Raising the Volume on Small Business Voices That Matter: A Conversation with Founder Rebekah Borucki

By Sierra Campbell, Managing Editor of small.news

---

Q: As we know, we’re talking about issues that impact small businesses. You’ve got a lot of points of view on this, but can you just start by telling us more about you. Who are you, what’s your story? Why does this conversation about small business matter to you?

A: I’ll lead with my most important job: I have five children from 27 down to almost 11, two grandchildren, who are visiting me now… I lived in New Jersey, and I run an independent publishing company called Row House. It’s serving a population that has been incredibly underserved in publishing.

Most of our books are written by Black, brown, Queer, disabled people… with a “for us, by us” model. We’re not advocating for ourselves, we’re not trying to change bad people into good people. We’re really just telling our stories and letting our stories out into the world so everyone can enjoy them.

Q: You’re a guest that matters to me because I think what you’re doing in the world of publishing really matters for a number of obvious reasons… You’re also a small business owner… What’s it been like to be a small business owner over the last 6 months? What’s it been like to operate in this moment?

A: Incredibly, the past six months have probably been the best six months of business. We started in 2020, and things were great if you were building a business based on social justice because everybody really wanted to take part, they wanted to give. That quickly went away.

So, we were left struggling with the boomerang effect that happens when people get really excited about something, a trend. But with the rise in censorship, people are really fearful, they are really fearful of what the future is going to look like. Our books are the ones that are speaking directly to that.

Our audience has broadened—people aren’t just coming to us to learn about race… they want to talk about housing and censorship and free speech and going to church and community and all of these things our authors are already talking about.

It’s been a time of really fantastic reception, even from big publishing. We’ve had a lot of opportunities, and that’s exciting for us because it means that part of the mission is going to be fulfilled. The mission is to raise the volume on voices that matter, and we have done that. And now, they are unavoidable.

This week, we had a book come out called “Raising Trans Kids,” which is an incredible book… and I have a trans child, so this was personally very important to me. One of the most important books we’ve published. We did this huge campaign, people rallied, people were buying the book from all over…

We sold 1,574 copies in the first week. So we thought, surely, we would make The New York Times Bestseller List because the non-fiction paperback list is far more accessible… There were 15 books on the list. This book outsold eight of them, one of which sold several hundred fewer copies, written by Charlie Kirk, published three years ago… and it somehow made the list.

So, what we’re also trying to expose in this mission is the odds aren’t just stacked against us in our minds. We’re truly not being chosen, even when we’ve earned it. So that’s really frustrating. We’re not being seen because we don’t have enough power, we don’t have enough money, or we don’t have enough political sway.

Q: Not be political, but what is happening around us, is happening around us… and the reality is, it does affect real people… How politicians write policies and what political power they use… does affect small businesses… I think it takes a huge amount of heroism to say what you just said without anger…

A: Single parents, people that run small businesses, I know they’re made of something a little bit different. Their either born that way or made that way, but it does take a very specific kind of person to say, ‘I want to open up a business. I want to take this risk,’ and then to stick with it.

What’s most frustrating when it comes to policy or politics is that, even when we do the hard work, even when we make the numbers, even when we do what’s asked, that opportunity is limited. And truly, the type of person that runs a small business, runs a small household on their own… the work isn’t the problem, they can outwork anybody.

We’re small alone, but together, we can really shift things in a dramatic way.

Q: To your point, together, this is the most important part of the economy… It makes me so sad and mad and all the emotions to see how hard it is right now.

A: When you think of small business, you might think of the small mom and pop deli, but small businesses can be huge. They can employ whole communities… we keep our communities alive and thriving, even when they aren’t buying directly from us, even when we’re not employing them directly. It really is integral to the community experience.

Q: There’s a lot going on in the world… What are you most concerned about for small businesses?

A: That [small business owners feel] they can’t speak up or speak out without some sort of retaliation is really, really scary. For us… we’re independent, but we’re distributed by two very big companies: Spotify and Simon & Schuster. While I love both of those companies… we see what happens with ABC, and we see what happens with Disney.

It won’t stop me, and I don’t think it should stop anyone… but it is scary. The prospective that, tomorrow, I could just be canceled. And there goes my whole business. It can happen very fast.

So I’m most afraid of that. That people are going to be policed in the way that they think, speak, act, behave. You know, we have small businesses in our community that sponsor our little Pride parade every year. Is that still going to happen? Things like that.

Q: I always say that, as people are backing down on issues, I am doubling down, and Silver Lining is doubling down. But I also have enough realization to know that I live in a white body, I have a Canadian passport, I have safety nets… I think we have to look in the mirror and ask how much safety we have, and therefore, how much volume we need to have to fight for the whole collective…

A: And I love that you said that we have to look at ourselves in the mirror because I don’t believe that you can hold someone else accountable. I think the person has to hold themselves accountable. And I see a lot of people, and they can say it if they want to, but ‘Why isn’t this person speaking out? This person has so much power,’ and it really has to be a reflective moment…

I’m very very disappointed in the 1% that are doing absolutely nothing. But, I think there are just a lot of us regular folks that have a lot more power in the agency than we think because we… we just need a little imagination. But we can do a lot.

Q: I’ve always believed in what Silver Lining does… but these last months have made me… more motivated. And maybe that is the Silver Lining of the time we are in.

A: I feel so excited about getting up every day and doing this work, no matter how hard it is. For me, mentorship has been a huge part of my small business relationship. When I am feeling like I can’t do or it can’t be done… whether that’s in my activist life or my business life, there are models for people who have done it and done it well.

Ben & Jerry’s… it’s a really beautiful example of what you can do when you have privilege, when you have a platform. But they were a small business… so, it’s really cool that we have these types of examples, too. We can do it, and we can shift things.

Q: And we have to… You’re being so good at being so positive… On the topic of being hopeful, with these crazy macro-economic, macro-political, macro-technology trends, what do you see as the opportunity for fellow small business owners?

A: It’s very risky, but I always believe that, no matter what your values are, put it into your business. Be loud about your values. Integrate them into the way that you work and the way that you move in the world. Bring it back down to that one-on-one level. Even if you have an online business.

It’s just really bringing it down to the level where people get to know you… it’s becoming so important to the consumer. I believe that’s what makes an impression on people, it creates staying power, it builds trust. We can’t do it run of the mill anymore. We really have to speak to the times, and the times are that people want to be engaged and they want to know who they’re buying things from.

Q: If you had a Magic Silver Wand, and you could wave it and make anything true for every small business owner on the planet right now, what would you do with your Magic Silver Wand?

A: I think you’re kinda doing it, I would just upscale it. I think that we can do the work. I think that we love to do the work. I think we just need the tools to be able to do it better. And do it based on how hard someone is working or how long they’ve been in business. Or how they’re producing.

Q: How do we support you? What do we do to support you and your business?

A: I mean, we sell books, so, of course, read our books, talk about our books, get your local library to carry our books. Our books are everywhere. Our books are easy to get in hands, but not easy to get in buildings. We have a real hard time getting into school libraries and public libraries.

A lot of people are scared. What we’ve seen though, from this initiative we did, teachers, social workers, they’re reaching out. They want this material so bad. So, take our books, like “Raising Trans Kids,” and get them into social studies classes and talk to your kid’s teachers.

Because that’s part of our mission, too. It’s to get the stories out there, not just to make profit.

---

You’ve heard their story—now write your own. silv=r™ is where it begins. Start here!