We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lida Hoy a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Lida thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
I was about 8 months pregnant when my husband and I came up with the idea to start a Sports and Pokémon Card Show in North Jersey. Specifically at the Wayne PAL. At the time, my husband was collecting cards himself as a hobby and we saw such a huge demand for these types of events. It’s an event where the entire community of collectors and businesses come together to sell and trade cards. We launched The North Jersey Card Show November 2024. We had about 600 people the first show and 800 the second show. We run the show every 2-3 months and now working on getting pro athletes to attend as signers. After this event, we said why not have different types of events. We had a Mother’s Day Extravaganza the day before Mother’s Day which was a huge success. We even got a chance to be on WCBS NY for a live 2 hour broadcast during the event. Our next card show is August 16th at the Wayne PAL. Also, for the first time, I will be hosting a beauty event in Oakland NJ sometime In April 2026. This event will feature Celebrity MUA’s and professional hair stylists that will be teaching live in person masterclasses. It’s going to be a very fun and awesome event. Tickets are limited and on sale now on Eventbrite. We also have more information on our Instagram pages for both businesses. @Northjerseycardshow and @Northjersey_events.
Lida, 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?
I was a marketing manager for almost a decade working in corporate marketing but during Covid, I decided to take a break and stay home. I wanted to be with my kids and grow our family. After launching the North Jersey Card Show, I decided to start North Jersey Events and launch different types of events that would be appealing to people in a different industry. Our business hires multiple staff members for our shows such as help with admission, security etc. We also allow vendors to set up for a small fee where they sell items they make or collect or flip/sell cards (card show) some to make a living. We’re only getting started. We have big plans to expand to different industries and grow the current shows. In addition, I also own a beauty line which is new and currently have only 1 product that sells on amazon. The brand is Simply Raw Beauty. I will eventually expand this business as well but don’t want too much on my plate. Family is priority in our home.
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
My co founder/business partner is my husband Nick. He and I have 3 kids together aged 6 months, 2.5 yrs and 6yrs old. It gets hectic as my husband has a full time business he runs as well. We chat and make business plans once the kids are sleeping or tag team during the day. It’s definitely not easy as we’re the only caretakers for our young children but we power through. Sometimes even 2-3 cups of coffee doesn’t work.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
We started both accounts from zero followers to now getting followers daily without any effort. We utilized paid ads for our flyers, affiliate marketing, giveaways and word of mouth from vendors. Being that I had a decade of experience in marketing prior definitely was a big plus.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/northjerseycardshow/profilecard/?igsh=MTlvd2pyYm1wa3VkZA==, https://www.instagram.com/northjersey_events/profilecard/?igsh=bjBhdG9jYzduY2Rq
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1NqEcdkQ17/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Other: Included 2 instagram links for both pages
Image Credits
https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/