Inglewood author wants to help people overcome personal limitations

By Zachary Roman

A sticky note that reads “I am an author” is on Julie Cass' computer screen to this day.

It's one of the ways Cass, an entrepreneur who founded business and life coaching group The Positive Change, followed her own advice to help overcome personal limitations to write her first book.

“It was a huge vulnerability… I had to get over my own limiting beliefs to even be able to write the book and then to actually work with a publisher and get published,” said Cass. “It was definitely not something I would have thought years ago I would have done, and I had to change my own mental programming around that… it was kind of a huge thing for me to mentally embrace before I (could) actually physically do it.”

Cass has written articles for news publications before, and even contributed to a collaborative book with 19 other women called Life, Love and Lemonade. Her new book, Me First, is her first solo writing project — and, with it, she hopes to change people's lives for the better.

“The whole point of the book is to give people kind of an empowerment tool, to be able to make those adjustments and changes and really start to live a dream-filled life,” said Cass. She explained people don't give themselves enough credit when it comes to understanding how powerful they are in being able to create a beautiful life.

The second half of Cass' book focuses on breaking down the process of how thoughts create so much of a person's life, and how they can change their thoughts if they don't like them.

It's a complex topic, but Cass said she included visuals and broke it down in a really simple way.

“The book is also filled with guided meditations and journal prompts and resources… there's all different kinds of prompts there on how to actually practice some of the theories and strategies I talk about,” said Cass.

The book is called Me First because it's all about developing a deep self-love, said Cass, adding some people might assume it's selfish at first. In fact, Cass explained, it's the exact opposite, as she said when a person is truly happy with themselves they can have a much bigger positive impact on the lives of others around them.

She said putting everyone else first is sustainable in the short-term, but in the long run a person might end up not feeling happy themselves or like they accomplished their dreams.

The bulk of Cass' book was written in the Summer of 2021, with edits taking place afterwards.

She said she co-published the book with a company called YTG media in May, and that they were great to work with.

The book will be available at Forster's Book Garden in Bolton and at BookLore in Orangeville.

Cass, a resident of Inglewood for 16 years, said it's important to support local bookstores — especially after the devastating COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think bookstores are just such an important piece… we take my daughter to the bookstore (and) she goes, ‘Mom, this is my happy place'... It's nice to be around books, right? And you're never going to get that experience purchasing something online,” said Cass.