Meet Alyssa Reynoso-Morris | Author, Award-Winning Speaker, and Community Activist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alyssa Reynoso-Morris and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alyssa, what is the most important factor behind your success?
The most critical factors behind my success have been surrounding myself with more senior authors, enabling me to learn from their experiences. Writing and success can be very isolating. However, as a debut author, over the past 3 years, I made it a point to grow my circle and network with other authors and writers. We provide each other feedback on our manuscripts to make them better. We share resources and best practices when it comes to marketing our books. We share contacts and go to conferences and/or fairs together. We write reviews for each other. Building a community I can lean on and that can lean on me has been so important to my success as an author.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
What are you most proud of or excited about? I have served my community as the Chief of Staff for my local State Representative. Together we worked to bring funds to the district, pass legislation, and organize events to ensure constituents’ needs are met.
Prior to this, I interned for Parvati Swayamrojgaar, a microfinance organization working to break the poverty cycle in the slums of India, taught English at an orphanage in Tanzania, and facilitated the establishment of the Women’s Witness Protection Program for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
I also assembled a team of 70 volunteers that worked to build an aquaponic unit (a system that grows fish and crops without waste) and a water purification system in an under-resourced community in the Dominican Republic. Her team fundraised, wrote grants, and developed lesson plans focused on sustainable development.
I am grateful for my accomplishments and what I have learned along the way. They have prepared me for my life as a speaker and author.

How did you get to where you are today professionally? Was it easy?
It was not easy. I was the oldest daughter of a first-generation single mother. We struggled with poverty. I lived in an underserved community in the Bronx. It was not easy but I was taught to work hard and focus in school. I did just that and earned multiple scholarships to college. I worked multiple jobs all my life because my goal is to make sure future generations (including my daughter) have a brighter future. It was hard but worth it. It is still hard but I am enjoying the journey.

If not, how did you overcome the challenges?
Keep your eye on the prize at all times. Focus on your goals while demonstrating gratitude. I keep a journal where I write down my S.M.A.R.T. goals and the things I am grateful for to maintain a positive outlook.

What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way?
You are your biggest asset and also your biggest liability.

What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
My brand is rooted in LOVE. My first book PLATANOS ARE LOVE is a delicious picture book about the ways plantains shape Latinx culture, community, and family, told through a young girl’s experiences in the kitchen with her abuela. With every pop of the tostones, mash of the mangú, and sizzle of the maduros, a little girl learns that plátanos are her history, they are her culture, and—most importantly—they are love.
My second book THE BRONX IS MY HOME is a picture book celebration of hometown pride including the history, landscape, cuisines, cultures, and activities unique to this vibrant community. It is a love letter to the Bronx. I also want kids to know that they can become whatever they want to be no matter where they come from.
My third book GLORIANA PRESENTE: A FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL BOOK is a love letter to immigrants and kids that are nervous on their first day of school.
I want kids that read my stories to know they are loved and held.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I am not from LA so I would make a poor guide. However, some Philly spots to check out are the Mural Arts Tours, the Franklin Institute, the Magic Garden, and the amazing food scene.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My journey has a lot of shout-outs. I did not get where I am on my own.

I want to shout out Las Musas, a collective of Latinx women and otherwise marginalized people whose gender identity aligns with femininity, writing, and/or illustrating in traditional children’s literature. I was a Hermana through their mentorship program, which changed my life. Learn more here: https://www.lasmusasbooks.com/

Shout-out to The Word: A Storytelling Sanctuary a nonprofit working to promote voices from underserved communities and diverse backgrounds, to honor the stories of those who have faced adversity and injustice, and to provide a sanctuary space where these groups will see themselves in literature. I benefited from their mentorship program and now I have the privilege of running the program. Learn more here: https://www.thewordfordiversity.org/

I also want to thank my agent for believing in my stories. She is my cheerleader and advocate. She challenges me and pushes my stories to be better. I love my agent Kaitlyn.

EPIC shout-outs to my AMAZING EDITORS Alex Borbolla and Jessica Anderson. I have learned so much from them. I appreciate that they are not prescriptive. Instead, they asked great questions to help me improve the story. My manuscripts are 100 times better because of their expertise and feedback.

Website: alyssaauthor.com

Instagram: @AReynosoMorris

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alyssa-reynoso-morris/

Twitter: @AReynosoMorris