When a person dares to dream, they often find that their dream originates because they are
dissatisfied with something in their life. or they witnessed something in someone else’s life that could be improved. Think of all the inventions that have been created because someone saw a need for a new tool or gadget that would make life better. The lightbulb, the cotton gin, traffic lights, and even washers and dryers.
Other people may have a dream that seems to come out of nowhere. An idea just pops into their head and sets them on fire!
The Louisville Book Festival, which is coming up on November 10 and 11th, 2023, was once a dream for founder Deedee Cummings, but its origin resulted from other dreams that she had. Here’s a recent Q & A with author and serial entrepreneur, Deedee Cummings.
Did your various professional dreams just pop into your mind or did you see changes that needed to be made that inspired you?
I was a CPS worker, went to law school at night, and was a single mother. I was fed up with the injustice I saw in Family Court, but by the time I finished Law School, I wanted nothing more to do with Family Court. What I really wanted to do was solve problems, not fight, and being a lawyer demanded a lifestyle of tension and conflict that I did not want to live.
I became a therapist because I could still do many of the things that had appealed to me about being a lawyer: problem solving, helping people understand their path, advocating for others, and seeking better alternatives to chaos.But also, something moved in me when I became a mom. I knew immediately that I would have to set an example for my daughter. If I wanted her to follow her dreams, I had to follow mine.
When did the dream to write your books come into play?
Through my work as a therapist, I started using books with children as part of their therapy. It was a great way to get insight into the way they think. Kids don’t talk the way we do. They are not going to come into your office and layout on a couch and tell everything that is troubling them. But kids will talk about characters in a book which gives you some insight into the way they think. I noticed when the books had characters who looked like my clients or reflected their experiences the children were much more engaged. When I had trouble finding these books, I began writing my own. I really had no idea what an extreme lack of diversity in publishing there was until I started looking for these books. If you have been searching for books for kids you care about who look like you and had no issue finding them you are privileged.
Did more dreams spring from this?
So many dreams. I used to look back at my career and think it was such a hodgepodge of people, places and things and then one day I looked up and it all made sense. It was like pieces of a puzzle coming together. The entire path- the whole journey. It all lined up. I was meant to be here. I was meant to do this work. This is the power of finding your passion and your purpose.
I founded It Pays to Read to encourage kids to find and read these books- which has been truly lifechanging. And then from that came the Louisville Book Festival, which is now, unbelievably, entering its fourth year.
Take time to listen to your heart. Don’t get stuck living your whole life doing what you have to do. Make a way to do some things you want to do. This is where you will find your passion. This is where you will find the reason you were meant to be here.
About Deedee Cummings
Deedee Cummings is a professional dreamer. She is also an author, therapist, attorney, and mom from Louisville, Kentucky. Cummings founded Make A Way Media in 2014 after struggling to find books with characters who looked like her own children and an extreme lack of stories that reflected their life experiences. Books published by Make A Way focus on hope, diversity, social justice, and therapeutic skills for children and adults. Her work has been featured in HuffPost, Forbes, NPR, USA Today, Essence Magazine, Psych Central, Well+Good, and The EveryGirl, among other media outlets. In 2021, she was appointed to the Kentucky Early Childhood Advisory Council by Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, and reappointed to a second term in 2025 acknowledging her decades long service to the children and families of Kentucky. Deedee is also the founder of The Louisville Book Festival. She was inspired to work to highlight and celebrate a culture of reading in her community after working as an in-home therapist and visiting homes of children who had no books. Cummings believes literacy is a fundamental human right. Her work highlights inspiring messages that remind us all it is never too late to begin again.
