Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Dylan Jensen.

Hi Sarah, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?

My story…

I have always been a creative person – though I would never call myself an artist. Knowing that art is a very difficult career to survive and thrive in, I opted to go the route of Fashion Design after obtaining my business degree first. I figured if all else failed, at least I’d have business skills to fall back on. To this day, I am still thankful that I built a foundation on basic business building blocks.

I attended the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, which was a difficult move from rural Alaska. I persevered and graduated with a degree in fashion design, with the intent to focus on more casual/outdoor wear vs. high fashion. I quickly determined that the PNW was a better fit and had several design houses that were within my goals. I ended up working in the industry in Seattle for about 10 years. Unfortunately, creativity on demand is, well, demanding on the brain. As is being required to fit within a box – normally meaning that patterns could only change a little bit, and quality features were stripped away to ensure factory pricing was met.

I tired of design and happened to find myself going through a divorce. Going solo for the first time in my life, I moved to the quaint little town of Snohomish, Washington and rented a floor of a beautiful 1890 home. I began volunteering in town with various events to help boost the economy after the great economic downturn of 2008. I networked and met some amazing professionals, which in turn led me to become an assistant to the events & promotions director. At that time, I took a BIG leap of faith to start my own business helping with social media and online marketing for many of the shops and farms in Snohomish.

Through the course of several years, I met many amazing people. The power of networking connected me to the Snohomish Farmers Market and I found myself applying for their Market Manager position in 2015. I knew very little about running a market, but had been doing events for a few years, and figured “why not?” I immersed myself in the market and slowly it began to grow and thrive again. Along came Covid in 2020 and I found myself hating the word “pivot” as it was a daily occurrence. All in all though, we survived the pandemic, grew through it and came out MORE successful than we were before it. I now run 3 of the largest farmers markets in Snohomish County, Washington along with several Harvest/Holiday events.

I credit my success to having a very strong drive, being a Type A person, and not taking “NO” for an answer. In most of what I do both professionally and personally, I strive to be authentic and transparent. None of it has been easy, but I truly believe the difficult moments have taught me valuable lessons and helped me grow.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?

It’s been anything but a smooth road! Initially, the decision to venture out on my own and start my own business was stressful. The fear of failure is not something I embrace lightly. At the end of the day, though, the risk is worth the potential reward. I was so tired of working a 9-5 for others. I felt penalized for completing my work more efficiently or having to ask for permission for a day off.

Growing my business was also a struggle as I found myself saying “yes” a lot, just to gain more traction and clients. Looking back, not all of them were the best fit, but again, I’ve learned lessons from those experiences as well.

I would say many of the struggles came during Covid. The world seemed to be on fire around us and many of us small businesses were simply trying to survive. I held the responsibility of keeping hundreds of farmers market vendors safe, successful and strong all while risking my health and safety to do so.

After the pandemic seemed to come to an “end,” it seemed our society could not remember the kindness and compassion we showed to each other. Vitriol on social media, complaining, and entitlement are all things that we deal with at farmers markets on a daily basis. Add to that permitting, city administrations, and more, and there’s a new hurdle to leap nearly every season.

Lastly, being taken seriously as a strong, empowered woman capable of doing BIG things is still a struggle sometimes. I encounter it often.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?

I am a Farmers Market Director. You won’t find a simplistic job description for my job as it’s not a common one, yet there are thousands of farmers markets around the nation.

I can be described as adetail‐oriented, big thinker with experience as an event organizer, attitude of a diplomat, eye of an artist, the ethic of a judge, entrepreneurial spirit, with the endurance of a marathoner; and believes duct tape can fix most things.

All while having a passion for farms, local food, and small businesses, and getting along with all kinds of people. I give most of my summers up to market days and all of the planning and execution that goes along with a huge weekly event. All done for humble wages and fresh farm products as the benefit package.

I am passionate about these small businesses though and have become very proud of how far we, and they have come. My first market, the Snohomish Farmers Market, has grown from about 40 vendors a week to over 120 weekly in 2024. The money spent with vendors has increased from $275K to over $1.2 Million in 2024. I’m proud of the connections, collaborations and trust instilled with this organization and to have brought it to life.

In 2023, I started a podcast called “the Market Maven” to help tell the beautiful stories of the small businesses and farmers behind the 10×10 tents. It became a creative outlet for me to expand upon this magical world where we take an empty street and turn it into a carefully woven canvas of colors, culture and community.

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?

Being a highly organized and driven person with a success mindset has definitely played a big part in my success. Not accepting mediocrity and knowing when to throw in the towel. At the same time, I remember one of the first lessons my mentor shared with me as I embarked on my small business journey: “90% is still an A.”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.yourmarketmaven.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourmarketmaven/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/themarketmaven
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/show/0YX84R3I3teK0jdPgnL6f4

Image Credits

Felicia Mae Photography