We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sam Travis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sam below.

Sam , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright, so one thing we think people don’t talk about nearly enough is investments – either time or money. What’s one of the best or worst investments you’ve made and what did you learned from the experience?

Alternatively, I think the worst investment that I *avoided* was renting a space for a storefront, and I seriously considered doing so at the start. I think there is a lesson for some new business owners / those considering starting a business to gain insight from.

It’s ok to start small, even if it’s not as profitable at first. You will develop a rhythm much easier this way. Initially, I thought having an actual store would be the only viable option – however, I never realized how many alternatives there were outside of owning a physical store. Whether vending at events, working from home, joining a collective retail shop (like my current shop at The Southern Market), and so forth – whether you’re offering products or services, there are options!

Conclusively, having a storefront / physical business location is great, but it can be a lot – as I have experienced this first hand after helping run a previous business. From rent to maintenance, there is a LOT to be intimidated by. It can easily consume your life so consider starting small before jumping into a major decision.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Wizard of Rocks a local (to Knoxville) Crystal / Metaphysical business & vendor. I work several pop-up events/markets yearly, with an additional permanent shop set up at The Southern Market.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

Wizard of Rocks very much so started out as a side hustle for me, while I worked (and still work) a “day job” on top of it. It started out with me making a Facebook / Instagram page and making sales from home – which then escalated into regularly vending at events. Now, during peak event months (roughly Spring thru Fall) I make nearly double the income of my “day job”. So I largely consider this my livelihood now!

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Primarily, vending at events. I always meet someone new. And even with the amount of business cards I hand out in person – at times it seems like word of mouth gets me more business than anything! That’s why it’s pertinent to support and share if you like a business, as most small businesses can’t afford to pay for extreme marketing/advertisement these days.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: wizard_of_rocks
• Facebook: @WizardOfRocks