June 2015 Hunt and Gather meets Lady and the Cat!

Well, cat ladies, your beloved author has survived her first pop-up market!  I'm super excited to report that Hunt and Gather was everything I was hoping for and more!  I met so many new cat lovers, spread the word about the fun we have on this blog, and introduced the public to my jewelry line.

Now that this is all said and done, I need to admit (happily) that I was shocked over how many of my gut instincts were right.  The two items that I banked most on were indeed my biggest sellers.  Going extremely niche and catering to cat ladies only may have narrowed my prospects, but 100% ended up being worth it, because the cat ladies flocked to me from across the room.  After a couple of hours, I could instantly tell the difference between casual browser and cat lady.  The cat ladies bee-lined to me every time, and I could have cried happy tears, because that means I am doing something right with this.  I even had the cutest girl take my card and tell me she wanted to tweet about Lady and the Cat, because "even though I don't like cats, I just love you and think you're so cute and you deserve recognition."  Cats may have nine lives, but I must have many more than that, because I died about three hundred times from all the love this weekend.

I really have all of you to thank for what Lady and the Cat is turning into.  My blog readers have been loving and loyal from day one, and I felt like we were all gaining a victory when I did well over the weekend at this market.  I just kept thinking about how excited I was to post pictures from the event and fill all my readers in about how it went.  

So yes, overall, super successful times at H&G.  My original goal was simply to make back my table fee, and I did that in the first night.  This market was such a learning experience, too.  I took notes throughout, asked questions, listened to feedback from shoppers, and met a bunch of new contacts and other makers.  I've heard some nightmare experiences about selling at big markets, but I am certain that this show is probably the exception and not the rule--a true testament to the market itself and the wonderful people involved.  I would love to get to be part of it again in the future.

Before I go, I need to say hi to anyone who is reading that I met at H&G!  I loved meeting everyone, it's always a great thing when cat ladies can unite!  Also (and I'm realllllllllllllly purring over this one), I will be adding all of my leftover inventory to my Etsy shop!  I will provide links once everything is live.  I can't wait for this, because this will be the first time that I've had most of these items stocked online, especially the newer pieces!  

And as you already know, I have missed my regular blogging schedule so badly.  That being said, I already have another post ready and waiting to go live.  I haven't featured anyone else in this lovely community in quite some time, so I am pumped to announce that tomorrow you can come back here and meet Lady and the Cat's newest featured cat lady.  You won't want to miss meeting her!  

But I'm a fan of creating some anticipation, so until tomorrow...

Xo*

Jess