Meet Julia Keister | Director of Operations/Creative Director for an Indie Bookstore

We had the good fortune of connecting with Julia Keister and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Julia, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I wanted to run a small business to create a local and independent platform for change and to have creative freedom for myself. A small, community-centered business allows for a neighborhood and city to have a safe space where people can make a real difference and get access to real resources.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I have worked since I was 9 years old. My first jobs were babysitting and helping my mom at our family business by stuffing envelopes and filing. As a teenager and through college I had so many work experiences. There was everything from working at a florist cleaning buckets, doing data entry, lifeguarding, working at a cafe, and delivering pizza. While none of these became my career, they all had a major influence on me, and there are parts of each I always carry with me. Teaching was the first major work stage of my life. I taught middle and high school special education in Brooklyn, NY for 5 years, and then became an instructional coach to teachers for a few years after that. Being an educator is an experience like no other. It is both the most rewarding thing you can do, but also one of the most under appreciated. I learned more about others and myself through the act of teaching than I think I will at any other point in my life. As a coach, I also began to learn a lot about leadership and managing a team, and I realized that I wanted to always be in a role of influence.
In New York I met my now spouse, and we moved to the Northern Kentucky.Cincinnati area where she got a job running a bourbon distillery. In Northern Kentucky I started as a job coach for adults with disabilities, and then out of desperation for a “good” bagel I somewhat accidentally started a bagel business. I built this business from scratch, working at farmers markets, making bagels for special events, and even doing home delivery. Eventually I got a brick and mortar space and the business became what I truly wanted, a space for change. From the start we were somewhat of a community landmark, but eventually we were seen as a community anchor, where people met for great food of course, but also to feel connected with others, make ideas come to life, and create change. We had monthly fundraisers and raised over $20,000 a year for a variety of organizations, and opened our space for teach-ins and special events. The space was especially important for the Queer community, as I identify as Queer and our team was more than 90% LGBTQIA+ identifying. We waived our flag everyday, and that made us unique and a place that people felt like they could belong. It was a lot more than a bagel shop.
After getting rent gouged, and suddenly displaced from our building, we wanted to find a way to keep the team together, and asked Roebling Books, our neighboring bookstore if we could join forces. They agreed, and we all moved next door in January of 2023. While we thought this would be a smooth transition, the change that it created for all parties involved was very difficult, and it has been an endeavor that has truly challenged myself as a leader. We believed this merging of businesses would work because we both had the mission of serving the community at our core, and this has for sure been the factor that has kept us moving forward. My role at Roebling Books is Director of Operations and Creative Director, which includes a million things, as does everyone’s position at a small business. We have an amazing team and I am excited to see what our collective continues to do to change the world.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Outdoors – Walk the Roebling Bridge (this was the model for the Brooklyn Bridge)
– Stroll through Washington Park (make sure to look at the architecture surrounding the park…especially Music Hall)
– Take a history tour of OTR (Over the Rhine), and see if you can go into the old underground subway/brewery tunnels.
– Eden Park…great paths, close to the art museum and art steps
– Ziegler Park Pool…fun public pool…great for a hot Cincy day

Museums
– Cincinnati Art Museum
– Contemporary Art Center
– Museum Center
Food
– Findlay Market….oldest outdoor market in the country…a must stop
– Mitas…great authentic tapas food
– Bridges ….Nepalese street food
– Tuba …authentic and fresh German food
– Riverside… great for Korean
– Mochiko…for amazing Ramen…or delicious morning pastry
– Brown Bear….morning baked pieces of art
– Allez…best bread in town, and great sandwiches

Drinks
– Longfellow…best bar in Cincy hands down…get the Shisho Painkiller
– New Riff Distillery …great bourbon tours, shop and bar (tell my wife Hannah, the CEO, hi when you go )
– Esoteric…cool black owned brewery
– Larry’s …fun dive bar in Covington, KY
– Hart & Cru…very cool wine bar with great bites

Places to Stay
– Hotel Covington…beautiful boutique hotel
– 21C…modern art forward hotel with a gallery and great bar

Neighborhoods
– Covington
– OTR
– Pendelton
– Clifton
– Northside
– Price Hill
– Walnut/East Walnut Hills

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I give a shoutout to my parents. They not only allowed me to be fiercely independent, but also were vital role models. They started a print shop in DC just out of college that grew and transformed throughout my life and the digital era into a very successful graphic design/publishing business. I learned a lot from them both in terms of what to do and what not to do. Those lessons were priceless, and inform my decisions every day.

Website: www.roeblingbooks.com

Instagram: @roeblingbooks

Facebook: @roeblingbooks