Ok - I clearly had way too much coffee before this pictures was snapped by the unsuspecting gentleman who happily obliged. I thank him for his time. He should have taken my jacket as it appears to be much too large for me.
The Tweet Up
A few weeks ago I asked Aki from Oktak if she would meet me at Grand Central for coffee. She lives in New York City and I hail from the burbs of Connecticut…to New Yorkers, Connecticut is the Country. We had to reschedule a few times on a count of back to school colds but finally today was the day. It wasn’t raining, usually when I go to the city it rains. Today was sunny, warm, and a fabulous day to travel to NYC. I was a bit constrained on time. I had to drop off and pick up my preschooler and the MTA was not accommodating with their on the hour train schedule. I traveled 2 hours to have a 1 hour coffee and would do it again. So often people are bound by time. They think it is too much work, but I feel you miss out on the sweet spot in life…meeting people. We are always too busy but today we both found time.
Get out of your Pajamas and make some friends
When your selling world is online and you do very few Fine Art & Craft Shows, meeting others artisans is so important. It is also important to form friendships and a support network. It is kind of hard to advise someone or take advice when you haven’t actually met them. It is hard to ask an opinion when you don’t know the soul. You really get a full sense of a person when you see, hear and speak with that person.
Aki was so very sweet and warm. You may have seen her treasures online but once you know the person behind them, you know you are getting a one of a kind gift. The warmth and love for what she does shines through.
If you were a fly in grand central today…here is what you might have heard
- ways to be involved in the Etsy community
- what has worked in your business
- what hasn’t worked and was it just me or did you have that experience…lol
- how did you feel when it happened
- teaching a class at the local library
- life and politics and Etsy
- things that matter
- the bitterness
- the sweetness
- how will we continue to last
- what is a reasonable time to expect to grow a business
I am sure you are looking for more specific details…but some things are better left to experience for yourself.
I leave you with this…
For me, I am thankful she took time out of her busy schedule to share her wisdom with a newbie like me. I already knew that we had so many things in common because on twitter you might see us talking at length about our little ones or about cooking. I just didn’t realize that meeting IRL would feel like just like we’ve always been friends and we were just catching up with a coffee.
The support, the encouragement, the words of wisdom, the experiences we’ve shared, the knowledge each of us gains or can offer and bring to the table this is your Etsy community.
Yes a profit is to be made but the greatest winnings in life are the friends that you make in this journey called life.
This is the true beauty of the Etsy community go out and find yours!
Yup, rain in New York city…. Glad you had a nice time… I guess Grand Central is the place for etsians. Cheers.
Great post. How exciting for you to meet someone that you obviously have a connection with.