Oprah named this bookstore. Meet the Godmothers
- - Oprah named this bookstore. Meet the Godmothers
Jay Stahl, USA TODAYJanuary 14, 2026 at 5:01 AM
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Victoria Jackson, left, and Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, right, cofounded Godmothers bookstore in Summerland, Calif.
Talk show legend Oprah Winfrey sat with Tom Freston earlier this month mulling over the latter's new memoir "Unplugged" about co-founding MTV, then spending years roving from India and Afghanistan to Timbuktu.
At the boutique bookstore Godmothers in storybook enclave Summerland, California, Winfrey and Freston talked through his metamorphosis from high-powered executive to high-wire, globe-trotting thrill seeker.
Freston wore a black blazer on a stage flanked by bookshelves and trinkets, across from Winfrey, who was draped head-to-toe in a mustard-colored ensemble. As the pair joked onstage about their first conversation, the sold-out crowd, sitting shoulder-to-shoulder in rows of wooden chairs, laughed and applauded.
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The "co-Godmothers" – literary power player Jennifer Rudolph Walsh and beauty mogul Victoria Jackson – were in attendance. The bookselling duo, who coined the name Godmothers with help from Winfrey and Prince Harry, found success in Montecito's backyard at a time when independent bookstores have rebounded by 70% since 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic.
"People need and want connection, and that's what Godmothers is all about," Jackson told USA TODAY. Godmothers' live events regularly sell out, and the company boasts over 45,000 followers on Instagram.
Customers browse at Godmothers bookstore and community gathering space in Summerland, California.
Well-connected to some of the world's most well-known people, Walsh and Jackson are now writing a new chapter. Despite their A-list rolodex, the business partners are focused on fostering deeper understanding amongst neighbors in affluent Santa Barbara County and beyond.
"We're just trying to put this taste of love into the world and hope that people hear it, and they come because we're waiting for them," Walsh said.
How a 'sacred pause' led to lifelong friendship
Once a power agent at industry heavyweight William Morris Endeavor, Walsh co-produced Winfrey's "The Life You Want" tour in 2014 and represented some of the country's best-known authors including Brené Brown and Arianna Huffington.
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She was credited by Mark Shapiro, president of WME's parent company, with beefing up its publishing arm. Walsh said she "completed" her time at the company in 2020 to take a "sacred pause," an intentional exit from the corporate world.
Walsh moved away from Manhattan and headed to a small mountaintop avocado farm in Montecito, empty nesting with her husband Patrick and their mini donkeys, micro cows and dwarf goats. The move, of course, required significant financial resources but led Walsh to a lighter life – and a lighter calendar.
1 / 11Peek inside Godmothers, a bookstore inspired by Oprah and Prince HarryJennifer Rudolph Walsh and Victoria Jackson cofounded Godmothers bookstore in Summerland, Calif.. The bookstore was named by Oprah Winfrey, after Prince Harry named all three women his fairy godmothers.
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Walsh and Jackson first met in 2022 during a dinner party at Freston's house, quickly finding stories and similarities that bound them. Walsh and Jackson were born in the same hospital, Long Island Jewish Hospital in New York, and both have one daughter and two sons. Their eldest sons share an early January birthday.
Their suppertime conversation led to a lifelong connection, described as "kismet" by Jackson. The pair became "co-Godmothers."
Prince Harry: Jennifer Walsh, Victoria Jackson are 'fairy godmothers'
In January 2023, Prince Harry released his bestselling book "Spare," a memoir about the grief of losing his mom Princess Diana and meeting his wife, Duchess Meghan. At a release party held at one of Jackson's homes, Harry thanked her, Winfrey and Walsh – his three "fairy godmothers" – for their advice and wisdom.
Two months later, in March that year, Walsh was driving to meet Jackson when her sister Elizabeth called after visiting the wine-infused bookshop Books and Bottles in Florida. It gave her immediate inspiration.
"Oh, I'm going to that," Jennifer Rudolph Walsh said, years after taking a "sacred pause" from the corporate world.
"She said, 'Oh, my God, we went there every night. It was amazing.' And I just blurted out of my mouth, 'Oh, I'm going to do that, too,'" Walsh said, imagining her own gathering space on the spot.
At her lunch with Jackson at The Inn at Mattei’s Tavern, an eatery in a nearby coastal community, Walsh opened up about the conversation she shared with her sister. The two women decided to pursue the project, which became Godmothers, together.
A fellow fairy godmother: 'You must call it Godmothers'
Days later, the close friends were concocting a name for their shop-to-be when a fellow fairy godmother swooped in.
"I spoke to Oprah about it and she just said, 'You must call it Godmothers,'" Walsh, recalled, noting that her own favorite words are both "God" and "mother."
Jackson adds, "Now it seems like, 'Oh my gosh, why did we even spend a day thinking about it?' Because that's the name, it's always been the name."
Introduced at MTV co-founder Tom Freston's house, a dinner party conversation between Victoria Jackson (left) and Jennifer Rudolph Walsh blossomed into a lifelong friendship.
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A wand even sat on Walsh's desk at WME, given to her by one of her clients, "The Secret Life of Bees" novelist Sue Monk Kidd.
The women weren't so sure about the bold choice though. "We were like, 'Wow, that's really wearing our heart on our sleeve," Walsh said. "But the minute we decided, it was such a full body yes."
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Godmothers opened in September 2024.
Walsh and Jackson celebrated over three days of fanfare and festivities. Winfrey attended as did Harry and Meghan. Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi are featured in black-and-white photographs from the three-day extravaganza. Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd strolled in, too.
'It's not what happens, it's what happens next'
As much as Godmothers is a site for A-list sightings, the store is also intended to be a space for transformation.
"When we talk about transformation, we are talking about humans' ability to change our current circumstances and events of the past, regardless of how restricting or permanent they seem," Walsh said.
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As an example, she offered bestselling author Shaka Senghor, who stopped by on Godmothers' first weekend to speak with Winfrey. He spent 19 years in prison for shooting and killing a man at 19. "He went from solitary confinement in prison for murder to a bestselling author being interviewed by Oprah Winfrey!" Walsh said.
"I like to say, 'It’s not what happens, it's what happens next,'" Walsh continued. "It's possible to create a new reality for yourself from wherever you are standing and write a happy new ending to your story."
It's easy to be skeptical considering Godmothers' locale. Montecito has a median household income of nearly $225,000 per year, according to the Census Bureau. But Walsh argued that people must identify limiting beliefs and negative self-talk and then remind themselves that feelings are not facts. "Other people's stories inspire us and show us what's possible," she said.
Jennifer Rudolph Walsh (center) laughs with booksellers at the community gathering space Godmothers that she co-owns with Victoria Jackson.
That argument is on display with some of the Godmothers' guest speakers: New York Times bestselling author Elise Loehnen, a close friend of Walsh, has spoken about "Choosing Wholeness Over Goodness," a book she co-wrote about societal narratives that warp the lives of women.
In conversation with Walsh, the author Austin Channing Brown explored her book "Full of Myself: Black Womanhood and the Journey to Self-Possession." And celebrities still pop by to promote their memoirs: Maria Shriver discussed her memoir "I Am Maria" with Winfrey last year.
'Creating something really beautiful'
The bookstore is housed in a restored 1920s barn, revitalized by Jackson, who bought the building.
Framed photographs of Godmothers "who lit our way" – Harriet Tubman, Toni Morrison, Gloria Steinem, Maya Angelou and Winfrey herself – are hung in eclectic frames. "As soon as you come in the door, really, you're in a history lesson," Jackson said.
Photos of Godmothers "who lit our way" are hung in eclectic frames, seen upon entering Godmothers.
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The project was conceptualized by Jackson with work from Martyn Lawrence Bullard, the Los Angeles interior designer whose celebrity clientele includes Cher and the Kardashians. The space boasts some bookstore essentials: cozy chairs, open seating areas and a calm environment meant to evoke a feeling of home.
However, Jackson's background isn't in design: Once a Hollywood makeup artist, she helped pioneer today's popular less-is-more look during the 1980s and '90s and the rise of TV infomercials.
The 1920s barn that houses Godmothers was purchased by Victoria Jackson who concepted the interior design project brought to life by celebrity interior designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard.
Her popular No Makeup Makeup foundation product was part of a $1 billion beauty brand. She also penned the 2024 memoir "We All Worry, Now What?" in which she discussed surviving sexual assault.
"I've always had that spirit of wanting to do something that's bringing about community," Jackson said. "And this was a chance to also do it through the eye of creating something really beautiful."
'You feel like home when you go'
Walsh and Jackson want the store to become a must-stop for other women undergoing their own sacred pauses, seeking transformation. Kim DeVenne of @secondchapternomad, who adopted a nomadic lifestyle after a divorce, said she found a grounding place at Godmothers.
Close friends and "co-Godmothers" Victoria Jackson (left) and Jennifer Rudolph Walsh at Godmothers bookstore in Summerland, California.
"As a nomad, I don't have a house, so it feels like the home of my dreams, and you feel like home when you go there because it's not just books," DeVenne said.
She called the outpost a "community gathering space," a description that comes as Americans for years have searched for more third spaces outside the home and workplace.
Jennifer Rudolph Walsh (left) and Victoria Jackson at their boutique bookstore Godmothers.
So as SoCal tourists and locals flock to Godmothers, Jackson and Walsh nod to more than the nostalgia of a bookstore. It's the magic of togetherness, and transformation, in four walls.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Oprah named this bookstore. Peek inside Godmothers
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