2024 BA Vendor Tour - the experience

Vendor Tour

In 2023 of June BA was invited to participate at our first vendor event. It was a door that opened for my business but I didn’t realize how important. I came across this life changing experience by being a student at UIndy with the right connections and opportunities.

The experience seemed to be very stressful at first considering I had driven 6 hours round trip to pop up and sell just for a few hours. Although I did have someone to help me I was still overwhelmed by how many times I had to repeat myself and talking to multiple people at once while also making sure I collect all my funds. But it wasn’t long after til I realized how much value pop-up and vendor events have. I connected with new customers, other entrepreneurs, and like-minded individuals.

This lead me to set a goal for myself. I’ve only ever sold my items online and while of course I have plans to own physical locations for my business in the future, it was like an alternative that I had been seeking. I value trust as a buyer and seller and in-person interaction is the best way to build trust when it comes to a business because you get the chance to see the person behind the business. So the goals I set for my business was to build customer trust and loyalty by attending vendor events every month. Starting in 2024 my plan was to attend at least one every month but wasn’t limited to. Which it ended up not being and I was invited to multiple events a month.

This decision lead me to consider a new project of going on “tour” as a business. Expanding out to different cities and states, Butterfly Saraè Studios - World Tour 2024. It officially started in February and I have been able to connect with a broader audience to reach more like-minded individuals and discover people who share similar values as us.