Confessions & Ruminations of a New Gallery Owner

Owning a gallery is terrifying…there, I said it!

I knew embarking on this new adventure would have its’ challenges. It’s easy to become focused on what is NOT going well, or what COULD or COULD NOT happen. I’ve coined Sales and Marketing as ‘beasts’; creatures that are often elusive, gigantic and hide under your bed at night chuckling at your loss of sleep.

There are billions of business experts out there, claiming to have the ‘magical’ solution for building your clientele, boosting your social media followers, making you “double your sales in three days with this one simple solution“…who or what do you believe?! Much of this advice is contradictory to the next and it’s easy to get swept up in the overwhelming sea of guru chatter.

I don’t know a lot about business in the traditional sense. However, I know how important it is to be passionate about what I am doing; the message I’m sending out to the community: RECONNECT ~ GET INSPIRED. It’s my mission to encourage you to explore your inner self through art, to help artists support themselves through their amazing and unique talents, and for more and more of our community to turn towards shopping locally/ethically/North American. We need to uplift and invigorate one another. This message is becoming increasingly clearer to me. There isn’t a ME and a YOU: there is an US.

I invite you to help us business owners slay our Marketing ‘beasts’ by coming into our shops and saying hello. Nothing delights me more than seeing somebody’s eyes light up with interest when they come into Karmyc Bazaar and get chatting with me about the artwork we carry, and the artists we support. Even if you don’t identify it with being ‘your thing’, you may be surprised. If you need a unique gift for somebody, or want to treat yourself, I invite you to shop locally as much as you can. There’s a quote floating around the internet that I really enjoy:

“You can’t buy happiness but you can buy local & that’s kinda the same thing.”

Owning a gallery is terrifying…but it’s also extremely rewarding and made much less scary by the incredible community we have around us. Thank you to each and every one of you who have taken the time to come into our shop, who have supported us on social media, and who have shared your kind thoughts. It truly makes it all worth it…even the sleepless nights with the beast beneath my bed.

From my heart to yours,

Jennelle