Well, I kind of got into this whole market planning thing on a whim. Back in 2016 some family members asked my friend Dawn and I to put on a market at their beautiful barn. You may have heard of it, The Barn at Bunker Hill. Super gorgeous right??! How do you say no to that???

Of course, we had no idea what we were doing, but hey, when life presents you with a great opportunity you gotta jump on it! As it turns out we were pretty good at it. Dawn and I had been at many other shows in the Midwest under the name Wasted and knew what we liked. And what we didn’t like. We thought Eastern Iowa could use an event like this, soooo what the heck!?!

Our very first Good Makers Market (GMM) happened in September that year. We had an amazing turnout! Shoppers began lining up before the gates even opened, the music was playing, the food was delicious, the weather was perfect, and our GOOD MAKERS were absolutely awesome. We were in awe. It was the best feeling! From then on, I was hooked! I knew immediately that this is what I’m supposed to be doing.

2017 took on a lot of changes. Wasted ended and I began Good Folk Trading Co. I took over GMM and was flying solo. Scary!!! But I love the camaraderie amongst all these creative people. Like really, they are just all around GOOD PEOPLE. They work their asses off to bring you so much awesomeness and love doing it. Creating a unique shopping experience, hand picking the best of the best vendors and bringing it all a little closer to my hometown just makes my heart happy.

We also moved to a new location, the Cedar County Fairgrounds in Tipton, Iowa. We loved Bunker Hill, but we have grown a little bigger each market so a new space was needed. It is the PERFECT spot! A beautiful white barn. Gorgeous wood floors. Ceilings that reach the sky. Green grass, lots of huge trees for shade AND tons and tons of parking for tons and tons of shoppers!!! YAY!!! In case you’re wondering where the heck this is, it’s not far off Interstate 80 in between the Quad Cities and Iowa City. Easy peasy to get to and a prime location.

I know you’ve all heard the saying “When you shop small an actual person does a little happy dance” I can definitely vouch for that! When you shop at Good Makers Market there will be so many happy dances going on and you can leave feeling good about that.

See you at the market!

- Jessica Meyer