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Queen & Briggs Press is named in honor of my grandmothers — two extraordinary women whose grit, discipline, sacrifice, and resolve shaped me, my family, and everything we make.
They never met. They lived very different lives. But they passed down the same lessons across generations: work that matters. Faith that holds. Family that endures. And love big enough to lift everyone around you.
Every book we publish carries their fingerprints. Every story we tell honors what they built.
Life has a way of redirecting us.
After 13 years with Disney as a two-time award-winning leader and Technology executive, I was laid off — and reminded that nothing is guaranteed. Maybe that was the push I needed to finally pursue my own dreams.
So I'm turning my passions for photography, graphic design, pets, storytelling, and helping others into my next chapter.
God gave me the name “Queen & Briggs” almost ten years ago. I didn't know what to do with it then — but I never forgot it. Today, I finally understand. It feels so good to introduce:
Queen & Briggs Press
Where stories become experiences you can color.
I'm a small family-owned business based in Orlando, Florida. My mom and my daughter help me with pictures and proofing — and honestly, I couldn't do it without them. Three generations of women, working together to bring these stories to life.
Each book is inspired by true stories of our rescue dogs — adopted into our family over more than 20 years. Our pack includes Annabelle, Gigi, and Bronx, and the beloved pack members who've crossed the rainbow bridge: Jasper, Brownie, and Hershey. My family has always been a dog family — and honestly, we couldn't make these stories up if we tried. All of the stories, illustrations, and designs are by me — written, drawn, and crafted with love. Every page features artwork created from over 90% of my own personal photographs.
One of our books, A Mindful Moment: Guided by Hershey, holds especially deep meaning for me. It's the book that helped carry me through some of the hardest seasons of my life. Coloring scripture, breathing through the pages, and remembering who God is — that's what got me through. If this book can do for someone else what it did for me, then this work has already been worth it.
I named this new venture after my grandmothers, two extraordinary women whose grit, discipline, sacrifice, and resolve helped shape the leader I am today.
Queen was born in 1920s North Carolina, the daughter of sharecroppers, and one of fifteen children. She later married Joe Hicks Sr. and raised fourteen children of her own — and most of her grandchildren too.
She worked multiple jobs out of sheer determination. She maintained a household that held together through anything. She never stopped working. Not once.
Because of Queen's sacrifice and relentless work ethic, her descendants became retired senior military leaders, head librarians, nurses, pastors, a mathematician, florists, a dentist, a technology director, public servants, software engineers, teachers, warehouse leaders, and entrepreneurs.
She built a foundation of discipline, sacrifice, and perseverance that continues across generations. Her life is a reminder that strength, responsibility, and relentless work can transform entire families.
Ruth was born in 1917 in Sussex County, Virginia, one of twelve children. Her father descended from the Nottoway Indians; her mother from freed Black store owners during the Civil War era.
She completed only the eighth grade. She married in 1935. She began as a maid and a seamstress.
And then she built.
She and her husband became entrepreneurs — opening a beauty salon, a barber shop, and a gasoline trucking business before moving into real estate investing in the 1950s in the Deep South. When local banks refused to serve Black families in Emporia, Virginia, Ruth became the community's informal bank — helping families finance homes, businesses, and opportunities they otherwise could not access.
Widowed in 1963, she kept building.
She quietly financed college educations, home purchases, and countless needs across generations. She provided business services to a local funeral home. She managed her properties and her finances well into her later years.
She worked until she was 88.
From my grandmother, I learned everything — from changing a tire to settling accounts and collecting rent from tenants.
Today, Ruth's descendants include an academic dean, a nurse, a business owner, and a technology director.
She did the work others wouldn't. She built what others said couldn't be built. She left generations stronger because of it.
Ruth Briggs Wilks was Built Ruthless.
When you hold a Queen & Briggs Press book in your hands, you're holding the spirit of two women who refused to accept the limits the world tried to place on them. Two women who built. Two women who lifted entire families across generations.
That's the standard. That's the inheritance. That's the work.