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Hello Reader,

This is my last newsletter until August. The first half of the year felt like driving in a constant stop and go. Big projects were underway in the early months and then came to a screeching halt only to pick up again at full speed. I'll be honest, it has been exhausting. If I don't hit pause now, I may not make it to the fall. Ask me how I know🤷‍♀️

I have no Ecosystem Essential for you today other than to remind you to TAKE A BREAK (I don't think you need a downloadable pdf for that). Instead I share what's on my summer schedule and reading list, and a few insights I've picked up over the first half of 2025.

Bookish

What I've been reading:

• ​The Golden Hour, Beatriz Williams. My current go-to summer read is historical fiction by Beatriz Williams. This one was a little long for my taste but held up.
• ​We all want impossible things, Catherine Newman. I picked this up on my Asheville Indie bookshop crawl. I'd heard of Catherine Newman (Sandwich has been on my to-read list for a while) and figured it would be a quick easy read (200 pages) while I was waiting to start Real Americans by Rachel Khong with my friend Ashley. Boy oh boy, I was NOT prepared for the depth, intimacy and absolute heartbreak of this unassuming book. If you need a book that makes you feel something, this was it for me.

Asheville Indie Bookshop Crawl

My latest adventure for 40 Bookshops Under 40 took me to Asheville. Equipped with some local recommendations, I toured six Indie bookshops, spoke to some of the owners (some more successfully than others😂) and bought some books (as you do):

From the show

ECOSYSTEMS FOR CHANGE • S7:E6 E 7.6 - Powering Ideas That Feed The World with FARMS CEO Dr. Hollie Mackey 45:26 MORE INFO

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From my desk

My last huzzah before boarding a plane to Germany is giving a short talk about Indie bookshops at this week's PechaKucha in Staunton. 20 slides, 20 seconds per slides about ANY Topic. You don't have to ask me twice! If you're local, please come and join us at Ciders from Mars on Thursday, June 12:

Shen-Anika-ns

Three wisdoms I picked up over the fist half of the year:

1. 30 days of Why. When I spoke to Amanda Friss at Parentheses Books about her crowdfunding campaign to start the store, she told me "For an entire month, I showed up on Instagram every day telling my community WHY they needed an independent bookshop, and what they were missing out on without one. It was exhausting. But I (...) kept showing up talking about my Why.” I'm intrigued by the idea of "30 days of why". Why ecosystem building? Why 40 Bookshops Under 40? Why trying to make a difference in our communities? If anyone is down for a 30-day challenge in September, count me in!
2. Experiment in public. From Anne-Laure Le Cunff on Growth in Reverse (podcast version, video version): Experiment in public. Don't work in secret and then present your master findings. Anne-Laure shares how she learns publicly and brings her audience along. I've been trying to do more of that over the last few months and not only is it more fun, by I get so many more materials, perspectives and resources - all of which make my research richer.
3. Don't do anything alone. Jeannine Cook is the owner of Harriett's, a Philadelphia bookshop. And it's so much more. I visited in May and felt like bookselling was only one of the activities that occupy its owner Jeannine Cook (who is fulfilling a two-book deal by writing 1) her memoir and b) about the shop). When I asked how she can possibly do so many events, changing installations and sell books, she told me, "I don't do any of these just by myself: the Deeply Rooted Trolley Tour, book clubs and other events. I partner with my community and each of us brings our offerings." As a self-declared "I can do all this by myself and need no help from no one" martyr, I've been trying to only pursue projects that I am not solely responsible for. If there's at least one other person who feels as strongly about this as I do, let's go. Otherwise, I'll probably pass.
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I'll be back after the summer and hope you take good care of yourself over the coming months!

In camaraderie,

Anika

P.S. If you enjoy reading Impact Curator and want to support it, here are 3 easy ways:

1. Reply and say hi! Let me know what you're working on, dreaming about or ask me any burning questions you have. I'm right here, staring at my inbox and hitting refresh in hopes of hearing from you!
2. Forward this newsletter to someone who could use a virtual high-five, some book recommendations and Ecosystem Essentials in their inbox every 2 weeks. They can get their own right here.
3. Bring me to your organization or ecosystem to speak (either virtual or in-person).