One of the my experiences of 2022 as a indie beauty brand founder was participating in the Renegade Craft Fairs. I absolutely loved interacting in person with customers, teaching them how to apply our cream blush and highlighter to create a super easy minimalist makeup looks, letting them touch and feel the product and answering their questions about Minori and beauty in general.
My first ever Renegade experience was the Chicago one in September. This was my first time ever visiting Chicago and first time travelling to do a craft fair which involved quite a bit of coordination to ship inventory and supplies from one coast to another! I was super proud of my set up. It was simple yet still very on brand and fit nicely next to my booth neighbor which was an awesome candle brand. We got lucky with amazing weather Day 1, but not to much on Day 2 which ended up being torrential rains. Our tent completely broke down and thankfully another vendor generously took me into their tent on the second day. I was so impressed with the resilience of Chicago residents, who still came out to support the craft makers and small brands like ours even in terrible weather. I absolutely loved my first Renegade experience and was stoked to get ready for the next one!
My next stop was in LA in November. I absolutely loved the venue of this craft fair - The Historic State Park. We were blessed by super warm and sunny LA weather. My friend and makeup artist Emily Dimant helped me the entire weekend. We felt on top of the world, selling so much Minori products and making so many new happy Minori customers!
The last stop for 2022 was in Seattle in December. It was an indoor venue and I was sharing a pretty small booth with a wonderful Jewelry brand. I kept the set up quite simple this time around, and definitely want to improve it next time around. I managed to do my entire set up with everything that I brought from San Francisco in a carry on suitcase! Despite the simple set up, Seattle turned out to be my best Renegade craft fair. I was practically sold out of all my inventory by middle of Day 2. I think our messaging of "Makeup for people who don't wear makeup" trully reconated with the Seattle folks. I can't wait to go back next year for round 2!