Business Love Stories - Afrori Books
Have you ever stopped to wonder what a bookshop is for? Yes, yes, books, clever clogs, but what else awaits the reader as they cross the threshold into its enticing embrace? An interlude to your otherwise busy day. The air hums with a mixture of sounds only found in such a place; hushed tones, the flipping of pages in books as yet unread, and the question “where can I find…?” asked and answered repeatedly. A bookshop offers peace, respite and sanctuary. A place to buy a recipe book you promise to use, “definitely!”
Such a place also offers you the chance to learn something new, to open your mind and challenge yourself on commonly, often vehemently, held views, opinions and beliefs. Even if, or maybe especially if those views are not your own. A bookshop can be a bridge, and there may be no better place to start than Afrori Books in Brighton’s North Laines.
Afrori Books is the first black-owned bookshop in Sussex (one of only six in the UK) specialising in books written by black authors and the UK’s largest online retailer of the same. Founded by Carolynn Bain in early 2020 as an online presence just as the pandemic hit, its growth was fuelled partly by the death of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protest. In 2021 she opened a physical bookshop.
What made you set up on your own?
Carolynn was an events manager, and she’d just gone freelance when the pandemic hit “Hindsight, you couldn’t make it up!” Like the rest of us, Carolynn had time on her hands to think, breathe, to get some perspective. As an avid reader, it would take days, sometimes weeks, to find a book by a black author. It was hard to find all the genres she liked and impossible to find a review of any of them.
“There was a lack of children's books my kids could relate to, so I already imported them. My friends asked me to get books, and I created a collection for my family. I thought of how many other black people and people of colour could not get their hands on the books they wanted to read, and that’s how I came up with the idea.”
Carolynn decided to see if she could get a wholesaler to sell her a hundred books, “me, a nobody bookseller.” Today she has seven hundred and forty books queuing for shelf space and two and a half thousand online.
It’s a bookshop like any other; fiction and non-fiction, sit across from cookery books, books for children, teens and young adults, crime thrillers, romance, social injustice and science fiction.
Can you remember the moment you decided to set up on your own?
“I woke up one morning and just thought “, stuff it!” I’m going to give myself one week to see if it’s feasible if I can find a wholesaler to supply me if I can find enough books. It went to the wire; on the fifth day, I found a wholesaler who agreed to take me on.”
Carolynn is tenacious and determined, a true entrepreneur. One pivot point, when she knew she’d cracked it, was when her wholesaler, who only ever had in one copy of a book which got snapped up every time it came in, bought ten copies. “When I rang to order my one copy and found out they had ten in stock, I nearly cried.”
What is the relationship like between you and your business?
The business is an extension of Carolynn. “I love hospitality, and I am an extravert. This shop is an extension of my home; you are just as welcome here as you would be in my living room.” It took a crowdfunding campaign for Carolynn to be able to open a physical bookshop. “I thought no one would invest; No one cares. I am on my own! We raised twelve and a half thousand pounds and created a safe space for black people and a platform for black authors.”
Can you say what business is like in its worst moments?
Carolynn says it can be about “boring old money”; however, it’s not the business so much as the people. “This space can make people feel uncomfortable. The negativity we sometimes get is the worst part of what we do. And sometimes that negativity has legs and walks right in. We’re gracious in the face of it because there is a difference between ignorance and racism. We’ll answer any questions we get.”
“I’m from a working class background with no business people, so no peers to thrash out a problem with. She joined a peer group called Women of Colour in Brighton and now has “900 women who will listen to me rant. And I am married to the greatest man in the world.”
This isn’t a ‘worst moment’, but when a business reaches a pivot point, especially early on, tough decisions have to be made. This is typical of a small business; when there’s now too much work for one person and you have to take a leap of faith and hire your first member of staff. “Do you scale back or find the money to pay someone? That’s pressure, taking responsibility for someone else.”
Do you have advice for other business owners for when things get tough?
Carolyn calls us all out when she says that “business owners sit very snugly in imposter syndrome. Ask yourself, is your passion enough to keep you going? What started me on this path?”
Imagine yourself in a dark room with pictures of everything wrong with or you hate about your business. Then move on to a room full of light with images showing why you love your business. Will you go back to the dark or stay in the light room? Ask, “what inspired me?”
“The higher up you get in your business, the further away you get from what made you start it in the first place. Go back to grassroots.”
What keeps you connected to your business?
The people. Afrori is a safe space for black people and a platform for black authors. “I keep that mission plan in front of me. There is always that one point in the day where I think, Yeah, that's why we’re here.
People can be nice or nasty; there are many more nice people in the world than I ever thought. A while ago, a black man stood in my doorway and said, “I’ve just exhaled.” We are a place where people’s shoulders can go down.
How do you nurture your business?
Carolynn loves people and hates injustice. “If a racist walks in and gets negative, possibly shouts, we can share our opinions. We are a platform for discussion.” The bookshop is an extension of herself. The authors are people. They’re readers. “Loving the business is loving me.”
What do you love about working for yourself?
“I get to do this! I decide the hours and what my life looks like. I am here because I choose to be.
I can orchestrate the look and create the intimate vibe I want people to have. I have integrity I get to specialise and support black authors. The books are on the shelf because I put them there. I have Zoom chats with authors and advise on how to get their books on shelves. I connect with people. We are a presence reminding all black authors that they have a voice.
“I have calls from authors to ask if I will stock their book, and I tell them it’s already here. That’s a special moment, to be able to do that.”
and it’s possible you may find a book that just might change your life.