Rita Collins shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Rita, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
Within the last year, I moved into senior housing in Baltimore. A big move from rural Montana to urban Baltimore, from a house to an apartment. I wasn’t entirely sure how it would go. When I started meeting people where I live now, I made a couple short videos about events (an Indian music concert, a political rally a number of us attended). Then I was asked if I would make a video for the aquatic swim group. And recently I made one about the arts happening here. Now I’m working on how people who live in the complex could do a better job recycling. Doing these videos has been joyful – giving me a sense of purpose in my new community, letting me see the beauty in the people here, and a growing appreciation for positive aspects of aging that are often overlooked in our society.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Eleven years ago I lived in a small town in northwest Montana. I considered opening a brick-and-mortar bookstore there after I retired, but realized the financial pieces wouldn’t work. Brainstorming with friends, I decided to try a traveling bookstore, a bookstore in a van that I could take to events where there would be more customers. Doing online searches, I found a man with a traveling bookstore in Wales (Dylan’s Book Bus) and reached out to him for suggestions. He encouraged me and I started to put my business together. Bought a used van, friends helped build bookshelves (shelves are at a 15 degree angle so books won’t fall off when I am driving), got a logo, and asked everyone I knew for used books. That first summer, I mostly set up in northwest Montana. The second summer I took it to the west coast. By the third summer, I took it across country to the Brooklyn Book Festival. By now I’ve had it all over the country, in big cities and small towns. I recently relocated to Baltimore and am discovering more places in this region.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
I grew up in a family with five kids. Fairly typical scenario at the time with my dad working and my mom at home taking care of everything there. Later when my youngest sibling went to school, my mom got a part -time job. I don’t know if it was being the middle child, or raised in the suburbs, or born in the 1950s, but I assumed my parents knew what was best for me and thus I should listen to them, take their advice. But along the way that began to shift. Perhaps it was being a teen in the 1960s and all that glorious rock n’ roll and the changes happening during that decade. Perhaps it was going to Bolivia as an exchange student when I was fifteen. But somewhere in there I began to realize I shouldn’t rely on others to make decisions for me, I should find my own answers, discover my own path. Needless to say, there were numerous problems and some hard lessons, but for the most part, this has served me well.
What fear has held you back the most in your life?
I grew up with a mom who was very cautious. She warned us about swimming in the ocean, about bad parts of the city, about traveling to unknown places. And although I would swim and go to all parts of many cities and travel, I also felt the need to be cautious. Now fast forward to my fifties. I had recently moved to western Romania to take a teaching job. I had been there a few weeks, living in an apartment a few blocks from the school, slowly learning the Romanian language after I finished teaching for the day. A British colleague from the school invited me over for dinner. She offered to pick me up at my apartment to show me which buses to take to her place. And that is how the evening began. She met me at my apartment, showed me where to get the first bus, carefully explained where to get off to change buses and then where to get off the second bus to walk to her place. We had a lovely dinner and conversation. Then it was time for me to leave. We verbally went over the directions and I headed out. The first bus stop was a breeze, and then I thought I knew where to get off to change buses, but it quickly became obvious I didn’t. I found myself in a neighborhood I didn’t recognize, in a country where I didn’t speak the language, late enough at night that it was dark and nothing really looked familiar. This was before I had a cell phone so no thought of using GPS or calling my friend. I was entirely on my own. It took a while to realize standing there being fearful wasn’t going to do anything so I looked around, and started walking, finally spotted a church steeple I thought I recognized, walked toward that and yes, within an hour I had made it back to my apartment. It was a significant experience that pushed me beyond caution to trusting in my abilities.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
Community and conversations. I’ve lived many places and travel often, and regardless of where I am I seek out community, and within that community find people who want to have conversations. This could be as fleeting as a one-off conversation with a bookstore customer or meeting someone by chance and thirty years later still in touch with them to discuss our lives.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I want as many individuals as possible who say they were hesitant to try something new (a bookstore business, a a new food, visiting Baltimore, talking to a stranger) and did it because of my encouragement.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://saintritasbooks.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stritasbooks/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amazingtravelingbookstore/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@stritasbooks
- Other: @stritasbooks.bsky.social
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