We recently had the chance to connect with Tiffany Vakilian and have shared our conversation below.
Tiffany, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
I am the morning clock of my house, so the battle can be fierce. With a Kindergartener and a 2nd grader in the house, morning can sometimes seem optional to them. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I work from home. I wake my husband and start him on the workday, mostly with moving the blankets and smacktalk. Kid 1 pops up relatively quickly, used to the rhythm of things. Kid 2 needs magic.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hi, I’m Tiffany Vakilian, owner and CEO of Speak Fire Publishing. I’m am editor, publisher, public speaker and performer, dedicated to using words to heal the world. I love taking new writers (especially those writing about overcoming something powerful) and helping them become a worldchanger. This happens with fiction and nonfiction, from memoir to epic fantasy, and even in devotionals and training manuals.
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
I can talk about my parents’ divorce, racism in Southern California, or the first time I heard an orchestra play music I wrote. There are so many! But I want to take a moment to remember the many smaller moments; like being taken away by a good story or piece of music. They change me in little ways, but that is the marathon of life. Big moments are big, but can we also appreciate the small? I seek those “mini-powerups” like the written phrase that reads like jazz, a piece of music that speaks to the bottom of my soul, a good song lyric. They all inspire. They all inform.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Last year, I got sick and the doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong. It wasn’t autoimmune, but it was chronic. The symptoms stole days and sometimes weeks of my life. We found out later it was Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO), and only once we found out what is was could I start from scratch. But at the time, it wrecked me. I am still growing my energy and mental strength, even now. Most of 2024 was spent trying not to give up. I am still growing from the lessons that season taught me. Every day is a victory, even if I am the only one celebrating that I didn’t give up!
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
I think it is a fundamental truth that, if medical research doesn’t focus on women in general (and Black women in particular), the entire industry will break on multiple fronts (financial, credibility, future students, etc.). If I could write better medical articles, I would submit to more scientific magazines on that front. Women are medical wonders, carrying life and giving birth. We have the ability to change roles from “maiden,” to “mother,” to “crone” and these aren’t just archetypes; they are scientific markers in a beautifully human experience. We need to respect the oracle that a woman is, from the unfertalized egg all the way to the dying breath. There is true wisdom to be found there. That medical wisdom can save the world.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. If you retired tomorrow, what would your customers miss most?
I think my customers would miss my excitement for their words and for the way their words change as we work together. It’s a beautiful roux we make when sharing our strengths and weaknesses with one another. But it is clear that I love what I do, and I think they would miss feeling that love.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.speakfirepublishing.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tiffanyvakilian
- Linkedin: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/tiffanyvakilian
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TiffanyVakilian
Image Credits
Pixel House
