Inside Poe & Company Bookstore with Owner Kate Seng (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 787)
In this episode of North Fulton Business Radio, host John Ray welcomes Kate Seng, the owner and founder of Poe and Company Bookstore, located in Milton, Georgia. Celebrating its second anniversary, this full-service community bookstore offers a wide range of genres, with a particular focus on children’s literature and local authors. Kate shares her passion for community building through various events, including story times, book clubs, and author signings. The discussion also touches on the challenges of running an independent bookstore, the importance she places in supporting local organizations like Jesse’s House, and the joys of creating memorable experiences for customers. Additionally, Kate talks about her journey as a children’s book author and offers advice for aspiring writers.
Click this link for the details on “Harvesting Hope For Jesse’s House – Author’s Night,” mentioned during the show. This event, to be held on September 13, 2024, will benefit Jesse’s House and is co-sponsored by Stoney J’s Winery and Poe & Company Bookstore.
John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. The show is recorded and produced from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.
Kate Seng, Owner, Poe & Company Bookstore
Kate Seng is the owner of Poe & Company Bookstore, an independent, family-owned bookstore located in downtown Crabapple, Milton, GA, and serving customers from Alpharetta, Roswell, Johns Creek, Woodstock, and beyond.
Kate’s journey as a bookstore owner began with a childhood passion for reading and storytelling, inspired by her father’s love for literature, particularly the works of Edgar Allan Poe and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. She founded Poe & Company Bookstore with a dual mission: to encourage reading with physical books and to give back to the local community.
Under Kate’s leadership, the bookstore has become more than just a place to buy books. It serves as a community gathering space, hosting various events such as children’s story time, book clubs, Bible studies, and author signings.
Kate’s approach to running Poe & Company reflects her personal connection to literature and her commitment to fostering a love for reading within the community. Her background and passion have shaped the bookstore into a welcoming space for book lovers of all ages.
Additionally, Kate Seng has published two children’s books, Doodle Noodle (2021) and Mazie’s Full Heart (2022).
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Topics Discussed in this Episode
00:00 Introduction and Welcome
01:27 Meet Kate Seng of Poe & Company Bookstore
01:50 Poe & Company Bookstore: Services and Events
02:58 Kate Seng’s Journey as an Author
03:52 The Importance of Community Bookstores
06:05 Children’s Books by Kate Seng
09:37 Advice for Aspiring Children’s Book Authors
11:02 Running a Successful Bookstore
15:32 Community Support and Events
19:56 Popular Books and Recommendations
22:58 Closing Remarks and Announcements
Renasant Bank and Casa Nuova Italian Restaurant support North Fulton Business Radio
Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions, with over $13 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management, and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.
Casa Nuova is a proud family-owned and operated restaurant, serving classic, authentic and traditional Italian cuisine and top tier hospitality since 1998.
Casa Nuova is a cook-to-order kitchen, serving traditional fare including pasta, chicken, seafood, veal, vegetarian and gluten-free options, plus daily specials. They are a farm-to-table establishment, meaning that in the summertime, they cultivate their own vegetables in their garden, steps away from the restaurant, including tomatoes, corn, peppers, zucchini, sunflowers and more!
Celebrating more than 25 years, Casa Nuova has become a true staple in the Alpharetta area, serving more than three generations of families, including friends old and new, visiting near and far from all over the metro Atlanta area and beyond.
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About North Fulton Business Radio and host John Ray
With over 780 shows and having featured over 1,200 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in our community like no one else. We are the undisputed “Voice of Business” in North Fulton!
The show welcomes a wide variety of business, non-profit, and community leaders to get the word out about the important work they’re doing to serve their market, their community, and their profession. There’s no discrimination based on company size, and there’s never any “pay to play.” North Fulton Business Radio supports and celebrates business by sharing positive business stories that traditional media ignore. Some media leans left. Some media leans right. We lean business.
John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. The show is recorded and produced from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, and many others.
The studio address is 275 South Main Street, Alpharetta, GA 30009.
John Ray also operates his own business advisory practice. John’s services include advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their value, their positioning and business development, and their pricing. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as consultants, coaches, attorneys, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.
John is the national bestselling author of The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices.
