Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Somya Gupta. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Somya, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry?
In the retail industry, there is a demand for convenience and affordability above all. Large commercial companies have met that demand with a surplus of convenient options that offer short-term use and meet your budget as a consumer. This is great in terms of efficient supply and demand cycles, but in regards to industry standards and quality control, corporate America has failed.
As a society, we have adopted a sever case of “out of sight, out of mind.” We buy single use products with the intention of disposing them shortly after. This style of consumer behavior is continuously fed by the constant accessibility to affordable goods in the market place. We become more unconscious about our decisions as consumers and we opt for the convenient disposable solutions.
Corporate America has allowed us to mold our consumer patterns to become more reliable on short-term product use, versus seeking out quality investments that will last a lifetime if treated with care and value. We have neglected the fact that everything we throw away becomes waste. Corporate America helped shift our priority towards short-term convenience versus long-term sustainable solutions when it comes to consumer behavior.
Maybe you can take a moment to introduce how mala market came about for our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
It was a very organic beginning of mala market. Houston makers are incredibly talented and having a proper facility for those small business owners to launch out of was something Houston needed. mala market serves as a collective non-profit space for local small business owners to occupy space and grow their own boutique without the financial stressors of physically owning their own brick & mortar. As a non-profit, we aim to provide the community with long-term solutions to always shopping local and handmade.
At mala market, small business owners local to Houston are able to promote their goods full-time in a flexible and collaborative environment. This allows for the makers to spend time increasing the value of their product, perfecting their techniques, and growing their business in the right direction. Whether their goals are to own their own brick and mortar or commit to their small business full time, they can use mala market as their space to achieve those goals.
The concept of mala market has taken on a new life because when these vendors filled the space, creativity and passion became the leading energies. We hope the community can feel those energies when they choose to shop with all of the makers in shop. The impact that shopping local has on our local economy contributes to more long-term solutions for a (financially) healthier and (socially) wealthier community.
All of the earnings the shop makes, whether it be donations or sponsorships, will get distributed evenly between hosting educational community events and annual donations to grassroot organizations and local/national charities that align with our mission. We want to encourage the community to learn about sustainable alternatives that can easily be implemented into our everyday practices as consumers. The name mala market comes from the practice of using mala beads during a self-meditation practice. The mala beads are used to connect to your deepest intentions. For us, the mala is a tool for us to connect the community together with intention.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Building your presence on social media is an important step towards growing your business now-a-days. You can consider social media as your platform to voice your mission and company ethics. Social media can be utilized in so many ways to create transparency between your business and audience. Building the audience for mala market came naturally. We decided very early on that our social media presence would be completely rooted in education and transparency. We wanted the community to be able to follow along with our opening progress and we wanted to build relationships with our audience very early on. Those relationships carried into our grand opening week and the community came out to support us whole heartedly! We were so gracious for those that came out to support us and quickly realized that social media was our platform to continue fostering those relationships. We enjoy keeping the community informed on our mission here at mala market and all the steps we continue to take to maintain focus on the non-profit mission that grounds us back into the community.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
Our reputation is still very young considering we opened in March of 2022 only. One key thing I believe contributes to a solid reputation of any business is that the efforts of that business continue to align with the mission that company stands by. Here at mala market, we aim to maintain our standards to the utmost respect. We prioritize the small businesses of Houston and we aim to always be able to provide solutions for the community to always shop local and handmade. We aim to remain as transparent as possible in our definition and approach when it comes to defining “local” and “handmade.” We understand that our mission towards creating more conscious consumer behaviors is a large mission, but with our community behind us and the dedication of our local makers, we can accomplish anything we set our intentions to.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.malamarkethtx.com/
- Instagram: malamarkethtx
- Facebook: malamarkethtx
Image Credits
N/A