Beloveds,
it started small ... a casual conversation about books & a possible boko club. then it turned into something real: working out logistics with my co-organizer, deciding what this circle would actually be.
now it's live. and i'm excited and nervous about it in equal measure β which tells me it matters.
what it is: the TBJA Book Club is a circle inside The Boardroom JA β Jamaican women in business, in the trenches, building β who read together. not "read someday." read on a cycle, together, out loud about it. check-ins, not grades. showing up imperfectly, on purpose.
how to join: you don't audition. you show up. drop into The Boardroom JA WhatsApp, find the TBJA Book Club, and you're in. we are working on the hub for members now!
the part i almost didn't tell you: i'm the first author this circle is reading. and i almost didn't suggest my own book. i'm a co-organizer here β i help build this space β and some part of me flinched at the idea of putting my own work in front of the room. felt like it would read as opportunistic. greedy, even. using my own seat at the table to sell something.
i sat with that for longer than i want to admit. and then i named it for what it actually was: shame. guilt for selling the thing i made. like wanting to be read and wanting to be paid for it can't both be true at once. they can. this space exists exactly for this β partnerships, collabs, women putting their work in front of women who'll actually show up for it. so i stopped shrinking and put the book on the list.
the flip nobody sees: the pricing almost shipped messier β a different discount for every price point, buyers doing math before they could buy. i killed it. collapsed it into one code, one flat rate, across my whole catalog. the backend is boring on purpose now. the part that should feel alive is the reading, not the checkout.
if you're a creative, an author, or run any kind of business β The Boardroom JA is every woman building something β this is your sign. don't wait for someone to invite you the way I had to talk myself into it. drop into the WhatsApp community, introduce yourself, and start making your own collabs happen. nobody's gatekeeping this. i almost gatekept myself out of it!
β join The Boardroom JA WhatsApp, introduce yourself in the Book Club Circle, and tell us what you're building or reading.
Talk Soon,
Santana Chevel πΉ