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

Alright, Audrey thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

I’ve always had a passion for good books. As a former high school English teacher, I’ve seen firsthand the transformative power of literature!
4th and Court Bookshop & Makerspace began as a weekend pop-up of book & vendor sales, with the proceeds donated to charity. In August of 2023, a local entrepreneur and friend of mine had the idea to invite local small business owners who do not have their own store fronts to set up “booths” and sell their products in conjunction with a charity book sale.
I was working at the local coffee shop at the time, where I heard about the idea. I quickly became involved and helped to run the 3-day event. As I watched community members of all ages browse books and fellowship together, I truly felt like I was in my element. As we asked for feedback, the common sentiment was, “When will you do this again?” and “You should open this full-time!”
It was truly a blessing that I was at a place in my life where I was ready to take on a totally new challenge, and after a few weeks of consideration and planning, we decided to jump in. We began by renting the downtown business space where the pop-up was held, and started advertising.
I was truly floored by the positive response from the community. We chose to rent space to eight local vendors in the beginning, and in just a few weeks I already had a waiting list for vendor space. Every book we sold in those first few months were donations from local residents.
One of my primary goals is to make 4th and Court a comfortable space for community members to meet and spend time. One of the ways I strive to do this is by hosting events based on customer interest. This was something we started early on, and has become a staple in the community. We have hosted a wide variety of well-attended events, including trivia night, kids’ craft days, Christmas open house, swing & line dance night, pop-up vendor market, and many more!
Although the vendor products, events, and books for sale are constantly changing, our mission at 4th and Court has remained the same- to enrich our local business community and provide a welcoming space for customers of all ages and interests.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

A Clay Center native, I grew up in our community and graduated from Clay Center Community High School in 2015. After 4 years at Emporia State University, I graduated with my degree in Secondary English Education and my husband and I returned to Clay Center, where I taught high school English for 4 years.
My transition to the business world was never really in my life plan, but it has been a great adventure! I have relied greatly on our strong local business community for their expertise, which has been a great blessing.
One of the most unique things about 4th and Court is that we pride ourselves on being as flexible as possible to support our vendors and provide for our customers. If a new vendor wants to hold a pop-up event, we make it happen. If a customer suggests a new event idea, we try it out. In a small community, this type of creative thinking is vital for the life of any business! We also make it our goal to stay as connected to local businesses and nonprofits as possible. For example, recently we worked with one of our vendors, who prints tee shirts, to design and sell a shirt that says, “read books and rescue dogs”. We donated a portion of each sale to our local animal rescue, a cause near to our hearts, as it is where we adopted our dog.
For me, it’s also a priority to continue to draw customers of all ages with a wide variety of books, vendor products, and events. We have a number of young families who are frequent visitors, as well as gift-shoppers from out of town and veteran mystery and romance readers. It’s such a privilege to develop relationships with such a wide variety of community members, and has been one of the major highlights of the business world for me.

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

I had to unlearn my need to make everything perfect. I often feel that if I just work hard enough, everything will turn out the way I want and expect. However, when running a business, sometimes the unlikeliest ideas are the most successful!
I’ve always been a little bit of a perfectionist. However, in business, I have quickly realized that success is not measured by how “perfect” your idea is. Sometimes, just jumping in with two feet and adapting to change as it comes is much more effective! Over the past year and a half, I have learned so much about marketing, entrepreneurship, and management, and most of my lessons came from trying something that didn’t work, then adapting and trying again!

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Social media has become the primary method of advertising and information distribution in our local business community (as it has in so many places). Curating a Facebook and Instagram page was challenging at first, but has been one of our greatest sources of information.
One of the best pieces of advice I could give is to seek out someone who is a successful social media advocate and discuss ideas with them. Recently, I met with another local business owner who has been a member of our business community for more than 10 years. She helped me brainstorm a social media plan that would showcase the highlights and support the unique needs of 4th and Court. She advised that all “new” businesses (under 5 years) should be posting every day! This has really encouraged me to get creative with my social media and come up with new ways to feature our book selection and vendor products.
Recently, we also held a “share… follow… win!” product giveaway. This was an easy way to engage with customers on social media and help build the social media following for our vendors, as well. I also love posting questions on our Instagram and Facebook story for followers to answer. We’ve chosen our book club reads this way, as well as getting customer input on our book orders.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @4thandcourtbookshop
• Facebook: 4th and Court Bookshop & Makerspace