I’m forever indebted to all of the businesses that fully embraced and supported B.Willow when I was first starting out in 2014. In the years before my shop opened (March of 2017), countless businesses worked with me to plan pop-ups and collaborative workshops. This really helped me get my business out there. Trohv in Hampden was the first shop to carry B.Willow terrariums and potted plants, and left a huge impact on me as a business owner. As an established, beautiful shop, they had great foot traffic- a staple in the neighborhood for gifts and high quality goods. Having my work displayed there was huge for me- it meant that hundreds of people per week would potentially notice my terrariums. Perhaps they’d buy one…perhaps they’d be interested enough to check out my website and learn how to further support me. And…they did! Before I knew it I was selling out workshops, getting custom orders, receiving inquiries from other shops to stock my plants, and consistently growing my audience on social media. I honestly don’t know where B.Willow would currently be if I hadn’t felt so embraced and supported by other small businesses when I was trying to launch my own. Trohv’s closure (due to the pandemic) is sad for me on many levels. It feels really unfair. Our city needs businesses who operate like Carmen operated Trohv. She has left a true legacy! Carmen inspired me to prioritize carrying local goods and to always do my best to support other businesses. More than ever before, our entrepreneurs, makers and artists need to work together to make sure we maintain a supportive network for each other. It’s one of the most mutually beneficial things we can do.
With all of the uncertainty that 2020 has brought us, it has put one thing into clear focus: we must preserve Baltimore’s small businesses. Our communities thrive when our small businesses thrive. When you support local, you support members of your direct community- your friends, your neighbors, your family members. Baltimore’s small businesses are created by incredibly passionate people, who genuinely love what they do and where they do business: Baltimore. I’ve never met another small business owner who doesn’t genuinely love this city so much. This is our home; this is a place we care deeply about. We want to leave a positive impact. When we come together as small businesses, we can affect widespread change for the greater good. We can help support initiatives in our city that are dramatically underfunded, initiatives that often don’t get their voices heard by enough people. We have the opportunity to be leaders and agents of change. Artists, makers, and small business owners give Baltimore its richness, its culture, and its charm. It’s beyond essential that we preserve this. We must continue to expand our reach, and our communal desire to affect positive change in this city.
A desire to not only support other small businesses but to leave a positive impact on our city as a whole, led me to the creation of our local makers market: The Greater Goods (established December, 2015), held monthly at R.House from May 2017 to March 2020. We would have anywhere from 50-100 vendors at each market. We miss this community immensely. It was such an inspiring and positive way to stay connected with other small businesses. We don’t want the work we did with the market to disappear and fade into the past. We want it to evolve and adapt. We’ve been spending the last few months thinking a LOT about what’s next: how to maintain our support of small businesses as well as a variety of non-profits. As for-profit entities that can generate income, we must be supportive of entities that rely on donations and grants: our non-profits. If we can regularly join forces as small businesses to donate portions of sales to charitable causes, we can concentrate our energy and have a larger positive impact on groups that desperately need more recognition and attention.
We look forward to regularly bringing you opportunities to support local businesses, makers, artists and non-profits. Check our calendar for upcoming collaborations! We will regularly be making updates as our schedule evolves, especially for the holiday season!