April Business Spotlight: Dragon’s Lair Bookshop

Meet Shauna Bell Cochran! Shauna and her husband, Bryon own Dragon’s Lair Bookshop in Jefferson, Georgia. They’ve lived in Jefferson for 10 years and have two boys, RiMi (10) and Dexter (6). Shauna and Bryon met in Athens. During their first date, while discussing their life goals, Bryon told Shauna that he wanted to own a comic store one day and Shauna told Bryon that she wanted to open her very own bookstore one day. Here they are, years later living out their dream!

Shauna served the community as a Family Advocate at The Tree House for five years before opening Dragon’s Lair Bookshop. Shauna is a pillar in the community. She is passionate about supporting local organizations and giving back. Some of the organizations she supports are The Tree House, CASA, The Boys and Girls Club, Peace Place, Bingo for a Cause, Jefferson City Schools and local families in need.

In January 2021, Shauna and Bryon put all of their ideas into a business plan and submitted it to the UGA Business and Development Center to receive advice and guidance. For about four months, they consulted back and forth and exchanged ideas until they had a 25-page business plan! At that time, the UGA Business Development Center felt confident that Shauna and Bryon had a solid business plan and were ready to open the bookshop.

On October 30, 2021, their dream of owning a bookshop/comic store finally became a reality!

Q: What inspired you to open a bookshop?

“We wanted to make sure that everyone finds something that’s for them. We are strong believers that books should not be banned. We want people to have access to all the information.”

Dragon’s Lair Bookshop’s mission is mental health awareness, early childhood literacy and inclusivity. Shauna and Bryon want everyone that walks in the bookshop to feel welcome and find something that they can relate to or need. They are very purposeful with their book selections as each book is hand selected by them.

Q: Who are some of your favorite authors/books?

A: “I love Colleen Hoover, I just discovered her two years ago. I fell in love with her writing style and her characters. I feel like they’re my best friends and I love them all. One of her books that’s not talked about as much as it should be is called Heart Bones.”

Shauna says that most of the main characters in Hoover’s books have some sort of trauma. Coming from her previous career she feels that she can relate to them in terms of wanting to help them. “I am a fixer; I want people to be better and I want to help educate and provide resources for people. I want to fix their sadness and their brokenness. I know not everyone is a fixable type of person. Sometimes you just have to get through the moment and each day,” Shauna says.

Little Bee by Chris Cleave is another one of Shauna’s favorites. She says, “It’s a powerful story about immigration and love and acceptance and just being who you are. Little Bee is a gorgeous story of overcoming and surviving and it ends in a way that leaves you wanting more."

Shauna follows Reese Witherspoon’s Book Club and selects some of the books from that list. She loves that they are by women authors and for many of them it’s their debut novel. She says, “It gives writers the chance to bridge the gap between almost making it and making it. Reese is such a well-known celebrity and people respect her opinion and she brings these new novel authors that people would not have picked up.”

Q: Do you finish all the books you start?

“99% of the time, yes!” Shauna says especially now that she owns a bookshop, she needs to see each book through. People want to chat books and she needs to know what she’s talking about. She recalls a time when someone came in the bookshop that loved a book that she didn’t love, and she loved talking with them about why they loved the book.

Q: What can people expect when visiting your bookshop?

A: “What we want to strive for is whimsy and fantasy. We want people to feel like they’ve left Jefferson and are in a new place.” Shauna says she wants people to immerse themselves in the characters, stories and conversations not just with staff but other guests, too. She loves listening to guests talk about the books and loves being a part of those conversations. It makes her happy and it’s one of the reasons she loves owning the bookshop. The bookshop brings something different to the square and it feels like a whole other world. She has gamers that love to meet and play in their conference room. She wants people to walk in the door and forget about all the baggage they are carrying. The doormat at Dragon’s Lair Bookshop says, “all are welcome” and that’s what she wants for the space. She wants guests to walk in and see book covers of people who look like them. Her book selection offers something for everyone. Dragon’s Lair Bookshop is truly a safe place of no judgement where you can walk in and be yourself without feeling like you have to hide. Shauna says, “We have a little bit of something for everybody and that’s what our goal is here. We want to make sure that everyone feels connected in some way.”

Q: What’s on your bucket list?

A: Shauna wants to travel! She really wants to go to Hawaii and Greece. Professionally, she would love to host some of her favorite well-known authors like Colleen Hoover, Mary Kay Andrews and Sarah Penner. Also, she would love to expand to have a bigger space for gamers.

Q: What’s your favorite thing about Jefferson?

A: Shauna loves the small town feel and loves the people of Jefferson. She loves chatting with guests that walk into her bookshop. A lot of teenagers visit just because they know it’s a safe place and she loves chatting with them.

Q: What is the greatest piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

“Be here now. This is what we are doing right now. Be in the moment, live in the moment.”

Shauna loves Brené Brown who also teaches that being present and living for others is important. This is also something she is trying to teach her kids.

She continued to say that being present and getting your mindset right is important. There’s a lot of negativity out there and we have to refocus. We don’t always have to agree, but we can always be kind.

The bookshop is a family affair! Shauna’s oldest son is learning to run the register and helps guests with their purchases. They have many family dinners around the conference table. Bryon opens the store on Saturdays because many of their comic books lovers come in during that time.

As I finished interviewing Shauna, she shared with us that she is seven months pregnant with a surrogate baby. This is her second time being a surrogate. Shauna was a supervisor over adoption and foster care with Casa and DFCS and has a foster care mindset. She believes that this is her way of fostering the baby and taking care of him for a short time.

Shauna shared that there are many families that cannot conceive. There’s way more parents than surrogates just as there are way more kids than families. If anyone wants to reach out to Shauna with questions about infertility and/or IVF or if you’ve ever been interested in surrogacy, you can reach out to her and she will help you get in contact with someone that can help.

Shauna and Bryon are making a huge impact in the community.

Dragon’s Lair Bookshop is open on Tuesday-Thursday from 11am-6pm, Fridays from 11am-8pm, Saturdays 10am-8pm and Sundays 1pm-5pm. They are located downtown Jefferson at 82 N Public Square.

If you find yourself wanting a book, but can’t stop by the store, you can order online and it will arrive on your doorstep!

When you shop at Dragon’s Lair Bookshop, your support goes a long way. It allows Shauna and Bryon to continue to support all of the local organizations, city schools and local families.

Make sure to visit their Facebook and Instagram to stay connected and in the know for all of their fun events. Dragon’s Lair Bookshop is also available to host your events. They have hosted birthday parties and a baby shower!