Meet Justin Colussy-Estes: Manager & bookseller, Little Shop of Stories

We had the good fortune of connecting with Justin Colussy-Estes and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Justin, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
Diane Capriola, co-owner and originator of Little Shop of Stories, always says, “Children’s books will save the world.” It’s the most simple way of stating a complex truth. And I firmly believe this is true because I’ve seen it at work here in our community. Being able to build bridges across members of the community by providing books to kids is a very real and incredible act. Whether that means helping a young person find a book that will make a lasting impact on the rest of their lives, or bring authors to schools so children can meet and talk to their favorite authors and illustrators, or bringing together businesses, community partners, and families around the idea of reading and discussing the same book, it’s incredible to see the warmth and joy on people’s faces as they engage with books for kids. Even in hard times, especially in hard times, books not only help children get their heads around hurt and suffering and ways to survive and heal, they also help adults do the same. In fact, I think people often overlook how beautiful and poetic and special a picture book can be, until they’re confronted by its magic, and then they discover that even grown ups can learn a thing or two from a children’s book!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I like to say I’m a recovering academic– I worked in a bookstore in my twenties to help pay the bills while my wife was in grad school, but spent the next decade or so going to grad school myself, adjunct teaching, and trying to grind out a career as an English professor. But I never felt like my teaching goals aligned well with the institutions where I taught. Somewhere along the way I discovered Little Shop of Stories, and here I found a place that nurtured me creatively and professionally. Diane Capriola and Dave Shallenberger, the owners of Little Shop, look for leadership from the ground up, are interested in crazy, fun ideas, and depend on vibrant, enthusiastic employees to grow the business. Here I found an outlet for my creative endeavors and my love of teaching through designing and running camps and events and book clubs, It is here that I’ve found my voice as a manager and contributor to one of the leading children’s bookstores in the US.

Look, I’ll be honest, from reading the question over again, I get the sense that maybe I have a different philosophy from what you’re looking for. I’m not interested in tooting my own horn. I think people are special only in the context of one another. Put another way, I think of something I once told a group of campers that were getting out of hand. I said, “you are no more special than the kid next to you. I am no more special than you. But what we have here together, that is special, that is unique.” The world is too fragile nowadays for ego. It’s the community you build and the bonds you make with one another that make the most positive impact on the world around us.

I’m as fallible as everyone else. In fact, I’ve probably made more mistakes in my job than most. I always tell staff, new and old, that there’s no mistake they can make here that I haven’t made, and that’s true. I tell that story because I think it’s important that they understand two things– Little Shop of Stories is not an hierarchical environment, and everyone stumbles. More importantly, this is a space of grace and forgiveness. That mistakes are not transgressions, and forgiveness is there for the taking, through honesty and reconciliation, both here as a business, as a leading institution in the community, and as a people and place in the world.

The last year has been terribly, terribly hard on everyone, and Little Shop of Stories, like so many other small businesses, struggled tremendously through the pandemic. We’re still not on our feet yet. But the only way we have survived is through the enormous outpouring of support and love from the community of parents, families, and children who value us as an important part of their lives, and through the community of authors and publishers we’ve come to know and love and support through our passionate sharing of their books. And that wouldn’t have happened if we weren’t doing something right, and essential, and incredibly important and valued by those we serve, It also confirms for me something I’ve always felt deep in my heart– we’re not just selling books, but we’re building something here in the heart of Decatur, something connectional, vital, and important to the souls of all those whose lives touch and are touched by Little Shop

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.
Hmm, I’m a bit rusty, due to pandemic, but being realistic, here’s what I’d do: Breakfast tacos at Muchacho’s down Memorial– might as well get a cappuccino there as well, because they make a good one. Most mornings I’d take them to B-Sides in Decatur for coffee. The cafe has fantastic pastries as well. Lots of my favorite places are still not quite open (Acapella in Inman Park, for example) or have limited access (Junkman’s Daughter and various other stores in Little Five Points), so I’d probably run by Tower Package and grab a bunch of TipTop cocktails (I prefer the Manhattan or Old Fashioned) to take them to hike up Stone Mountain or drift down the Chattahoochee. At some point, I’d grab a ClueTown (local scavenger hunts produced by Jay Carlson) and spend a few hours solving puzzles and exploring. I’d either do the Oakland Cemetery hunt (it’s my favorite) or one I haven’t done before, like the Beltline. Either way, I’d take them to the Beltline, because there lots of great things to explore, including art like the miniaturist #tinydoorsatl, whose pieces are all along the midtown area of the beltline. I would probably take them on a tour of street art– my favorite atlanta muralist is Yehimi Cambron, and we’d start with one of her pieces here in Decatur. We’d grab tacos from Taqueria del Sol, or maybe a bibimbop burrito from the K BBQ Taco hole in the wall restaurant next to the secret entrance to the Masonic meeting place here in downtown Decatur. Some evening, we’d go take in some improv at Dad’s Garage, who’ve turned their parking into a drive through improv theater.

I’m not one for late night speakeasies, or kitschy strip clubs like the Claremont Lounge, so I don’t know if this is the most exciting Atlanta visit, but (minus a bunch of used-bookstore hops) it’s about as out and about as I get at the moment.Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Sure– for me, my adult life is defined by the community of Decatur. This is such a warm, connectional, vibrant town, and it has nurtured and shaped me as a parent, as a manager of an engaged local business, and as an active citizen. As a young person, I always felt alone, like I was going at everything solo, without connections to where I lived or the institutions around me– in part because I didn’t fit in, and in part because I didn’t necessarily trust them. But once we moved to Decatur, I found a community I could believe in and that embraced me and those I care about.

Website: www.littleshopofstories.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/littleshopofstories/

Twitter: @lilshopostories

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Little-Shop-of-Stories-107114087153/

Image Credits
Crayon photo– This is me, dressed as the character Esteban from the picture book The Day the Crayons Came Home, by Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers. The photo was taken by Hannah Hyde. Group photo– I’m the one in the bowler. Photo by Diane Capriola. Blue Beard photo– photo by me.