Their Stories

Jill Conner Browne

A Queen for Today

I had just started on my year on the road when a woman told me I'd better talk to the Sweet Potato
Queens if I was going to write about midlife women who had reinvented themselves. "The what?" I asked. One quick Google and there they were - big red wigs, sequins, tiaras, boobs and butts. What could they possibly have to do with my mission? A trip to Jackson, Mississippi and an hour with Sweet Potato Queen, Jill Conner Browne, made that abundantly clear.. . . . . . . . . K.J. Bryant

I didn't go to college because I was too smart for my own good. Maybe one day I'll fix that. But for now, I have too much going on. It wasn't always that way. Eighteen years ago, I found myself 35 and pregnant for the first time and not in a good marriage, with massive debt all in my name. I got out of the marriage, but as a personal trainer, that meant I'd be living paycheck-to-paycheck. During this time, I pursued my writing as a humor columnist for the Ditty Wa Ditty, a local alternative paper. I was also partying every St. Patrick's Day on the back of a pickup truck as the self-proclaimed Sweet Potato Queen. It was a hoot.

Then one day, out of the blue, I got a call from Roy Blount, which would be the equivalent of God calling if you are a humor writer. He'd been reading my column for years, unbeknownst to me.

The Queen

One thing led to another and I found myself writing The Sweet Potato Queens' Book of Love. Well, the darn thing made it to the New York Times Best-Seller List. The story highlights the Sweet Potato Queens (some of Jackson's finest who I had beaten into shape as their personal trainer) and our antics in Jackson Mississippi's St. Paddy's Day Parade. Well, wouldn't you know it, the next year, 10,000 Queen wannabes turned up. The Queens had struck a chord! It's been growing every since. There are now around 4,000 Sweet Potato Queen chapters in 14 countries - even in Saudi Arabia (their motto is No Veils).

What would I say to women wanting to live a more authentic life? There is abundance. You just have to go get it. I think we get so busy thinking about what we don't have and what we wish we had, we completely ignore what we've got. Everybody got here with something that can make them happy. What's yours?

Visit the Sweet Potato Queens at www.sweetpotatoqueens.com Jill and books

Jill Conner Browne

You'll soon be able to read more about Jill's story in Journeys: 50,000 Miles of Wise Women

Read more stories of transformation.