We recently connected with Kaitlyn Mahoney and have shared our conversation below.

Kaitlyn, 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 came to my queer identity relatively late in life. Growing up, I didn’t have access to the language or history of queerness. Reading books in my 20s is how I was able to discover the possibilities for myself and how I figured out my queerness. I have a lot of access and privilege and was specifically seeking out books with queer narratives, and it was still difficult for me to find the stories that reflected me, my reality, and my future possibilities. I knew that if it was that difficult for me, it had to be even more difficult for those without my level of access.

Salt Lake City is one of the ten queerest cities in America, but we have hardly any queer-specific spaces and even fewer that are accessible to all ages. Having spaces available for queer youth to feel safe and validated is especially important and we all deserve a space where we can be ourselves and build community. One bookstore isn’t going to change the world, but one bookstore can be a place of refuge, a place of validation and celebration, and a place to learn more about yourself and discover that you are not alone.

That’s where Under the Umbrella comes in. Under the Umbrella is a queer little bookstore on Ute, Goshute, Shoshone, and Paiute land (Salt Lake City, Utah), sharing and celebrating queer books written by queer authors and offering a safe, sober, and accessible space for 2SLGBTQIA+ people to gather. We flip the script on the traditional prioritization of the publishing industry by further prioritizing the works and stories of Black queers—especially Black transgender women—and other queers of color, disabled queers, fat queers, two-spirit people, intersex people, asexual and aromantic people, incarcerated queer people, queer sex workers, and other identities within the queer community that are further marginalized. In addition to books and other queer-made goods, we offer free and low-cost resources for our community, including meeting spaces, a small cafe, a little free library, and a give & take wall for individuals to build community together.

I feel strongly that queer people (especially queer youth) should be able to see themselves in the stories they read. Our stories should not be relegated to a single shelf in the back, visible only during Pride Month. They deserve to be visible and celebrated year round. On top of that, many queer people in Utah specifically lack an affirming space to be themselves. I wanted to create a space for individual and collective queer relationships to grow. I decided to use my savings to open a queer bookstore and crowdfund the rest. We were able to raise more than $50,000 from 450+ donors for the opening inventory through our Indiegogo campaign.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

As a white middle class person, I have a lot of privilege, including having personal savings that I could draw on to start this business. Building an inventory for a bookstore is an expensive endeavor, however, so I decided to supplement the starting capital my savings were providing with a fundraising campaign through Indiegogo.

Every Indiegogo project is a community effort, but there’s something about a community effort to create a community space that feels very poignant. More than 460 people donated to help make Under the Umbrella a possibility, and the majority of them were donating at the $15-$50 perk level or forgoing the perks completely. These are individuals who really see the need for this space and want to be part of making it happen.

So many people reached out to express how much a space like this would have meant to them when they were younger and how excited they are to see it become a space now. Strangers have donated their favorite queer books, sent me lists of books to stock in the store, given financial and other material support, and have offered to help set up the bookstore or otherwise volunteer to make sure the space succeeds. There were also a lot of people who did their own crowdfunding outside of the Indiegogo to gather even more support for the store. Under the Umbrella is absolutely a community effort to create and curate a safe space together.

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

Because most of our capital is tied up in inventory, we are unable to dedicate many resources to marketing. Our dedicated and enthusiastic customer base has been the best source of new clients for us. We get most of our new customers from word of mouth!

Contact Info:

• Website: undertheumbrellabookstore.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/undertheumbrellabookstore
• Facebook: facebook.com/utubookstore
• Twitter: twitter.com/utubookstore
• Yelp: yelp.com/biz/under-the-umbrella-salt-lake-city
• Other: tiktok.com/@utubookstore