Chudney Ross is an American author, former elementary school teacher, children’s literacy entrepreneur, and the youngest daughter of singer Diana Ross. She was born on November 4, 1975, which makes her 50 years old in September 2026. Her best-known projects are Books and Cookies, a children’s bookstore that opened in Santa Monica in 2011, and her middle-grade novel Lone Bean, published by HarperCollins in 2012.
Many readers find her through her mother’s name. They stay because her own record is specific: a Georgetown degree, a Teach For America classroom, a bookstore, a published novel, and a mobile reading program still running in Los Angeles.
This profile covers her family, education, television work, business, marriage, and what is publicly known about her finances.
Chudney Ross at a Glance
- Birth name: Chudney Lane Silberstein
- Born: November 4, 1975, USA
- Age: 50 (as of September 2026)
- Parents: Diana Ross and Robert Ellis Silberstein
- Education: Georgetown University, English and Fine Arts
- Work: Author, educator, entrepreneur, TV host
- Known for: Books and Cookies, Lone Bean
- Spouse: Joshua Faulkner
- Children: Two, including daughter Callaway Lane
Early Life and Family Background
1. Growing Up in the Ross Family
IMDb lists her birth name as Chudney Lane Silberstein and identifies her parents as Diana Ross and music manager Robert Ellis Silberstein. Her siblings, according to the same profile, are Rhonda Ross Kendrick, Tracee Ellis Ross, Ross Naess and Evan Ross.
She grew up beside people who built careers on stage and screen. Her own path went another way, toward classrooms, picture books, and community spaces for kids.
2. A Close Circle of Siblings
She has never kept her family out of her public posts. On National Siblings Day in 2017, she shared a message to her sister Tracee Ellis Ross on X, tagged with the family’s “OG squad” joke.
IMDb also notes that she is the sister-in-law of Ashlee Simpson, who is married to Evan Ross. In the same 2017 stretch of posts, she shared a throwback photo from her high school graduation, complete with glasses, pearls, gloves, and an oversized flower basket.
Education: Georgetown and Teach For America
Her official website says she graduated from Georgetown University in Washington, DC, with a double major in English and Fine Arts. Both subjects show up later in her work, since a children’s bookstore and a picture-driven story hour depend on words and visuals working together.
After graduation, she joined Teach For America and taught elementary school. The Books and Cookies story page describes those years as the reason she started her business, since she wanted to give families the same energy she saw when a good book reached a child.
That classroom experience is the thread that ties her career together. Every later project, from the store to the novel, comes back to the same audience: children between roughly preschool and middle school.
Television Work and On-Camera Experience
Before she became a bookstore owner, Ross spent a few years around television production. IMDb credits her as a talent coordinator on Livin’ Large (2002), an assistant production manager on Fame (2003), and a producer on Mesmerized (2004). The site also lists a self-appearance on Fashion News Live in 2004.
These are behind-the-scenes and hosting credits, not major acting roles, which is worth knowing if you searched her name expecting a film career. Her website adds that she has an improv background and has appeared in ad campaigns, TV, and online hosting.
That on-camera comfort shows up in her later work. Her story hours and read-alongs rely on performance, voices, and timing, the same skills she says she built through improv.
Books and Cookies: Building a Community Around Reading
1. How the Bookstore Started
Ross opened Books and Cookies in Santa Monica in 2011. In an interview with Mini Bloom, she said her first idea was a bookstore that also sold coffee and cookies. Soon after opening, she learned that parents of young children were looking for somewhere to build community as much as a place to buy books.
Barnes & Noble’s author biography describes the business as a children’s bookstore, bakery, and enrichment center. The company’s own story page says it became part of the Main Street neighborhood in Santa Monica, hosting countless birthday parties with books, cookies, and cake.
2. From Storefront to Mobile Program
Books and Cookies now works as a mobile literacy program. Its website lists interactive story time, reading programs, and community events, and Ross’s personal site says the brand grew from a local bookstore and café into pop-up and virtual events that reach families where they are.
None of the public sources say when the physical shop closed, so this article does not give a date. What the sources do agree on is the direction: the same idea, delivered in more places and with fewer walls.
3. Read-Alongs and Guest Appearances
NBC Los Angeles ran a California Live segment on her weekly read-along program, describing it as an effort to spark a love of reading in local children. A preschool learning center also posted on LinkedIn about hosting her as a guest reader for a STEAM-themed story time.
Those small appearances explain how the business survived past the storefront. It depends on her showing up, in person or on screen, and the story hour itself is the product.
Lone Bean: Her Debut Novel
Lone Bean is a middle-grade chapter book published by HarperCollins in May 2012, according to the Books and Cookies owner page. Apple Books lists the publisher as Amistad Books for Young Readers, and Publishers Weekly reviewed it on June 11, 2012, recommending it for ages 8 to 12.
The main character is Bean Gibson, a third grader whose long flower name embarrasses her. Her best friend, Carla, has found a new best friend; she has to start violin lessons; and she has two older sisters named Rose and Gardenia who tease her.
The parallel with the author, who is the youngest of several sisters, is easy to notice. No source says the story is autobiographical, so it is fairer to read the sibling dynamics as a shared theme than as memoir.
Reader response has been moderate to positive. Goodreads showed an average of 3.71 from 124 ratings when this article was researched, and Lone Bean remains her only listed book.
Ross has also taken the book back into schools. Her Books and Cookies bio says she enjoys sharing Lone Bean and her writing process with elementary students.
The Jane Club, Speaking and Public Presence
The Books and Cookies story page says Ross serves as Chief Kid Officer at The Jane Club, where she built a space for children to learn and play while their working mothers are nearby. It is a role that fits her long-running focus on parents who are juggling work and childcare.
She has also appeared as a speaker at a PowerToFly summit, where she was introduced as a writer, teacher, entrepreneur, and mother. Her bio there describes her business as a children’s bookstore, enrichment center, and event space.
Advocacy is part of the picture too. The Books and Cookies owner page says she gives time to share books with underprivileged families.
Online, she posts as @ChudneyLRoss on X, where she has been active since July 2010 and had roughly 7,300 followers when this article was researched. In 2017, she wrote that running Books and Cookies social media alongside her own accounts felt like too much to juggle.
Marriage to Joshua Faulkner and Family Life
Ross is married to Joshua Faulkner, and IMDb lists the marriage as running since 2015. Inside Weddings covered their destination wedding in Maui, Hawaii, and reported that a mutual friend arranged cocktails for the two after Joshua saw her photograph.
Diana Ross helped plan the ceremony, according to the same article, and made most of the decisions with her daughter. Her stepsister Leona Naess sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” hula dancers performed, her sister Rhonda Ross Kendrick sang a song she wrote for the bride, and her brothers led the toasts. Diana Ross also serenaded the couple.
IMDb records the birth of her first child, a daughter named Callaway Lane, on September 19, 2012. Her website describes her as a mother of two, and she has written publicly about becoming a working mom while running Books and Cookies.
Net Worth: What Is Publicly Confirmed
No reputable outlet has published a verified net worth for Ross. Her income likely comes from Books and Cookies, book royalties, and speaking work, but none of those sources publish revenue figures.
Sites that quote a specific dollar amount rarely show how they reached it. Any such number should be treated as an unconfirmed estimate until a primary source appears.
Why Her Story Matters
Ross works at neighborhood scale instead of celebrity scale. Her projects are local by design: a shop on Main Street, story hours at preschools, school visits, a read-along on regional television.
The sequence is worth noticing. She taught, opened a shop, wrote a book, adapted when the shop model changed, and kept the community-first idea intact.
Her debut novel drew a mixed but generally positive reader response, and her business has changed form more than once. What has stayed constant is the focus on getting books and adults into the same room as kids.