An Interview with a Business Owner | Ash of ReadHer Book Box
1) I can tell from your amazing Instagram page that you love books. Has this been a life-
long passion of yours?
Honestly, yes! I remember as a kid when I was in pre-K and I wanted to learn how to read. And
my mom told me to be patient and that I would learn next year in kindergarten. And it was like
once I learned, I didn’t want to stop! Ever since then books have always been a big thing for me.
As I’ve grown and gotten older the tropes have changed, but the passion for reading has stood
the test of time.
Look at this beautiful box! You need this in your life!
2) In your opinion, what makes a book worth reading?
To me books that are worth reading are well written, have a greater story to tell, and make you
feel good! I couldn’t imagine reading a book that bores me, confuses me and is overall just
draining. If anything, books should improve your day, inspire you, give you hope or affirm you.
If it is not doing any of these things, why am I reading it?
3) Do you have a favorite genre of books?
I think it’s obvious that my favorite genre is Black romance. As I’ve grown, it’s shifted. As a kid I
really just read anything I found interesting. I read a ton of R.L. Stine and Goosebumps. And
then as I got older I discovered authors like Eric Jerome Dickey, Zane, Brenda Jackson, Francis
Gray, and L.A. Banks. These authors highly influence my excitement to read Black stories. And
still, because the offerings weren’t as plentiful as they are now, I read a lot of mainstream
books like Hunger Games, Harry Potter, and even Twilight! But one day, I decided to give Kindle
Unlimited a chance and discovered Inevitable Conclusions by Christina C. Jones. And as they
say, the rest is history! I fell into the well that is Black romance and I haven’t been able to get
out since!
4) You have a very successful book subscription box company. Tell us about it.
ReadHer is a result of the passion I have for Black romance. Like others, during the pandemic I
had a lot more free time. And I ran across, Book of the Month. I thought the idea was cool, as
an avid reader, to get books in the mail. My issue, however, is that when I went to look at their
book offerings, they were not nearly as diverse as I needed them to be. I wasn’t excited about
reading any of the books. And I just had this moment of “why don’t I create one?”. And so
that’s how it started.
So ReadHer is a Bi-Monthly Book Subscription box. We feature a Black romance novel, written
by an independently published Black author. It's a mystery box, so recipients don’t know what
will come in the box. They’ll only know the theme. So for example, our August box was themed
Book Fair. So in the box we included 4 novelas, a custom notepad, readher pen, multi-use
pouch, a bookmark and a snack. Our most recent box in October was themed Cozy Season. This
box featured a novel, an e-book, a custom blanket, a custom mug, plus some cookies and a
discount for our holiday box (exclusively for our subscribers).
The overall idea for ReadHer is that it be an experience for women who read Black romance.
My hope is that through your box, you feel excitement, joy and a bit of self-care. Reading
romance isn’t meant to solve problems, its meant to give you a sense of joy, excitement and an
escape. I hope that the women who read receive our boxes get to experience that.
5) What is something you wish you knew before starting your company?
I honestly just wish I knew more business marketing. You can create a great brand, but if you
don’t know how to sell it to people or make people aware that it exist, its not going to make it.
So I wish I knew more about marketing. I also wish I knew more about business finance. I’m so
focused on making ReadHer a great experience, that its hard to watch the money!
6) As an educator, this is a question that I’ve often wondered about and would love to
get your take on: how can we inspire school aged children to fall in love with reading?
So honestly school aged children, are out of my wheelhouse! I work in higher education, so my
students are on average 18-24. But I will say, I’m a firm believer that people would read more if
the material they were reading was both interesting and relevant to them. I know we have a lot
of classic Black authors like Toni Morrison, Zora Neale Hurston, Alice Walker, James Baldwin
and many more, who changed the game! But I feel like some of their stories were for a
different generation. And in order for kids to get into reading, we can’t wait until they’re 15 or
16 for these stories to be appropriate. So I love seeing more and more children’s books with
Black children on the covers. I think that seeing themselves can inspire them to fall in love with
reading. And good stories of course!
7) How can we support you and your business?
As a small business, there are a couple of ways that folks can support: 1) Subscribing to
ReadHer! Of course increasing our subscriptions is a great way to help us grow. You not
only get a book box with a great novel and bookish stuff, you also support a small
business. 2) You can tell people about us! A lot of folks have found us on social media
because they randomly found us, or a friend posted about their box or someone told
them. Word of mouth is paramount because we trust what people say first over reviews
online! 3) Lastly, we’re launching book-ish merchandise soon, so even if you can’t
subscribe, buying something as small as a sticker or bookmark helps! :)