Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alisha Wilder. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alisha, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How do you feel about asking friends and family to support your business? What’s appropriate, what’s not? Where do you draw the line?

I read a quote the other day and it has really resonated with me. “Your hustle needs to be put on display in order for your business to grow and in order to find people who will support you and champion you.” When we first started the idea of Bookish Bliss Literary Retreats I was afraid to tell people as I did not want them to tell me we would fail or lie to me saying that we would kill it. So I only told select family members and friends and as I started telling them I stumbled across that quote and now I will tell anyone and everyone that will listen about our new business. If I am not out there being my own cheerleader no one else will and any start up needs a cheerleader and not only do they need one they need many cheerleaders so the more you tell and the more they see and feel your passion they too will become your cheerleaders.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

During Covid my best friend and now business partner started a book club and she told me about it and I was so stoked that we could do something that kept you connected in such a weird time. As she grew the book club and Covid was starting to settle down into our new norm we decided we should get together and do a book club retreat. Our first one was in Sonoma and for most of us this was our first time meeting in real life and we were excited to geek out on the book for that month along with other books we have all loved. That is what put the idea in our heads that we could make this a business, creating Book Retreats for people to attend and discuss books with like minded people from all over. We have just launched and we are getting some great traction from people all over the US.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

15 years ago I was working in a Casino as an Event Coordinator and we had Spokesmodels for our events and we happened to hire Alana who is now my Business Partner but never in a million years on that day 15 years ago did I think we would be opening a business together. She has always been incredibly smart and driven and when she started the Book Club during covid I was so excited to have a reason to talk with her almost daily and chat with her at least once a month on Book Club.  During one of our Book Clubs we decided we wanted to do more and we knew we could work together as we had in the past and our business was born.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Facebook and Instagram have been super helpful but having true open conversations with random people has really helped us educate people about our business and what our goals for the business are. Family and Friends have also been super helpful in sharing and reposting and just championing us in every step of the way.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bookish-bliss.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bookish__bliss/?fbclid=IwAR3xZFAtkWdnpzWYny9DMzkoNey_pPU57WFV3VyyMZU3uCsZ4jcQQoXXtGk
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550341331038

Image Credits
Natalie Olsen Photography & Ashton Kay Photography