Claire Mazur and Erica Cerulo love a steamy, swoony romance novel. They also love a good business opportunity (Claire & Erica were behind the beloved yet shuttered retail company Of a Kind). And as they got deeper into the romance genre, they saw one: people don’t just read romance novels – they build universes around them with fan fiction and lively TikTok discussion. So Claire & Erica launched 831 Stories, an entertainment media company built around romance novels. Today, we chat about what that really means, and how they’ve learned to work together over their 14-year business partnership (spoiler: it involves learning to fight).  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices