Exploring Life & Business with Betsy Gist of Turn the Page Books

Today we’d like to introduce you to Betsy Gist

Hi Betsy, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Craig (my husband) had started Turn the Page before we met, primarily as an eBay store, to teach his sons about business and responsibility. As an avid reader, I’ve always loved books. Together, we began to grow the business . About 18 months ago, I left my 25 year healthcare career to focus on expanding into a brick-and-mortar store. On September 28, 2023, we eloped and shared the news with family and friends after exchanging vows. A week or two later, we opened our first physical location inside of The Wooden Tulip at Canterbury Village in Lake Orion, Michigan.

Seeing growth in both that space and our eBay store, we decided to look for our own standalone location in Davison. After months of searching, we fell in love with our current space at 9009 Davison Road. With help from our families and friends, we opened on June 1 of this year, aiming to create a cozy, welcoming space that our customers would look forward to visiting. In less than six months, we’ve surpassed our goals and accomplished more than we expected. When people walk through our doors, we don’t just see customers—we see friends. We’ve grown our customer base, expanded our book selection, and recently added a “bookish” apparel line.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No, this was not always a smooth road, but anything worth having isn’t typically easy to obtain. There were difficult decisions to make regarding careers, finances, locations, and goals and a lot of hope that the gamble would be worth it. We had TONS of people asking us if anyone still even read books anymore & questioned our sanity when we explained YES, likely more than ever with the onset of Bookstagram and BookTok. Having to shift from a healthcare mindset to a business outlook has been a challenge in itself. Fortunately, Craig is much more business oriented and shoulders a fair amount of that responsibility, allowing me to be creative in the events we host and he products that we sell.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Turn the Page Books?
Turn the Page Books is a primarily used bookstore in Davison, MI, with a smaller location inside The Wooden Tulip at Canterbury Village in Lake Orion, MI and an online eBay Store. At Turn the Page, we provide quality books and merchandise in a welcoming space where kindness, gratitude, positivity, and a focus on the importance of good mental health are at the core of everything we do. We believe everyone is fighting a battle we know nothing about, and even small gestures—a smile, a conversation, or a cup of coffee—can change the course of someone’s day. As a female-owned business, we’re committed to lifting others up, fostering gratitude, and paying it forward whenever we can.

Our Davison location has become predominately known for our popular “booktok’ rack, the Canterbury Village location caters more to the special events that occur there, such as Harry Potter or dinosaur weekends, while you’ll find more obscure titles and authors on our ebay store. We are excited that we are brining book clubs to our Davison location beginning January 7th, as well as additional merch & apparel. If I had to choose 1 thing that I am most proud brand wise, my response would be the courage to take a risk, especially at this stage in our lives. We’ve managed to grow a community of loyal followers and customers, many that we now refer to as friends.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I think we have learnt that sometimes you need what feels like bad luck, especially at the time, to get to a place where you can appreciate where you are & recognize good fortune for what it is, part good luck and part hard work. We certainly feel fortunate to be surrounded by the friends, family, and community that we have been and the drive to make it happen.

Pricing:

• hardcover $9
• trade paperback $7
• mass market paperback $5
• children’s books $3-$5
• sweatshirts $35-37

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.turnthepagemi.com
• Instagram: turnthepagemi
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083922858487