We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Elizabeth Cadenas a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Elizabeth thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
Alyssa and and I have been small business owners for over 4 years. We know first hand how important it is to have support from within your community. Our mission behind “Pop Up In The Parks” has been to shine the brightest light on the small businesses that lie within our area by bringing them all together for a family oriented community event. This gives people an opportunity to not only shop small but meet the faces behind these amazing businesses they are supporting.
Elizabeth, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Our names are Alyssa McKiski and Elizabeth Cadenas, and we are the two (and only) gals behind Pop-Up in the Parks events! Event hosting as a couple of small business best friends has truly been a dream. We started PUITP back in 2023 and we would’ve never thought in a million years it would be what it is today! Pop-Up in the Parks events are community events showcasing over 90 small businesses and local shops from all over Northern Illinois and parts of Wisconsin. We focus on keeping our events in the Machesney and Loves Park area because we strive to bring some local events to this side of the 815, which is where our name, “Pop-Up in the Parks” came from. We host 3 events a year – which include a summer event, a “spooky” event, and a Christmas event. Since summer of 2023, our events have truly gained so much exposure and love from the local community. When we hosted our first event, we never would have thought we would be going on our third year of hosting our events. It just feels so surreal when we hear someone say, “Hey! Aren’t you the ones that host the Pop-Up in the Parks events?” Our goal was to be seen as familiar faces in the small business community and to bring vendors, community members, local businesses, families, and friends together in the midst of hosting these large events in the Parks. We have been featured on local news stations, radio stations, Good Day Stateline and Rockford Buzz to highlight our events. We have also been nominated for Best Local Event by the local community in regards to Rockford Register Star’s “What Rocks Rockford” event and gala. We are astonished, and beyond grateful, to see how much our events have grown in just a little over a year.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
We have always stayed true to who we are. We take pride in the work we put into each event we host. Event hosting is a lot more complicated than what people think. You have to be extremely accurate when it comes to the amount of space your venue can hold, keeping track of each vendor, sorting out all the fine details with the local health department, ect. The feedback we receive from vendors and people within our community always makes the hard work leading up to the big day worth it.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
Since both of us were in the small business community, we always knew of each other. It wasn’t until I attended an event that Alyssa was hosting that our friendship blossomed. We became friends very quickly and wanted to take on the challenge of hosting events together. Our first event exceeded our expectations with an attendance of over 1,000 people with 75+ vendors. It was after our first event that we knew this was going to be the start of a very beautiful and successful journey together!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/popupintheparks/profilecard/?igsh=MXgxcXZ1b3lueHp6ag==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/M2YX4aw3PXNRf3k9/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
Image Credits
Devin Jolene Photography