We were lucky to catch up with Kim Wood recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kim, thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us about an important lesson you learned while working at a prior job?

What is amazing to me as a business owner now, is how every ounce of hard work we put in through our youth ends up having value in our future career. Even when we are not aware of why the jobs we have will serve any purpose later on in life, they often do. Our hard work does not always feel rewarded, until one day we gain the clarity to how it enhances our lives. I was blessed enough to have had the opportunity to learn so many skills in the jobs I had when I was young, and bring those skills together to grow a successful small business.

Currently, I own and manage a large pop-up farm and artisan market in the San Antonio area, Garden Ridge Market Days. With over 150 farm, food and craft vendors monthly, our mission is to support small local businesses as well as provide an exciting, free activity to build community in the area. I aim to bring local non-profits on board each month to support those in need, and provide families with fun activities for kids to do each month such as crafts, scavenger hunts, balloon twisting, pony rides, petting zoos, face painting and more.

I am so happy to have become someone who loves my job. The funny thing looking back, is I never really knew what I wanted to be when I grew up! I knew God had big plans for me, and my plan was to work hard until I could figure those out. I knew I wanted to raise children and be able to work from home if possible. My jobs early on were as a waitress/server for several years, loan officer, content developer, web designer and I worked my way up to being a Marketing Director of a company after just a few months in an entry level position. Eventually I risked it all to own my own business planning and coordinating events as the owner of a local activities club.

My business now (Garden Ridge Market Days) incorporates daily skills from literally every single job I’ve ever had. Customer service as a server has been imperative in getting me through the hard conversations. My web design skills and Bachelors degree in Communications has helped me market and grow my business at an incredible speed, even through the pandemic. Even having been a loan officer has helped through the hard conversations with customers and vendors that sometimes need to be had. And most of all, as a large event overall, my prior business has leaned into my new business in ways that are often so coincidental I can find humor in them.

I am thankful for the opportunity to work from home (now with two children), and still maintain a career I love. Though the days are always busy and the work is never easy, I try when possible to focus on helping others with that same opportunity I was given. I also want to show my children that being hard-working, regardless what task you have at hand, really is applicable to the rewards you reap in life.

Kim, 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?

Sure, my name is Kim Wood and I own and manage Garden Ridge Market Days. The market is the largest pop-up in the San Antonio area with over 150 local farm, food and craft vendors each 2nd Saturday, monthly.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Many business owners don’t know the power of social media, but I am proof that it can transform your entire business! I’ve grown the market almost solely on social media (Facebook, Instagram) and am still expanding more into social media (TikTok, Twitter, etc.) myself to continue growing. I highly recommend to every business owner, regardless of your field, to be present and active on social media if you are looking to grow your business.

Interestingly enough, the bigger push I can recommend those things for you is to have a professional presence and showcase your own business this way. We have a long waiting list for most categories in our market, so when I’m adding a new vendor from the list I am going FIRST to their social media to see what it is they sell, if they have a business that is well established and professional in appearance, how many followers they have, etc. If you can’t get a feel for a business on a website or social media, it is hard to build trust as a market manager that your new vendor will be joining your market with a professional appearance and ample amount of products, etc. as well!

My suggestion to actually proceed in growing your social media presence is to dedicate a few days just to learning how! Youtube is great for tips and tricks, there are online tutorials and guides, and you can even take classes if necessary. Just don’t let the opportunity slip away. Social media is a great way to connect with your customers, gain additional customers, and create a professional business appearance to anyone trying to research what it is that you do.

I also recommend to keep it simple. Make sure you are stating the basics (who, what, when, where, how) in a way that those items customers are trying to find will always remain at the top of your page. This may mean including them in a header, in the main “About” section of your page, or in graphic form. It is important to make sure people are not searching for the details they want to know about your business for longer than a few seconds, because websites don’t hold most people’s attention for that long.

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

I have learned that in having so many vendors together all at once, the only way to run a truly successful farm and artisan market is to be very consistent with rules. They are necessary.

As an example, we do not allow canopies for our pop-up vendors to be set up at any time without at least 25lb of weight per canopy leg (more if there is wind). And at times, I have definitely lost favor with vendors when we’ve had to require having canopies come down all together due to high winds.

Canopies, in wind, are basically parachutes. They can blow away and hit people or property and do a lot of damage if they are not properly weighted down. While vendors don’t always like to carry around heavy weights, especially on less windy days, we keep our requirements consistent for safety and the potential of weather changes. I believe the vendors who now have the most experience with markets see that we are consistent and hold true to keep safety at utmost priority for them, their customers, and other vendors and that has set us apart from others.

As a business, you want to accommodate every customer and bend every rule to make people happy. But in my line of business, I’ve learned I will have to lose customers to prioritize safety and what is right for all vendors and customers as a whole. Sticking to these rules creates difficult conversations and is one of the hardest parts of the job. But for as many rules as people will fight, I always receive a lot of “oh, now I understand” comments when a windy day springs up on us and everyone now knows why they were in place. And most importantly, I know everyone will be safe.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.gardenridgemarketdays.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gardenridgemarketdays/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gardenridgemarketdays

Image Credits
Garden Ridge Market Days