We recently connected with Renee Powers and have shared our conversation below.

Renee, appreciate you joining us today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

The journey of a business owner isn’t linear and it certainly isn’t easy. There are definitely days that I wonder what it would be like to clock into a job, put in my 8 hours, and go home to relax. But I know I would be miserable in the mundanity, despite the consistency of a regular job. I crave change and thrive in creative problem solving. I need freedom in my schedule to rest when I need it, to switch gears when it’s necessary, and to experiment each day. I strive to foster those needs in my team as well, so we can slowly begin to change the way we participate in capitalism one small business at a time.

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

Feminist Book Club is a monthly book subscription service and media platform dedicated to uplifting intersectional feminist voices in books and beyond. We use literature as a launch pad to discuss hard topics, from ableism to xenophobia. As a former academic in media and gender studies, I use my research background to give life to feminist theory and demonstrate how applicable these issues are in our everyday lives. We don’t have to be professional activists to make positive progressive changes in our communities.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Growing up, I found worthiness in achievement. I wanted to look good on paper, be someone my parents could brag about, collect all the accolades. But that’s exhausting. I am slowly unlearning the overachieving workaholic lifestyle and coming to terms with the fact that I am enough, I am worthy, and I am a divine being who doesn’t need to be “doing” all the time. As Tricia Hersey writes, “Rest is resistance.” My productivity does not matter in the long run. My value is not in my output, it’s in my being.

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

Feminist Book Club is an active participant in the online book community. We’ve built our Instagram and TikTok following fairly organically, only paying a few hundred dollars in boosted posts or ads once or twice a year. We’ve partnered with influencers in our niche to bring attention to our product and we make sure to share more than just the business. We stay relevant by joining into conversations related to the book industry, geeking out about new releases, and sharing lots of behind-the-scenes content. On TikTok especially, we create silly videos that tend to do well but we also spend a lot of energy recommending books, not so our audience can buy them for us, but so our audience trusts our taste and eventually become followers and customers.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.feministbookclub.com
• Instagram: @yourfeministbookclub
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/feministbookclubbox
• Twitter: @fmnstbookclub
• Other: TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@feministbookclub

Image Credits
Jessica Knighton Photography