Two Minute Tweaks w/ Lisa Uhrik

Tweak #119: Creating a Salon

Lisa Uhrik and Steve Wax take a quick look at Linda-Marie Barrett’s guide, Creating a Salon: The Magic of Conversations That Matter, and the timely work of helping people gather for meaningful dialogue. For bookshops and community-minded hosts, pulling people together into conversation is brave, good, and sometimes delicate work. This episode explores how thoughtful setting, gentle structure, and intentional facilitation can help create safer, more productive gatherings in an age of loneliness and isolation. With practical insights on balancing openness with direction, managing dominant voices, and protecting vulnerable participants, this conversation offers useful tools and encouragement for anyone working to create conversations that matter. Click to listen now!

Tweak #118: Visiting with Ann Patchett & the Parnassus Team

A St. Patrick’s Day visit to Parnassus Books in Nashville, along with a conversation with Ann Patchett and managers Cat Bock and Andy Brennan, offered a profound insight into what community really means. When Parnassus’ leaders talk about community, they begin with each other. That spirit of mutual care, collaboration, and simple hospitality shapes the culture of reading they create for customers, authors, and the wider community. It’s a meaningful touchstone for all of us.

Tweak #117: Storytelling as a Bookshop

In this episode, Lisa Uhrik explores the idea of treating your whole bookshop the way a publisher would view a book – with a clear storytelling theme that begins in the windows and unfolds throughout the sections, displays, and customer experience. Featuring an example from Ashley Michael and Plenty, Lisa shows how storytelling can extend beyond display into a whole-bookshop approach that evolves month by month across the year. It’s a thoughtful way to guide curation, merchandising, and engagement while creating a more cohesive and memorable journey for your friends and customers.

Tweak #116: Learning About Literacy

Lisa Uhrik welcomes bookshop explorer (and literacy expert) Ken Bigger, who stopped at Plenty as store #252 on his country-wide tour. Their conversation takes a turn from travel stories to a big idea: literacy isn’t a simple “have it or don’t” trait. It’s a continuum that includes traditional reading and writing, plus digital and cultural know-how, and even skills like attention, empathy, and reflective thinking. That shift changes how we talk about the people we serve, and how we see the work happening across the counter every day. In this episode, Lisa asks a more human question than “Are you literate?”: What are you yearning to do, understand, or be part of next? Because when bookshops meet that yearning with the right book, conversation, or welcome, we grow community literacy in practical, meaningful ways.

Tweak #115: A Good Bookshop is Never Done

The quiet days after the holidays are a gift. They give us a chance to step back, notice what worked during peak shopping, and make thoughtful adjustments before the year truly begins. At Plenty Bookshop, the team used the week between Christmas and New Year’s to do just that—refreshing windows, shifting displays, and making small layout changes based on real bookseller observations. Those tweaks promise easier service, better flow, and stronger sales heading into 2026. The holidays give us powerful insights—if we pause long enough to notice them. Join Lisa for a quick reflection on small layout changes that can make your shop work better for everyone. 🎧 Listen now.