Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Candace Hulsizer. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Candace, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
You never know when a dream will have the nerve to come true. To push itself into reality so that it’s no longer this ethereal, virtual thing but a live, tangible creature that you can touch. For me, it happened after a conversation with my little brother. He was over for dinner with my husband and me, sitting in front of a plate of taco fixins when he said, “I think it’s great that you’re doing your dream job.” I just remember jolting awake at the comment, hearing myself saying that, no, being the director of education at a local non-profit wasn’t my dream job. I enjoyed interacting with our refugee community and was proud of the work I’d been doing to open a preschool. This would provide a quality early childhood education, not only for the refugee population but for the community at large. Important work? Sure. But my dream? Nah…
We moved on with dinner and caught up on life, but I couldn’t shake the conversation. The next day, over lunch with my work bestie I told her about what had happened. She asked what I’d do, if I could do anything. What WAS my dream job? Without hesitation, I answered that my lifelong, childhood dream was to open a bookshop. Over Funyuns and the Lord’s chicken, we sketched, we planned and we dreamed together. When I got home that night, I told my husband about my lunchtime musings. His simple response: What do we need to do?
Over the next months, I did a lot of research. I began to follow the social media accounts of bookstores around the country. I visited the MO Women’s Business Center and got connected with a business coach. They were beyond excited to hear that I was interested in opening a bookshop that featured Black authors. I was told that they were hoping to open a retail incubator in Columbia’s historically Black business district and that having a selection of books would be a welcome addition. I was on their radar.
In the meantime, I continued to find and follow virtual mentors. I visited a bookstore in my hometown of St. Louis and spent the day shadowing everyone from the owner to the front desk clerks. I made phone calls, setting up long-distance appointments to meet with folks as far as Portland, OR to learn the good, the bad, and the ugly of bookselling. I loved reading. I loved language and literacy, but a businesswoman, I was not. I spent my career as an educator, first teaching second graders then supporting kids who needed extra help with their reading and writing. I was also fortunate enough to teach some courses at our flagship university. So I knew people. I knew literacy. Business was an entirely different animal.
While I scoured the country for the non-traditional education that would prepare me for the next steps, I effectively danced around the experts in my own backyard. I was scared, to be honest. Although I’d met with the owner of Yellow Dog, one of our beloved bookstores (he’d approached me after a meeting of business owners, offering his support), I was still very hesitant to talk to the other one. I knew I wouldn’t be competition for this literary staple, but I didn’t even want to give the appearance that I was trying to take anything over. One Saturday, I decided to be brave. Not expecting to hear anything anytime soon, I sent an email to the owner and manager of Skylark Bookshop. Within moments, I received a reply, welcoming me to the community, asking when I’d like to meet. Chiile…listen…! My husband must’ve thought I’d lost my mind, because I was dancing and yelling and giggling…I couldn’t believe it! We met within the next week, and it was truly magical. A wonderful, beautiful blessing where I was embraced and supported. Meanwhile, I got my business license, established an LLC and attended my first regional conference for booksellers. All of this happened between the end of January and October. By December 2024, I was set up as part of The Shops at Sharp End, the retail incubator that had been in its own incubation stage just months before.
Candace, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Black Tea Bookshop is a mission-driven, community-focused bookshop, uniquely curated to celebrate the joys of Black life through the work of Black authors. It started in the heart of a little girl who grew up loving to read but rarely (never?) seeing herself, her family, her culture represented in the books she loved. As a mom and then a teacher, I learned the importance of positive, frequent representation. I made sure that the young people in my life – my children and students – knew that they mattered. How? By collecting, sharing and centering good stories full of people who looked like them, whatever that meant. That also meant reading all the books I missed out on as a student, digging into the aunties like Maya Angelou and Zora Neal Hurston. Reading the classics from Claude McKay and Langston Hughes. Then finding new loves, across genres (because we DO read and write EVERYTHING). My current goal is really to spread these stories across the community and to bring the community into these stories. That’s for everyone. I want my Black family to see themselves and the joy that comes in being Black, not just the struggle. I want the rest of the human family to SEE us. To join in and celebrate with us.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Technology and social media have never been strengths for me. I acknowledge and accept that. So among the mentors that I sought were those who had a strong command of areas where I was weak. I met a whole lot of people in a short amount of time. People who had a lot more knowledge and experience in business than I had, people who became my mentors and are now trusted business friends. A couple of these friends told me that it was important to get my name out there, to start building the community I hoped to have when I move from doing mobile pop-ups to having a stable brick-and-mortar. Somewhat reluctantly, I set up a business Facebook page – showing my age, yes, and also working within my comfort zone. Instagram would come later.
Attending my first booksellers’ conference would be a thrill. I decided it would also be the official internet launch of Black Tea Bookshop. Late one night, sitting in the quiet comfort of my downtown Detroit hotel room, I went live. By the time I woke up, I had over 100 followers. Within the first month, that had tripled. We are now proudly connecting with well over 800 followers and have over 560 likes. Our Instagram is now inching toward 300 followers which is absolutely insane!
My advice to anyone just getting started on the social media journey is two-fold but simple: 1. Just get going and 2. Be yourself. Getting started can be the hardest part for those of us who don’t consider themselves tech-savvy. But what I’ve learned is that you don’t have to be an expert. Do the best you can, learn tricks and tips that will enhance your pages and show off your products. And while you’re at it, remember to be yourself. I kept asking myself and everyone else why people would want to buy their books from me? The answer was always: you. They will buy the books because of you. And you know what? They were right! People just want to get to know you. They want to hear about you placing your first order, they want to witness your excitement when you meet your virtual mentors in real life. They want to know that you’re nervous about hosting your first event and how overwhelming it is to try to meet the next grant deadline while also working a full-time job. Who’s in your corner? What’s motivating you? They want to know YOU. So introduce yourself. Do it imperfectly. But by all means, do it.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
Ya’ll I had no capital to start with. Working for a non-profit in my day job has taught me many things, including how to look for money. I was on the hunt for the free kind, grants, and that’s how I started. The first was the Minority Business Grant, a $5000 award that I won. My ever-supportive husband asked if we could invest a bit of our own savings, which I so appreciated. The second grant, I didn’t get. They weren’t ready for me yet, because I hadn’t been proven. People aren’t sure what to do with a pop-up bookstore. That said, I didn’t give up. I kept pushing, selling from the incubator, introducing myself and building community around Black Tea Bookshop. The result? They actually reached out to me and asked me to reapply during the second round. That yielded the funds to purchase the laptop I’m writing on right now. Persistence has been the key!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://blackteabookshop.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackteabookshop/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blackteabookshop
