00:00When I was five years old, I said I wanted to own all the books in the world.
00:04I haven't quite gotten there, but I'm getting closer.
00:09For most of my life, I was homeschooled, so it was always me and my books.
00:13They became my escape to a different world.
00:16Now my job is to get to tell stories.
00:20That's why I started Bellatrist.
00:22I was inspired to create a space where people could connect with others,
00:25share what's on their mind, talk about books they love, and go deeper.
00:29A community for the curious.
00:32I started Bellatrist with my best friend, Kara.
00:35She was out in New York, and I was in L.A.,
00:37and we'd pick up the phone and connect over a book we just read.
00:40It kept us close.
00:41Books became the common thread between us.
00:45So we took this idea of taking this connective thread and expanded it to the wider world.
00:50Once we made the jump and Bellatrist went live, it was like, wow, it's now real.
00:54There is no going back.
00:56Which is kind of liberating, because it's always the before that is the hardest.
01:00And then once you do it, you just do it.
01:03Whenever you start something new, there will always be people who would tell you,
01:07you're too this or too that, so you might as well be yourself.
01:11It's not easy to find your passions and then find the courage to follow them.
01:16But when you do, the whole world opens up.
01:19I promise.
