LitJoy Crate | Co-CEO | Lehi | 35
In this story, a book club became a business. Alix Lewis Burrows met Kelly Dearth in 2015 at Kelly’s book club, Delicious Reads. At this book club, the squad dressed up, had themed food, and Kelly even blogged to share the club’s creativity with worldwide readers. In 2016, that evolved into a book-club-in-a-box business that started in Alix’s garage and has grown into an international company. As co-CEOs and co-founders, Alix and Kelly are adding even more magic to books. LitJoy Crate has over 40 employees who help create special edition books and bookish products to delight book lovers far and wide. LitJoy Crate was ranked Utah’s No. 27 fastest-growing company on the Mountain West Capital Network’s 2023 list, won USA Today’s Top Book Box Subscription of the Year and made the Inc. 5000 Rocky Mountain Regional’s list in 2024. Add LitJoy to our Goodreads!
MAIN MOTIVATION First, my team! Fostering a healthy company culture brings me so much joy. My second motivation is to cultivate joy through stories. There is something powerful — visceral — about people connecting and bonding through stories. CODE RED We started out as two founders who enlisted friends to help run a small business. It got tricky when we had to create an organizational chart; each person became responsible for certain roles and had to report to different leaders. We knew it was necessary, but it was hard to differentiate that friendship relationship from that of a colleague relationship. I think this is a challenge for many startups and one that must be navigated with great humility and care. CAREER DREAM My ultimate goal is to empower people to live into their purpose without fear. I also want to test the bounds of publishing and make it more efficient and accessible. Traditional publishing can sometimes feel antiquated. My dream is to create more opportunities for authors and to get their work into the hands of readers. MENTOR WINS I look up to Courtney Brown (owner of Cents of Style and Be Fulfilled). From her, we have learned the importance of incorporating our natural gifts into our leadership style and to come back to our purpose again and again. SHARPER SKILLS One skill I’ve gained is listening, then responding with questions as opposed to solutions. Sometimes team members need sympathy, sometimes support, and sometimes solutions.