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This Fall I started doing markets. Suddenly, I knew that I needed to be meeting people face to face and sharing about what I do and offering the plant love out into the world in a more personal way than online. I used to love opening my Instagram app and seeing what other creators were up to, sharing my little snapshop of the world through pictures and song and words, but lately. Man, lately. There's so much anger and disrespect flying around it - I have had to really curate my feed and protect myself from falling into the abyss of the comments sections. And also as a creator, the heyday of social media seems to be over and it's more and more difficult to find your audience as the saturation reaches an extraordinary level. Which is not to say that I don't still love Instagram - at times. I could go on and on and maybe that's another post - but suffice it to say, I'm so grateful for connecting in person with you.
When I first started creating herbal products as a business about five years ago, markets were the last thing I was interested in doing. It felt like so much schlepping and so much talking and so much setting up, taking down - just like - a lot. All those things are true, but I have found that I actually love them! Or maybe it's more that I love what I get to experience as a result of all the schlepping.
As I've looked a little deeper, I can see the real reason I was reluctant to do markets is because of the visibility and the vulnerability it requires to put myself out there in a booth. It's just me, standing there, usually by myself, with offerings I have created from the depths of my soul. A logo and packaging I created (with the help of a designer), formulations I blended, bottles I've filled and labelled, my heart on a 4x8 folding table. And the people - they will come and they might not like them. They might not even stop to talk to me. They might stop to talk to me and then walk away because they don't like them, because they don't like me. Aghhh how terrifying is that??
They say that starting your own business is mostly an experience of growth and working on yourself and facing those shadows and those fears. I can 100% attest to that. Entrepeneurship and soul growth have been parallel paths for me. Because I have spent so much time with myself, gotten to know myself and my path, and have gained so much confidence in that - I am able to put myself out there this year and very publically say hey! this is me, this is what I'm up to. I am so certain and so in love with what I am doing that someone walking by my booth without stopping doesn't phase me. I no longer need the validation that the old me so craved. I am so assured that what I am up to and what I am putting out in to the world is what I am meant to be doing in this moment in time. I have so much confidence and faith that what I am offering is so beautiful and so necessary that nothing can stop me.
I've always known that the right people would find me. But they cannot find me if I'm not putting myself out there. I used to believe I didn't have to take any of the marketing and sales actions. Just through the energy of the internet waves, plant lovers would stumble across my offerings. I really rejected anything too 'business-y' for a few years as I was extracting myself from my long years of corporate life.
As I've matured and learned to blend my business background with my heart-centered devotional work, I'm always seeking the balance between my desire to be working with the plants and connecting with nature to taking that out into the world and finding the best, most authentic ways to do that. And because my love for what I do is so deep, that shines through and the 'selling' is really just me sharing from my heart.
