We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Heather Edwards. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Heather below.

Heather, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I grew up in the 90’s just outside of Baltimore, Maryland. I didn’t start reading early like a lot of lifelong book lovers claim to. In fact, I didn’t really get into books until I was around thirteen. I struggled quite a bit in school with what I now recognize as undiagnosed neurodivergence, and books eventually became the place where my brain finally felt at home.

Once I started reading, though, I was rarely seen without a book. Stories became both an escape and a lifeline during some difficult parts of my early life. The “Heather lore,” as I like to call it, is long and colorful, but the short version is that books were one of the few places where the world consistently made sense to me.

I got married young and moved 1,200 miles away to Oklahoma when I was seventeen. During that time, reading became my favorite form of escapism. New books arriving constantly? I joked that I was “just holding them for a friend.” In reality, I was devouring them. I spent countless hours wandering bookstores—especially Borders back when it existed—sometimes staying until they closed.

Fast forward many years, and I had built a career in operations and accounting in the oil and gas industry. I spent fourteen years helping companies run smoothly behind the scenes, managing systems, logistics, and financial operations. Then in 2022 I suddenly found myself unemployed and asking the very uncomfortable question: What am I actually going to do next?

My “lottery dream” had always been opening a bookstore. It was the thing I said I would do someday if money and practicality weren’t factors. While figuring out my next move, I started researching what it would actually take to open an independent bookstore. The more I dug into it, the more I realized something surprising—I already had most of the skills needed to run one. Years of corporate operations experience had given me the practical tools to build and manage a small business.

I applied for an SBA loan to explore the idea further, and in one of those strange life twists, the bank reviewing my application actually offered me an accounting job. It was a stable job with a solid salary. The logical choice probably would have been to take it. Instead, I turned it down and decided to build the bookstore.

After researching the industry, the local market, and potential locations, I chose Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, a suburb of Tulsa just a few miles from my home. There’s a common belief that independent bookstores are disappearing, but the reality is actually the opposite. The indie bookstore industry has been growing steadily for years, driven largely by readers wanting community-focused spaces rather than purely transactional retail experiences.

When I opened Rivendell Books & Baubles on Halloween in 2022, we were the only independent bookstore in our immediate area. That meant we weren’t just opening a retail shop—we were filling a community gap.

One of the most surprising and wonderful parts of the journey has been the incredible support within the independent bookselling world. Organizations like the American Booksellers Association and the Mountains and Plains Independent Booksellers Association were invaluable resources while I was getting started. Even more importantly, the community of other bookstore owners has been overwhelmingly generous. Booksellers regularly help each other with everything from sourcing books for last-minute author events to sharing hard-earned advice.

Looking back, opening the bookstore wasn’t just about selling books. It was about creating the kind of space that meant so much to me when I was younger—a place where people can wander, discover stories, and feel like they belong.

Heather, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m the owner of Rivendell Books & Baubles, an independent bookstore in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. My background is actually in operations and accounting—I spent fourteen years working in the oil and gas industry managing systems, logistics, and financial operations. While that may sound like a very different world from bookselling, it gave me a strong foundation in how businesses function behind the scenes.

Books have always been a constant in my life. I started reading heavily as a teenager and quickly became the kind of person who always had a book in my bag. Bookstores were some of my favorite places to spend time, and over the years I started to see them not just as retail spaces, but as community hubs where people could connect over stories and ideas.

When I opened Rivendell Books & Baubles in 2022, my goal was to create more than just a place to buy books. I wanted to build a space where readers, authors, artists, and curious wanderers could gather. The store carries a curated selection of new books across genres, along with gifts, art, and bookish merchandise that reflect the personality of the shop.

One thing that makes our store unique is that we share the space with Yonder Coffee & Chocolate, which is operated by my business partner and best friend Ronnie. Having coffee, chocolate, and books all in one place naturally creates an environment where people linger, talk, and discover things they weren’t necessarily planning to find.

Community engagement has always been at the heart of what we do. Over the years we’ve hosted author events, collaborated with local artists, and created programs for readers of all ages. One of my favorite examples is a kids’ Dungeons & Dragons summer camp we hosted early on. What started as a small summer program turned into a bi-weekly kids’ D&D meetup. Even though the group no longer meets regularly, many of those kids are still regulars in the shop two years later, which says a lot about the kind of community that formed.

The shop itself has also developed a personality of its own. We’ve hatched chickens and ducks in the store, we have a resident tortoise, and there’s always a healthy amount of chaos happening on any given day. Our store mascot, Quinn—the “live-in dragon” with a respectable book hoard—is a bearded dragon who has become something of a celebrity. She’ll even be featured in the upcoming book Bookshop Cats by Daphne Du Meowier releasing April 7, 2026. We also have Boots, our very popular bookshop dog, who tends to steal just as much attention as the books.

All of those little pieces add up to something that feels less like a traditional retail shop and more like a gathering place. Independent bookstores have the ability to be incredibly personal in how they serve their communities, and that’s something I value deeply.

In terms of what we offer our customers, it’s really about creating an experience. Readers can find thoughtfully selected books, meet authors, discover new genres, and connect with other people who love stories as much as they do. For many people, especially in a digital world, having a physical space dedicated to creativity, imagination, and conversation is incredibly meaningful.

What I’m most proud of is the community that has formed around the store. Over the past few years, Rivendell has become a place where people come not just to shop, but to spend time. Watching friendships form, seeing kids discover books they love, and supporting local authors and creators has been one of the most rewarding parts of this journey.

If there’s one thing I want people to know about Rivendell, it’s that the store is built on the idea that stories connect us. Whether someone walks in looking for their next favorite novel, a gift, a cup of coffee, or simply a place to browse and unwind, the goal has always been to create a space where they feel welcome.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

Although everyone assumes Ronnie and I were separated at birth (the jury is still out on that one), we actually met shortly after I opened Rivendell. He came in looking for a book for his son’s school assignment—which led to my usual internal rant about assigning books that are still in print. While we were talking he casually asked if I was looking for a chocolate supplier. I responded, “Is anyone ever not looking for chocolate?” because… really.

I like to say we were clearly supposed to meet. Ronnie prefers to say I kidnapped him. The truth is probably somewhere in between. Honestly he’s a little dramatic though—I haven’t had to keep him taped to a chair in a while.

The front door of the store literally has a warning on the windows about the chaos contained within. Ronnie and I are that chaos. Our customers often point out that the energy in the shop mirrors our actual lives. For example, in April of 2024 I had to call my kid’s school with the following explanation:

“Hi, my child won’t be in school today.”
“Is he sick?” the secretary asked.
“No… he actually needs to help me hold a box lid closed so the raccoon in my car doesn’t escape.”

There was a long pause before she said, “Mmmm… okay. I’ll just mark ‘excuse communicated.’”

So yes… that level of chaos is fairly normal for us.

After we met, we started trading work for work—I would help out at his chocolate shop and he would help out at the bookstore. As we spent more time together, we realized that our personalities (all of them) and our business goals lined up surprisingly well. Eventually we made the logical decision to combine our businesses into one shared space, which is how Yonder Coffee & Chocolate ended up inside Rivendell.

People constantly try to categorize our relationship. Some assume we’re siblings. A few ask if we’re married. More than once authors have asked if they can write a friends-to-lovers rom-com about us—which Ronnie’s husband finds especially amusing. My personal opinion is that if anyone writes about us, it should probably be an accidental murder mystery.

In reality, I’m a big believer in found family, and Ronnie—along with his husband and son—are absolutely part of mine. Our kids are best friends, and I’m fairly certain my mother likes him more than she likes me. He reminds me he’s her favorite almost daily.

One of my favorite things he’s ever said was, “Soulmates aren’t always romantic. Sometimes they’re the person you open a taco truck with.”

In our case, the bookstore and chocolate shop are our taco truck, and building it together has been one of the best adventures of my life.

Recently we were approached with an opportunity that was too good to pass up as business owners. It means a transition and relocation for the chocolate shop, which has led to a lot of conversations about what the next chapter looks like. More than one customer has said they can’t imagine one of us without the other—and honestly, neither can we. We’re still figuring out exactly what the future holds, but we’re excited to see where this next part of the story takes us.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

One of the biggest lessons I’ve had to unlearn—both in business and in life—is the idea that everything has to be perfect before you begin. If you wait for the “right moment,” chances are you won’t realize it was the right moment until it has already passed.

I have OCD, and one of the challenges that comes with that is feeling like things are never quite finished or good enough. For a long time that mindset caused me to hesitate. I would wait until conditions were perfectly aligned before moving forward with something. The problem is that life rarely presents you with perfectly aligned conditions.

Opening the bookstore was the moment I finally broke that pattern. I stopped waiting for the perfect timing, the perfect plan, or the perfect level of certainty, and I just did the thing I had always dreamed about doing.

What I realized is that the “moment” is almost always there. What’s usually missing is the willingness to step past fear and commit to the work required to make something happen. That doesn’t mean it’s easy. Sometimes it feels like you’re fighting the entire world for a vision you’re not even completely sure will work out.

But the act of starting—of choosing momentum over perfection—changes everything.

There’s a line from one of my favorite artists (Niykee Heaton) that I think about often when I’m building something new: “My ambition is my weaponry.” It’s a reminder that determination and persistence often matter more than perfect timing or perfect plans.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rivendellbandb.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rivendellbooksandbaubles/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Rivendellbooksandbaubles
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-edwards-094250283
• Other: https://bookshop.org/shop/rivendellbandb