Lauren Imparato, an entrepreneur, innovator, world-renowned public speaker and soon-to-be mother, is excited to announce the launch of her new book, “Cookies are Better Than Vegetables”, which encourages children and parents to live according to their personal values.
In this uplifting tale, the reader follows a treasure hunt guided by a superhero named Chata and discovers how to get the powers hidden in cookies to become a superhero, too. “Cookies Are Better Than Vegetables” includes a values journal so that the reader can mindfully check in on what they have learned, how they have shared and given gratitude, and how their core values are evolving on a regular basis.
“This book is a love letter to my late grandmother, Chata,” said Imparato. “She was my best friend, mentor, role model and personal superhero, and this novel brings together the values she instilled in me. Now that this baby is growing inside me, I have a renewed excitement for all the stories embedded within the larger one. All the values and ‘Chata-ness’ this baby will get to live, read, and learn over the years are captured in these pages.”
Imparato is an accomplished entrepreneur who went from the trading floor of Wall Street to founding a health, wellness and fitness company which she exited after 10 years, and now is the founder and CEO of The Association, a global women’s leadership organization, as well as serving as the chief of staff and chief branding officer of Delphos, a women led impact investment group. She is also the author of “Retox,” a published guide for practical health and wellness strategies for real life, and “Between the Waves,” an award-winning blog on the stories within real life.
Imparato was inspired to write this book when helping her grandmother after a stroke. She had prepared a fresh plate of cookies and brought them to her grandmother’s side. Chata, who had not spoken or eaten in almost four months, suddenly exclaimed, “cookies are better than vegetables!” Imparato believed the enthusiastic outburst was a message from her grandmother to write a children’s novel full of the wisdom imparted on her and her family. As she read the pages aloud to Chata, a squeeze of the hand let her know the message was approved.
I had a chance to learn more in this interview.
Can you share a little bit about the inspiration behind the book?
“Cookies Are Better Than Vegetables” was never part of a plan or goal. It just happened, from within to the pages, which is often the best creative process; a true labor of love.
My best friend and grandmother, Chata, had a stroke in front of me in November 2019. I relocated to California to be by her side, but for months she did not eat or speak. Yet, as an utterly determined person, and also one who desperately wanted and needed Chata alive, I tried everything conceivable to try and get her to do either. Day in and day out, I would try to encourage her to converse or to take a nibble of any of the foods I presented. No such luck.
Then one night, after my family was chuckling at how determined I was, I took a plate of fresh baked cookies over to Chata. Out of the blue, she grabbed the cookie with her left hand, which she had not used in months, and put the entire thing in her mouth at once. At first, we were panicked that she was going to choke. But she ate it totally normally, as if no time had passed. A few minutes later, she grabbed another cookie off the plate, held it up like the host, and said, “cookies are better than vegetables.”
As she said it, we were locked eye to eye, and I knew this was a deeper comment, one that had nothing to do with the butter and sugar in our hands.
A few days later, the story just came out of me, in one fell swoop. I read it to Chata, and edited it by her side, her left hand holding mine. When she would squeeze my hand with her thumb, I knew the line was right, and soon after she passed, I knew I had to turn this into a book for the world to enjoy.
This book is for life lovers, children and adults alike. It is an adventure story of a little kid and Superhero Chata exploring and taking on life. With each value based adventure, symbolized by cookies, the child gets closer and closer to becoming a superhero themselves.
How did you come up with the title?
The title Chata said herself! The cover I designed on a cocktail napkin one evening while missing Chata and musing about how much fun we used to have together. I took a picture of the napkin and sent it to my amazing illustrator, Karina Busquets to make it come to life.
Why is it important for kids to have books that encourage gratitude and reflecting on values?
Watching someone, let alone my best friend and chief inspiration, slowly pass away over months, and even into those final breaths, made me intensely realize that all you take with you when you die is your soul. That is it. Your soul is filled with your memories, your values, your integrity. We too often forget that, forget that the most important thing in our life is actually the intangible thing inside us. By making the concept of values and soul fun, represented by cookies and adventure, we can subtly start instilling this overarching truth into our children, without them even knowing.
“Cookies are Better Than Vegetables” is currently available as a hardcover book on Amazon. Illustrations are by Karina Busquets.
For more information about Imparato and her upcoming projects, follow her on Instagram.
About Lauren Imparato
Raised in Northern California, Lauren Imparato traveled east to the classrooms of Princeton, and upon graduating, to the trading floor of Wall Street. After stints starting businesses for the firm in New York, London, Istanbul and Latin America, Lauren quit her job as VP of Morgan Stanley Fixed Income in 2009 to self-start I.AM.YOU., a first of its kind health, wellness & fitness company. Lauren operated and scaled profitable digital, brick & mortar, and cpg verticals, and wrote a multi-country Best Selling book, RETOX (Penguin Random House, 2016)
No comments:
Post a Comment