Today, I’m honoured to share my conversation with Jasmine Richards; author, editor, entrepreneur and founder of Storymix, a purpose-driven children’s fiction studio that is reshaping representation in publishing.
Jasmine has worked on more than 15 books, collaborated with major publishing houses, and built a platform that discovers, develops and launches underrepresented writers into mainstream success, without compromising on joy, excellence, or commercial impact.
What makes Jasmine exceptional isn't just her achievements, it's her vision.
She believes that all children deserve to see themselves as the heroes of their own stories, and she has built a business that turns that belief into a powerful commercial model. She blends creativity with strategy; social mission with scalability; representation with revenue.
Key takeaways:
Origin: A serendipitous encounter with Pearson's graduate program revealed publishing was the career for her developing talent. She found a role had long sought that she didn't know existed.
Business Model: Storymix uses a "book packaging" model, retaining all IP to ensure creative control and commercial viability, while providing a paid development platform for underrepresented writers.
Creative Strategy: Storymix prioritises joyful, commercially viable stories over trauma narratives, "smuggling in" themes like nature connection to normalise representation.
Future Vision: The 3-year plan is to activate Storymix's 24+ IPs into legacy brands (e.g., animation, podcasts), shifting from quantity to quality.
Episode resources:
Storymix: www.storymixbooks.com
Jasmine Richards: www.linkedin.com/in/jasmine-richards
Chay Executive Coaching: www.chayexecutivecoaching.com