Rebekah Borucki - BexLife

It’s so beautiful how when everything feels dark, family shows up—right on time. God is good.

I don’t remember how to do this. She’s asleep in the carrier. Now what? I just stand here?

Everything up until now was about this moment.

These two 🥰

This is an ALL HANDS ON DECK situation. Please LIKE, COMMENT, SHARE, and TAG. And share offline, too.

🚨🚨🚨 RowHousePublishing.com/support (link in bio)

From :

Since an investor withdrew their $500,000 investment last November, Row House has been struggling to recover. Despite our efforts, as a small, minority-owned startup, this setback nearly put us out of business.

In early 2024, we launched an emergency fundraiser seeking $200,000 for continued operations and long-term success. We raised $100,000, which gave us the boost we needed, but we’re still nearly $100,000 short. Without this $100,000, we cannot continue operations.

This situation is not a result of poor business practices or lack of book sales. We’re outperforming other indie publishers our size in every area. The issue is that we face challenges similar to any new business but with added disadvantages due to limited access, resources, and social standing.

The Good News: We raised the minimum threshold of $60,000 in our investment campaign, but several canceled investments by people who have recently changed their minds have put us below the threshold, leaving these funds inaccessible. Drawing down these funds would give us enough runway to raise the remaining $40,000 at a manageable pace.

How You Can Help:

Increase Your Current Investment or Invest for the first time. You can find the link in our bio and at RowHousePublishing.com/support.

Donate via GoFundMe or Other Portals. Visit RowHousePublishing.com/support for links or click the link in our bio. These donations will help us access the $60,000 in pledged funds and cover urgent expenses like printing and production fees, preventing significant setbacks for our book releases.

AND Spread the Word. Share our story on social media and personally reach out to friends for their support. Placing our fundraiser on your grid and tagging your friends helps us beat a suppressive algorithm.

Together, we can overcome these obstacles, but we can’t do it without our community. Thank you for your consideration and commitment to justice.

Justin Borucki decided after 20+ years to take a stab at developing his own film at home. Sunny stood in.

Thirteen Father’s Days since we got our Sunny. We surprised him with a trip to a train museum.

Actual email from my kid’s school trying to make my head explode. A flashlight?! STOP GIVING ME HOMEWORK! We sent in three cans of shaving cream yesterday. Also, God bless all the teachers. I love you. I’m just tired.

Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop outside.

The book launch event for Someplace Generous: An Inclusive Romance Anthology was in ’s old Brooklyn neighborhood, so we took a walk down the streets where we fell in love and had margaritas and empanadas at a restaurant we haven’t been to in 15 years. Justin got hit on by a very cute young gentleman at the bar, and I sat blissfully, enjoying my meal in invisible middle-aged-woman glory. Being ignored is *chef’s kiss.*

Love is in the air. Look at all our gray hair. 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🤟🏽

Lipstick by
Tshirt by

How it’s going. Annie’s dance recital. Sunny’s teen angst. (yes, he’s a teenager now)

A quick portrait by Mr. in between his loaded mac n cheese bites.

Collecting that author coin 💰 🙌🏽

On the way home from our eclipse trip, we took a little detour to my friend’s home so I could get baptized in her husband’s church. This is not a rebirth, not a new me, just a recommitment to all that has always held me down through every moment I’ve been blessed to be alive. And, of course, I had to honor the ancestors by including meaningful symbolism and things they held dear.

We celebrated with hugs and charcuterie.

Spring is… solar eclipses, baptisms (pics coming soon), freckles, and rescuing baby squirrels. [We are experienced—no advice please.]

I’ve been exceptionally terrible at listening to voicemails (just don’t leave me any, please), answering non-emergency emails (I have an exceptionally high bar for what qualifies as an emergency), and calling/texting anyone back (see previous item for why). So I’m dropping in to let you know that all of that will probably continue to be the case for a little while (read 6-12 months).

That being said, I’m down for a non-talking co-hang where we work independently but together in the same space. Extra points if that place can be a beach or a fancy hotel. Or a Hilton Garden Inn. I’m not picky.

Also, I miss bringing you fresh memes. I’ve been too pooped to curate, so you sending me some with image descriptions would really fill my love language tank 😘⛽️

[Image description: Picture of Disney villain Cruella de Vil driving her car. Text above her reads “Me trying to excel in my career, maintain a social life, drink enough water, exercise, text everyone back, survive, and be happy.”]

Can I ask for a favor? If you’re not following yet, and you’re someone who loves books and justice, could you follow us and share what we’re doing over there? We’re *this close* to 20,000 followers, and it would look super great to press and potential investors for us to hit that milestone. Thank you! And Happy Holidays!

[Image description: Screengrab of a social media post by temmie () that reads “doing stuff is hard. shout out to anyone who does anything.”]

The Winter Solstice Begins a Season of Storytelling and Ceremony In the Northern Hemisphere, December 21 will be the year’s day of least sunlight, when the sun takes its lowest, shortest path across the sky. North of the Arctic Circle, it will be the midpoint of the period of darkness, when even twilight doesn’t reach the horizon. As we did before the solar e...

‼️‼️‼️ URGENT COMMUNITY CALL TO ACTION: Row House author ’s best friend’s childhood home caught fire this week. The family needs financial assistance NOW.

Find the link at the top of my bio link tree (https://gofund.me/3bb61dfb). Amplify this post with shares, comments, likes—you know what to do, family. We can fund this TONIGHT.

(Posting this again because IG hates fundraisers 🤨)

•••

REPOST• This week the top floor of my childhood home caught fire while my mom and sister were sleeping. Luckily everyone made it out unharmed but the house has now been deemed unlivable. My family is currently staying in a hotel until we can figure out next moves.

The link to the gofundme is in my bio. Any donation or even just a share would be greatly appreciated.

‼️‼️‼️ URGENT COMMUNITY CALL TO ACTION: Row House author ’s best friend’s childhood home caught fire this week. The family needs financial assistance NOW.

Find the link at the top of my bio link tree (https://gofund.me/3bb61dfb). Amplify this post with shares, comments, likes—you know what to do, family. We can fund this TONIGHT.

•••

REPOST• This week the top floor of my childhood home caught fire while my mom and sister were sleeping. Luckily everyone made it out unharmed but the house has now been deemed unlivable. My family is currently staying in a hotel until we can figure out next moves.

The link to the gofundme is in my bio. Any donation or even just a share would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for all the congratulations on the hard work I’m doing at and for our $1million raise.

Here are some facts:

I am a non-disabled, ethnically and racially ambiguous, light brown, tall, conventionally attractive, relatively thin, cis presenting person without any intellectual limitations that are obvious to others.

I have a husband who works from home, contributes financially, and does the majority of the housekeeping, cooking, and child-rearing.

I have a nice home in a safe neighborhood and land that provides safety and access to nature.

My refrigerator is always full, and I have access to grocery stores that stock healthy foods.

I have medical insurance.

I have money in a savings account.

I had elders who loved and encouraged me my whole life.

I am working from a warm bed right now.

As for Row House:

I have access to a network of rich, white people who helped me secure favorable deals. Our attorney works pro bono. Over 1000 people invested and donated. I know those people because I have platform privilege and a large network of other people with platform privilege.

I have struggles—physical, mental, and generational. I am also lucky. I am also privileged. And what I have listed here doesn’t even scrape the surface in all the many ways I’m able to navigate this racist, homophobic, sexist, capitalist society with relative ease.

Thank you for the praise, but it isn’t just mine to receive. I stand on the shoulders of giants, I benefit from white privilege, and I stand alongside a lot of good people working just as hard as I am.

And I’m not saying I’m not deserving of praise. I’m saying that context is important. That’s all. I love you.

[Image description: Screengrab of a social media post by Shailja Patel () that reads “We all have the same 24 hours. Use public transport? Your 24 hours are not the same as those of private jet owners. Do your own cooking, cleaning, child-raising? Your 24 hours are not the same as those of someone with a full-time domestic staff. Stop this nonsense.”]

I’ve spent the past year grieving, praying, celebrating, grinding, laughing so hard, crying just as hard, asking for help again and again and again.

And I did 98% of it in public on the internet.

Today, my publishing company, crossed $1million dollars in our fundraising campaign.

I don’t have many words to describe this feeling. I’m still processing… and thinking about all the people who aren’t here to celebrate with me. Life is weird and hard and amazing. And I’m so grateful for it all.

[Image description: Screengrab of a social media post by Meaghan Oppenheimer () that reads “I had a tiny tiny blocked pore that nobody by me could possibly notice, but don’t worry guys. I fu**ed with it for 20 minutes, and now it’s a massive welt of raw skin that everyone will definitely notice. I got this.”]

REPOST • Yesterday, we were $8,000 away from our big audacious scary $900,000 fundraising goal. When I say you all stepped up, I can hardly put into words how BIG that step was. This morning, I woke up to dozens of new investors and donors and a $920,907.75 total! (We’re currently at $928,417!)

Facts: That number does not reflect fees, of which there are about $50,000 worth. Getting to $950,000 will make our goal solid as a rock. Getting to $1mm as a BIWOC-owned company will make this crowdfunding raise LITERALLY HISTORIC.

Please consider investing at RowHousePublishing.com (link in our bio) or donating today. There are only 15 days left to join us.

Our donation links:

★ PayPal.me/rowhousepub
★ Venmo
★ Cash App $rowhousepub
★ Patreon.com/rowhousepub

Thank you to , our Black and Brown founded and funded equity crowdfunding partners, and to every single one of you who gave, invested, shared, and donated in your racist uncle's name 😉

The love and gratitude are so very real.

Scroll through to see some messages from our people, texts with our authors, and a screenshot of our current totals.

They told us our dream was impossible. We showed them our ancestors' dreams are inevitable. Keep going, family!

[Image descriptions:

Slide 1: Black text on a white background with lime green highlights that reads "They told us our dream was impossible. We showed them our ancestors' dreams are inevitable."

Slide 2: Message from an investor that reads "Was just able to invest and I'm freaking out here. Thank you for making this so accessible. It's such a tiny amount for more people, but it's scary as s**t fro me right now. I hope I can invest 10x this amount in RH. This is what it feels like to create structures that work for all - scary and hella exciting!!!"

Slide 3: Comment from an investor that reads "Just invested, this is what my publishing dreams are made of!"

Slide 4: Text from an investor that reads "I'm invested! We're in this together so I hope you're ready. My first private investment. I feel like an adult."

Descriptions continued in comments.]

I am so tired, so blessed, so ready to rest. 2021 has dragged my (not-so-scrawny-anymore-since-March-2020-pandemic) ambitious messy behind, but it's still been such a beautiful year for me and mine.

Also, I'm noticing that this rhymes, and I swear I'm only unintentionally corny (on this particular occasion). Sorry! Please continue to follow and support my baby, . We're wrecking s**t and building something better, folks.

[Image ID: Screenshot of a social media post by that reads "I have to stop adding 'please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions' at the end of my emails because I be lying! Please hesistate."]

Can’t nobody tell me NOTHIN’!

[Image description forthcoming. I’m at a red light and couldn’t wait, but I welcome assistance from my family in the comments!]

Only 17 days left to join the publishing revolution 🔥✊🏽

Dear community: Information is power and books start revolutions.

You might not think of who is making the decisions about who and what gets published, but it is critically important to our collective liberation to make sure wh•te supremacy doesn’t dictate what we read.

It’s time to “raise the volume on voices that matter” and support ’s campaign to raise $900,000 by December 31. They’re only $17,000 away from the finish line, and it’s because of folks like YOU who raised their hand to join the mission.

Row House is a disruptive publishing company offering a new model to publish non-fiction books in the spaces of wellness, social justice, health, psychology, memoir, fertility, LGBTQIA+, and other genres honoring and authored by marginalized peoples.

Own a piece of Row House for as little as $300 by investing online at RowHousePublishing.com (linked in the bio).

Or donate ANY amount here:

• PayPal.me/rowhousepub
• Venmo
• Cash App $rowhousepub
• Patreon.com/rowhousepub

Image descriptions:

[Slide 1: Infographics featuring charts with people icons and publishing statistics styled in olive green, black, and white. The Row House brand logo appears on the bottom. The statistics: Publishing is 79% white. Publishing is 89% straight or heterosexual. Publishing is 96% non-disabled. Publishing is 99% cisgender.

Slide 2: Black text on a white background that reads “The stories of most Black and Brown characters are being told by white authors. It’s important to have authors telling their own stories from theirs own experiences.” — Founder Rebekah Borucki. RowHousePublishing.com and appears in white text on a black bar on the bottom.

Slide 3: Countdown graphic representing that there are 17 days left to support the Row House Publishing fundraising campaign. A message in black text reads “Join the Publishing Revolution: The time to join our family of investors and support Row House’s mission to raise the volume on voices that matter is running out! Use the links below to find out more and pledge your support before the campaign ends on December 31.”]

REPOST • TLDR: All books at WheatPennyPress.com (link in bio) are on sale for $11.11 or less; FREE shipping on every order to the US and Puerto Rico; FREE Zara coloring pages with every order that includes a "Big Messy" book; FREE custom bookmark in every children's book; guaranteed holiday delivery when you order by 12/15!

We're so excited about our distribution partnership with Simon & Schuster! Soon, all of the Wheat Penny Press books will be distributed to big book chains and indie bookshops nationwide!

But that means we're closing shop at Wheat Penny Press HQ and will no longer shipping our books.

Stock up and save for holiday gifts and beyond! The full collection won't be available again until early 2023.

Get free shipping, guaranteed holiday delivery, free gifts with every children's book purchase, and amazing sale prices.

Supplies are VERY limited!

Lord forgive me. Annie has been doing so well on her spelling…

There’s much more to this story, like how I lost last year’s elf and had to make up an elaborate lie about her getting married and being out on maternity leave. The twins arrive today.

Maybe one day, when I have even an ounce of energy, I’ll fill you in on the whole nonsense ordeal.

Oh, and I found Jingles—but not before spending a shameful amount of money on emergency rush-shipped emergency elves. Six of them. Again, long story.

[Image IDs:

Slide 1: A handwritten note to our elf, Jingles, who just turned up yesterday with a “baby” in a baby sling carrier. It says, “I wish elf will cm today.”

Slide 2: A note from elf’s partner when he showed up after days of missing candy from the fireplace mantle but NO ELF. Thank Baby Jesus for Canva. It reads:

“Jingles and I have been very busy,
A special delivery has us all in a tizzy.

She didn’t tell you? We went and got hitched,
And we have a big secret, but it’s not time to snitch.

I can’t wait to shout our exciting news soon,
Because when you find out, you’ll be over the moon.

For now, we’ll leave you with just one tiny clue,
When Jingles finally arrives, she’ll be with…
GUESS WHO!”

This is seven at Christmas.

Slide 3: Photographs of the infant twin elves arriving today, one dressed in black and red buffalo plaid, the other dresses in black and white buffalo plaid.

I guess I did have the time to tel the story.

PS — And where was Jingles? I hid her in between my Christmas sweaters. Because that’s how my brain is working these days.]

I have what you could call “boss privilege.” I own the company. I sign the checks. The buck stops with me.

So I can be wear my politics on my chest. I can be openly autistic in press interviews. I can have my kids pop onto Zoom calls to say “hi” to investors.

I get to be me, unapologetically. And yes, that is extreme privilege.

But what is also my privilege—my prerogative—is to extend this “luxury” to our teams, authors, contractors, and creators.

Just today, when scheduling a call, I got to reply with “Fridays are sacred, so I don’t take calls.” And that was okay.

And guess what—it was also professional. Because professionalism is about doing your job well and (sometimes) working well with others.

It’s not about how you dress or wear your hair, how you pronounce your words, or how few typos you make.

So while I know that I enjoy a very unique brand of privilege not afforded to most working people, I also know that how I run my business can set an example that creates change in publishing (and hopefully, beyond). Because I learned all of this from my mentors and other leaders I admire.

My dream is to make Row House a place authors and creators flock to, wanting us to help bring their dreams into reality. I want this to be a community, a village for my people—the overlooked and pushed aside, the beautiful, the brilliant, the freaks and geeks and brains and artists. And we’re gonna work and rest and play and make this house a home.

❌⭕️

Rebekah ()
Founder & President

[Image descriptions:

Slide 1: Rebekah Borucki, a 43-year-old biracial mother-to-five with light brown skin and dark brown long curly hair who loves the 90s more than life. She’s wearing a custom black pullover from that has “Black Books Matter” printed in white on the front and colorful print sleeves, yellow plastic rimmed glasses, blue jeans, and a stank face.

Slide 2: Tweet by that says “Let’s normalize not confusing someone’s free time with their availability. Image is placed on an illustrated background featuring a sky and the top part of a brick row house. The Row House Publishing logo is in maroon and orange near the bottom.]

📸:

I’m okay, but it’s hard not to think this at least once a day. I feel like any thinking, feeling person must—it’s a normal reaction to what’s happening, no?

Shared from Tiffany Hammond over at Tiffany | 🏠 + 🖊+ ♾], one of my favorite actually autistic accounts.

•••

Tiffany | 🏠 + 🖊+ ♾]: I wonder what it‘s like to be part of the world…
instead of being consumed by the weight of it.
Drowning on dry land.
Chained beneath the soil instead of claiming ownership of the land beneath my feet.
I often wonder what it’s like to just…be.
Be part of this world and not carry the weight of it.
Be joyous.
Be happy.
Be proud.
Be…
but without expectations.
Not expected to be a teacher to those who don’t know this life.
Not expected to treat soft moments as resistance to the rough ones.
Just…be.

[ID: cream text on green background. Text reads, “I wonder what it‘s like to be part of the world…
instead of being consumed by the weight of it.“]

I loathe selfies these days, but Zara insisted.

[Image ID: Rebekah Borucki, a 43-year-old biracial woman with long brown curly-ish wavy-ish hair, is wearing yellow plastic eyeglasses and a black pullover from . Zara is a 7-year-old biracial puppet. She’s wearing a dark purple jumper dress with a lavender star on the front, a white T-shirt, and a red bow. She has the best brown foam hair on the planet. They are both smiling for the camera. Rebekah might also be a puppet—the jury is out.]