How I celebrated Juneteenth (My First Vendor Event)
Yesterday, CreateFinStew vendored at the first community event in our new community of San Antonio, TX. The Juneteenth Block Party was a success. Our booth was incredibly busy - all day!
On this day, in 1865, Army General Granger brought forth General Order No.3, which granted freedom for enslaved Blacks in the state of Texas. It’s pretty cool to be sharing a financial literacy book, on the day that enslaved African-Americans were set free in TEXAS in 1865! Unfortunately, the wealth gap in the US still exists. At $171,000, the net worth of a typical white family is nearly ten times greater than that of a Black family ($17,150) in 2016. (Brookings.edu) That’s my mission to educate and empower families to close the wealth gap. I accomplish this mission through my first book about financial literacy. I love sharing financial literacy and how easy it is to incorporate it within the home.
I was accepted as a vendor on 3 Jun, the same day I left for vacation. It was last minute, but I’m glad I had time to plan out the booth and set my goals. Here’s the diagram of how I wanted my booth *I created it on the flight home. I am a visual person, so I draw it and then create a plan. As you can see, my goals shifted dramatically and I didn’t sell 200 books, but dream big right?
How it started.
How it went.
Time was not on my side, so I hit up my entrepreneur friend Breonna of Imani Cowrie, because she’s been doing events since high school. She walked me through the do’s and don’ts of vendoring. She highly recommended to write out my goals for the event. (See below)
I accomplished most of these goals. Instead of meeting the AA Chamber of Commerce President, I met the other local community leadership, and instead of selling 100, I sold 97! Pretty close for my first event :). Overall, I enjoyed vendoring. I love people and it was a blessing to talk to so many people about financial literacy, learn more about them, and honestly just be outside! I have been in the house for a 1.5 years now, so I’m glad to be out of the house.
Alright, let’s talk supplies because there are a few things you need to obtain to make your event successful. There are more items, but this was just on my first page of notes.
One issue I came across was my banner. I didn’t want my photo on it, since it’s been 4 years since I updated my headshot. My friend suggested putting the book cover on it, I said, that works! Shoutout to Melissa of These Curves Are Mine (it pays to have entrepreneur friends). I had my graphic designer create a banner similar to my postcards (see below).
Supply List and Vendors
Banner - Retractable Banner Material - Single Sided - 78" x 33" www.bannersonthecheap.com - $61
Custom Tshirt - Coastal Custom Design (local business in Delaware) - $20 (2 shirts, 1 for my mom :) )
Table - 6ft - Walmart - $46.47
I didn’t get the kid’s table and chairs, it was wayyyy too hot
Clear bags (I originally ordered the wrong bags from clearbags.com (super cheap), so I had to order from Amazon. I strategically ordered bags with handles because I wanted people to see the book. $14.91
300 - Coloring sheets - Print Dirt Cheap - $13.50 (I used 20lb paper, I would probably use a thicker paper) I added a QR Code to my activity sheet that linked to my Amazon book page (I sold 15 books from Amazon, not sure if that’s the reason why, but I sell roughly 3-4 books daily, so I know the spike was connected to the block party).
50 - 4pk - Crayons - Amazon - $15.99
Vendor payments poster, Sanitize hands, Price sheet (created on Canva) - Staples - $2.25
6ft Table Sock - Amazon - $27.97
Acrylic Bookstands - Amazon - $17.99
Meet the Author Poster - Walgreens (with 40% coupon) - $18
Joey Custom Cutout - 4 ft tall - Lifesize Custom Cutouts - $49.99
Square POS Reader - Best Buy - $9.99 - I played around with the Square app several days before the event. I also added the books as favorites, so I wouldn’t have to scramble to find them. I turned the signature feature off since most CCs do not require a signature. I sanitized my hands after every sale.
Portable fan - Harbor Freight Tools - $34.99 (YOU NEED THE BATTERY PACK AS WELL) (definitely needed for a hot day like yesterday, we charged in the event parking lot)
10 x10 Tent - Dick’s Sporting Goods - $59.99
25lb Tent Weights - Dick’s Sporting Goods - $29.99 (I’m going to return them, I saw other tents have actual kettlebells and they used it to hold the tent down, I like that method vs. these weights.
Total Spent: $423.03 (eekk!!) lol. I know I spent more than that, but there were a ton of initial costs, that I won’t have to spend again (like the table, tent, weights, banner, fan, cutout, table sock). I would do it all over again and thankfully I sold 97 books to pay for the initial costs and connected with educators and leaders in the community who want me to conduct presentations for their youth.
Safety Tip: We had a cooler of frozen water bottles (frozen for two days before the event) and snacks (we did not bring ice because the water bottles were frozen). We also had sunscreen and bug spray. I had beach chairs in my garage and they were perfect because they included a sunshade.
Here are my lessons learned, I’ll include 5.
Know why you’re doing the event. I just moved to Texas and I wanted to network with other business owners. That was my main purpose for attending.
Set goals. I knew I wanted to meet people and learn more about what SATX has to offer. Unfortunately and fortunately, my booth was busy, so I couldn’t walk around as I would like. I will plan breaks for future events.
Meet the other vendors. These folks became my buddies on the day of the event. Although I had help, I assisted where possible. We gave water to some vendors who needed it. We even helped with a flyaway tent. Entrepreneurs need each other.
Carry cash and accept payments through QR Codes. I started with $100 cash that my mom and I stored via money pouches. This was great because people opted to use cash vs. card.
Have fun! I had many people not come up to my table because they weren’t interested. I also had people come to my table who didn’t have kids (they purchased multiple books). Don’t be discouraged. I learned so much! Honestly, if I could do it all over again, I would keep it simple and not stress about the little things. Lol, I’m detail-oriented and I wanted to be over the top! My mom flew down for this event and I’m so glad she did, this would’ve been hard to do by myself. Plus, who doesn’t love hanging with their mom?!
BONUS: Walk with supplies (I had a Ziploc bag of scissors, duct tape, 550 cord, chargers, and portable chargers) Starbucks was handing out free drinks next to us and they used our scissors. A voter registration booth was also a neighbor vendor and they used our extra stool in exchange for free t-shirts.
For my first event, I think it was a great success. How did you celebrate Juneteeth?
Are you doing an event soon? Check out our vendor checklist for your next event.
