Helping Families Be Happy Creators & Guests

Adina is a former preschool teacher and a mom of 2 young kids. She has a passion for picture books and adores reading with her kids and students. She loves helping families find books that help them navigate the ups and downs of early childhood. She has a BA in Journalism from Ithaca College, and a Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from Manhattanville College with a certification in Special Education. Adina and her family currently live in Bethel, CT.

Christopher is currently the co-founder and CEO of Familius, a trade book publishing company founded in 2012 with a mission to help families be happy, a mission that has helped Familius be one of the top fastest-growing independent publishing companies in the US for the past three years as reported by Publishers Weekly. Christopher earned a BA in English and an MBA from BYU. He has served on numerous boards including Writers(a)Work and the Independent Book Publishers Association. His favorite quote is attributed to Gandhi: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Christopher currently lives in the Central Valley of California with his wife, four of his nine children, and their cat and dog.

Rebecca Fox Starr is an author, blogger, and advocate.

Ashley Marie Mireles is the Director of Sales and Marketing at Familius Publishing working to help families be happy through the books she writes, creates, and sells. She has authored several children’s books with Familius and hopes to continue creating more. Her collaborative sales efforts have helped Familius become one of the fastest growing independent publishers for four years in a row. She currently serves on the IBPA Board of Directors and is the Chair of the IBPA’s DEI Committee. She hopes to help create a publishing industry that is inviting, inclusive, and accessible for all through her work with the IBPA. She is based in Fresno, CA where she lives with her husband and two rescue pitbulls.