Oprah named this bookstore. Meet the Godmothers

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.

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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.