Suni Sánchez is a self-titled ‘fierce champion’ of parents and children. Her book, Welcome to Parenthood: How to design a fabulous family life, is a result of nearly a decade of studying the connections and patterns in parent-child relationships.
It seems Suni was destined to write a book, even if she hadn’t always known it.
A mountain of knowledge
“As I sat on a 9-year mountain of knowledge, discoveries, tools, strategies and research, friends and colleagues (including psychologists and teachers) sought my advice on family-related matters.”
She had the knowledge and experience. But Suni felt stuck when it came to pulling it together and getting her message out to the people who needed it.
“My research began with a series of burning questions that I set out to for my own interest and development. The questions became hypotheses, which led to more questions and that's when I gained insight."
Suni looked at the current books on the market and noticed they focused more on the practical aspects of parenting. And they mostly covered only the first couple years of life.
“Of course, this is important,” said Suni. “But what about the foundations for building a long-term, healthy relationship before, while, and after your child is changed and fed? What about being a parent?”
Based on her findings, Suni decided to write a book. Further inspiration came from an overused phrase.
“The unfortunate phrase ‘babies don’t come with a manual’ is stuck in our societal psyche and it feels almost like an insult. It’s a shame, since this attitude leaves many parents in despair trying to find their feet.”
The author journey
This was Suni’s first book. Writing it opened up new challenges and left her with an appreciation for the author’s journey.
“Just like parenting, writing this book had its ups and downs. There were times where I was pulling my hair out! I cried, I laughed...and after every sentence, I’d ask myself, ‘Do you stand behind this 100%?’”
One challenge Suni encountered was in designing the book cover. “Even with lots of images as references, we struggled to get past the ‘traditional’ parenting book covers. We lost time going back and forth and I found choosing a cover design quite stressful.”
The journey from idea to a published author was completed when Suni received her printed book. She couldn’t wait to show it to everyone involved in its creation.
'Published author'...best title EVER!
“I think my favourite part was showing the book to fashion designer, Laura Ramos, who did the illustrations. Also to my kids, and seeing how proud they were of me. That was really special, because at the end of the day, it all started with them. My youngest, 5 at the time, saw the stack and announced to his friends, 'My mum wrote a thousand books!'”
Suni recalls fondly the first few times she referred to herself as a “published author”.
“It’s the best title ever. I mean, I’m a published author! I guess it felt natural to me in a way. But every time I mention it, I see people’s eyes widening. They’re in awe—many of them know what it takes to write a book."
“It’s the best title ever...I’m a published author! Every time I mention it, I see people’s eyes widening...they’re in awe.”
—Suni Sánchez
A new world of opportunity
Welcome to Parenthood sold in the USA, Canada, Brazil, Singapore, India, Australia, Italy, Hong Kong and Suni’s native Mexico. Feedback was great, the book has stellar ratings on Amazon and Goodreads, and it was a bestseller in Family Health on Amazon.
Suni isn’t just attracting readers but also fans. One reviewer said of the book, “It’s warm and welcoming and filled with wisdom. Reading it is like sitting down with a trusted friend.”
Importantly, her book gave Suni the chance to share her message with more people than she could ever reach one-on-one.
"I can now share my message, findings and knowledge to a wider community in addition to the one-to-one consultations I've always treasured."
“I can now share my message, findings and knowledge to a wider community in addition to the one-to-one consultations I've always treasured.”
—Suni Sánchez
This inspired her to reach out to her fans with fortnightly newsletters. She's able to delve into the clear, structured content of the book in small chunks through additional platforms, like email.
High-profile introductions
Seeing the success of the book, her confidence soared. Suni felt emboldened reaching out to high-profile influencers she admires. Dr. Shefali Tsabary, Steve Biddulph and Maggie Dent, all “parenting gurus of our times”, each have copies of Suni's book and are now aware of the work she does.
Dr. Shefali Tsabary with her copy of Welcome to Parenthood.
Since releasing the book, Suni received the kind of media exposure and speaking engagements money can’t buy. She was invited to give talks at Babyology's Feed Play Love (formerly Kinderling Radio) and Mama Creatives and was featured on several popular blogs, including Mumlyfe.
Suni Sánchez at Kinderling Radio.
“Because of the book, I have more credibility in the circles I move in and want to be part of, so opportunities to join platforms, such as consulting, and being introduced as ‘the expert’ in areas of parenting, family dynamics and child development (0-7 years of age) opened up.”
Importantly for Suni, the clarity achieved by putting 9 years of research to paper helped start her passion project, Human HQ®. It's “the umbrella that houses different initiatives for the empowerment of human beings and to effect a paradigm shift in the understanding of parenthood and family life.”
“The book, in a way, clarified my mission-driven enterprise—it was only after writing it that things started to fall into place.”
Just the beginning...
Suni’s future looks bright. She was approached to translate her book into Spanish and plans to travel to Central and South America to spread her message. As an expert in multi-ethnic family dynamics and having lived in Latin America, she’s keen to work with parents on the ground in a culture she understands well.
What's more, people all over the world reach out with opportunities to grow her business. For example, she was contacted to create an online course based on the book (coming very soon).
“I firmly believe that family is the one crucial structure in society that will ensure there is humane evolution in our human race.”
Suni Sánchez lives with her husband and two sons in Sydney, Australia. To learn more about Suni and her work, go to Human HQ®.
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