We recently connected with Cameron Lee JaCasta Rex and have shared our conversation below.

Cameron Lee, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

We at Midwest Prana Flea Market focus on having the most amazing energy at our markets. From the way the vendors are placed throughout the space to the music selection – everything is expertly curated. We spend a lot of time and energy ourselves on making sure that the experience is top tier for everyone involved; our team, the vendors and attendees. While it is labour intensive work the best and most consistent compliment we’ve gotten is how beautiful the energy is ~ it’s even caused some people to have goosebumps! That’s what sets us apart. If you’ve taken the time out of your busy schedule to come visit us at our markets you know ~ we are something separate from the rest. Our goal is to set that as the standard, this isn’t a popularity contest, we are here for the people.

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?

We first were inspired by the experience of the flea markets in Los Angeles, the community that was fostered and how it really was a whole event itself. Attendees would get dressed to the nines and plan their whole day around it, working in meetings and networking with the enjoyment of shopping and a great time. That’s the larger goal for our market days, an afternoon of collaboration and community centered around growth and that good a** Prana! <Prana means energy>

We are in the business of creating memorable events for all involved , focusing on the community that has so deeply supported us. As such we’ve partnered with other companies and organizations to do collaborative market experiences. We assist in managing the vendors and bringing our one of a kind energy to what they are bringing to the community. Our most memorable partnership has been with PAR-Projects ( a non profit art research organization here in Northside Cincinnati ) in assistance with their BLOCKParty annual event. We were able to bring vendors from our events that are located all over the Cincinnati Metro to a new location and expand their network and client base as well.

The flea market industry is not an easy one to get your foot in the door of. With the current offerings and the business models used here in Cincinnati as being pop ups or only outdoor, our goal of being an indoor, one location market has had its own hurdles. We have a beautiful tight-nit community that believe in us and have kept us going but just like anything for every one person that supports there are 5 who don’t believe or support what we are working to accomplish. There has been a lot of adjustments that have taken place just recently. Finding a new location, changing our business model to fit what our goal is, and opening the door for more sponsorships/partnerships to be able to continue providing this unique space focused on that one person who truly believes in our mission.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

We have a thriving email newsletter that goes out before every event as well as online events that we curate for our audience and vendors. We love to feature our vendors and partners for each one so if you’re interested in learning about new people and experiences here in the Cincinnati area you can join our mailing list at our website.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Just recently we had to part ways with the space we were using for our events. The way that they operate their business and how we facilitate space for our vendors was not aligning anymore. It was very discouraging as we had started the relationship with great energy and communication. However we recognized that while we loved the space and the people we’d met through it, there were things outside of our control that did not allow for that relationship to continue.

While we could have shut down completely and be done ~ as gaining vendors and attendees to a new market has been a journey in and of itself. We decided to open ourselves up to some changes and growth. Having hard conversations with our partners and vendor family about what they needed and how we could build that.

Through those conversations and alot of reflection we were able to recognize an opportunity unlike any other for our end of the year market! It’ll be on December 16th and 17th (more information on our website). Which doing a two day market wasn’t anything that we’d even truly considered before.

With out having pushed through the disappointment of loosing that relationship we wouldn’t have been willing and able to foster new ones. We’ve deeply appreciated the support of our community through these changes and love being able to support them through their own growth as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: midwestprana.com
• Instagram: MidwestPrana

Image Credits
Photos taken on film by Cameron Lee. Photos are of Sanity by Wen, Moherbe Art, Grace and Illuminance ~ vendors from our last market setting up at the Woodward Theatre in OTR