Janet Geddis, a lifelong bibliophile, made her dreams come true in October 2011 when her brick-and-mortar bookshop opened on Prince Avenue in Athens, GA after four solid years of planning and a lifetime of dreaming. Avid Bookshop has grown tremendously over the years, and in November 2016, a second location of the shop opened on Lumpkin St. in Five Points. Avid is a community-focused, independent bookstore emphasizing connection, lifelong learning, and excellent customer service. The Avid in Schools initiative has allowed thousands of Athens-area school children to meet and engage with internationally bestselling authors and illustrators, and our diverse programming has brought hundreds of authors to our city over the last several years. At the end of 2019, Janet closed her original shop on Prince Ave. in order to transition back to a one-store model. So far, so good! Avid started as a one-woman operation but now supports a team of 7 incredible people. In addition to running her business, Janet is heavily involved with regional and national book industry organizations, presenting at least twice a year at conferences and volunteering her time for advisory boards. She holds an M.Ed. from UGA's College of Education; she served for a five-year term on the Athens Regional Library Board. Avid frequently partners with local schools and nonprofits, providing thousands of dollars' worth of in-kind donations to such organizations each year. They also host book fairs and fundraisers at schools and in the bookshop. Janet has been a migraine patient advocate for over a decade and is a contributor at Migraine.com, an online community for migraine patients and people who want to learn more about the illness. She writes articles as "The Migraine Girl" and has worked tirelessly to validate the experiences of the chronically ill while also encouraging them to take steps to follow their dreams. In the recent years, Janet began a speaking career, presenting original speeches and talks to audiences of all sizes; in March 2018, she spoke to a live audience of 1500+ at the TEDxUGA conference. She is a contributor to the iHeartMedia/iHeartPodcasts podcast The Passenger (with host Hugh Acheson) and has been a guest panelist on both national and regional radio shows (including NPR shows!) and podcasts.