Dear reader,
I feel the tide changing.
The September winds are bringing in a fresh point of view.
I’m writing to you today from a cozy nest called Bird’s Bookstore in the Preston Hollow neighborhood of Dallas. The owners are a young couple — one left private equity to make something beautiful. This shop is now a legacy for their young daughter. Part of the beautiful revitalization of the indie bookshop scene in North Texas.
Another woman-owned gem revitalizing wellness here: Zyana Yoga. Owner Zoe and her whole team genuinely care about giving people connected, grounded, healing experiences — heated workouts, sound bowls, and more. HIGHLY recommend Restorative Yin and Slow Flow.
As a globe, we are burnt out. Famished and thirsty for genuine, authentic experiences and togetherness. It doesn’t come as a shock then that when communities went online, we felt no lasting sense of community at all, and we yearn for spaces to just be and be together for real. This so often happens to be successful within the walls of small businesses. Where strangers become friends. I’ve made a few just by being in the aforementioned spaces.
The hunger for real togetherness doesn't only live in small spaces. Last weekend, Olivia Rodrigo and team proved this at Daisy Chain Fields music festival in Irvine — the small business ethos at scale: intimate, generous, community-first, tens of thousands deep. A massive experience that still felt like a gathering. And our Dallas girl Melinda French Gates matched every dollar raised. Women multiplying success. WOMEN + MUSIC + COMMUNITY might just be the most iconic combination of all time.
A question worth sitting with: are you missing what only a “small” context can provide? If so, go support your local small businesses.
Chances are they’ll give you way more than you asked for. Small businesses embody everything I'm working to capture here on BEYOND THE SURFACE — unreasonable hospitality as heartbeat, storytelling through space and service, and health measured through community. It isn't easy. But they show up anyway.
If there is a storyteller in you, perhaps there is also a small business owner in you. And it’s looking like a higher calling to be one. I can’t wait to meet ya.
If you are a small business owner who wants to tell your story here, reach out — let's make something beautiful together!
With much love & to going beyond the surface,
Anjali