⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Today, I’m in Amsterdam with my daughter for a concert. No meetings, no OmaxBooks business, just enjoying the city. But while walking around, I kept noticing bookstores, and I realized that becoming a publisher has changed the way I look at them. I now notice the covers, displays, categories, customer experience and everything that makes someone want to stay. In this episode, I share a simple lesson from a day off: sometimes leaving your own market is one of the best ways to understand it differently.

Let’s discuss.

X, TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram: @alexisonestas

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Yesterday at Jay-Z’s concert in Paris, I unexpectedly met Ronnie DeMichael, President of Paper Planes. But I only recognized him because I had already studied the company, its organization and the people behind the brand. I introduced myself, talked about OmaxBooks, shared my genuine connection with Paper Planes, and today we’re connected. Maybe something comes from it, maybe nothing does. That isn’t the lesson. The lesson is simple: study the companies you want to work with before the opportunity appears, because you never know where or when you’ll meet the right person.

Let’s discuss.

X, TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram: @alexisonestas

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Jay-Z is performing in Paris tonight, so I wanted to celebrate differently: with books. If you want to understand Jay-Z beyond the music, where should you start? In this episode, I recommend four books that reveal four different dimensions of his story: Decoded for the writer, Empire State of Mind for the businessman, JAY-Z: Made in America for the cultural thinker, and The Book of HOV for the legacy. Four books, four perspectives, one of hip-hop’s most documented careers.

Let’s discuss.

X, TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram: @alexisonestas

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ What if your content could keep working long after you post it? An idea shared by James Alley, founder of PODSPACE, changed the way I think about social media: stop obsessing over every like and focus on being consistently seen. Applying that idea to OmaxBooks led me to another realization. Promotional content expires quickly, but useful ideas can travel for weeks, months or even years. In this episode, I share two principles I’m now using to create content that stays valuable beyond the day it’s published.

Let’s discuss.

X, TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram: @alexisonestas

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ After almost ten years producing events, I still got the date of my own event wrong. That mistake created another problem, and the first solution I asked for was a no. But instead of stopping there, I took responsibility, pushed for another option and eventually found an even better date. In this episode, I share what years of event production taught me about mistakes, unexpected problems and why the first “no” doesn’t always have to be the final answer.

Let’s discuss.

X, TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram: @alexisonestas

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ One of my videos reached 81,000 views in 24 hours, with thousands of likes, comments, reposts and shares. But it wasn’t about OmaxBooks, Tupac Shakur or Nipsey Hussle. It was an interview clip about the cost of traveling to the Caribbean. And it taught me something important: you don’t control the door people use to discover you. You control what happens after they walk through it. In this episode, I share three rules for turning unexpected attention into something that can actually help what you’re building.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I use AI every day to help build OmaxBooks. But I don’t want AI writing our books. After hearing Alicia Lyttle explain the concept of an AI virtual team at Invest Fest 2026, I decided to actually build one. Today, different virtual roles help me think through operations, sales, editorial, marketing and strategy, with a briefing waiting for me every morning at 5 a.m. In this episode, I explain why I believe creative work should remain deeply human, while AI can strengthen the infrastructure around it.

Let’s discuss.

X, TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram: @alexisonestas

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This summer, I pitched a project I really wanted to a major publisher. They came back with a different opportunity. For weeks, I stayed stubborn because I didn’t want to lose sight of my original goal. But coming back in September made me reconsider something important: changing your route doesn’t mean changing your ambition. In this episode, I share three rules I’m using to stay flexible, build trust and keep moving toward what I really want.

Let’s discuss.

X, TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram: @alexisonestas

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ What does it really take for a small brand to enter bigger rooms? After meeting with our distributor to prepare the upcoming OmaxBooks releases about Nipsey Hussle and Tupac Shakur, I kept thinking about what happens when an independent brand finally gets access to major retailers. Inspired by Aurora James and the Fifteen Percent Pledge, I break down three rules: believe you belong on the shelf, build the infrastructure to get there, and create enough demand to stay there. Because access is only the beginning.

Let’s discuss.

X, TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram: @alexisonestas

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I’m almost finished reading Morgan DeBaun’s Rewrite Your Rules, and one chapter changed the way I think about building a team. Today, after a conversation with one of my business partners, I realized how much of OmaxBooks exists because other people brought capabilities I didn’t have. Research on thousands of startup founders points to the same idea: complementary capabilities can create value. Maybe building the right team isn’t about finding people who can help you do more of what you already do. Maybe it’s about finding people who can do what you cannot.

Let’s discuss.

X, TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram: @alexisonestas