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (33:22.93)
Mandy Jo Squires (33:24.692)
So it was just rolling one thing after another and then September we had a couple of things, a couple of big events that we had and then November we had the go back to Michigan for another book festival and Thanksgiving. So about Christmas time is when I go, okay I've got too much spare time, we're gonna add in a monthly book cover contest.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (33:45.511)
okay.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (33:51.154)
Right, what can 2025 bring?
Mandy Jo Squires (33:55.348)
And that's what we did. So 2025 we launched our monthly book cover contest because clearly I didn't have enough to do.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (34:04.828)
Right. But you gotta keep feeding the community. Yeah.
Mandy Jo Squires (34:09.844)
then there's the thing, it's like the biggest thing that I've seen out there is that most of the contests that you enter, you have to pay something. And some of them are pretty high priced. If you wanna get your book in there and I'm like, no, I'm not doing that. And so every month we have a different genre that's featured. February is of course romance. And
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (34:20.828)
Yeah.
Mandy Jo Squires (34:39.482)
We go through the book covers and they submit them and it's free for the authors. It's free for the voters. It's just getting their book cover out there and getting that excitement, getting that exposure.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (34:47.218)
Hmm.
Right. Let's get the excitement. Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (34:56.69)
So if you could change two things about your business right now, like boom, magic wand, what two things would you change?
Mandy Jo Squires (35:12.196)
I love to fast forward to where I'm making serious money to where I can have staff to do some of the things that I'm sure there's things that I can let go of. Although I'm a type A personality, so I'm not sure if that's truly possible.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (35:27.174)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (35:31.972)
It is possible. It is possible. You've just gotta build the playbook of how to do it Mandy Jo's way. Right?
Mandy Jo Squires (35:40.146)
right?
And trust me, I did QS9000 back in automotive days, so I can do that. Process is not a problem.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (35:46.586)
Yeah, you can do that. You can write the playbook in a manual that's in fantasy land, so it's entertaining to read. Use that gift, infuse it all the way into your business. so okay, so if we met a year from now, like next January, or no, God, we're in February. Next, my God, next February.
Mandy Jo Squires (35:57.582)
Right? Right?
Yup.
Mandy Jo Squires (36:09.71)
Mm-hmm. We are in February.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (36:16.294)
We made up. What are we celebrating?
Mandy Jo Squires (36:22.652)
We are celebrating being in the black.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (36:26.648)
Aha, yeah. Investment paid off.
Mandy Jo Squires (36:31.122)
Yeah, I want to between the group and my books, I want to be in the black a year from now.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (36:39.826)
Well, we're gonna manifest that shit. We're putting it out there. Universe.
Mandy Jo Squires (36:44.562)
And I have book number four coming along. It's in the works. It's fantasy something or another. More dragons. More dragons. Dragons, fairies, know, magical things.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (36:46.812)
Who?
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (36:51.3)
Okay, more dragons, more dragons, more magic.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (37:00.55)
mixed with some detective series.
Mandy Jo Squires (37:04.212)
Alright!
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (37:04.434)
in a historical fiction, like blended all together. What have you, in this journey and all the stressors that you have learned and getting married and all of that, what have you learned about yourself that really surprised you, if anything?
Mandy Jo Squires (37:09.822)
Exactly.
Mandy Jo Squires (37:19.86)
You
Mandy Jo Squires (37:30.27)
I truly am as strong as I think I can be.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (37:32.572)
There you go, yeah. What's amazing how resilient we can be as entrepreneurs and business owners. I love that. Is there anything that you really like about yourself that you wish other people recognized more?
Mandy Jo Squires (37:39.389)
Yup.
Mandy Jo Squires (37:55.689)
Hmm.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (37:58.928)
I love asking that question.
Mandy Jo Squires (38:00.98)
Yeah, I don't know. That's a real stumper. I don't know. I guess maybe, you know, the one thing that a lot of people don't realize is that I actually have a background in architectural drafting. And, you know, because that goes so well with what I'm doing now. But I did draw the I drew the maps at the back of my fantasy book.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (38:04.071)
Heh.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (38:21.266)
Yeah. Well, the details, the details.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (38:27.75)
Yeah, probably they might not know how detailed, like truly thorough and creative. You got two parrots on your shoulders.
Mandy Jo Squires (38:39.252)
Yeah, because on one hand, I love drawing. I love hand drawing. But I also, I've been Microsoft certified for all of Office, with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, even Access. So I mean.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (38:50.215)
Yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (38:58.606)
that takes you back. Chandler's like, I have never even heard of that.
Mandy Jo Squires (39:06.64)
Microsoft Access. is a lovely database program that I absolutely loved working with.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (39:13.874)
wasn't that like the foundation of dynamics? that what it ended up becoming? So if you had to sum up your entrepreneurial, your founder journey in one word, what would that word be?
Mandy Jo Squires (39:19.368)
Yeah. Yep.
Mandy Jo Squires (39:32.552)
Roller coaster.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (39:33.444)
Roller coaster, yeah. The ups and downs, I think I say this on, I heard this from another founder of, we live in two emotions, euphoria or depression. It's always like, we, but we strive for the plateau. Yes, that's right. Like how do we balance that? We're so, you know, but I think that just shows we're very resilient mindsets and personalities and, it's not for everybody.
Mandy Jo Squires (39:37.204)
Mm-hmm.
Mandy Jo Squires (39:48.47)
And sometimes it's in the same minute.
Mandy Jo Squires (39:57.992)
Yeah.
Mandy Jo Squires (40:01.65)
Yeah. And thankfully my husband, he is, he's a saint. He, he's got to be the deal with me. But yes, it, it's so it's like, there's times I come out of my office and, and I go, I can't take it anymore. I, and, he's like, what? this message or this email or, know, and I, and I've.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (40:10.674)
Well, you said he owns his own business too. So he knows. He knows.
Mandy Jo Squires (40:31.956)
giving him the synopsis of the, or even the entire email in like 30 seconds. He has no clue what I said. He's like, okay. Uh huh.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (40:36.881)
Right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (40:43.058)
It's good to have somebody that you can vent off of. So good. So if you looked ahead to the next chapter, what word would describe your next chapter?
Mandy Jo Squires (41:00.922)
I think it would be the same word. I think it would be roller coaster because because there's going to be the ups there's going to be the downs and It's a matter of how do you handle the downs? With the in how well do you handle the ups don't get so? Caught up in they went so well and everything's roses because it will only be roses for so long because it's just the natural progression of
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (41:03.9)
Just continue.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (41:22.066)
That's right.
Mandy Jo Squires (41:29.894)
entrepreneurship there's ups and downs.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (41:30.79)
That's right. That's all it is. So what piece of advice would you give other entrepreneurs or founders that you found that was helpful for you?
Mandy Jo Squires (41:45.744)
say to just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Keep going. Don't stop. The one thing I hear from authors is, well my family hasn't bought my book. Well guess what? can count on one hand how many family members have bought my book. I mean seriously, they're not your target audience. So if family members don't get it, and trust me some of the stuff I've done along the way,
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (42:03.666)
Yeah
You just gotta keep going, yeah.
Mandy Jo Squires (42:15.654)
Some of my family members did not understand it. I just kept going. It's your journey, it's not their journey. And if they don't understand it, well, that's on them, not on you.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (42:18.384)
Right. That's right. That's right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (42:28.198)
That's right. that's so good. It reminds me, you I've talked to so many founders and they, you you find that the circle that you kind of grew up in or even in your corporate world, that environment, when you get out and run into business and stuff, they're like, I don't understand. I thought you'd have more free or like, know.
So you almost have like set boundaries for people to go like, don't bring me down, you just don't, you're never gonna understand or you're right, like they're not your target. Yeah. this was fan.
Mandy Jo Squires (42:59.284)
Yeah.
Mandy Jo Squires (43:06.418)
Yeah. But I do love being able to set my own schedule and go, you know, it's like, yeah, I can go out and set my own schedule, but that also means that sometimes I'm working late at my desk. But the nice thing is, is I got a really good window next to me here.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (43:11.344)
Yeah, you have so much, we do have control on stuff.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (43:23.878)
Yeah, that's right.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (43:29.244)
Okay.
Mandy Jo Squires (43:32.052)
and we're near the airport so I get to see all the airplanes.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (43:38.226)
Well, and you're near downtown Greer, which is super, super fun. I love that. I love that downtown. It's so nice. Well, before we are out of time, tell people how can our listeners learn more about you, connect with you, attend one of these wonderful events that you're putting out.
Mandy Jo Squires (43:40.786)
Yes. it is so much fun.
Mandy Jo Squires (44:00.628)
The easiest way is our website, creativeslingersofinc.com and on there we've got links to our social media, we've got links to, we've got our entire calendar, our awesome online community that has various levels of membership from free up till our paid authors. So on our website is definitely the
catalyst for going elsewhere. Yeah, we're on, we spend a lot of time on Facebook and on Instagram. I do have handles on other social media just to make sure that I have those user IDs, but you're not gonna see me update on those other platforms as much.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (44:30.834)
That's the portal. That's...
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (44:39.483)
Okay.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (44:47.964)
Secured, yeah.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (44:52.646)
Right, you're feeding Instagram and Facebook. Is it under creative slingers of ink, same handle, okay? Well, perfect, we will tag everything and put that out there. I am amazed at how fast this conversation goes and I appreciate you taking time and telling us your journey and our listeners your journey. This is fantastic, thank you for coming on and for all of our, thank
Mandy Jo Squires (45:01.842)
Yes. Yep.
Mandy Jo Squires (45:19.07)
Thank you for having me.
Jennifer "JJ" Sutton (45:20.434)
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