Q&A 
Anita Frost with The Tiger Tales is a Trinidadian-British parenting and lifestyle blog. 

About the blogger:
I’m a Trinidad-born Surrey based stay at home mum, wife, blogger and aspiring published children’s book writer. I moved to England in 2001. Prior to marriage and kids, I earned a BA in English from The University of The West Indies, Trinidad, in 1998. My career history has spanned from the Library Service to Further Education. I write about expat parenting, mixed heritage family life, food, beauty and more.

Last week I attended the London Toy Fair 2019. Although it was my third time visiting the Toy Fair, 2019 was the 66th year of the fair! My inner child came out. If you follow me on Insta you would have seen my selfies with CBeebies’ Bing Bunny and Flop, as well as Pokemon’s Pikachu! 

Photo ops aside, I visited several toy stands to see what’s new in the industry for 2019. There were more than 250 exhibiting companies. The themes were: Licensed Toys, Technology, STEM, Collectables and Toys that encourage mindfulness.

While on my walkabout, I discovered the Green Bean Collection.

​The cuddlies and books drew me to the stand, so I stopped and spoke briefly to Anita Frost, the brand founder. It was easy to love the lil green fella and the brand’s look and feel. Later, I contacted Green Bean Collection for an interview. This is Green Bean Collection’ s Anita Frost interview.

TTT: Tell us a bit about yourself?
AF: Hi, I am Anita Frost an Entrepreneur and Founder/Author of the Green Bean Collection.

TTT: What was the catalyst for writing the Green Bean books?
AF: I love being in business and I love kids so, there we have it.
I love to write about Green Bean & Friends and take the children on adventures of everyday life in the eyes of a child. Also creating fun toys and books to educate children to enjoy reading, role play and learning in fun ways.

TTT: Green Bean Books are produced at Green Bean Studios. What made you decide to self-publish?
AF: Green Bean Collection is published by Movement Publishing in LA. I wanted to create a home e.g A mothership for the team, clients and customers. In which they could come over and be submerged into the great adventures of Green Bean & Friends.
Green Bean Studios is in Trafford Park, Manchester across the road to the Trafford Center is where we have warehouse facilities, for wrapping and packing for orders. A shop for passing customers and a working studio for the team to support all thing awesome to support the business post its infant stages.

TTT: How long did it take you from writing the first book to bringing it to market?
AF: Due to having been in business for several years now I have a lot of transferable knowledge which allowed me to advance quickly. Within 12 months I had four paperbacks, three board books and three toys in the marketplace tried and tested.

Feeling like January just flew by, does anyone else feel the same? 

Who is excited about what the rest of 2019 is going to look like? 

I am very excited about the rest of the year possibilities,
opportunities and the challenges to overcome along the way ...

Here are some of this morning's pics of the snowy UK, so pretty #Cheshire life   

​Start by getting to know yourself and focusing on what is important to you in order to set a strong foundation  of clarity and purpose from which to build your dream. At the outset, begin by defining the reason WHY you are doing what you are doing. This will help create and maintain  a clearly oriented mind-set.

REFLECTION EXERCISE ONE:
Ask yourself the following questions:

1.   Why have you chosen to start your own business?
2.  What do you already know?
3.  What do you still need to learn?
4.  Write down the pros and cons of starting up a business.

TIP - A positive and focused mind at the beginning can lead to a successful business in the long run

Highlight your priorities in order of importance.  Then you can identify where your energy should be focused at the beginning of your endeavour. It helps to have both a short term and a long term reason for getting started. Break these down into bite sized chunks to define where you see your idea/business  going, and when you would like your mile- stones to take place.

Reflection Exercise Two:
Write down your goals for these different time frames
1.   Next week:
2.  Next month:
3.  Next three months:
4.  Next year:
5.  Next five years:​

The more you familiarise yourself with your reason for starting,  and the more you commit to putting your belief into action and actively moving in the direction you want to go in, the quicker you will be able to pick yourself up when the challenging days come your way - and they will, as entrepreneurs are only human beings after all!