Kevin Dunn

Even as a child, Kevin Dunn had a knack for puzzles and codes.  An avid crossword solver, Kevin is the kind of person who can see a word search puzzle in his mind’s eye as he rides the subway.  Now that talent is also a business:  Puzzles For Us, also known as Invision Publications.  Kevin’s first two published books use crossword puzzles and word search as enjoyable ways to explore and teach about Black culture and history.

Kevin published his first puzzle in the 1980s, as a favor to a friend working for a newspaper in Syracuse.  But his training and career began in the field of database programming.  In 2002, a reorganization at the large HMO for which he worked moved him away from the tasks he was most suited for.  Kevin decided to leave the company.

It was, Kevin admits, an abrupt change.  His year out of work left him without health insurance and unable to keep up with student loans and rent.  To made ends meet, Kevin looked for freelance computer work, but the growing trend toward overseas outsourcing made such work scarce.  So in 2003, he began to reorganize his life and finances, reaching a “one-shot deal” with the city welfare program and taking a roommate to help with rent.  Kevin began to work part-time as an after-school counselor for the YMCA, tapping into a love of youth and teaching.  And at the same time, in May 2003, Kevin joined Project Enterprise.  Years before, his sister had seen his puzzles and said, “You should sell that!”  Now he found himself thinking up puzzles and searches as he rode from place to place.  Kevin had come across a mention of PE, called the office, and found out about an orientation meeting. 

Kevin’s original group at the Harlem Center named itself “The Billionaires Club”!  Kevin identifies two key areas where PE has helped him from a business standpoint.  First, PE equipped him to organize and track his finances.  In addition to learning about financial statements, Kevin began to budget and keep records both for his business and for his personal accounts.  The second area where PE has made a difference has been sales and marketing.  “I’m a computer guy,” says Kevin with a smile, “not accustomed to being so assertive with people.”  But he has learned to “come out of my shell,” as he puts it, in order to network and sell, and not fear the many rejections he has to endure in order to make sales.

A commitment to his enterprise, supported by PE and his fellow group members, has also made Kevin more focused.  He works on his puzzles and his sales prospects whenever he can – early and late, in breaks between part-time jobs.  He hardly watches television, but disciplines himself to invest in the success of the business.  “I couldn’t do that before; it was ‘anything else but this’,” Kevin says.

Earlier in 2005, Kevin received his first loan for $1,367.  The loan from Project Enterprise made it possible to print 100 copies of In Search of Yourself, a book of word search puzzles on Black history and culture interspersed with short essays on the theme of each puzzle.  Kevin also used the money to trademark his business name, copyright the work, and acquire an ISBN number for the book.  A recent supplemental loan helped him redesign his cover and print another 200 copies.

So far, Kevin’s books have been bought by parents of school-age children, senior citizens, what he calls “cultural folks”, and probably his most important strategic market:  teachers.  Kevin has sold at book fairs and exhibitions geared toward education, and his goal is to connect with school systems not only in New York but also into New Jersey and Philadelphia, capitalizing on mandates for the teaching of Black history and heritage.  One teacher used a book of Kevin’s as a lead-in to a class activity and then a research project for students.

Kevin currently devotes about twenty hours each week to the Puzzles For Us, and his goal is to generate enough business to make Invision his full-time job.  Working full-time would mean not only continuing to create, but hitting the road to market the work.  Kevin’s cultural interests range widely, to music and cuisine and the Bible and beyond, and each one could become the focus of a new book.  Specialty commissions are another possibility.

Kevin’s books tie together many threads of his life and experience.  His computer skills enable him to do layout and production; his creativity and love for culture breathe life into the puzzles and accompanying essays.  His youth work and his warmth in person lead him naturally toward the education market.  As his enterprise moves forward, Kevin Dunn embodies the words that conclude the media packet he prepared on Puzzles For Us:  “It truly is never too late (or too early) to live your dreams.”