July 24, 2026 • 20 mins
The latest episode of the Building Black Biz podcast features Helen Little in conversation with Petra Sherbin-Fox, founder of The Lit Twis't Mobile Bookstore, Arizona's first Black-owned mobile bookstore. Together, they discuss entrepreneurship, representation, and the power of books in the community.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today's Building Black Bizs Podcasts in partnership with your local
Toyota Dealers Toyota Let's Go Places.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Today we are building with Petra Sherbin Fox, CEO of
The Lit Twist, Arizona's first black woman owned mobile bookstore.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Welcome to the Building Black Bizs Podcast.
Speaker 4 (00:20):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
So this is right up my alley because I'm an
avid reader, I am pursuing publishing for my first novel
and I love this idea.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Tell us how tell us about your business?
Speaker 5 (00:34):
So we are a mobile bookstore. We are located in
or I guess primarily located in Phoenix, Arizona. We have
been doing this for like a year and a half
and the great thing about us is that we host
or we highlight black and brown women authors primarily in
our bookstore.
Speaker 4 (00:54):
And so we're mobile. We kind of hang around the valley.
Speaker 5 (00:57):
We have a seven by fourteen trailer that I can't
drive by myself just yet, but that's.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
On the to do list this summer.
Speaker 5 (01:05):
Like Patri, you have to learn how to drive this
trailer by yourself. But we kind of just travel around
the valley at markets and sell books by black and
brown women.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
What drove you to.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Want to create this particular business frustration?
Speaker 5 (01:20):
Oh frustration, you know, like you go to these larger
retailers and looking for books written by black and brown women,
and you know it's far and few in between, and
I'm like, there are so many, so many black women
authors and to only have like four or five titles,
it was frustrating. So I've been an avid reader since
(01:40):
I was a child. I'm originally from Brooklyn, New York,
so I spent a lot of time in a strand
bookstore as a kid. It's when those staple bookstores, and
it's one of the inspirations behind starting the bookstore. But
my husband's in a military so we're gonna eventually move.
So the best business model for us was a model.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
So that's how it all.
Speaker 5 (02:02):
Came together, like the frustration out of you know, out
of the lack of representation, my deep desire and being
a book like a book reader since I was a kid,
and then be wanting to be able to start a
mobile or some kind of bookstore, and then doing it
mobilely just because it works better with my lifestyle.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
I love that, I mean, because that was one of
the questions, is why why mobile. Obviously, I think mobile
is smart for a lot of different reasons, but I
didn't know your particular reason.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
And that's so you can take your business with you
wherever you.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
Live, yes, ma'am exactly.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
So how did it get started?
Speaker 2 (02:39):
What is the process for creating a mobile bookstore as
opposed to a brick and mortar bookstore.
Speaker 5 (02:45):
So, I mean, I think there's a lot of benefits
with this business model too, just because like the overhead
is not as large, we have a lot more flexibility.
I do have a nine to five that I really
really enjoy, and so this allows me to allow this
to be a happy place for me too. I aim
to create happy places for readers, but I also wanted
to continue to be a happy place for me. So
(03:07):
the first thing we did was come up with the idea,
which I was not fond of, to be honest, at first,
I was like, I don't want a mobile book store.
You can't have a vibe in a mobile book store.
My husband was like, yes, you can anyway. I finally
caved and that was like July of twenty twenty four.
So we started to put the pieces together and I
was like, well, what how do I want this to
be mine, Like what do I want to do to
(03:29):
make it more unique?
Speaker 4 (03:30):
And that's where I went with the problem.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
I see in solving that problem. Then we were doing
a lot of research on like how large of a
trailer do we want? Do we want the barn doors,
we want the ramp door. There was a lot of pieces.
How will we how do we put it together? You
know how many.
Speaker 4 (03:49):
Books can fit in it? So all of those logistical parts.
Speaker 5 (03:51):
I'm an operations mind, so I did all the operational
things first.
Speaker 4 (03:56):
Then we finally trademarked the name.
Speaker 5 (04:00):
That was like one of the first things that we
did once I nailed everything down, like, let me trademark
this name. We bought the mobile, the trailer, and it
took about three and a half months for us to
build it out. My husband did build out most of
it on his own, with a little bit of help
from me. I was like, we'll be a little bit
to the left, a little bit to the right. And
(04:21):
I was stressing him out the whole time. But so
from like July to November, we were doing all the
best behind the scenes stuff, buying the book slowly getting
all the things together. From November, well, from like October
to January. We were building it out and then we
went and I had our grand opening January twenty sixth,
twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
So the name lit twist, I love Villet Twist. Where
did the name come from? Tell us about that?
Speaker 5 (04:48):
So it wasn't my original name. That was my second name.
My first name was the lit Vibe. But I also
worked with a trademark attorney and she was like, that's
not going to get trademarked. A few reasons why it
would be difficult. So I was heartbroken that I couldn't
use that name. And then we went back to the
like the drawing board, like I really wanted lit literary
(05:10):
and that little pun on the you know, on that term.
And then the twist came from plot twist, so I
and then the apostrophe Tea is just me being rebellious
because I couldn't get my first names. I'm like, I'm
gonna do something else to just make this different. So
so we did that, and so the lit twist really
is like a literary plot twist, and when you come
(05:32):
into the story, it says it's lit with a twist,
just to kind of keep on playing on, you know,
the plot twist literary twist and the fact that when
you come in here, we're gonna have things.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
The plot is going to plot when you.
Speaker 5 (05:44):
Come in, we're the conversations, the vibe, all of the things.
We just really make it really fun and playful when
you come in.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
I'm telling you, I love this idea so much for
so many different reasons. Once because, like I said, I'm
also an avid reader talk to authors about their books.
I'm just so entrenched this and just the idea of it.
I would have never thought of it, but I do
remember mobile libraries, yes, but never a mobile bookstore.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
And I'm like, this is amazing.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
So if someone's listening and they're interested in starting a
mobile business, it's a bit more of a unique space
plan a traditional brick and mortar. What's a typical day
for you as a business owner. I know you said
you have another nine to five, but when you're focused
on your bookstore, what's a typical day?
Speaker 5 (06:31):
Like So, I mean, it's funny because we've had a
few Juneteenth events that actually that ends our season. Here
it's about one hundred and ten degrees outside and.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
It doesn't matter how much AC is pumping.
Speaker 5 (06:42):
The ac actually broke within the first couple of minutes,
they were like, girl, not in this weather.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
We're not.
Speaker 5 (06:49):
But from the typical day, like, let's just say getting
set up for an event. I have the mobile bookstore
at a storage facility for the most part, just because
I live on the street.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
I could park it outside.
Speaker 5 (07:01):
But for the sake of like being able to clean
things up. We make sure that we are looking at inventory.
That is a big piece. It is my least favorite.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
Thing to do. I will be very honest with you.
We don't have many books.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
We can only house about six hundred books in a
bookstore comfortably. But man, when it's time to reallocate and
see what's in there what's not. We typically do that
at the end of every event or event weekend. We
do like a full reset, so going through inventory, making
sure all inventory and stock is updated and correct, just
in case I make a mistake or somehow I miss,
you know, mistype something. Also making sure that I have
(07:37):
a good idea of my merch.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
It's another thing.
Speaker 5 (07:39):
I'm like, do I have all the pieces that I
need or do I need to order stuff?
Speaker 4 (07:44):
Also look at problems.
Speaker 5 (07:45):
I'm always like, Okay, we had this event, what problem
did we have, what issue or what challenge was presented,
and how do I mitigate that moving forward? I think
for scalability purposes, it's really important for me to end
the moment figure out, Okay, every time there's a problem,
I always right it down.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
What was the issue?
Speaker 5 (08:01):
If I drove up and there's books on the floor,
that's an issue. I gotta figure out why. I actually
broke almost all of my like trinkets that I had
in the mobile bookstore. But that typically travels really well.
But this weekend, every single one broke. My butterfly, my elephant,
everything broke this weekend.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
So for me, I'm like, Okay, well.
Speaker 5 (08:21):
What happens? What do we do that made this that
you know, created this concern? So so mitigating any issues
and looking at what and then how did.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
The events do That's another thing.
Speaker 5 (08:34):
Being able to look at how much do we make?
How much did it cost us to be there? Is
it something that we would do again? What feedback do
we have for the people who hosted it? If we
are the host, what feedback did we get from the
people who also attended. So it's a lot of a
lot of pieces of just like making sure that we
look at things from like a real bird's eye view
(08:55):
and associate and appropriate every piece of it. People think
we just put our you know, hitch car up and
just pull up to the to the markets. I'm like,
we have to prepare in advance. We have to have
to make sure we have all the inventory, and we
also have to mitigate any of those those issues and
concerns as they come up. And that's what we do
when we, you know, after an event.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
I mean, I can imagine the list of things that
go into putting this, I mean just down to like
where you're going to park.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Yeah, those are the things that.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Most people might not be thinking of as they consider
something like this. So being the first, you know, that
often comes with both opportunities and challenges.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
What has surprised you most about the.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Journey of building Arizona's first black woman owned mobile bookstore.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
There's a few things.
Speaker 5 (09:42):
First, it has been so widely welcomed by almost everyone.
There's a few people, but that's fine, We're not here
for them. Almost everyone has been very, very open and welcoming.
And secondly, we were the first, also the first mobile
bookstore that opens in the valley in January of twenty
(10:04):
twenty five, Since then, about ten others have opened in
the valley.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
Yeah, which is I mean, for me, it's great.
Speaker 5 (10:14):
A lot of people are like, hey, Patrick, you inspired
me to open this business.
Speaker 4 (10:17):
I didn't think I would, you know, I didn't think.
Speaker 5 (10:19):
A mobile bookstore or a mobile option would work. A
lot of people have been inspired by our journey, and
so I love that. And it's interesting because it's like
there's ten of us, but all ten of us are
have different books, different genres, different niches, and so being
in first does come with a lot of challenges in
(10:40):
terms of, you know, when you're trying to go into events,
they're like, oh, we you know, we only want to
have one mobile book store. I'm like, well, you guys
have five different people that are selling pet treats. There's
no reason why two mobile bookstores can't be here, especially
when we're not selling the same thing. So that was
one of the challenges that I kind of ran into.
But also I'm very direct and I like.
Speaker 4 (11:02):
To head on.
Speaker 5 (11:02):
You know, I think confrontation could be healthy. So let's
talk about why there's absolutely oppositition should be opportunity for
two bookstores to be here, especially when we're selling totally
different things.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
That's the Brooklyn in you.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
It is it is.
Speaker 5 (11:19):
Listen, you could take me anywhere, but I'm still a
Brooklyn girl.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
But you know, I read the lit Twisters about far
more than selling books. For you, what do you hope
your business means for the broader community.
Speaker 5 (11:33):
Yeah, I mean for me, it's it's about you know,
highlighting stories, of really highlighting black culture. This is an
act of resistance. There was a time where black people
could not read. It was illegal for us to read.
And so it is my you know, way of activism
and saying, hey, there is times there was a time
where our voices and our culture and our stories were
(11:54):
either not able to be written or weren't able to
be read. And in this day and a it is
our it is our responsibility to hold the space for
these stories, for our stories, for our culture.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
And to amplify at any point in time.
Speaker 5 (12:10):
So I take I take it with great pride to
be able to have you know, work of like Bell Hooks,
Tony Morris and Octavia Butler, even the newer authors like
having their work on our shelves as a space of hey,
don't forget. At one time this was not possible for
us and now it is.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
I don't. I don't take that responsibility lightly.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
So you go to these events, but what's the one
that has meant the most or you're most proud of.
I was on your social and I'll see you have done.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
A lot of events. What is the one that you
are most proud of so far?
Speaker 4 (12:46):
Ooh, that's a good question. The most proud of?
Speaker 5 (12:50):
I mean we host a lot of our own so
I'm there's too right, Like we had a books and brunch,
we started something in a valley that wasn't being done,
not gonna lie. I did not enjoy putting it together
because there's so much gritty parts of putting a market together.
And then I don't like to I think that it's
important for me to explain myself to people, but also
(13:12):
I'm not going to explain myself to people that makes sense,
you know what I mean? Like you know, So there's
a lot of pieces and a lot of and I
am because again in my nine to five I'm doing operations.
I'm always mitigating risks and concerns and looking at scalability.
That's how my brain works at all times, and so
people don't understand sometimes when you're looking at the broader
(13:34):
picture of things. Some things might might not make sense
on a smaller scale, but on a larger scale, you know,
the adjustments are necessary. So I'm very proud of Books
and Brunch. We were able to partner with Arizona Center.
They have been amazing with like to us. They have
allowed us to use their space to grow a market,
(13:55):
to be able to bring literacy back to you know,
into into Phoenix, And so we do that now once
a year. When we started, we were trying to do
it every month. That was too much of an overhaul
for my team, and the juice wasn't worth the sweet
To be honest, it didn't do as well just because
I felt like it would be better at a different
you know, a different kind of a like a schedule.
(14:18):
So we kind of refined that. But I'm very proud
of that, and I'm very proud of the support we had.
And then the event that we went to Black Romance
Book Festival was the largest event for us we had.
I mean I'm talking about I went there with four
different suitcases full of books that I write. It was
a huge overhaul for us. But and then we came
(14:41):
into a lot of problems. We literally sold out the
first day. Oh wow, we went to pre orders. After
that we had to literally pivot at like every step
of the way. Okay, this is done, this, this is
this is the solution, this is what we're gonna have.
Speaker 4 (14:54):
To do to fix it.
Speaker 5 (14:56):
And it just showed us me like my commitment to
to black literacy, but also my team's resilience.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
We literally rocked the hell out of that event.
Speaker 5 (15:07):
It was our largest and we literally flew from Phoenix
to be a bookseller at an event in Atlanta and
we did amazing. So I'm very proud of my team. They,
like I said, they killed it. It was long days, we
were on our feet, but we knocked it out the
park and we were invited again for next year. We
did an experience on a small like a fifty person experience.
(15:31):
They want us now to expand that to two hundred people.
Speaker 4 (15:34):
Wow. Yeah, And I don't take that lightly.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
No, that is not to be taken like at all.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Your biggest lesson as a founder and what's some of
the best advice that you've gotten that's benefited your business.
Speaker 5 (15:49):
I think for me, like staying tenth toes down on
my vision. You know, people and things will make you
feel like you have to make adjust Smith's you know,
to appear to the masses. You know, we had a
huge company reach out to do a collaboration and then
they folded on us last minute, and I was While
(16:13):
I was disappointed, I was also like, we're going to
have these situations and it doesn't matter how large or
how small the companies are. We needn't stand ten toes
down on what we do and how we do it.
We are a bookstore. We house books written by black
and brown women.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
That is it.
Speaker 5 (16:30):
That is all, and we're not going to waver or change.
When it was time for me to come to you know,
you know, my project manager, my brand manager. I when
I was talking to people and trying to figure out
what who our team was, it was important for me
to find people that understood that and understood that there's
a lot of things I will pivot and remain flexible on,
(16:51):
but the core values of our like why we are
doing this, I'm not gonna waiver on. So that's been
that's been important to me. And the advice that I've gotten,
and it's funny because I've.
Speaker 4 (17:03):
Also been giving it is do it scared.
Speaker 5 (17:08):
There's no perfect time you just literally have to do it.
And I'm a perfectionist, and I you know, oftentimes like
it's not good enough.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
I'm like, Patri, just do it.
Speaker 5 (17:21):
The only way that you're going to be able to
make the adjustments is by doing it and recognizing the
ways that you can make the adjustments.
Speaker 4 (17:33):
But if you don't do it, you're not gonna, know.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
I love that. That is awesome.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Not only is that advice that's been received, but for
whoever's listening that I do believe will be something extremely helpful.
So what does success look like for the lit Twists
five years from now?
Speaker 5 (17:51):
You know, five years now. I'm like, I see the
Litzis as a global brand. I see this as a franchise.
I see this as a space where you know, there's
multiple mobile bookstores in different cities that have adopted the
same core values of amplifying black voices and black stories,
(18:15):
creating a space for warmth and welcomness when it comes
to book reading.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
You know, I always say come as you are and
take what you need this.
Speaker 5 (18:24):
You know, like even with our book club, Okay, if
you didn't read the book, we're not gonna You're not
gonna die behind it.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
We're not going to, you know, make you feel terrible. Life.
Speaker 5 (18:30):
Life's every single day, right, So come as you are,
take what you need.
Speaker 4 (18:35):
But I always tell.
Speaker 5 (18:35):
My team, like I want people to walk into the bookstore,
I want them to feel that the love that we
have for reading, but also the love that we have
for the culture, and the love that we have to
be able like to even have the opportunity to share
our voices. And so I'm we're taking this global. I
said it from my ear, from my mouth to your ears.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
I got it.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
And I love the idea of franchising because I think
there's so much opportunit unity and I know what the
need is. So if you're selling out like that on
the first day, that proves the need right there.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
The legacy do you hope the lit Twist will leave behind?
Speaker 5 (19:14):
I pray that the lit Twist leaves a legacy that
reminds people that no matter what, like Black history could
never be erased. Amen, we we built this country and
our stories, our voices, our culture could never be could
never be erased.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
That's a powerful legacy, that is very powerful.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
I appreciate.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
I want to thank you for spending some time with us.
But before that if people want to connect with you, or
support you, or or just know more about what you're doing,
how do they find The lit Twist.
Speaker 5 (19:48):
Yes, ma'am Instagram at the lit dot Twist. All of
our information is on there how to reach us.
Speaker 4 (19:57):
There's no opportunities to donate, you know, all of the things.
Speaker 5 (20:02):
You're able to support us through our bookshop dot org.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
We also tried to get.
Speaker 5 (20:07):
You know, books to however, as far as you are
so our online.
Speaker 4 (20:11):
Bookstore helps with that.
Speaker 5 (20:13):
We have a book club, and I just love to
connect with people just hearing hey, look.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
I love the book that you recommended. I love those dms.
I love those dms like oh my god.
Speaker 5 (20:23):
So I you know, I tried to be as you know,
interactive too because that those connections are really important. I
just love books, and I'm a book girly and and
I want I just want to set a love for reading.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Yeah, I'm going to join your book club because I
love a good book club too as well.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
Yes, we'd love to have you.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
Our guest Patrick Sherbin Fox from The Lit Twist.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Patrick, thank you so much for being on building black
biz with us today.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Thank you for joining the Building Black Biz podcast in
partnership with your local Toyota dealers, Toyota Let's Go Places
Today's Building Black Bizs Podcasts in partnership with your local
Toyota Dealers Toyota Let's Go Places.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Today we are building with Petra Sherbin Fox, CEO of
The Lit Twist, Arizona's first black woman owned mobile bookstore.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Welcome to the Building Black Bizs Podcast.
Speaker 4 (00:20):
Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
So this is right up my alley because I'm an
avid reader, I am pursuing publishing for my first novel
and I love this idea.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Tell us how tell us about your business?
Speaker 5 (00:34):
So we are a mobile bookstore. We are located in
or I guess primarily located in Phoenix, Arizona. We have
been doing this for like a year and a half
and the great thing about us is that we host
or we highlight black and brown women authors primarily in
our bookstore.
Speaker 4 (00:54):
And so we're mobile. We kind of hang around the valley.
Speaker 5 (00:57):
We have a seven by fourteen trailer that I can't
drive by myself just yet, but that's.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
On the to do list this summer.
Speaker 5 (01:05):
Like Patri, you have to learn how to drive this
trailer by yourself. But we kind of just travel around
the valley at markets and sell books by black and
brown women.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
What drove you to.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Want to create this particular business frustration?
Speaker 5 (01:20):
Oh frustration, you know, like you go to these larger
retailers and looking for books written by black and brown women,
and you know it's far and few in between, and
I'm like, there are so many, so many black women
authors and to only have like four or five titles,
it was frustrating. So I've been an avid reader since
(01:40):
I was a child. I'm originally from Brooklyn, New York,
so I spent a lot of time in a strand
bookstore as a kid. It's when those staple bookstores, and
it's one of the inspirations behind starting the bookstore. But
my husband's in a military so we're gonna eventually move.
So the best business model for us was a model.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
So that's how it all.
Speaker 5 (02:02):
Came together, like the frustration out of you know, out
of the lack of representation, my deep desire and being
a book like a book reader since I was a kid,
and then be wanting to be able to start a
mobile or some kind of bookstore, and then doing it
mobilely just because it works better with my lifestyle.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
I love that, I mean, because that was one of
the questions, is why why mobile. Obviously, I think mobile
is smart for a lot of different reasons, but I
didn't know your particular reason.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
And that's so you can take your business with you
wherever you.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
Live, yes, ma'am exactly.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
So how did it get started?
Speaker 2 (02:39):
What is the process for creating a mobile bookstore as
opposed to a brick and mortar bookstore.
Speaker 5 (02:45):
So, I mean, I think there's a lot of benefits
with this business model too, just because like the overhead
is not as large, we have a lot more flexibility.
I do have a nine to five that I really
really enjoy, and so this allows me to allow this
to be a happy place for me too. I aim
to create happy places for readers, but I also wanted
to continue to be a happy place for me. So
(03:07):
the first thing we did was come up with the idea,
which I was not fond of, to be honest, at first,
I was like, I don't want a mobile book store.
You can't have a vibe in a mobile book store.
My husband was like, yes, you can anyway. I finally
caved and that was like July of twenty twenty four.
So we started to put the pieces together and I
was like, well, what how do I want this to
be mine, Like what do I want to do to
(03:29):
make it more unique?
Speaker 4 (03:30):
And that's where I went with the problem.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
I see in solving that problem. Then we were doing
a lot of research on like how large of a
trailer do we want? Do we want the barn doors,
we want the ramp door. There was a lot of pieces.
How will we how do we put it together? You
know how many.
Speaker 4 (03:49):
Books can fit in it? So all of those logistical parts.
Speaker 5 (03:51):
I'm an operations mind, so I did all the operational
things first.
Speaker 4 (03:56):
Then we finally trademarked the name.
Speaker 5 (04:00):
That was like one of the first things that we
did once I nailed everything down, like, let me trademark
this name. We bought the mobile, the trailer, and it
took about three and a half months for us to
build it out. My husband did build out most of
it on his own, with a little bit of help
from me. I was like, we'll be a little bit
to the left, a little bit to the right. And
(04:21):
I was stressing him out the whole time. But so
from like July to November, we were doing all the
best behind the scenes stuff, buying the book slowly getting
all the things together. From November, well, from like October
to January. We were building it out and then we
went and I had our grand opening January twenty sixth,
twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
So the name lit twist, I love Villet Twist. Where
did the name come from? Tell us about that?
Speaker 5 (04:48):
So it wasn't my original name. That was my second name.
My first name was the lit Vibe. But I also
worked with a trademark attorney and she was like, that's
not going to get trademarked. A few reasons why it
would be difficult. So I was heartbroken that I couldn't
use that name. And then we went back to the
like the drawing board, like I really wanted lit literary
(05:10):
and that little pun on the you know, on that term.
And then the twist came from plot twist, so I
and then the apostrophe Tea is just me being rebellious
because I couldn't get my first names. I'm like, I'm
gonna do something else to just make this different. So
so we did that, and so the lit twist really
is like a literary plot twist, and when you come
(05:32):
into the story, it says it's lit with a twist,
just to kind of keep on playing on, you know,
the plot twist literary twist and the fact that when
you come in here, we're gonna have things.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
The plot is going to plot when you.
Speaker 5 (05:44):
Come in, we're the conversations, the vibe, all of the things.
We just really make it really fun and playful when
you come in.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
I'm telling you, I love this idea so much for
so many different reasons. Once because, like I said, I'm
also an avid reader talk to authors about their books.
I'm just so entrenched this and just the idea of it.
I would have never thought of it, but I do
remember mobile libraries, yes, but never a mobile bookstore.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
And I'm like, this is amazing.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
So if someone's listening and they're interested in starting a
mobile business, it's a bit more of a unique space
plan a traditional brick and mortar. What's a typical day
for you as a business owner. I know you said
you have another nine to five, but when you're focused
on your bookstore, what's a typical day?
Speaker 5 (06:31):
Like So, I mean, it's funny because we've had a
few Juneteenth events that actually that ends our season. Here
it's about one hundred and ten degrees outside and.
Speaker 4 (06:39):
It doesn't matter how much AC is pumping.
Speaker 5 (06:42):
The ac actually broke within the first couple of minutes,
they were like, girl, not in this weather.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
We're not.
Speaker 5 (06:49):
But from the typical day, like, let's just say getting
set up for an event. I have the mobile bookstore
at a storage facility for the most part, just because
I live on the street.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
I could park it outside.
Speaker 5 (07:01):
But for the sake of like being able to clean
things up. We make sure that we are looking at inventory.
That is a big piece. It is my least favorite.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
Thing to do. I will be very honest with you.
We don't have many books.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
We can only house about six hundred books in a
bookstore comfortably. But man, when it's time to reallocate and
see what's in there what's not. We typically do that
at the end of every event or event weekend. We
do like a full reset, so going through inventory, making
sure all inventory and stock is updated and correct, just
in case I make a mistake or somehow I miss,
you know, mistype something. Also making sure that I have
(07:37):
a good idea of my merch.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
It's another thing.
Speaker 5 (07:39):
I'm like, do I have all the pieces that I
need or do I need to order stuff?
Speaker 4 (07:44):
Also look at problems.
Speaker 5 (07:45):
I'm always like, Okay, we had this event, what problem
did we have, what issue or what challenge was presented,
and how do I mitigate that moving forward? I think
for scalability purposes, it's really important for me to end
the moment figure out, Okay, every time there's a problem,
I always right it down.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
What was the issue?
Speaker 5 (08:01):
If I drove up and there's books on the floor,
that's an issue. I gotta figure out why. I actually
broke almost all of my like trinkets that I had
in the mobile bookstore. But that typically travels really well.
But this weekend, every single one broke. My butterfly, my elephant,
everything broke this weekend.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
So for me, I'm like, Okay, well.
Speaker 5 (08:21):
What happens? What do we do that made this that
you know, created this concern? So so mitigating any issues
and looking at what and then how did.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
The events do That's another thing.
Speaker 5 (08:34):
Being able to look at how much do we make?
How much did it cost us to be there? Is
it something that we would do again? What feedback do
we have for the people who hosted it? If we
are the host, what feedback did we get from the
people who also attended. So it's a lot of a
lot of pieces of just like making sure that we
look at things from like a real bird's eye view
(08:55):
and associate and appropriate every piece of it. People think
we just put our you know, hitch car up and
just pull up to the to the markets. I'm like,
we have to prepare in advance. We have to have
to make sure we have all the inventory, and we
also have to mitigate any of those those issues and
concerns as they come up. And that's what we do
when we, you know, after an event.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
I mean, I can imagine the list of things that
go into putting this, I mean just down to like
where you're going to park.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Yeah, those are the things that.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Most people might not be thinking of as they consider
something like this. So being the first, you know, that
often comes with both opportunities and challenges.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
What has surprised you most about the.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Journey of building Arizona's first black woman owned mobile bookstore.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
There's a few things.
Speaker 5 (09:42):
First, it has been so widely welcomed by almost everyone.
There's a few people, but that's fine, We're not here
for them. Almost everyone has been very, very open and welcoming.
And secondly, we were the first, also the first mobile
bookstore that opens in the valley in January of twenty
(10:04):
twenty five, Since then, about ten others have opened in
the valley.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
Yeah, which is I mean, for me, it's great.
Speaker 5 (10:14):
A lot of people are like, hey, Patrick, you inspired
me to open this business.
Speaker 4 (10:17):
I didn't think I would, you know, I didn't think.
Speaker 5 (10:19):
A mobile bookstore or a mobile option would work. A
lot of people have been inspired by our journey, and
so I love that. And it's interesting because it's like
there's ten of us, but all ten of us are
have different books, different genres, different niches, and so being
in first does come with a lot of challenges in
(10:40):
terms of, you know, when you're trying to go into events,
they're like, oh, we you know, we only want to
have one mobile book store. I'm like, well, you guys
have five different people that are selling pet treats. There's
no reason why two mobile bookstores can't be here, especially
when we're not selling the same thing. So that was
one of the challenges that I kind of ran into.
But also I'm very direct and I like.
Speaker 4 (11:02):
To head on.
Speaker 5 (11:02):
You know, I think confrontation could be healthy. So let's
talk about why there's absolutely oppositition should be opportunity for
two bookstores to be here, especially when we're selling totally
different things.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
That's the Brooklyn in you.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
It is it is.
Speaker 5 (11:19):
Listen, you could take me anywhere, but I'm still a
Brooklyn girl.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
But you know, I read the lit Twisters about far
more than selling books. For you, what do you hope
your business means for the broader community.
Speaker 5 (11:33):
Yeah, I mean for me, it's it's about you know,
highlighting stories, of really highlighting black culture. This is an
act of resistance. There was a time where black people
could not read. It was illegal for us to read.
And so it is my you know, way of activism
and saying, hey, there is times there was a time
where our voices and our culture and our stories were
(11:54):
either not able to be written or weren't able to
be read. And in this day and a it is
our it is our responsibility to hold the space for
these stories, for our stories, for our culture.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
And to amplify at any point in time.
Speaker 5 (12:10):
So I take I take it with great pride to
be able to have you know, work of like Bell Hooks,
Tony Morris and Octavia Butler, even the newer authors like
having their work on our shelves as a space of hey,
don't forget. At one time this was not possible for
us and now it is.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
I don't. I don't take that responsibility lightly.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
So you go to these events, but what's the one
that has meant the most or you're most proud of.
I was on your social and I'll see you have done.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
A lot of events. What is the one that you
are most proud of so far?
Speaker 4 (12:46):
Ooh, that's a good question. The most proud of?
Speaker 5 (12:50):
I mean we host a lot of our own so
I'm there's too right, Like we had a books and brunch,
we started something in a valley that wasn't being done,
not gonna lie. I did not enjoy putting it together
because there's so much gritty parts of putting a market together.
And then I don't like to I think that it's
important for me to explain myself to people, but also
(13:12):
I'm not going to explain myself to people that makes sense,
you know what I mean? Like you know, So there's
a lot of pieces and a lot of and I
am because again in my nine to five I'm doing operations.
I'm always mitigating risks and concerns and looking at scalability.
That's how my brain works at all times, and so
people don't understand sometimes when you're looking at the broader
(13:34):
picture of things. Some things might might not make sense
on a smaller scale, but on a larger scale, you know,
the adjustments are necessary. So I'm very proud of Books
and Brunch. We were able to partner with Arizona Center.
They have been amazing with like to us. They have
allowed us to use their space to grow a market,
(13:55):
to be able to bring literacy back to you know,
into into Phoenix, And so we do that now once
a year. When we started, we were trying to do
it every month. That was too much of an overhaul
for my team, and the juice wasn't worth the sweet
To be honest, it didn't do as well just because
I felt like it would be better at a different
you know, a different kind of a like a schedule.
(14:18):
So we kind of refined that. But I'm very proud
of that, and I'm very proud of the support we had.
And then the event that we went to Black Romance
Book Festival was the largest event for us we had.
I mean I'm talking about I went there with four
different suitcases full of books that I write. It was
a huge overhaul for us. But and then we came
(14:41):
into a lot of problems. We literally sold out the
first day. Oh wow, we went to pre orders. After
that we had to literally pivot at like every step
of the way. Okay, this is done, this, this is
this is the solution, this is what we're gonna have.
Speaker 4 (14:54):
To do to fix it.
Speaker 5 (14:56):
And it just showed us me like my commitment to
to black literacy, but also my team's resilience.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
We literally rocked the hell out of that event.
Speaker 5 (15:07):
It was our largest and we literally flew from Phoenix
to be a bookseller at an event in Atlanta and
we did amazing. So I'm very proud of my team. They,
like I said, they killed it. It was long days, we
were on our feet, but we knocked it out the
park and we were invited again for next year. We
did an experience on a small like a fifty person experience.
(15:31):
They want us now to expand that to two hundred people.
Speaker 4 (15:34):
Wow. Yeah, And I don't take that lightly.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
No, that is not to be taken like at all.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Your biggest lesson as a founder and what's some of
the best advice that you've gotten that's benefited your business.
Speaker 5 (15:49):
I think for me, like staying tenth toes down on
my vision. You know, people and things will make you
feel like you have to make adjust Smith's you know,
to appear to the masses. You know, we had a
huge company reach out to do a collaboration and then
they folded on us last minute, and I was While
(16:13):
I was disappointed, I was also like, we're going to
have these situations and it doesn't matter how large or
how small the companies are. We needn't stand ten toes
down on what we do and how we do it.
We are a bookstore. We house books written by black
and brown women.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
That is it.
Speaker 5 (16:30):
That is all, and we're not going to waver or change.
When it was time for me to come to you know,
you know, my project manager, my brand manager. I when
I was talking to people and trying to figure out
what who our team was, it was important for me
to find people that understood that and understood that there's
a lot of things I will pivot and remain flexible on,
(16:51):
but the core values of our like why we are
doing this, I'm not gonna waiver on. So that's been
that's been important to me. And the advice that I've gotten,
and it's funny because I've.
Speaker 4 (17:03):
Also been giving it is do it scared.
Speaker 5 (17:08):
There's no perfect time you just literally have to do it.
And I'm a perfectionist, and I you know, oftentimes like
it's not good enough.
Speaker 4 (17:19):
I'm like, Patri, just do it.
Speaker 5 (17:21):
The only way that you're going to be able to
make the adjustments is by doing it and recognizing the
ways that you can make the adjustments.
Speaker 4 (17:33):
But if you don't do it, you're not gonna, know.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
I love that. That is awesome.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Not only is that advice that's been received, but for
whoever's listening that I do believe will be something extremely helpful.
So what does success look like for the lit Twists
five years from now?
Speaker 5 (17:51):
You know, five years now. I'm like, I see the
Litzis as a global brand. I see this as a franchise.
I see this as a space where you know, there's
multiple mobile bookstores in different cities that have adopted the
same core values of amplifying black voices and black stories,
(18:15):
creating a space for warmth and welcomness when it comes
to book reading.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
You know, I always say come as you are and
take what you need this.
Speaker 5 (18:24):
You know, like even with our book club, Okay, if
you didn't read the book, we're not gonna You're not
gonna die behind it.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
We're not going to, you know, make you feel terrible. Life.
Speaker 5 (18:30):
Life's every single day, right, So come as you are,
take what you need.
Speaker 4 (18:35):
But I always tell.
Speaker 5 (18:35):
My team, like I want people to walk into the bookstore,
I want them to feel that the love that we
have for reading, but also the love that we have
for the culture, and the love that we have to
be able like to even have the opportunity to share
our voices. And so I'm we're taking this global. I
said it from my ear, from my mouth to your ears.
Speaker 3 (18:55):
I got it.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
And I love the idea of franchising because I think
there's so much opportunit unity and I know what the
need is. So if you're selling out like that on
the first day, that proves the need right there.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
The legacy do you hope the lit Twist will leave behind?
Speaker 5 (19:14):
I pray that the lit Twist leaves a legacy that
reminds people that no matter what, like Black history could
never be erased. Amen, we we built this country and
our stories, our voices, our culture could never be could
never be erased.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
That's a powerful legacy, that is very powerful.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
I appreciate.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
I want to thank you for spending some time with us.
But before that if people want to connect with you, or
support you, or or just know more about what you're doing,
how do they find The lit Twist.
Speaker 5 (19:48):
Yes, ma'am Instagram at the lit dot Twist. All of
our information is on there how to reach us.
Speaker 4 (19:57):
There's no opportunities to donate, you know, all of the things.
Speaker 5 (20:02):
You're able to support us through our bookshop dot org.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
We also tried to get.
Speaker 5 (20:07):
You know, books to however, as far as you are
so our online.
Speaker 4 (20:11):
Bookstore helps with that.
Speaker 5 (20:13):
We have a book club, and I just love to
connect with people just hearing hey, look.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
I love the book that you recommended. I love those dms.
I love those dms like oh my god.
Speaker 5 (20:23):
So I you know, I tried to be as you know,
interactive too because that those connections are really important. I
just love books, and I'm a book girly and and
I want I just want to set a love for reading.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
Yeah, I'm going to join your book club because I
love a good book club too as well.
Speaker 4 (20:39):
Yes, we'd love to have you.
Speaker 3 (20:41):
Our guest Patrick Sherbin Fox from The Lit Twist.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
Patrick, thank you so much for being on building black
biz with us today.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Thank you for joining the Building Black Biz podcast in
partnership with your local Toyota dealers, Toyota Let's Go Places
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