Today we are delighted to host a roundtable–the first in a series, we hope–with two incredible female small business owners and entrepreneurs. Bea and Leah Koch are the cofounders and owners of The Ripped Bodice–the only exclusively romance bookstore in the United States. The Koch sisters raised $91,000 on Kickstarter to bring their business to life, and as we Smugglers are in the throes of our own Kickstarter campaign, we were eager to gain some insight from the experts. Please give a warm welcome to Bea and Leah, everyone! The Book Smugglers: First, talk a little about your business. What is your underlying idea and mission? Why did you decide to take this idea into reality, and how did you get to launch? Bea & Leah: We are the only romance only bookstore in the United States. Our underlying mission is to provide a safe, sex-positive, feminist space for all readers, but in particular, romance readers. As lifelong romance readers ourselves, we have faced all manner of reactions when hunting for romance novels in other bookstores. We wanted to create a store where you could shop or hang out free of judgement. We launched a Kickstarter in October of 2016 […]