Today we’d like to introduce you to Sabrina Abney.
Etsy Dallas started more than 10 years ago as Etsy.com’s first street team in Texas, a group of Etsy sellers located in the greater Dallas area, teaming up to learn from each other and organize in-person events. Over the years the makeup of members and leaders has slowly changed as business have moved and changed, but their mission has remained the same. Now, Etsy Dallas is a non-profit organization with an all-volunteer board of officers and directors that handle all of the team’s operations, including membership, professional development, charity events and the biggest undertaking, organizing their Spring and Jingle Bash handmade shopping events twice each year.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
As our organization grows and becomes more well known around the area, hands down our biggest struggle is the fact that we are an all-volunteer group. Our members all operate their own Etsy shops, some full-time but many in addition to their full-time jobs, and on top of other family and professional commitments. The success of our events throughout the year hinges on the volunteerism of these same motivated individuals who already have their plates full. Luckily, we have a great group of members that step up and get things done, meaning we have a robust social media presence, a growing number of workshops and fundraising events for local charities in addition to our twice-yearly Bash events. But this also means that our Leadership Team, who work year-round on the operation of the non-profit, are stretched quite thin. We always have more ideas and goals than are realistic for us to meet, but we do our best to use our time efficiently to best serve our members and the greater handmade community in and around Dallas.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Although we see ourselves primarily as a trade organization for small business owners selling on Etsy.com, we are well-known in Dallas for our organization of the Spring and Jingle Bashes, handmade events that happen twice a year–our next coming up on May 5 at Gilley’s Dallas. We pride ourselves on the success of these events as an important way to promote the handmade movement and introduce Dallas to local makers and connect with the community. What sets us apart is that this is a completely non-profit event. It’s always free for shoppers, and vendor and sponsorship fees all go back into the facility costs and promotion of the event. It’s definitely a labor of love–our board works tirelessly year-round to make sure that we can put on the best show possible, even though this is a volunteer role for each of us, on top of our full-time jobs and for some of us, side businesses on Etsy. But we want to make a fun shopping event to showcase all the hardworking makers that come back to sell each year and do our best to make sure that shoppers go away happy too.
What are your plans for the future? What are you looking forward to or planning for – any big changes?
We’re always looking for ways to make our bashes bigger so that we’ll have a bigger platform for sharing local makers with more of the city. The further our organization and Bashes reach, the more we will be able to help and support a growing membership base with advice and support. We’re always looking for ways to work with more local businesses and small business owners to promote our mission
Contact Info:
- Website: www.etsydallas.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/etsydallas
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EtsyDallas/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/etsydallas
Image Credit:
Shopping photos: with candles–Mirrorless Mind Studio, other shopping photos–YLK Photography
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
