Stacy Schilling
Stacy Schilling is an artist, designer, illustrator and creative visionary that has brought The Frizz Girls to life after she noticed there was a gap in the market for wavy or curly hair education aimed at children. She created The Frizz Girls to empower and educate young readers to embrace and care for their natural curls. Stacy is a truly remarkable individual, serving as an inspiration to those around her with her positive impact on the world through her work and kindness. She continues to inspire and make a difference in the lives of many. Stacy graduated from the University of Kentucky with a bachelor of arts in Journalism and a bachelor of arts in Graphic Design from Northern Kentucky University. She is recognized for her tireless work ethic, dedication to her craft, and has earned several awards and accolades for her contributions in the visual arts. In her free time, Stacy enjoys learning about health and wellness, teaching art and design, painting, and finding creative ways to express herself.
When and why did you begin writing and/or illustrating children's books?
I had always wanted to write a book, and I did. I was furloughed at the time while waiting for my employer to call me back to work. So I used my time to write and continue teaching online classes that I'd been doing since 2012. Thankfully I never gave up my online tutoring because it kept me afloat during Covid when everything was shut down. During Covid the idea came up, and the words started flowing from my fingertips and then it was done. I had written a 14 chapter book on graphic design and my life as a designer. I was proud of what I wrote, but hired a friend who's a very good copywriter to review the table of contents and first chapter for feedback and suggestions. Long story short, I needed to break it apart and rewrite it because it was only going to sit on the shelf. I didn't know what to do with it, so I shelved it until I was ready to do something with it. A short while later, I started seeing ads on my Facebook feedback for The Storyteller Academy offering a free 5-day online workshop about writing children's books. I signed up, went through the training, but didn't do anything. This happened several more times. I didn't have the drive, determination or idea to write a children's book. During this time, I had been in two Facebook groups on wavy and curly hair because I was rediscovering how to take care of my wavy hair. In those groups, I started to see a pattern with the newbies joining. All of them didn't know where to start their hair journey and were lost. As someone with more experience in this process (I had been working with my hair for about 2 years at that point), I was able to give hair advice about hair typing, styling, products, etc. Later on I got an email from The Storyteller Academy about another 5-day free children's book workshop and joined. This time I listened to the speakers with more intent. At the end of the week, they were offering all their classes at a 50% discounted rate and one of the classes that caught my attention was, "Writing Picture Book Manuscripts" with Jim Averbeck. Something told me I need to take that self-guided class, so I signed up and started the class. I was also put into a critique group, which helped me with feedback. I didn't even finish Module 2 when I had an idea for a children's picture book! That was when The Frizz Girls were created. As someone who grew up with wavy hair, my mom never showed me how to take care of it and convinced me to cut mine at 9-years-old. I did, and then I hated it. Throughout my life, I navigated how to take care of my wavy hair and I was teaching women how to take care of their wavy or curly hair too! Then I realized something. As someone that's been working with kids since they were 12-years-old and teaching them, I decided someone has to teach kids how to take care of their wavy or curly hair because there are NO BOOKS in the market for this! Nobody was teaching kids how to take care of their wavy or curly hair, and since I was a teacher with wavy hair, I felt I could do it. Now I had an idea, my target audience and I was solving a problem. I had to get started. So, I got out my sketchbook and started drawing the characters. Somewhere along the line I took my paper sketches and brought them to life digitally with Illustrator. I started with one character, my own, and then ended up with seven! Then I started writing the story. Once I finished the first story, I took it and the illustrations to the critique group for feedback. I got some great suggestions, and someone suggested I write my story. I had to think about that one because I didn't know what to write or where to start. And then it came to me and I sat down and started writing until it was done. After the first two books were written, the next six books just wrote themselves without me even thinking about it. I sat back and realized I had just made my book writing dream come true! I had not planned on writing a children's book let alone two, but I did. I named the series The Frizz Girls, which teaches girls ages 5-13-years-old how to take care of their wavy or curly hair because I wanted to educate, encourage and empower them to be able to have confidence in themselves, and their wavy or curly hair.
What inspires or informs your writing and/or art?
Whatever inspires me and touches my heart.
What do you want young readers to learn or take away from your work?
For people to realize that frizzy hair is NOT the problem…it's probably wavy or curly and you need to learn how to take care of it. If you don't have wavy or curly hair or struggle to take care of your own and don't know how…ask for help from someone that knows how to take care of it. I want people to purchase my books, not because I make a profit from them, but because I've created them to help girls ages 5-13-years-old on how to take care of their wavy or curly hair so if an adult doesn't know how to teach them, then The Frizz Girls can do that. I think right now I want mostly awareness that The Frizz Girls picture book series exist.
Is there an artist or writer you would consider and mentor and why?
When I moved back home to L.A., I contacted several design studios about working there and a freelancer, Gerard Chok, agreed to take me on to help him with several projects. He helped shaped and refine me as a designer.
Did you have any formal writing or art education, if so, where?
I earned a BA in Journalism from the University of Kentucky and a BA in Graphic Design from Northern Kentucky University and graduated on the President's and Scholar's List.
Do you have a favorite published book? If so, what makes it special?
Charlotte's Web, The Babysitter's Club and Sweet Valley High series were my favorites growing up.
What do you want readers to know about you and your work?
For people to realize that frizzy hair is NOT the problem…it's probably wavy or curly and you need to learn how to take care of it. If you don't have wavy or curly hair or struggle to take care of your own and don't know how…ask for help from someone that knows how to take care of it. I want people to purchase my books, not because I make a profit from them, but because I've created them to help girls ages 5-13-years-old on how to take care of their wavy or curly hair so if an adult doesn't know how to teach them, then The Frizz Girls can do that. I think right now I want mostly awareness that The Frizz Girls picture book series exist and the more exposure the series has to reach a wider audience, especially people that want the help, but don't know where to look for it.