Fran Hauser

NYC with my favorite people. ☺️ Hope everyone had a beautiful weekend, and Happy Easter to those who celebrate 💛

I’m so excited to welcome my friends Lilian Ajayi Ore and Mary Olson-Menzel to Bedford Books on March 31 for a conversation about how a learning mindset can transform your career. ✨

Lilian’s new book, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘦𝘵, just debuted at #9 on the USA Today Bestseller List — which is incredible and so well deserved. 🎉

I’ve had the privilege of growing up in my career alongside both Lilian and Mary. We’ve each built platforms helping professionals navigate their careers, and I can say firsthand that I’ve gained so many valuable insights from them over the years. They are two of the smartest and most thoughtful voices in this space, and I’m excited to be in the audience learning alongside all of you. 💛 📚

In this conversation, we’ll explore how to stay relevant in a fast-changing world, build a learning mindset that fuels growth, and approach your next chapter with curiosity and confidence. Whether you’re early in your career or leading teams, you’ll walk away with practical ideas you can apply right away. 💫

Join us! Sign up through the events calendar at the link in bio or at bedfordbooks.shop/events. 🔗

⏳ What does it really mean to be generous with your time?

I’ve been thinking a lot about this — especially as I work on my next book, 𝘛𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘳.

It brought me back to someone I met early in my startup investing days — a venture capitalist who stood out not because of his résumé or the size of his fund, but because of how he treated time.

He started meetings exactly when he said he would. He was fully present. No rushing, no multitasking, no “I’m very busy” energy. Just calm, focused attention.

At the time, I thought it was impressive. Years later, I realize it was something deeper: generosity. 💛 The most generous leaders I know don’t give more time—they give better time.

They are clear, present, and boundaried. And in doing so, they give everyone else permission to be the same.

I wrote more about this (and why it’s been on my mind lately) over on Substack. If you want to read the full post, head over there 💌 Link in bio 🔗

📸

I recently took some time to update my to-don’t list, and wanted to share it with you in case it inspires you to create your own 📝

This is a list of things I’m 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴—so I can make time for the things that truly matter: being present with my family, taking better care of myself, launching my next book in a way that feels right to me, and continuing to build the bookstore into a vibrant community hub. 💫

This list isn’t about doing less for the sake of it. It’s about creating space for what actually moves the needle in my life and work—and for the moments that make it meaningful. 💛

Here are a few things I’m choosing not to do this year (swipe through) 👉

Do any of these resonate? What’s one thing you’re not doing this year? ✨

2016 ✨
Angel investing era 💼📈
Signed my first book deal (throwback to the original working title!) 📖✍️
A Fairy Godmother Award from 🧚💛
So much NYC time 🗽—all black outfits + slick ponytails 🖤🙃 (not sure I could pull off the ponytail today!)
First winter renting in VT ❄️🏔️ (which turned into buying the townhouse—best decision ever 🏡❤️)
Boys were 6 & 4—parenting felt simpler 👦👦💫
These photos with my dear friend , from a fundraiser —seeing her again really tugged at my heart 💔🤍
Soundtrack of the year: Love Yourself 🎶💿

📚 Last week at , we hosted two nonfiction events that stayed with me.

One focused on entrepreneurship & building businesses with , , and .
The other explored what it really means to serve on boards with Jon Foster.

After those conversations, I realized how much I love when the different chapters of my professional life collide ✨

Before Bedford Books, I spent years as a media executive, startup investor, and board member. I’m also an author—and now I run an indie bookstore in a small town. What keeps surprising me is how none of these chapters feel separate.

The questions founders ask about growth, focus, and trade-offs aren’t that different from the ones board members wrestle with—or the ones writers face when shaping an idea, or booksellers face when building community!

When you allow your experiences to overlap, you stop feeling pressure to “start over” every time your role changes. Also, learning builds over time when you stay curious across chapters, instead of treating each one as a clean break. 💡

Most careers aren’t linear—and sometimes the real growth happens in the overlap. ✨

A year ago, I opened Bedford Books thinking I had this small business thing figured out. 😅

Turns out, owning something teaches you lessons no boardroom ever could—from cash flow surprises to the magic of community… and yes, even learning to let go of ideas you really loved when they didn’t work out.

Curious what else this first year taught me? Swipe through to see my seven biggest lessons—and I shared the full story in my latest Substack. 💛 Link in bio.

Last night, my father and I were honored by the Solano Italian American Club—a community he’s been part of for 60 years. 🇮🇹 He joined when he first moved to Mount Kisco, New York, from Italy, before my mom and I came over, and the other club members became his family and best friends. Solano is the town I was born in, which makes this connection even more special. ✨

Being honored alongside him was incredibly meaningful. My whole family was there, and my amazing sister introduced us so beautifully. I’m still taking it all in. ❤️

This club shaped so much of my childhood, too—every Christmas party and picnic was how we stayed connected with friends before cell phones existed. A big, vibrant, loving community that’s still going strong today… and still where my dad plays cards every Friday night. 🃏

Grateful for this moment, for my family, and for my dad’s story. 💛

When I heard my friend had a new book, The Devil Emails at Midnight, coming out, I reached out and said something like:

“YAY! How can I support you? Want to do an event at the store?”

We ended up not doing an event. Instead, she did something extraordinarily generous: Mita donated 50 copies of her book to my bookstore, , so we could give them away as part of a Small Business Saturday promotion — buy a book, get a free copy of Mita’s book. She wanted to help drive traffic to the store!

This is who Mita is: wildly talented and wildly generous.

The photo I’m sharing here is from three years ago, when I had the honor of interviewing Mita at a event. It feels full-circle to now be celebrating her book — and her generosity — inside my own bookstore.

And if you don’t yet have this book: it’s a must-read for anyone who is a boss, has a boss, or wants to become a boss.

A heartfelt thank you to , founder of LiveGirl — our original connector and friendship matchmaker.

Mita, thank you for reminding me (again) that success doesn’t make people generous — generous people become successful. And then they give it away.

If you were in Bedford this past Small Business Saturday and grabbed a book, I hope you felt the love behind every page. 💛