Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Anita Erickson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Anita, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

The idea for The Marketplace came out of my previous business, Red Chair Workroom. The Workroom was a co-working space serving the design/build industry. My main target customers were interior designers and architects who were looking for a place to work outside the home, and also for a sense of community that can be missing when one works alone.

While the Workroom was successful as a co-working space, I started noticing that product vendors were very excited about the concept, especially because we were attracting so many of their target customers (designers and architects). Over time I realized that these product vendors had bigger budgets to spend. After closing the Workroom, I got started on a concept that took the lessons from co-working and applied it to a service for product brands to reach their target customers.

The Marketplace is almost like co-working for products, in that a brand can share space with other brands, collaborate and reach new customers, without committing to a long lease and a staff to manage the space.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I have a background in marketing and have worked in radio, direct mail, online advertising and event management. After working for several large marketing organizations including Dell and Rapp Collins, I went to a smaller agency and realized I loved working with emerging companies. After a few years I went out on my own to start Red Chair Market, a peer-to-peer furniture market similar to Chairish. This led to relationships in the design/build industry and the idea of opening a co-working space to serve that segment. The Workroom eventually led to the Marketplace concept, just flipping the target customer from the professional to the product vendor.

In this venture, I am most proud of the people that have gathered together to make the vision of The Marketplace a reality. We work very intentionally to attract people who share our values and want to work towards a greater vision. From team members to Partners to Investors, every person involved in this project is a passionate, innovative, positive and genuine person. We are all committed to creating a real community and to lifting each other up, along with the industry.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

For a long time, I believed that being miserable meant you’re working hard. In the corporate culture I experienced, especially at Dell at the time I was there, there was a very driven mentality and a need to prove that you were the hardest working. I remember setting emails to send at 8PM (which I had drafted at 5) so it would look like I was working late. Angst and stress were badges of honor.

When I started my own company, I realized that there was no-one to impress but myself (and my bank account), and that just sitting at my desk gnashing my teeth wasn’t really getting me any further. I learned to recognize what tasks were really moving me forward, and when I was just working to work and not really getting anything meaningful done.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

This business was a challenge to fund, because an SBA loan wasn’t available for the type of business I was starting. I decided to fund through a combination of personally-guaranteed business loans, personal capital and investors. After talking to many “typical” investor targets I realized that they really didn’t get what I was doing, and that the potential returns as a locally-focused business just weren’t that interesting. That’s when I realized I really needed to talk to “my people”, those in the industry who really understood the need I was addressing and were going to get direct value out of the project. I ended up finding four Founding Investors who are in the design/build industry who deeply appreciated the vision and were excited to participate in something that would be meaningful to their professions. I also started a crowdfund campaign to allow smaller investments from industry professionals who wanted to be involved and could provide introductions, ideas and support. While more work than just taking a loan, this strategy had brought so many incredible resources to the project that it was well worth the time spent.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.themarketplaceatx.com
• Instagram: @themarketplaceatx
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anitaerickson/