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Journey to Wholesale

We are officially 8 weeks to Las Vegas Summer Market 2017! How in the world did that happen?!

 

I hopped on a webinar hosted by LV Market about their marketing plan and all the resources we have as exhibitors to promote ourselves before, during, and after the market. The webinar was really helpful and helped me to realize that I have a lot of tools at my fingertips, way more than I thought I would. I just need to make sure I take advantage of as many opportunities as I can.

At this moment, I’m very casual about it. Am I ready? No. Is our product line ready? No.  Is our catalog done? Heck to the no. But that’s ok lol! At least at this moment it’s ok, only because I’m not freaking the F out right now. Hence the “.” at the end of that sentence instead of a “!”

I have my occasional stressed out moments about once a week. I feel like it usually happens on Tuesdays haha! But I figured that if I didn’t have those freak out moments something would be wrong. Being so blasé all the time isn’t good for anyone, that means I won’t push myself to do the work. So I guess all is right with the world.

I honestly still can’t believe that I’m debuting at a wholesale trade show this year. I’ve been dreaming of doing this for years and it’s finally happening. That surreal feeling of achieving something that I’ve wanted for so long is just mind blowing. And it just shows that slow and steady doesn’t mean failure. Timing is everything, don’t rush into it. Give it time to grow, to marinate in your mind, to strategize.

This journey is just beginning, and I’m so happy that things are happening the way they are.

xoxo,

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For the Women Who Do it All – Happy Mother’s Day


This year, I have really felt my mom’s presence in my life. I can feel her watching over me and picture her smile. I’ve had lots and lots of dreams about her, almost like she’s checking to see what’s going on with all of us lately. One thing I do know is that she wants us to thrive, be successful, and be happy. I remember the days when I would be sad as a little girl and I would run to her crying, she would rub my back and tell me not to cry anymore. Just that simple gesture would get me to stop crying. And this year, that’s what I feel she is telling me this Mother’s Day. Don’t cry, love others. So for once, I’ll listen to my mom. 😜


Growing up I had a lot of women in my life that are like moms to me. They would babysit me, take me out, pick me up from school, cook for me, comfort me when I’m sad, give me advice, the whole 9. And this year, I want to make sure you’re acknowledged and loved. To my aunts, grandmas, and family friends – thank you for being there for me. You took me in, treated me like your own, cared for me, and loved me. You helped shape me to the woman I am today. I hope you all know that I am grateful, that I love you, and I am blessed to have you in my life. Most of you have children of your own and you made time and space for me in your family, thank you for that.


I hope that one day I could be just like my mom and all the amazing women in my life. They do it all, they don’t complain, and they do it out of love. I strive every day to be a better woman, wife, and friend. 

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. You deserved to be appreciated, respected, and loved today and every day for all that you do!

Xoxo,

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Jackalope Artisan Fair Pasadena, CA

A couple weekends ago, CO Creative Cartel participated in our first Jackalope Fair in Pasadena. Pasadena is one of my favorite cities here in LA – great food spots, friendly people, and tons of things to do/see!

If you haven’t heard of Jackalope Fair it’s a 2 day event that is hosted at Central Park in Pasadena. Independent artisans come together and sell tons of neat stuff! Everything from jewelry, clothing, stationery, toiletries…the list goes on and on! I love shopping at these events because I get to support the small business community as I hope others will do for me.

It was a bright and sunny weekend (aka hot) but it was quite the experience! It was my first time showcasing alone and let’s just say that there was a learning curve to setting up my booth solo dolo. After day 1 was complete, I stayed for a little while to fix all the problems from set up and day 2 went much more smoothly. 

So how did we do? Well let me just say, as an artisan you can’t really base events on your sales entirely. There are different factors as to why people don’t buy. If I did the event 1 or 2 more times and still nothing really came from it then I probably wouldn’t sell there again. But like I said, these events aren’t really a 1 and done type of deal. Sometimes you need to feel out the crowd that the event attracts. In this case, the event organizers were great and worked hard at promoting the event, they had volunteers that were very helpful (offered to watch my booth if I needed food, a bathroom break, etc.), and the foot traffic was good. If I just based the event on those factors then it would look like the event would be an all around success.

But bottom line, would I do Jackalope Fair again? Probably. To be honest, the show was a bit slow in sales but high in exposure. I just barely made enough to cover the cost of the booth. But my goal for these events are to gain local exposure, so I chalk it up to advertising dollars. If my goals were different and my focus was only on sales then I probably wouldn’t do the event again because I didn’t make much.

Those of you that do events like this, which are your favorites? I’d love to go support and check out other ones!

xoxo,

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