We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Megan Jenks a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Megan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

When my business partner and I started our business, we knew it was a risk. My partner had actually started on her own with original designs turned into stickers and we decided to scale it up on a larger scale. Neither of us had business owner experience so we were and are learning as we went. The risk was whether or not our business would succeed. Not because of our lack of experience but because what if people didn’t resonate with our products? What if our designs weren’t as good as we thought? We researched other companies similar to us and saw how they did their layouts, how they marketed their products, and what their products looked like overall. After combing through these pages and researching the other factors, we decided that no matter what came our way, we were willing to make it happen.

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

Bailey and I met in our book club. We both share an intense love for reading and clicked instantly. It was as of we had known each other for years. We balanced each other out and knew what each other was thinking before even saying it out loud. I found out that she was creating and selling stickers that focused on different book tropes and generally reading humor. After I bought almost every one of her stickers, the idea hit me – Why not go into business together and scale this up? I approached her with the idea of turning her designs into t-shirts and sweatshirts and she immediately agreed. Originally we named ourselves Charms&Chapters but we’ve since rebranded to Moonlit Fables.

Our designs stay true to our of reading and books – bookish humor, tropes, and relatable moments while reading. Bailey and I are both neurodivergent so we incorporate that into our designs as well as the materials that we use. We aim for comfort and relatability. We currently specialize in t-shirts, sweatshirts, and stickers. Eventually, we’d like to expand into other categories. What sets us apart besides being women owned and operated is that our designs are all original. We don’t use designs that have saturated the market – reading is relative and so is the merchandise that comes with it. Not every reader enjoys the same type of books or tropes so why would we use cookie cutter designs?

We want people to feel comfortable and seen with our designs so we post polls and ask our followers opinions on our social medias. Everything we do is for our clients and bookish community.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When Bailey and I first got started, our business was named Charms&Chapters. However, a few months in to our adventure (because that’s exactly what it has been) we were notified that our business name was incredibly similar to another business that sold similar products. So what did we do? Did we quit? Not even close. We put the business on hold and immediately went back to the drawing board. Our designs are original art designed by Bailey so those were fine. But we had to come up with a new name. We started coming with new ideas (lists upon lists of names) to see what we loved and also fit our brand. It took us a couple of weeks but we finally settled on Moonlit Fables. Then we had to double check that we weren’t stepping one someone’s toes by using another similar name. Was it easy? No. But it was worth it because we feel that our new name speaks more to who we are and fits our brand beautifully.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

The funny thing about our social media is that Bailey and I are both introverts. We are comfortable around our people but shy and quiet around strangers. However, we knew that as a e-commerce business we NEEDED social media to get our products out there for people to see and find. Thankfully, Bailey and I both had platforms that centered around reading and so we took that and ran with it. We created a business Instagram and TikTok and started researching popular audios and marketing strategies for our products. Typically, I stay away from the camera and spotlight and focus on our business logistics. That worked for a bit but then it didn’t. I had to come to terms with getting out of my comfort zone and creating content by myself (mostly without Bailey in the shot with me). I quickly found out that I enjoyed it and I went crazy with it. Now, every week I take one day to make a week’s worth of content. Bailey makes content on her as well and we alternate the posts on both pages. We also have done two giveaways to help increase our followers and get our products out there physically. After had a few sales under our belts we brought on two brand ambassadors. We took a different approach with it. Our ambassadors get their own personal discount code for their orders as well as codes for their posts on social media. All of this has helped our social media grow. Our advice? Get comfortable with getting uncomfortable. Take the risks. Move out of your comfort zone. You never know where it might lead you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://moonlitfable.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moonlitfables_?igsh=cDhpMzVma2p3cGc4&utm_source=qr
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@moonlitfables?_t=ZP-8tj9dIuLbZu&_r=1

Image Credits

Bailey Gordon & Megan Jenks