When the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe in early 2020, disrupting daily life and forcing families into prolonged isolation, Stephanie Moran Reed and her husband, Muammar, found themselves facing a deeply personal challenge. Like millions of parents navigating lockdown, they were spending extra time at home curating a personal library for their young daughter. They wanted to build a collection of literature that not only fostered a love of reading but also authentically reflected their daughter’s unique identity as a bilingual child of Mexican American and Black heritage growing up in the heart of Los Angeles.
Yet, as they scoured the market for books that mirrored their family’s background, they encountered a frustrating obstacle. Finding literature that was both culturally representative and genuinely authentic proved to be an uphill battle.
“It was really, really challenging to find anything that was representative or authentic,” Moran Reed recalls, reflecting on the scarcity of inclusive children’s literature available through conventional retail channels at the time.
That persistent search ultimately catalyzed a profound professional pivot, giving birth to MiJa Books. The enterprise’s name carries deep personal significance, drawn from the first two letters of their daughter’s first and middle names, while also cleverly playing on mi hija, the informal and affectionate Spanish term for "my daughter."
What began modestly in 2020 as a digital platform dedicated to thoughtful book reviews quickly evolved. By October of that same year, the initiative transformed into an online bookstore. From there, the business expanded into the physical realm through pop-up markets, vibrant cultural festivals, and an increasingly robust e-commerce operation.
Today, MiJa Books has grown into a vital bilingual book fair provider serving elementary schools throughout Southern California. Moran Reed proudly describes the enterprise as “the Scholastic alternative for schools that are looking to center BIPOC authors and BIPOC stories.” Operating as an established bookseller with direct accounts spanning major publishing houses, MiJa Books bridges a critical gap in educational publishing.
Beyond working with industry giants, Moran Reed takes an active, hands-on approach to curation. She deliberately seeks out independent authors and small, boutique presses whose works are essential to the literary ecosystem, stepping in where traditional, risk-averse publishers are often too slow to tread. She personally curates every collection that passes through the organization, ensuring that the books offered to young readers are deeply authentic, high-quality, and community-driven.
This entrepreneurial leap into children’s literature came after a successful career in an entirely different sector serving the bookends of life. Before the pandemic disrupted global commerce, Moran Reed, who holds a degree in gerontology, ran a thriving business dedicated to serving senior citizens. However, as COVID-19 swept through retirement communities, strict health and safety protocols locked down facilities to protect vulnerable residents. Suddenly, Moran Reed’s senior clients were entirely out of reach, forcing her to reevaluate her professional trajectory.
“I knew I had to do something else, so the impetus of MiJa was a necessity that grew into real passion,” she explains.
That remarkable journey of adaptation and cultural entrepreneurship naturally led Moran Reed to AVANCE Global, a prominent gathering anchored in the core philosophy that Latino prosperity is fundamentally intertwined with American prosperity. As a Latina founder, she successfully transformed a noticeable gap in her own household into a thriving enterprise that now serves schools where large populations of Latino and Black students have historically struggled to see themselves reflected in the curriculum.
The impact of this work extends far beyond commerce, touching on fundamental questions of educational equity and childhood development. By bringing diverse, inclusive book fairs directly to elementary schools, MiJa Books addresses long-standing representation issues in school reading lists, empowering children of color through literature that validates their lived experiences.
“We’ve seen firsthand the power of seeing yourself in the pages that you read,” Moran Reed notes. “We’re just trying to help literacy rates in schools across the country, one book at a time.”
