Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ammie Hague. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Ammie, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
When I dared to leave corporatelandia and start my own cottage core business selling handbound books and magical supplies, I was told friends that I would never succeed. This story has a happy ending so stay with me! It was a crushing feeling to know how deeply our society disparages non-conventional businesses and jobs, even though they avail themselves of unique gifts, alternative music and off-beat performing talents like professional clowns and…in my case…faeries!
It was so disheartening but I was not deterred, rather, I was inspired to not only build my own business but to try use my successes to boost and support the independent art and craftwork of others, to their success as well. I did not want anyone to have to feel the way I had been made to feel – like they should just give up on their dreams and passions and follow the mainstream way.
I knew this was a worthwhile endeavor because I began as a small business working at Sci-fi/Fantasy conventions and Renaissance Festivals where there are vendors and dealers galore, indie authors and musicians all making and selling the most unique works that you just could not find anywhere else. People have to go out of their way to find these sort of handmade treasures, to hunt them on the internet or attend the events where such merchants might be so I knew that bringing them all together in one place was going to appeal to people who wanted to be able to shop their favorite eclectic, geeky, magical styles year-round was going to be a hit!
The Fairy Apothecary is comprised of my own personal creations as well as a myriad of other vendors, artists, indie-authors, and more, as consigners. It is an ongoing retail outlet, open even when event season isn’t.
I chose the unique approach of blending my store with my home-brew fantasy boffer LARP, “The Hedge”, supplemented by my Patreon (patreon.com/FaeProductions) where people can become store members to receive benefits online and in-person and get early access to store drops like when we released the map for our Dragon Egg Hunt.
Entering the store is like walking into a magic shop in a Dungeons and Dragons or Fable setting. You see a Fairy working at the counter, there are interactive stations to blend your own custom potion or build a magic wand with a personal core. You can join Magic the Gathering or Chess game days, rent the Armoury Room for you own campaign, Build-a-Sword workshops or just chill out in the enchanting Fae Hollow room and read some of our authors on the couch for a bit.
My store isn’t just a stop-n-shop, it is an immersive experience with hidden in-store quests, take-home quests, and an ongoing storyline that any visitor can become a part of if they feel froggy enough to join The Hedge LARP outside of their shopping experience. Beyond our magical doors we produce events like Fairyblossom Festival and the Fairy Night Market that all continue to spotlight and promote other small businesses and crafters to lift them up as part of our handmade community.
I love knowing that handmade items have come from a person, that to hold them or look at them is to see directly into the creative mind of its maker. There is magic in that. After I got cancer and began that battle, it has been working in the store and knowing that I help to bring magic into the world
has helped my rehabilitation and healing journey. Fairy Apothecary has truly given me something to keep going for.
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 go by my performer name of Fairy Queen Lolly, it is only fitting that when you enter the fairy shop you see a fairy! I live just outside the Emerald City (Seattle on the human map), with my partner Ion the Leprechaun, 5 cats, and more books than you could shake a wand at. My hobbies are playing the flute and pennywhistle, calligraphy, geocaching (there might even be one near my store!), LARP and Chess.
I got into my industry by being a life-long LARPer, attending Norwescon (my first convention) and wanting to be a part of the Dealer’s Room. I began making hand-bound books, quill pens and ink and started a booth. Soon, I converted my LARP persona (then Princess Lolly) to a Renfaire act and began running the Fairy Hollow area of my home-faire Ye Merrie Greenwood.
During this time I was working at Washington Mutual corporate and I soon left cubeville behind and took the plunge into being a full-time vendor and performer. This was when I realized just how much small time artists and crafters often need help with the business side of business: websites, marketing, etc. Many creative minds have difficulty with the boring aspects of running their own shop and I wanted to use my skills and knowledge to help them keep their dreams alive.
I am very proud of my dedication to the handmade and indie community. These are all fellow creators who have dared to venture off the normal path to bring some of the most unique works and visions into the world. You just cannot find these products anywhere else and it is immensely rewarding for my store to be a vehicle to get their work out into the world.
Beyond the doors though, I am equally as proud of the fact that we have built a symbiotic community between vendors and customers by brining them both together with our Hedge LARP events, using the Fairy Apothecary storefront as our home-base. We have an online discord where players and shoppers can find product from our community merchants as they share their wares year-round.
I don’t know of anyone else doing such integrated and interactive world-building.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Sure! I can think of two major times when I had to pivot. First was when I started as a vendor. I was selling hand bound books and high end magic wands. The time and overhead for these was quite high compared to the demand. It quickly became evident that these items would not cover all the hidden costs of vending like insurance, gas, food, garb, damaged product and of course, booth fees. I took a basic HTML class and built myself a website and put the majority of my business online and developed an act for Faires and Festivals, for which I was now hired to do, instead of paying to do. I sold small things relative to my act at events, and used clever marketing techniques like Fairy Mail to engage patrons beyond the events to build my online presence and get links and exposure to my products in their hands.
The second time I had to seriously pivot was COVID. In the early stages, I became worried that it might become serious and that the event community might take a severe hit if people were not allowed to go out. Immediately I began planning to transition my presence into a full-fledged YouTube and Patreon space. I started creating digital content for my patreon followers and paired this up running shows like Handmade Home Shopping and Author Reads on YouTube where I interviewed vendors and authors who had also lost their platforms for selling. People could showcase their wares to my fanbase that I had already spent some years building and purchase (or just donate) directly through SuperChats. My business grew 30% during covid and enabled me to open my first retail space, Fairy Apothecary.
Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?
As a huge proponent of DIY, I put my trust in the community and decided to crowdfund on Kickstarter to raise the capital that I needed to open my initial small shop in Fremont. I used my own product that I handmade as rewards for tiers, or otherwise hired artists and vendors to make small rewards. My funding goal was small, $3,000 and I raised $4,200. With this, I bought a till and got busy thrifting and upcycling old furniture and fixtures into store displays, a counter and décor. When my store embiggened into a larger space at the end of 2024. I ran a second Kickstarter and this time raised over $8,000! Once again I hit Facebook Marketplace, Goodwill, Value Village and others to find everything I needed, upcycling all along the way because we urban fae believe in the 3 R’s: reduce, reuse, recycle!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://fairyapothecary1.com
- Instagram: fairyapothecary1
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fairyapothecary1
- Other: patreon.com/FaeProductions
tiktok: @fairyqueenlolly
Image Credits
Ammie Hague