In celebration of Women’s History Month, Hyatt Centric hotel in Center City at Chancellor Street near 16th held the Women Makers Market featuring women from around the Philadelphia area showcasing their products and services. Entrepreneurs connected with each other and consumers to promote their businesses and sold self-made products and creative services, including candles, jewelry and tintype photography, amongst other products.
“A lot of times it costs us a lot of money to enter events such as this, and the cost could be prohibitive and you never know what the outcome is going to be,” said Tina Dixon Spence, founder of Buddha Babe, a boutique that sells clothes and toys for babies. “So, for a business like the Hyatt to step up and say ‘We are going to create this platform, we are going to amplify women owned businesses and give them a time and a place to shine at no cost to them,’ is just so important and so meaningful.”
The two-day event was held in Hyatt Centric’s second floor lobby on March 18-19.
For Hannah Brong, an employee representing Mother Butters, a company specializing in making nut-free spreads, the connection women establish with customers is what makes the event special.
“I think these markets are a great outlet to give out business cards, give out samples, give out testers, or just to get yourself known,” said Brong, who is a sophomore at Drexel University. “The more known you are, you can keep working until you’re where you want to be.”
Much of the consumer market for women’s products is dominated by men, making events like the Women Makers Market so important; nobody knows what women want more than women, said Tanika Casimir, owner of Elizabeth Peyton Creations, an all natural skincare company.
“We know what we want,”Casimir said. “We know what beauty stuff we want, we know what underwear stuff we want. Clothes, we know what fits us. If you’re a skinny girl, we know how it’s gonna fit you, if you’re a bigger girl, [we know] how it’s gonna fit you. We know.”
For women like Rachel Scarborough, it’s also about showing other women entrepreneurs that they can accomplish anything in business.
“It’s hard for people to do things when they don’t see people that look like them doing it, so when you see a woman-owned business and you’re a woman you’re like ‘okay well if she can do it, I can do it, too,’” said Scarborough, the owner of G and Rizz.
Elizabeth Wellington, owner of Mindful Presents, feels that events like this enable her to directly influence members of her family.
“I didn’t get to see my aunts do things like this, but my niece can see me do things like this,” Wellington said.
As a collective, all of the women agree their businesses and products are competing with major corporations making similar products, and in the end, that is what consumers really care about.
“We have the same quality levels, if not better. We have the same business ethics and models, if not better,” Spence said. “It brings to light that you don’t have to go to a big box store, and you don’t have to go to a large corporation to find high quality products.”
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