We were lucky to catch up with Taylor Bragg recently and have shared our conversation below.

Taylor, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

My partner, Justin Leitner and myself, have been professional artists since we were in our early 20s. A big part of being a local professional artist is usually participating in art shows, outdoor markets and craft fairs. Both Justin and I have been craft/art market vendors for the past 5-6 years and realized over the last couple years that many market organizers weren’t doing enough to promote their events and weren’t taking care of the art vendors, resulting in low sales and morale.

It’s to tough to put yourself out there as an artist and sell your work in person. So when an organizer doesn’t do their job, it causes a lot of frustration. On that flip side, there are also event organizers who are absolutely wonderful and know exactly what they’re doing. But, we noticed a gap in the organizer space and decided to start hosting and curating our own art markets.

Justin and I both have 5-10 years of e-commerce marketing experience, as well as SEO, copywriting, social media skills as well. Along with our own personal art market vendor experience, we were confident that we could host art markets that were well advertised, carefully curated, and fun for the whole community. We’re almost through our first official year in business and couldn’t be happier with the progress we’ve made.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My partner and I have been art market vendors in the Raleigh area for the past 5-6 years and we noticed a gap in the market organizer space that we wanted to fill. Not all of them, but some market organizers are more concerned with profit than the success of the vendors. Art vendors struggle and hustle 24/7 to sell their work and make a livable wage. So, when an organizer doesn’t advertise the market enough or asks for outrageously high vendor fees, it cuts into your profits even more.

We host art markets that are community-based, nature-centric, and usually have a theme! For example, we did a Pollinator themed market hosted with a local Meadery. Our next market is Whimsigoth themed to celebrate spooky season. Vendors apply via an online application and we accept a certain number based on the size of the venue. Vendors then pay us a small booth fee that goes directly towards advertising the event. We carefully curate each market to bring the right customers to the right vendors. And, with our combined marketing skills, we’ve been so lucky that all of our markets so far have been very successful.

In addition to the success of our vendors, we also value local community and sustainability. We primarily work with artists that incorporate sustainability into their work. We only work with local artists and makers as opposed to MLMs or subscription services. And, we collaborate with local businesses as hosts so they also have a successful sales day.

We work with artists of all mediums and experience levels. Whether it’s your first market or you’re a seasoned professional, if we love your work, then you’ll have a spot with us.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Our business is a little different since we don’t have a brick and mortar store and didn’t have the usual startup costs that other businesses have. Because we’re a pop-up market business, our initial capital comes directly from our vendors who pay us to have a spot at a market. As of right now, 100% of those funds go back into the business for marketing, advertising, insurance etc. The only profits we make are from our own art sales at the markets. So, it’s always in our best interest to make sure each event has a great turn out so not only do our vendors do well, we can too!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Being a professional artist is really hard. Both Justin and I have been doing art professionally since we were in our early 20’s and we’ve both also worked full time day jobs on top of that. Justin has thankfully been able to be a full time artist now for the past 6 years. I’m not quite there yet but I hope to be someday! Whether you’re a part time or full time artist professionally, resilience is a must-have if you want to be successful. You have to scratch and claw your way up to where you want to be. Knowing the right people and making connections also helps too.

Before starting Hummingbird Market, we were (and still are) deep in the market vending world. Setting up early in the morning to sell art at various events. Some are great, some aren’t. Sometimes you make a profit, sometimes you lose money or break even. It can be really hard to keep going. There have been times where I’ve wanted to give up but sharing art with the world is my passion and I had to keep telling myself that quitting isn’t an option. But, each event is a learning experience and in our view, you do better and better as you gain more experience. You see what your customers are buying which allows you to pivot to new ideas!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://hummingbirdmarketnc.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hummingbirdmarketnc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Hummingbird-Market-NC/61555049807974/?_rdr