COLLECTIVErenegade

FASHION / DESIGN / FILM / FOOD / TECH / ART / SOCIAL CHANGE / TRAVEL

renegade game changers | thought leaders | rule breakers | style makers

ISSUE 13

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In the past six years, their self-funded venture has flourished from a hobby that ran once a month to a full-time business, running three times per month in two different Gold Coast locations that’s attracted shoppers from Kelly Slater and Steph Gilmore to singer Tiffany Wood and TV personalities Jess Skarratt and Libby Stone.

When they launched their business, Sarah and Marissa had both re-entered the corporate world – Sarah as marketing manager of a coffee company and Marissa working for the AFL on the launch of Gold Coast Suns. However, they’ve since left their jobs to focus on The Village Markets.

“It was more than two years after the launch – when we went bimonthly – before we thought, ‘Okay we can start paying ourselves a little salary now’, and that’s about the time we both left our jobs,” says Marissa.

They’ve racked up 17,000 Instagram followers and almost 35,000 Facebook fans and a handful of the labels that launched at the markets, including Peony Swimwear, have now secured international stockists.

“A big point of difference between us and other markets is our online presence as a brand and what we provide as well as having a stall on market day,” says Sarah.

“We really have turned the perception of a market on its head. People often think markets are about arts and crafts and we have really turned it into something else.”

Marissa believes this is largely because they cap the stalls at 100 per market to maintain a boutique feel, and have a very strict application process.

“I really think the reason TVM is so successful is because we have never, ever compromised on our strict application process and we don’t accept anyone that falls outside of our stall category guidelines to keep in line with the unique, boutique market feel that we wanted to create from day one,” she says. >

We really have turned the PERCEPTION of a market on its head. People often think markets are about ARTS AND CRAFTS and we have really turned it into

something else.

TO MARKETBeing made REDUNDANT can be a traumatic and demoralising EXPERIENCE, however two SAVVY young businesswomen turned unemployment into an opportunity to create their DREAM business. WORDS AMY MILLS

Few people can say that losing their jobs was the best thing that ever happened to them. Yet such was the case for Queensland Gold Coast marketing executives

Marissa Bowden and Sarah Schoeller.The colleagues were working in a busy

marketing department for a large listed company when they suddenly found themselves unemployed at the start of the financial crisis six years ago.

“I was shattered,” admits Sarah. “At 26, it was the last thing you’d

expect to walk in and be told you’re being made redundant, especially right at the beginning of the [financial crisis]

because there were just no jobs around.”Marissa remembers the moment

vividly: “It was an awful feeling sitting there and waiting for your turn to go in and hear the bad news. To see people who had been there their whole careers losing their jobs and wondering what to do next was horrible.

“However, we both now say it’s the best thing that ever happened because we potentially wouldn’t have had that push to go, ‘Okay, that door is closed, what’s next?’”

During their post-redundancy coffee catch-ups, Marissa, now 31, and Sarah, 32, kept finding themselves back on the one topic – how much they loved traditional fashion markets around the

world, and how they secretly desired to create their own.

One latte too many and the decision was made: the stylish duo would combine their marketing and events experience – as well as their love of fashion – to create a monthly boutique designer market that would inject some much-needed culture into the Gold Coast community, and provide a platform for emerging fashion, jewellery, homewares designers and artists to showcase their talents.

Following an arduous six months of preparing business and marketing plans as well as securing the relevant permits from their local council, their brainchild, The Village Markets (TVM), launched in October 2008.

“That first market was daunting,” laughs Marissa.

“We had nine stalls and we stood there with clipboards urging people to join our database. “Things have changed a lot since then!” PH

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IN THE BUSINESS FOR A MARKET STALL? HERE’S HOW TO CREATE THE PERFECT ONE, WITH MARISSA AND SARAH:

STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD: Make your stall shine. Turning up with a plain marquee, a table and a couple of racks probably won’t do that for you! Be creative, think of an interesting concept or layout that will make your products stand out from the crowd.

POSITIVE VIBES ONLY: If you’re enjoying your day, this will come across to your customers, who are more likely to feel welcome if you have a smile on your face. We want people to leave feeling happy and satisfied about their morning, and hopefully wanting to come back time and time again!

BE PREPARED: Have EFTPOS, which is made easier with a number of phone apps and tools now available. It’s known that stalls with EFTPOS facilities can turn over more than those without due to convenience.

GET ONLINE: Make sure you have a great online presence through all social media channels as great photos and content go a long way. We advise stallholders to utilise any additional opportunities that may present themselves.

MARKETING IS A MUST! Get to know your customers, sign them up to a mailing list so you can keep in touch and let them know of any sales, new stock and exciting new collections. PH

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“We would rather have fewer, high-quality stalls than a massive market.

“As a result, you don’t have to sift through to find something special – every stall is a gem.

“We have the best of the best emerging labels – from everywhere from Sydney to Byron Bay and the [Queensland] Sunshine Coast – in one location because of the reputation we have built over the years. It’s really an innovative, high-quality market.”

Although they enjoyed their previous corporate lives, both businesswomen relish the flexibility and freedom of working for themselves.

Marissa is a mother of two young girls, Stevie, 3, and Pepper, 1, so working for herself allows her to spend much of her time with her kids, while Sarah also runs a marketing and PR agency, which specialises in social media strategy, graphic design and website development.

Both admit their career choice is often a tricky one to explain to strangers.

“A question we are commonly asked is: ‘What do you do?’” says Marissa. “And when you say, ‘I own a market’, they’ll say: ‘What do you make?’ We will say: ‘We don’t make anything, we run the markets’. But it’s still quite hard for people to comprehend that it’s an actual business.”

Both agree that having the courage to

follow their dream was the best decision they’ve ever made, although it hasn’t come without a lot of hard work – and late nights.

“It’s the perfect job in that Sarah can still do consulting and I can be with my babies and it’s so flexible,” says Marissa.

“But we have created this life for ourselves. A lot of people say that we’re so lucky to work for ourselves, and we are, but it has been six years of hard work and growth and development. We’re constantly looking forward, are always implementing new things and making things better and more streamlined and looking at new opportunities.”

Sarah agrees, adding that she couldn’t be more proud of how their business, as well as their friendship, has flourished in the past six years.

“There was a long time there where we were working every night and every weekend, plus working full-time jobs during the week,” she says.

“It was hard. Originally, we went to the bank and we were turned down for a loan and now we get letters every month saying they’d like to offer us an overdraft. We are a cash business. We don’t have any debts and it’s nice to look back six years on and know we’ve done it all by ourselves.

“It’s funny how life turns out.”