Tell Us Your Story. What motivated you to start your business? Why are you passionate about what you do?

I've worked in the book industry since 1995 and in that time, my happiest experiences have been in bookstores. I love the way a bookstore can become a hub of community relationships, a true third space that welcomes all walks of life at all ages. Inspired by such abstract concepts as placemaking and genius loci, as well as my decades of experience connecting people with books and each other, I've created a bookstore that is all about the joy of being a book lover among other book lovers. Further, as a queer woman, I centre queer authors, artists, and readers, especially QTBIPOC creators and women. Intersectionality is at the heart of how I build community around this place.

Describe and demonstrate, including metrics, your community support. How do you support and uplift your community, and how do they show that support in return? Minimum 25 words, maximum 2500 characters.

In the year this bookstore has been open, we have hosted over 50 mostly queer author and community events, from poetry readings to choral performances, almost all of them free and open to the public. Over 500 community members have attended our events and workshops. Guests at our events return to tell us how their experiences here have enriched their lives--after Kai Cheng Thom's reading here last October, audience members visited weeks later to tell us how 'blissed out' they still were. Focusing on queer creators allows us to channel economic resources to them. Beyond that, by maintaining this as an explicitly queer space with queer creators prominently featured, we help members of our LGBTQ2SIA+ community feel safe in a world that still can be quite hostile to our existence. When a visitor walks in the door, takes a deep breath, and relaxes their shoulders as though taking off armour, we know we are doing necessary work for our people. Our community has responded by embracing us, telling their friends about us, bringing us tasty treats, and helping us grow from barely $2000 in sales in our first month to almost $10,000 per month. This brings us closer to being able to expand our staff and our offerings to establish Cross & Crows as a centrepiece of Vancouver's 'other gay village.'

Why do you deserve to win the Business Impact award?

We're offering everyone in East Van, but especially queer people, a space where they can simply be without pressure, curated for their comfort and enjoyment, for social and intellectual pleasure. More than any other bookstore in the area, we offer not just a lovely roomful of books, but a destination space where guests can sit and peruse or chat, not confined to standing in aisles. We offer everything that online retailers and big boxes will not do. We are the future of neighbourhood bookselling.

Tell Us About Your Culture. How are you creating a sustainable and healthy workplace where everyone feels welcome? Provide examples of leadership you show in interactions with clients, vendors, contractors, staff and others.

As a very small business, our focus is on personal relationships with individuals. Guided by the principle of personalism, we offer each visitor the experience of being a treasured part of a community of queer people brought together by shared delight in books, reading, art, creativity, and the beauty of queerness and queer culture. No bookstore in Vancouver does this like we do, from our commitment to kind interactions, to the comfortable furniture that invites people to relax and feel safe and welcome. We underpin this with humanistic policies grounded in my experience as a shopkeeper and trainer. Anyone working here knows that they are supported and that our policies for training them and backing them will be consistent and kind.

Why do you think you should win the Premier’s People’s Choice Award?

We are delivering an in-store experience that our customers describe as 'impeccable vibes, 'an extremely welcoming environment,' and 'wonderful community.' Simply put, people who visit and get to know us, love us. We aren't just another bookstore, we are our community's favourite bookstore.