Storytime

Storytime

What are the common struggles and victories in addiction recovery, parenting and creativity? This conversation with poet-host Jim Hirtle and children’s author and business coach Preeti Balasubramanian brings all three together in a surprisingly down‑to‑earth chat. Jim introduces Preeti, whose "Everyday Superpowers" children’s series uses stories to teach values like honesty and patience without sounding like a lecture.

Her latest book, *Rishi and the Truth Teller Club*, follows a boy who hides a mistake at school, feels that "nagging feeling" of dishonesty and starts a club where kids commit to telling the truth. As Preeti puts it, children need to see values as "superpowers" they actually want, not rules adults push at them.

You’ll hear how her five‑year‑old daughter inspired much of the series, and how real family moments – impatience over food, falling in skating lessons, school talent shows – end up on the page. One charming moment is her daughter quoting a book back to her: "It's okay, mom… they keep failing, but they keep trying.

So that's how you learn." Preeti also talks about her parallel life as a business coach and author of *The EAST Equation*, and how clarity, systems and support matter just as much for founders as values do for kids.

Then the chat shifts into the realities of indie publishing: hand‑drawn illustrations, formatting headaches, e‑book quirks, and the grind of marketing when "you're no longer just the author, you're the publisher too." Her son Pranav, already with two books by 13, actually started writing before she did, sparking a family creative partnership and a planned mythological adventure series.

If you’re sober, parenting, writing – or all three – this gentle, funny, honest talk might nudge you to ask: what ‘everyday superpower’ are you teaching or practising today?