#2: i have no idea what i’m doing

I have no idea what I’m doing – I mean, I’ve never thought of doing anything like this before and I’m half winging it and figuring it out as I go. Anyone that knows me can probably attest to the fact that I usually like to have some sort of plan. I haven’t laid out a plan (yet?). I’m scraping things together as I go, and I’m trying to ride out this wave of focused frenzy to get this thing off the ground before I lose interest.

As a true introvert and as personal sentiment, I absolutely hate drawing any kind of attention to myself. I could be wrong but I think I have to draw some sort of attention to myself to make this “successful” – whatever that means. (I’ve yet to determine how I would define success here…) Lately I’ve trying to take more risks and care less about what other people think, so I guess this project is another place I can practice that.

I stopped by Sonic Boom on Spadina recently because I saw that there was a small pop up for some independent creators whose merchandise they feature. Sad Truth Supply, Lady No Brow, Rosehound Apparel, and Midnight Tremors were there. They sell enamel pins, patches, small swag… the same stuff I’m attempting to get into. I went to do some research (aka feel up some enamel pins) and maybe get a sense of what kind of things these pretty successful vendors were creating.

Sad Truth Supply was the only company that I was familiar with there. I was debating for a long time whether or not I should say hi and see if they would give me any advice on my venture. I was super nervous. She was busy playing with a small dog, so i walked up and down Sonic Boom being a weird person eyeing her booth every so often, waiting for her to finish playing with this dog so I could approach her. In the end, I managed to muster enough courage to go over. The owner’s name was Maria. She was super nice (and maybe vendors are kind of desperate to find something to break the boredom of sitting for 6 hours…). We talked for maybe 15 minutes and she gave me a lot of great insights into this kind of business that I’m moving forward with. It was a super productive day overall and I’m really glad me and my sweaty hands went to go talk to her – If you don’t try, you’ll never know, and all that jazz.

– j