THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK OF SUCCESS
LAWS OF LEADERSHIP FOR BLACK WOMEN
Elaine Meryl Brown
To learn more about Elaine's work and accomplishments, visit her website HERE.
Elaine Meryl Brown is a Daytime Emmy Award Winning writer, executive producer, and former HBO media executive. At HBO, she launched digital platforms to create live action and animated content, to target specific audiences and support the HBO brand. As a Creative Director at Showtime Networks, she led and oversaw the on-air promotion of Showtime Original Movies, Original Series and Original Pictures for Kids. Elaine is a multi-hyphenate creative who has won over 40 media and entertainment industry awards. Her portfolio showcases a wide array of accomplishments, including two novels published by Penguin Random House, (Lemon City and Playing by the Rules), writing “Happy New Year, America” for CBS-TV, several articles for Essence, a corporate Emmy Award for producing the HBO “Aids: Get Tested”, global PSA campaign, featuring Queen Latifah, Jamie Foxx, and players from the NBA. Elaine also created and the cutting-edge promotional campaign for Russell Simmons’ ground-breaking, series, Def Comedy Jam that helped launch the careers of Martin Lawrence, D.L. Hughley, Bill Bellamy, Adele Givens, among others.
With an entrepreneurial spirit, Elaine recognized an opportunity between her two platforms, HBO Family and HBO Latino, with the development of the award-winning, animated bi-lingual, pre-school series, El Perro Y El Gato. This educational pre-school series led to several books and videos eventually sold at Walmart, making her the first in her department to initiate a revenue generating opportunity. El Pero Y El Gato can still be seen streaming on YouTube, Hulu, Prime video and HBO/MAX.
During her tenure as Vice President at HBO, Elaine was invited to attend her first leadership class. This leadership class changed her life and gave birth to a leadership trilogy. In 2010 she co-authored the best-seller, The Little Black Book of Success: Laws of Leadership for Black Women (often called a “Mentor in Your Pocket”), published by Penguin Random House. In 2017 the second book, The Workbook companion, referred to as “Your Personal Action Plan” was self-published by her and co-authors. Now in 2026, The Next Little Black Book of Success, “Your Roadmap to the Future”, published by Penguin Random House, is finally here.
A graduate of Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, Elaine earned her BA degree in English and Drama, and recently earned her MFA degree in Creative Writing from Reinhardt University in Waleska, Georgia.
Chosen as one of the Network Journals’ 25 Influential Black Women in Business, Elaine’s professional development also includes, CTAM Executive Management Program at Harvard University School of Business, Time Warner Leadership Breakthrough Program for Female Executives, Simmons School of Management, and NAMIC Executive Leadership Development Program, UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Raised in Teaneck, New Jersey and now living in West Orange, Elaine is currently writing her third novel - historical fiction fantasy. She is a member of the Producers Guild of America, East, New York Women in Film and Television, Women’s Media Group, and the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Bergen/Passaic chapter. She enjoys pilates, spin, yoga and dance classes, meditation, and international travel. She is the mother of one son and three grandchildren.
More from Elaine
Faye Dunlap violates the number-one rule of her family and her small town when she marries an outsider, a man she had purposely chosen in college as her ticket out of Lemon City. The tight-knit little town was founded in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia by black folks escaping the virulent racism of the American South. Chief among their chosen survival strategies was keeping to themselves and keeping their young close to home. Anxious to break free of the restraints of Lemon City and taste the new freedoms promised by the black power movement of the 1970s, Faye marries Harry Lee Thompson from New York City. Faye's family smolders with outrage, but Granddaddy Dunlap bribes the opportunistic Harry with the promise of staking him in a new business if the young couple stays in Lemon City. Faye won't be put off and is prepared to leave Harry and Lemon City when Harry turns up dead. The entire family comes under suspicion as they hunker down for Thanksgiving dinner, under house arrest, and ponder who might have dispatched Harry.
The fictional historically black town of Lemon City, Virginia, is visited by the dreaded Outsiders when Jeremiah, a 25-year-old Vietnam vet, and his 12-year-old sister, Ruby Rose, stumble upon the town. They are running from the authorities, Jeremiah accused of kidnapping his sister from foster care following the death of their drug-addict mother. Dunlap family matriarch Nana takes pity on the young girl and makes an exception to the rule against welcoming outsiders. This is particularly hard for Nana, who lost her granddaughter Faye to marriage to an Outsider, a marriage that ended in tragedy. While Ruby Rose has captured Nana's heart, Jeremiah threatens to steal the affections of Nana's granddaughter Louise, who has recently become involved with Medford though the two have eyed each other for years. The Outsiders shake up the complacency of Lemon City even as they learn to adjust to the rhythms that have sustained the community for generations.