We recently connected with Shannon Okey and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Shannon, thanks for joining us today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

I help hundreds of primarily women-owned creative microbusinesses thrive and grow by hosting almost 20 retail popup events throughout the year. We started with our first holiday show in 2004 at what is now 78th Street Studios in Cleveland. We hosted about 25 makers in 1300 Gallery. From there we’ve expanded over the years to twice a month summer popups across from the West Side Market, two Valentine shows (east and west), and now 4 holiday events (downtown, Gordon Square Arts District, Superior Arts district and beginning in 2023, downtown Akron).

When we started I was writing fiber arts books for a variety of major publishers full time. Gradually over the years I phased out working for other people and started my own publishing company (Cooperative Press) that still runs alongside Cleveland Bazaar to this day. They are complimentary businesses and I can support different types of creative entrepreneurs with each. Honestly, I started Cooperative Press because I didn’t like the payment or royalty structure the big publishers use and I’ve gone on to speak on that topic as well as long tail publishing at venues such as South by Southwest and O’Reilly’s publishing conference Tools of Change. I come from a family of artists and I knew that while I would not get paid as much as I might in a corporate job, I would have an immense amount of job satisfaction and flexibility, and that is worth just as much for someone with chronic migraines like I have.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Cleveland Bazaar hosts events, yes, but behind the scenes we also offer our makers an immense amount of personal and business support. This sense of community sets us apart from other similar events that have taken place in Cleveland over the years. We truly care about seeing each other succeed, there is no sense of scarcity or competition, only a desire to help one another with the various dilemmas we encounter running our businesses day to day. Most of these businesses are women-owned and only have one or maybe two employees including the owner. They often have health, childcare, eldercare or other issues that prevent them from working 9-5 or from opening a storefront. It seems like a lot of economic development pushes the “fill the empty storefronts!” narrative without taking into consideration WHY businesses like these can’t! So we offer a middle ground where they can sell and make new connections on the weekend and focus on making / selling online the rest of the week. And when they’re stuck or need help, we are all there to offer support and suggestions. Facilitating that is my favorite part of this.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Shop local. Shop handmade. Keep money in your own community–it really makes a difference in the long run.

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

Not everyone will like you and not everyone should.

I have had multiple occasions where a maker explodes into my inbox like the Kool-Aid Man making demands. “I have to be the only [business type] at your event, and I am better than all the other [people] so you need to make that happen!” First of all, no, I do not. Second of all, we are a juried event. Everyone has to apply and have their work judged by a multi-person panel who is not only checking out the quality of your work but also comparing it to the others in its same category. If your work is truly that good, they’ll see it. But in the meantime, you have to go through the same process as everyone else. Come showtime, you are limited to the same setup as everyone else. One table… or for outdoor shows, a single tent. If everyone else can make it work, so can you.

As a result of this I have become rather more sharp with people like that. I am not going to bend over backwards. If they’re this nasty to me in an email, what will they be like to their show neighbors for 8 hours? We really treasure the sense of helpfulness and community we’ve built and those kinds of attitudes are not welcome. And I’ll tell them that now!

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.clevelandbazaar.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clebazaar/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clevelandbazaar/

Image Credits
Chris Rutan