We were lucky to catch up with Abby Taylor recently and have shared our conversation below.

Abby, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Looking back, what’s an important lesson you learned at a prior job

I worked in Family Social Services for years before becoming my own boss. During this season, I encountered many people with MANY emotions. Things were usually high-stress for our clients as they were trying to figure out how to make ends meet or look for support during a hard time in their lives. So many lessons were learned as I witnessed and walked through some rough scenarios with these families.
I was taught compassion, how to have thick skin (because at times you were the first person they were able to express frustrations to), how to be patient and to never assume anything.
This has played a huge part in how I approach my business, customers and thought processes almost daily.
Relationships are a huge part of why businesses are successful and I always want to keep this at the forefront. I want to approach everyone that connects with our business with kindness and let them know that I’m truly here to help them- even if it’s something as simple as picking out the perfect gift or finding a special piece that lifts their spirits and makes them smile.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have been an artist for as long as I can remember. I love to dabble in all different types of art but painting and hand-lettering are my two main creative skills. I have always loved connecting with people and showing my work in festivals and events and have met many different artists and creatives along the way.
A few years before opening my storefront, I cohosted a festival where we shared the creations of close to 50 different artists and it was a great success. Life and a pandemic 🙄 happened and we decided to shift our business model a bit. We reached out to our core group of artists from the festival to see if they would consider joining us in this new endeavor and received a unanimous “YES”! We opened our brick and mortar, Backroads Market in October of 2020. We have added more creatives to our space through promotions on social media, word of mouth and through daily connections at our shop.
We offer a variety of unique products from over 30 local artists at Backroads. Items like pottery, wood-burnings, paintings, string art, glass mosaic, candles, jewelry, macramé, crocheted items and more. Everything is handmade or repurposed by someone local which really sets us apart. It makes us proud to know we’re helping to support over 30 local families and sharing creations that they put so much pride and love into.
We make a point to find needs in our community and help fill those when possible. An example of this would be that we have begun to teach classes when our customers expressed the need for community and connection. The benefits of our classes is actually twofold. It allows the connection our customers are seeking but it also gives them more of an appreciation for the products that are offered in our shop which is always great to see.
We’ve also pivoted a bit to something that wasn’t initially on our radar at all- offering and delivering bereavement items to help our community during those more difficult seasons.
I think it’s always important to remember that not only is it okay to pivot and try something new in business, it’s actually necessary for real growth and success.
At Backroads Market, we’re not afraid to switch it up and do something different. It keeps things fun and exciting and makes going to work a truly enjoyable experience.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Oh my goodness, has resilience truly been a word I’ve had to learn! We looked high and low for a place to open our brick and mortar for over a year. We landed on a town that showed real potential and tried to get into over 5 different spaces and were not able to make it happen for reasons that just blew our minds. Things like- a building sitting vacant for 30 years but selling the DAY we were going to make an offer to making a verbal agreement on a building then having the rug pulled out from under us and it being turned into a library instead and, I can’t make this up… my bff is the librarian. Yeah. She had no clue that was her boss’s plan. We’ve definitely shed some tears over that one. Then unfortunately, when we were in negotiations for our current space, the landlord passed away and we were left with a waiting season of over 6 months to see what would become of his estate. Then, the building sold and we were able to meet with the current landlord who honored our previous negotiations but this whole pandemic thing happened which delayed all the things and we were finally able to open our shop in October of 2020. So yeah, we’re resilient. And we don’t plan to slow down after all we’ve been through just to open the doors.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I think the biggest way we’ve built our audience on social media is through something incredibly simple but necessary- being ourselves. I can say some really goofy things or come off like a totally dork at times but I’m okay with that. Because that’s who I am. I’m silly, fun and never take myself too seriously.
I post multiple times a week and make a point to engage when I post. I do t just post and ignore comments and questions. It is SOCIAL media after-all.
We also do a monthly Facebook live where we share new and exclusive products to help create a community and share what we have to offer to people who may have never stepped foot into our store. Since it’s live, there’s no editing or taking things back- you just have to roll with it!
FB lives do so many things to benefit our business. It grows our online platform, it can potentially make a few sales and in turn gets them in the shop, it helps to make me human and relatable to potential customers which then helps build trust and a relationship between us. It also gets great engagement and activity with comments and shares which helps us be seen by a broader audience.
We also love to story on all socials when possible because again, it is a great and easy way to connect and make potential customers feel comfortable with you.
If you’re just getting started on social media, my advice is to stopping thinking about it and go for it. You can spend all day overthinking what to say and do or you can roll with it and watch your people find you and build an amazing community.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.backroadsstore.com
• Instagram: @backroadsmarketindiana
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/backroadsmarketIN

Image Credits
Abby Taylor