MAIJA WALTERS STUTSMAN & ALEAH DECHANT ARE SHELFRIGHTEOUS

Autumn has come alive here in the midwest. It's my favorite time of the year. For most of three months -- from about September 1 to December 1 -- I feel productive and energized by the cooler temps and the color.  I've appreciated the color of fall all my life. 

I love bringing out the sweatshirts and the coats to accommodate the early morning and evening chill. How about you? Do you love fall too?
Sitting recently with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law (whom you'll meet in this episode) at their Northern Indiana home out on the deck enjoying good, hot coffee and the warmth of their fire and conversation, I was reminded why I love this time of year. 

With the coronavirus, we are severely limiting our circle: a few very close friends and a few family members. That's it. I crave real, honest connection and conversation and the mental health impact of the coronavirus has made these connections timely and important. 

Speaking of connection, a book is a kind of conversation too, isn't it? Between the author and the reader? Through their characters, the author invites you into their world. The best writers can make you feel as if you are right there at the table, on the bus or sitting close by. It is a special feeling when you connect with a book, the author and their characters.

It is connection that led today's guests, MAIJA WALTERS STUTSMAN and ALEAH DECHANT , to create SHELFRIGHTEOUS, a subscription book box built around a novel and the idea of supporting women businesses. Starting this December, Maija and Aleah will start sending their very first subscription boxes. 

The concept started more than a year ago. Aleah and Maija, friends for nearly a decade and colleagues at Maija's Fitness Studio "The Bubble", began discussing a different business. Maija's body was a bit beat up after 10 years of teaching classes in Zumba, Barre, Rowing, Boxing and doing massage and Aleah also was anxious to move to something new.

The name they chose for the business, SHELFRIGHTEOUS, is a play on words. In one sense they want to share their love of incredible literature, as Maija says, "make your bookshelf the best" in the neighborhood. In another sense, they want to especially support women. That's where the righteous part comes in. Each quarter, a new box will ship out with a novel written by a woman, several items consistent with the novel's theme, a themed playlist and a recipe Aleah and Maija think fits with the book. The boxes are environmentally friendly and the contents are sourced from women-owned businesses wherever possible.

Maija and Aleah want to build a community of subscribers and encourage conversation, both through a virtual book club included in the subscription and through others who form their own book clubs with their subscriptions. In these turbulent times--politically and medically--these two strong and thoughtful women want to bring people together around a common love of books and create a sustainable business that eventually will support their families.

We talk about how they came up with the name, SHELFRIGHTEOUS, how their separate paths led them to come together to create a business, the challenges of starting a small business and what they've learned and can teach others, and their hopes for how SHELFRIGHTEOUS might allow them to connect with and support women.

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shelfrighteousbookbox
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