We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Elle & Blue Krajewski & Makholm a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Elle & Blue , appreciate you joining us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

Forming the idea:
“Blue and I (Elle) Had previously done advocacy work, and volunteer work with organizations around jacksonville. We kept trying to find a safe LGBTQ+ Centered space, with markets, and other community events and resources, but it just didn’t exist. When talking with peers and community members they found this space to be lacking as well. We began to toy with the idea of “Well what if we just made it ourselves” Not being fully serious about it at the beginning. As time went on we truly began to view the idea as an actual project, and began to see what it would require/look like if we did pursue creating something like The Rainbow Market. I’m (Elle) an event organizer and I knew it wouldn’t be the easiest thing in the world to start from scratch but I knew there was a massive demand for more queer centric events and I felt it was a much needed addition to our community.”
“As a new artist to Jacksonville, I (Blue) did a lot of research into what markets were around and where I could potentially be a vendor. Being LGBTQ+ is a big part of who I am- I wanted to find a market that supported that group of people as well as the artist community. Eventually I came to the conclusion that what I was looking for needed to be created, and that’s when I got together with Elle to make it a reality.”

Execution:
Now that we knew we wanted to pursue creating The Rainbow Market, we needed to find a safe location to host it. Our literal first thought was Riverside Church, located here in Jacksonville off Park and King. We’d had great experiences at events there previously, and while neither of us are religious, we found them to be incredibly welcoming and supportive of the LGBTQ+ community, and other marginalized groups as well. The advocacy and outreach work the staff does speaks for itself in this regard. We knew bringing the idea of hosting the Rainbow Market to them would met with compassion and care and we were right! We began to have meetings with Maddie Hilt, the pastor for advocacy at Riverside Church. She was nothing short of spectacular. Working together allowed us to secure a safe, and well known location for our event(s) to be hosted at. So we had a location and a concept; our next goal was finding how best to highlight our fellow community members during all this. We began to reach out to fellow Vendors that we had worked with at other markets, community leaders, local community resources, and others in the organizing sphere.
We were immediately met with excitement and enthusiasm for being a part of this event. We decided to just go for it at that point. We started a social media page for the event, advertising a new Queer centric market coming soon to Jacksonville and when I say the immediate response was so overwhelmingly positive i’m practically underestimating it. We sat down and chose a date and time for our first market, and from there it was a whirlwind! We spoke to so many vendors, and community resources all of whom wanted to be at the grand opening of The Rainbow Market. We created a vendor application process and over 40+ small businesses applied! We were over the moon to be able to showcase them, and so many incredible resources, at this event.
From there it was a countdown to our grand opening. When the day finally came for the first ever Rainbow Market, emotions ran high, it was undoubtedly one of the best times of our lives. Over 250+ attendees showed up and out for our community. We had never seen our community come together in such a big way before and it was definitely something we will never forget. “I’ll admit I broke down in tears the minute i got in my car afterwards because I was so happy”- Elle

How we maintain today:
We continue to work hard for our community, showcasing small businesses, and highlighting community resources at all our events. We work with so many incredible individuals, and organizations. We always strive to have an accessible space for everyone. First time vendors and community resources never pay a vendor fee. And for returning vendors we decided to keep our vendor fees at a $10 maximum. We are not a for profit organization, we are a for the community organization.

Elle & Blue , 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?

Blue: I (Blue) attended the University of Central Florida to obtain my Bachelors in Fine Arts and my Masters in Science for Interactive Entertainment. While working on animation contracts I would create products out of my own designs to sell at markets on the weekends. When my animation contracts were cut short from the rise in AI, I pivoted to attending markets full time. I thrived in the community aspect and realized that my local area needed a market to act as a safe space for LGBTQ+ folks and artists alike.

There is strength in numbers. I wanted my local LGBTQ+ community to see how much support and resources we truly have. Our overwhelmingly positive response to this is what I’m most proud of. We have many people pass through here and have resources accessible to them, friends to potentially make, and art that represents them. I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Because we are for the community rather than “for profit”, our vending cost will always be the affordable $10. First time vendors wont pay a fee at all to see if they enjoy the market and thrive in its environment. Of course, non-profits and clubs will always be free to table at The Rainbow Market. Any funds made goes back to the area we host the markets at as well as supplies for future markets. (water for vendors, tents, chairs, etc) Elle and I are in a privileged position where this can continue to be as “non-profit” as it can get to truly and genuinely support our community.

Elle: I (Elle) got into the graphic design and event planning industry by trying to plan my own wedding! I wanted to create something special but genuinely felt like the scene for that here in Jacksonville was lacking. I began programs and courses at UNF, and am now fully certified and licensed in event planning and graphic design! Under my business name @olympusdesignoffical I offer graphic design services and event planning services to small businesses, and help create their own special brand. I have previous experience with advocacy, and outreach in the community, so when the opportunity presented itself to create a safe space for the community, via The Rainbow Market, I jumped at the chance to use the skills i’ve learned to do so. I truly wanted a space where people could share their experiences, art, and ideals in a safe and likeminded setting. The outreach work that we have accomplished in the past few months under the Rainbow Market brand has been astounding; and i look forward to working with more small businesses and community members alike.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Being genuine and having open communication. Every market we host includes both co-founders introducing themselves to new vendors and checking in on returning vendors. There’s hardly a time we’re not speaking to a vendor or an attendee! We are always very transparent in the decisions we make and why. I truly feel like being this genuine is comforting and builds trust between us and everyone involved.

After every market we send out a feedback form to every vendor. The vendors are the backbone of the event and we want to hear what they have to say. We’re here for them and in return we build a relationship with them. We thrive because they thrive first.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Elle: First and foremost it’s hard building a community from the ground up, we were lucky enough to have some friends who supported us from the get go. Word of mouth, and simple story shares can go a long way. I started the social media presence for The Rainbow Market in January of 2025 with a simple “coming soon” message. This helped create intrigue and excitement about the upcoming announcements and events. From there I worked very hard on curating special features for our account. Creating a brand kit, a logo, even the time of posting became important. Things like that can really help you stand out, and garner attention to your accounts. Following local organizations, community members, and people in your demographic can really kickstart your brands social media presence. Interacting with them becomes very important, get out in your community, network, participate in community events. All of these things help build your reputation with your community and make them want to keep interacting with you, especially in a digital space. Now in March 2025 at the time of writing this we’ve reached over 43.2k interactions, and almost 700 followers. Engagement can become one of your most handy tools with social media. My last piece of advice is probably the most important: Make sure you put your best face forward and be genuine. When growing your audience grow WITH them! Listen to what they’d want to see and hear from you!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @RainbowMarketJax
• Facebook: The Rainbow Market Jax
• Other: Bluesky: Rainbowmarket.bsky.social