We were lucky to catch up with Hayley Matthews-Jones recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hayley, appreciate you joining us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

I’ve always viewed risk tolerance as one of the biggest factors between living up to your full potential, and living a life where you daydream but never take the leap. Assessing risk is critical in all major decisions, and one of the ways I push myself to move beyond fear and into execution mode is by using the question “and then what?”. If you name the thing you’re afraid of and ask yourself “and then what?” it pushes you to think beyond the fear becoming realized and makes you find a solution.

One of the biggest risks I took was at the age of 25 deciding to backpack solo around the world for 8 months. There were a lot of safety considerations that went into my decision, and weighing of risks/rewards. To me, the benefits of the experience, the ability to see the world, to push myself out of my comfort zone, to experience new cultures and landscapes, to learn to be alone all far outweighed any potential risk. When you can pinpoint the things you’re afraid of, you can typically mitigate those risks or remove them altogether until only the rewards remain.

To this day I recommend solo travel as one of the most beneficial personal growth experiences anyone can give themselves. It will force you out of your comfort zone, and position you to be open to meeting new people and experiencing things that simply wouldn’t happen when traveling with a partner or group.

Hayley, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hayley Matthews-Jones is an internationally acclaimed leader with more than 20 years of experience in local and national brand building, and convening humans across cultures.

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I am the Founder & CEO of Minneapolis Craft Market and Minneapolis Vintage Market and the CEO of The Get Down Coffee Company. Since 2015, I have built a thriving market scene in the Twin Cities, working with more than 1,700 local artists, 400 vintage vendors and dozens of venues, the market is now an established part of Minneapolis/St. Paul culture. I bring my dual skills in both creativity and logistics to my role at The Get Down, and have helped it grow into a nationally-recognized brand carried in Target, with a flagship café and new roastery in just two years.

Fundamental to all of my work is convening humans across cultures. There are core themes such as art, music, fashion, and food that we all connect around, regardless of our background, and it’s those mediums that I use to foster community and cultural connection.

I moved to the Twin Cities in 2008 from my native London and really missed elements of the street market culture that I grew up with. In 2014 I started to realize that my perspective as a Londoner — home to some of the oldest and most innovative street markets in the world — was something that could bring a new industry to Minneapolis. At that time there were farmers markets and annual craft fairs and events, but no regular popup retail opportunities for the huge number of artists and creatives that live in the cities. My background was in live event production and so I knew how to mobilize to create experiences that went beyond a retail opportunity and met a gap in the market for local, artisan-made products, and Minneapolis Craft Market was born. I added the vintage market in 2018 and we have seen that brand go from strength to strength as sustainability and vintage goods have become more mainstream over the past few years. Across the two market brands we host more than 120 pop-up events per year in the Twin Cities, which have a massive economic and cultural impact.

In 2020 as both of my markets were closed due to COVID-19 restrictions, I began working with entrepreneur and designer Houston White on some virtual event projects that lead into the crowdfunding campaign for The Get Down Coffee Co. Since then, we have built our flagship cafe in North Minneapolis, our production roastery, and our products are carried nationally in Target. Though my popup markets and the coffee industry are seemingly different, the cornerstones across all of my work include storytelling, brand building, and bringing human beings together in a meaningful way using art, coffee, fashion or any other medium.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

I founded Minneapolis Craft Market in 2015 and was able to transition to working in the business full time by 2017. One of the biggest factors in being able to make that decision was my ex-husband moving into a new job that offered health insurance so I was no longer responsible for our family’s insurance. At that time I was working full time in my day job and trying to grow my business on evenings and weekend, as well as having a toddler and an infant at home. Any one of those elements is a full time job in itself, and it got to a point where I felt like I was doing nothing well and something had to give. I knew that if I could dedicate the 40 hours a week I was spending on my day job to my business, that I would be able to take it to the next level.

I was never afraid of making that leap, I knew the business had the capacity to scale, it just needed my full attention. I also knew that if it didn’t work out, I could go back to working for someone else or taking on events consulting clients. Before I had even worked my notice at my day job, I already had secured my first consulting client which gave me some guaranteed income while still allowing me to grow my business and work on my own schedule.

Almost immediately I saw the payoff in the market business and in 2018 had the capacity to add Minneapolis Vintage Market as a secondary brand. The biggest lesson I learned in this transition was to trust my own abilities and instincts and take the leap with confidence.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

One of the biggest lessons and skills I’ve honed since being a business owner is how to trust my own instincts and follow my gut. In the earlier days of my business I definitely had instances where I paid attention to other people’s opinions on what I should do or how I should do it, even when I knew what to do. I also sometimes didn’t listen to my own intuition when I felt like something wasn’t a good fit, whether that be partnerships, locations or business decisions.

You’ll find as a business owner that many people have expectations and opinions on how you should do things. I would encourage anyone working on their own business to stay true to their own vision and really listen to how it feels in your body when they are immersed in your work. Your body will often tell you things your brain is not ready to hear, especially when it comes to the energy we receive from other people. Pay attention to the people you are around that make you feel energized, supported in your vision, and poured into. And also pay attention to people that give you advice or opinions that are at odds with how you envision your business or mission. Nobody knows your business the way you do, so the more you can stay focused on your mission and vision, the more your business will be an authentic representation of you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://hayleymatthewsjones.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hayleymatthewsjones
• Other: http://www.mplscraftmarket.com http://www.mplsvintagemarket.com http://www.getdowncoffee.com

Image Credits
Darin Kamnetz (all images)