ORIGIN STORY
When I visited New Mexico in the months before my big move from New York, I remember telling family and friends about the studio shed I planned to build in the backyard of the casita I coveted. The outdoor structure was going to double as a bar — because naturally. I imagined wood and light, books, vining plants and tools of the craft, a haphazard assortment of blue and amber glassware. Mixing cocktails for friends on the other side of a stretch of writing. But upon learning that that particular little adobe house with its yard and stone fountain was being turned into a vacation rental, I forgot about my plans. I arrived in Santa Fe, resided elsewhere, and set myself diligently to building a life in a place and culture that was foreign to me. It's a town with few professional opportunities, so I managed a small sustainable goods boutique, then worked at an art gallery while teaching Creative Writing and Critical Theory at the Institute of American Indian Arts, and at last have found myself pouring Lavender Gimlets and smokey Old Fashioneds in a dimly lit tasting room after mornings reading and walking the dog. As things fell apart in a career I had built over fifteen years, I asked myself what I would do right now, if I could do anything, if I had to start again. Which I did. And then I remembered.
Bloom's Taxonomy feels like a culmination though it has yet begun. I remembered the studio shed speakeasy, but also all of the work I'd been a part of that was far from over, just ready to change form. My time in the classroom with young poets, chairing the Board of the South Asian Women's Creative Collective, turning stories around on deadline only to read fresh personal work at a warehouse brewery later that night — all of these moments from my past are finding expression in this project and the community I'd love to host and serve. To dig deeper into the process that led me here, check out my essay, Notes on Possibly Dreaming Ways Home, about my epic drive across the country three and a half years ago, and much more. Finally, below, I have shared some highlights as I develop Bloom's Taxonomy from scratch and become the right person to birth it into the world.
~Chaya
PROJECT UPDATES
Book Things
Bloom's is now a BIPOC member of the American Booksellers' Association, and we are working with them and an organization called Ingram to connect with publishers, receive guidance from other indie bookstores, and curate a list of approximately 2,000 titles — we are starting lean on purpose. If you have books you believe belong on our shelves, keeping in mind the frame of what we are trying to do, please reach out! I will also be at the Printed Matter Art Book Fair in New York in September, scoping out some potentially harder to find text objects.
Beverage Things
One of the most significant aspects in my own growth toward running the business is my current role at the Norte Farm Shop & Tasting Room, the Santa Fe location of the Los Poblanos Historic Inn & Organic Farm. Among so much else, LP distills their own award-winning botanical gin, houses the only restaurant in New Mexico with two Michelin Keys, and features a bar program that was recognized as a James Beard Semifinalist. I was promoted in a matter of months from bartender/server to Bar Lead & Supervisor, and I will be consulting with talented folks I've made connections with there as well as elsewhere in the industry as I move toward building a menu.
Visionings
I have been invited to the wilderness of Northern New Mexico for a week of gathering, integrating, and blueprinting with other creatives at the Corkins Exchange this fall. According to the Feminist Business Birthing Handbook, regularly revisiting the originary spark of energy and core desire from which an idea emerged, even as details come into focus and administrative tasks abound, is necessary to staying on track. This time will be dedicated to turning inward from the outer demands of business planning.
Back-End & The Real Biz
Bloom's Taxonomy is an official LLC, recognized by the Secretary of State's Office of New Mexico! I am in the inevitable hullabaloo of getting tax IDs set up, opening a bank account, building relationships with necessary agencies, and generally making sure I have my shit together. This part isn't fun but it's all in the name of doing the damn thing. Thank you so much for being with me on this journey.
