Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle Cozzaglio.
Hi Michelle, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
“For Lovers of the Strange, Unusual & Bizarre…”
My husband Tony and I created the Oddities & Curiosities expo in early 2017 with the goal of supporting odd artists and small businesses. We wanted to provide a safe place where people could come and be themselves unapologetically. A place where someone could come and be surrounded by an amazing community of like-minded people.
The Oddities & Curiosities Expo features vendors, dealers, and artists from all over the county with all things weird. Outside of the immersive shopping experience, we host sideshow performers on stage that perform classic circus/sideshow stunts like swallowing swords, walking on glass, human pincushion, and much more. We also host a taxidermy class each year that allows a small amount of students to learn the basics of the amazing craft that is taxidermy – the type of class changes annually! This class is taught by professional taxidermist Heather Clark of The Sleeping Sirens. Lastly, as of 2021, we have an incredible traveling museum with us at all shows. The museum is curated by The Oddities Museum and also changes annually with new rare/one-of-a-kind pieces on display.
When we started in 2017, we had our first show in our hometown of Tulsa, OK. In 2017 we decided to try out a show in Denver, CO, and it went great. While I had worked jobs I hated for the majority of my teenage and early adult years, it inspired me to take this on the road. In 2018 we dove in head first with 8 cities across the U.S. 2019 we expanded to 16, 2020 we had booked 26 but…. only had 4 before COVID happened. We came back strong in 2021 with 25 shows (only had 20 due to COVID), and in 2022 we are finishing off 25 shows. We’re looking forward to 2023 as it will be our biggest year yet with 30 shows booked.
The Oddities & Curiosities Expo visits Dallas, TX every year. We started going to Dallas in 2018 and found out quickly that the Dallas area loves all things strange and unusual! Each year since we’ve continued to grow in attendance and interest. As a kid growing up in Tulsa, OK… I used to come down to Dallas all the time to see bands. So, to be able and book my own larger event there is really special to me.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Besides COVID, it’s been a pretty smooth road! Of course, like anything, we’ve made mistakes and learned a lot from when we first started. Even now, we are constantly trying to improve and do better each and every year.
To be honest, the hardest thing for us lately is how many people are attending! We’ve grown so rapidly throughout 2022 (constantly blown away and shocked!) that we are having to completely revamp how we do things. It’s a good problem to have, but it’s something that weighs on us a lot. We work so hard to provide our attendees a comfortable place to shop, but it can be hard to know how many people will actually attend! Next year we have gotten larger rooms, added days in key cities, and revamped our floor plans to accommodate the crowds.
I think people can easily forget (or don’t even know) that we aren’t come large corporate event. We are a “DIY” show. It’s really just Tony and I and our small team making this happen – and we’re trying our best!
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am one of the creators and the curator of the Oddities & Curiosities Expo. We are the first traveling expo featuring vendors with all things weird in the country.
We specialize in the weird. As the curator, I personally go through each and every application we get, and hand-pick vendors. For 2023, I have gone through over 2,000 applications of artists and small businesses wanting to get into our expo. We are very specific on the types of vendors we have as they must fit the theme and must source their products sustainably.
Outside of picking the vendors, I book all the venues and organize all the small background details… make sure each show has everything it needs. We begin booking the following year over a year out! So, I’m always doing *something* in the background.
Show day, I am the main contact to the venue. I’m constantly available to help vendors, answer questions, help attendees and make sure everything is running smoothly.
We pride ourselves in being DIY and very hands-on. You won’t find many larger expos that the actual owners are on-site at every show, have relationships with the vendors, and are personally talking with attendees and making sure things are going well. It means a lot to me (and Tony) that we maintain this amount of hands-on care in our show.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
I love my life. I have worked really hard to work for myself and no one else. I spent years unhappy at corporate jobs telling me I couldn’t have colorful hair or tattoos, blah blah. I couldn’t do it anymore. I wanted to do something I cared about and look how I want. Once, I just quit one day without a plan…. happiness came with it. I have my soulmate by my side, and we get to travel the country with our creation… AND… people actually like what we’re doing! That’s the best feeling in the world. It makes me SO happy to see the comments online of people saying they felt welcome at our show, made new friends, or had no idea that other people like them existed nearby! It’s so cool.
Contact Info:
- Website: odditiesandcuriositiesexpo.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/odditiesandcuriositiesexpo
- Facebook: facebook.com/odditiesandcuriositiesexpo
- Youtube: youtube.com/odditiescuriositiesexpo
- Other: tiktok.com/@odditiescuriositiesexpo
Image Credits
Heart & Wild Photography
Bambi Nicole
