Millennial did not see numerous girls in comedian books, so she wrote her personal

Jazmin Truesdale has at all times cherished studying comedian books. However as she grew up, she seen that feminine superheroes weren’t getting the identical consideration, storylines or movie diversifications that male superheroes have been. So she created her personal numerous, all-women superhero universe — and it is now her main supply of earnings. 

“I bear in mind going to a comic book retailer and seeing a Surprise Girl comedian. I used to be like, Oh my God, who’s that? It did not happen to me {that a} girl could possibly be a superhero once I was a child, however once I noticed her comedian, it simply kicked off this entire factor.”

From Durham, North Carolina, Truesdale explored a number of completely different profession fields in faculty. She received a bachelor’s of train science and a bachelor’s of enterprise administration from the College of North Carolina, earlier than incomes her MBA from Florida Institute of Expertise.

However graduating throughout the Nice Recession posed challenges for the 35-year-old.

“I struggled to seek out work. So I might intern at a whole lot of completely different locations,” Truesdale tells CNBC Make It. “Quite a lot of completely different advertising companies, monetary companies, all these completely different locations that each one had completely different components of enterprise. And I ended up gaining a whole lot of talent units and data. However once I would put it on my resume to use for issues, they’re like, ‘we actually want you’d focus extra on one factor.’ And I am like, ‘however I can do the work. Why does it matter?'”

Although discovering her place within the enterprise and finance world was exhausting, Truesdale discovered pleasure in storytelling and being artistic. So she determined to make a profession out of it — and in 2013, Aza Comics was born.

This is how Truesdale’s ‘Aza Universe’ got here to life, how she’s leveraging her expertise to raise her enterprise and her recommendation for different entrepreneurs.

Truesdale’s ebook collection, “The Keepers,” takes readers into the Aza Universe and the adventures of 5 numerous girls heroes: Kala, Fenna, Ixchel, Adanna and Amaya. She drew inspiration for these characters from her personal private relationships and a few of her favourite actresses, like Maria Felix, Janet Jackson, Barbara Stanwyck, Lana Turner and Dorothy Dandridge.

“I took bits and items of their personalities and put them collectively to create these characters. My pal circle may be very numerous. I’ve a whole lot of Latina and South Asian mates. And I do know if I wish to see myself [in comics], they wish to see themselves too,” Truesdale explains. “So I assumed, why do not I’ve a bunch of ladies from completely different elements of the world, they arrive collectively, they usually’re simply kicking butt all day, daily, taking names and moving into shenanigans like girls do.”

To raised deliver her tales to life, she taught herself expertise like 3D artwork, photoshop and animation, in addition to studied completely different genres of writing from comedy to thriller.

Aza Comics has helped Truesdale attain many milestones from being a featured panelist at Comedian Con to promoting books in over 75 international locations, to lastly buying her dream automotive, a Mustang. However nonetheless, she’s hesitant to name herself a artistic.

“[In the beginning] I did not consider myself as an artist or a artistic, and I nonetheless sort of do not. It is extra prefer it’s a method to get a narrative instructed. And I am keen to do no matter I must do to make that occur.”

Truesdale says that her background in enterprise, finance, advertising and consulting has helped her take Aza Comics to the subsequent stage.

“Once I was struggling to seek out publishers, I assumed, ‘why am I in search of publishers once I can simply make my very own publishing firm and do it myself?’ And that is what I ended up doing,” Truesdale says. She now sells her comics on Amazon and all different main on-line retailers, together with the Aza Comics store.

“All of my advertising data and my monetary data helped with getting funding simply all the things by way of the start to the tip of the enterprise, from idea to fruition. All of it utilized.”

Truesdale additionally explored a profession in private coaching and health — each themes that she’s now incorporating into her storytelling.

“Coronary heart well being is tremendous essential. That is one of many predominant killers of girls. So I am making an attempt to make the most of my characters to encourage wholesome habits and wholesome existence. I do superhero exercises, the place you really get to see, based mostly on every character and perhaps their energy, a customized exercise for that specific character that you would be able to observe.”