 For me what I've learned through the process is to manage my expectations because coming into this. I mean we started We started in concept June of 2020. We had our first event February of 2021 I thought that by June of 2021 We would have our full trailer and be on the road and I said to myself I will let her have that and we're gonna work like that's it and for me it was like and I'm not gonna be surprised if that doesn't happen, but I'm gonna shoot like it will be This is start of the storefront the podcast where we inspire entrepreneurship through truth Today's guests are Carmen Diane and Cara still founders of prosperity market Last year as the world was dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and the racial reckoning spurred on by the murder of George Floyd Carmen felt inspired to do something about it She partnered up with Cara and the two of them set out to create a market that would feature black farmers and businesses Also while providing low-income areas of LA with access to fresh produce and healthy food The idea was solid, but there were bumps in the road that were unforeseen such as a difficulty in finding black farmers The progress may not be as fast as Carmen would like but a little by little They are making their presence known all over Los Angeles County and making a big impact in the communities they visit So listen in to cover everything from why they legally can't call themselves a farmer's market How they've been able to grow largely through direct donations on their website and Why they're currently building two businesses the one they're in now and the one they'll be in five years from now Now back to the episode All right guys welcome to the podcast on today's show. We're talking a prosperity market either one of you can take this What is prosperity market? All right? I'm Carmen That's Cara In prosperity market. We're a mobile farmers market. We feature black farmers food producers and chefs and we travel all over LA We make it easy to support black businesses while creating food access in our communities And what what made you guys want to start this this whole venture? What was the first step or the idea of what you guys saw was missing in the community or just like the problem You wanted to fix it really started during like Quarantine, you know, we were at home Carmen's thing is like she had watched all of Netflix all of it Except for Tiger King you didn't watch that watched it That's the only person in the US at this point who has not watched yeah same with squid game, but anyway Pandemic and we have less time now than what variant are we on right now? That's usually watch these things is when they're dating But but I am Someone out there who hasn't watched Tiger King or squid game we have the perfect match You'll know that that's your person. That's my person Okay, okay, I like how we took a left here Carmen's board At the time we actually were still like it was before they had closed run-in. So we were so hiking regularly and Then when all of the like social unrest happened and all of that we were talking reading and just kind of like looking at what we could do like how we could contribute and make a difference and This was born out of that out of creating an economic impact and then saying how can we do that? Looking at food and then being like, oh, there's gaping holes in both of those things and so we created the idea of prosperity market really bridging creating an economic impact and and really good accessible food and Utilizing black farmers who have had such a limited platform to create the base for it as you guys were starting the concept Did you learn anything interesting about like the socioeconomics of it all in the sense of like I didn't necessarily grow up in like the best Raffle in community or whatever, but at some point it's like you you start to believe this narrative where oh People buy fast food because it's cheaper, right? And then you see the like the super obvious examples of like the $1 Big Mac let's say Compared to like take a dollar at the grocery store and you can't buy anything like you're gonna buy a sneaker bar And so there's really that but once you go a little bit above that fruits and vegetables kind of they can become I guess Closer to reach than a lot of people think for me I just I think it's a lot in in these communities I don't have grocery stores and they have the fast food in liquor stores and corner stores If that's where you're shopping because that's within reach that is more expensive than the grocery store You're gonna spend way more at the corner store than you are at the grocery store Like it's not that there's not money in these communities. There is there's money there It's just what's available to spend it on one of the things that Diego and I did during the pandemic was we had a masterclass subscription and one of the Courses on masterclass was taught by Ron Finley who is a gardener and he I feel like his Goal is very in line with with what your goal is in the sense of he's trying to bring Fresh fruit vegetables healthy foods to these communities where there there does exist a food desert in a sense and When you have this space and you're able to grow it I mean, I would assume bolsters the community in a very Significant way. I mean have you seen just in from your time In doing prosperity market. Have you seen a change or is it something that you are aware that it'll take a lot more time I think it's a little bit of both so I know like for me and for Carmen we talk about the fact that like All of us are so disconnected from our food And so in all of these experiences and like meeting and talking to like the farmers and the growers like Getting our own hands in the dirt being excited about like taking things home and eating it fresh It's something that Created like a new space within us saying like oh my gosh like no I'm excited about this this actually tastes better than anything I get from the grocery store and then Having those conversations with people that we know that also weren't doing those things because oftentimes the circles are so small of people who are growing things or are Eating fresh or are trading with each other so it's like expanding that and people do then get excited about it and Even to your point Diego when you said like discovering like okay Really obvious on the surface like fast food is cheaper But when people come to our markets, they're actually surprised at how affordable things are because you know It's all about margins and profits in grocery stores, which that's a whole other conversation But you know the prices are what they are intentionally It's so that people can buy the processed food versus the fresh food and we got to see that We got connected with that and then we just have the opportunity to continue to expose other people to it And there's something that happens like once you're connected to the food once you see where it comes from or talk to the people that grow it Where you get excited about it in a new way, and I know there's certain things now that not even on purpose I just don't want to get from the grocery store anymore because Now I just know that it's not the same like it just doesn't taste the same Yeah from a business perspective you guys are in some way are going down this road of like creating a marketplace And so what was your first step? How did you guys reach out to these vendors? How did you vet them? How did you make sure they showed up? You know all of that that's a lot of hard work in getting this your first event Let's say off the ground. It was not easy to find black farmers. Let me tell you like initially It was like we're gonna start a farmers market. We're gonna have black farmers Okay, and then it's like wait where are the black farmers? How many are there? There are less than two percent in the US less than two percent of farmers I think the actual number is 1.3 percent We had to kind of redefine what we considered a farmer So we started to look for urban farmers community gardens backyard growers and once we kind of expanded our definition That's when we started to find our vendors. Okay, and then what was the process like you pitch them You help you try to get them to understand your vision And what you want to do and were they about it right away or was there so it was really just a conversation like just us Introducing ourselves and talking to them about like what they do how long what they grow How it all works and then it was really again, we're building this thing. This is our vision and Surprisingly we had a lot of really good responses. I mean some people were like All right, let me see cuz you know, I come from a fashion design background Carmen's a makeup artist So it's like, oh, that's good. What are you all up to? So there was a little there was positive apprehension So really we didn't get a lot of resistance. We did actually meet with Ron Finley. We've talked to him several times See a nice guy. He's an interesting guy. He's a good guy. He's a good word for I asked him to be on the podcast You know what he his first thing was how much are you paying me? And I go, hey Ron so good to hear from you. Nothing is what we're paying you just come on and like we'll support You know, we're here. We're kind of like your hype team frankly for like a week Yeah, and he was like, oh, I see y'all are just trying to make money off the backs of us Okay, and I was like, wow, that's not I was like, all right Onward we were actually really happy to be able to have the conversations with him that he had and You know like a lot of people come to him for things talking to him about you know So I think like one of the things Carmen and I talked about was I think that after he saw that we Didn't kind of like give up on what we were saying and we started following through Then he started responding a little bit more and we had several conversations with them. So yeah He might have even smiled once. Yeah Wow, that's normally how you know, you know, things are going well What was your first event like it was really I don't want to say surprisingly, but it was like surprisingly perfect like It I wouldn't say without a hitch but like on the day it just felt perfect It was a it was in Hollywood or was it? Yeah, our first one February of this year, okay And you know, there were several people like oh my gosh, this is your first event ever like People had such a great time. Everybody was so excited Everybody showed up like we were like, oh my gosh Those people like lighting up waiting for us to open the gate for us. It was amazing It wasn't perfect by the way, but it And we had so much support like, you know, we had people that just were willing to help us navigate Putting together the entire thing helped us to get volunteers. It set the groundwork We had a lot of really strong Organizations kind of partnered with us and volunteer in like lead in the volunteer effort Which was this is the first event that Kara and I ever did especially something like this So moving forward even when they weren't with us at the events we learned from that So we were able to still orchestrate So I think it just really set us up for success all the all the rest of the markets and financially How much did you guys have to like put in was there a lot of savings on the line? Or was it something like it was pretty lightweight in terms of your initial investment? We invested what we had but we didn't have a lot because we weren't working We called in a lot of favors Still to this day yeah, and honestly like we have you know We have the numbers written down But really when somebody asked like how are you all making this happen? It really is honestly a miracle like honestly We every month on paper with the scale and the frequency of things we do it shouldn't work Yeah, and we've had this conversation. Yeah before where where I'm like It's a tremendous amount of work if you think about it, right? So you got all these vendors to align you got to get them all to show up You got to deal with the property owner. You get it. Yeah, right? They write there's a property owner component to it. There's probably permits Yeah, you got some city permits in line and then what seems like the easiest part is getting people to show up Which is the hardest part right because you're hoping that all the marketing you guys have done Is gonna pay off and that's something that you really don't know until day of there's no way to You know no one's RSVPing and if they do, you know, maybe that works. Maybe it doesn't but it's super It's super complicated. How did you both get the word out ahead of that first market? We were really fortunate that we got an LA Times article that came out right before our first market And that also was like set our trajectory So we like we were reaching out to friends social media emails phone calls texts and then that LA Times article came out and people were like, what is this? Who is this? What's happening? So we had people show up just because of that and they were like I saw you in I've always wondered this so when you're on the LA Times, what was the biggest bump you guys saw? Was it like emails was it Instagram? What was the thing that people were all of a sudden communicating to you of like, oh, I saw you here Where did you guys see the response for us? It was a little bit of everything because we were new on everything like we had just launched our website in January So this market was February. Yeah, so people were reaching out via social media like our following went up and a lot of like older people like hit us up via email That seems when you say older No, I mean like there was a couple who was like, no, I mean like 60s people that are not Instagram I mean like I mean like 60s like there was a couple and she was like we live not far and we saw you guys in the LA Times She emailed it like so. Yeah, like 60s and up were like looking at our website and Going via email and stuff like that. And so how many markets have you guys done so far this year in 2021? What month is this right now? December. Welcome to December. Did we do 9 markets? Was it 8 or 9? 9? 9. And what have you learned in doing them? Like what do you guys find to be either maybe this location is better than this one? What are the things that you're starting to see around? Okay? This this is what success looks like and this is what doesn't really necessarily work Like are there some vendors that they don't hit and then others do what is the thing that you guys are seeing that is like working? Well, the first thing before because I know there are some specifics to speak to the first thing is we really had to Come in with kind of no Expectation about what success looks like so really being willing to come in and say alright Like we're doing this and we're gonna see because depending on the area expectations is really well I mean an expectation of like oh, we want to do well I do that all the time nickel today like anything I do whether it's like a vacation or whether it's like a real estate development project He's like this is gonna be amazing. He's like a little kid and I'm like We'll see but it's not always the one to tamp it down I'm always like I'm bumming people out to some extent, but it's like I don't know It's it feels safer to just have no expectation I feel like that's for me what I've learned through the process is to manage my expectations because coming into this I mean we started we started in concept June of 2020. We had our first event February of 2021 I thought that by June of 2021 we would have our full trailer Oh, we didn't even talk about that, but I thought we would have our full trailer and be on the road And I said to myself I will let her have that and we're gonna work like that's it and for me it was like and I'm not gonna be surprised if that doesn't happen, but I'm gonna shoot like it will be But that was just something that I kept for myself because I like I really do feel like anything is possible And we could have done it and for me It wasn't a surprise to for it not to be because there's I feel like there's so many things We had to learn along the way that it's just like. Yeah, that makes sense What do you guys mean by having the full trailer? So like you started with a I don't even know like a van and then you wanted to expand to a trailer as well Or like what was the progression that you didn't reach that you thought you would? So right now we are doing because we're fundraising for our trailer. So we do our monthly pop-ups are Like open-air we set up. It's pop-up. So we have tents and tables We rotate our locations each month and the goal though is to have a full trailer I mean like a big 48 foot trailer the back is the farmers market You can come in and shop and it is set up like a produce aisle in a grocery store It'll have a register all of that and then the front of the trailer is a kitchen And we're actually gonna rent that out to different chefs and food entrepreneurs So it is a pop-up food truck and it's all one trailer. It's all together Using the ingredients from the back of the trailer for the it could but the really whoever is renting out the kitchen It's there. It could be restaurants. It could be another chef It could be so it's it's like a pop-up food truck with our farmers market But has that morph now like do you want to do something completely different than that or That is still the goal, but we did not know how many pop-ups we would be doing right before that The trailer the total is a hundred forty thousand. That's a lot of money. It's all custom. It's a special Thing on the back of a U-Haul It's a whole thing a very custom situation with the kitchen Okay, so the thing I think well one of the things that's now Something that we didn't anticipate before is even once we have that we're still gonna do our once a month pop-ups So that wasn't necessarily something we had even factored in at first But it still will allow us to like have the experience and be more expansive and include more vendors and stuff like that So when I talk to them I always geek out about as a real sick developer on like the future the implications of what you guys are doing And so to some extent in a post-pandemic world you have to be outside You have to be open-air and I think if you were to go all the way back Like I grew up or I was born in Peru. So if you go back to Peru today, let's say there's like markets There's outdoor markets, right? Some of these are in the United States also you see them less and less But it's like going back actually to this concept of this outdoor market in Houston, Texas We were about to build a distillery there that project died But across the street like right around it they're building this farmers market and it's this huge butcher building So just think of like a massive massive building bigger than a grocery store But all outdoor all open-air and it's like rows of kind of what you're saying So think about maybe trailers times eight maybe times ten and then in the middle is like the food court Kind of what you guys are describing to where there's like ice cream and there's like different chefs And it's just like beautiful farmers market that is Almost open all the time. Dude, what's it called? It's called the Houston's Farmers Market I Guess like literally literally okay Yeah, but it's just like cool idea and so as you guys you know the reason I'm just giving I guess the listeners a sense of like why I geek out and talking to you because it you're at the cutting edge of something that I think will Be really interesting to how people buy groceries in the future not so much well also from an education perspective But also from like a very little Literal like what does it mean to be in to grocery shop like I think that that it'll have a new meaning in Our lifetime and I think you guys are like building that which is really cool because it's also morphing Right, and I think like that's why I always just get excited. Thank you because we get excited too because like we have a whole lot of things up our sleeve that we Want to do are growing into still being really flexible with like our vision of what that looks like and like sometimes just like Managing our own excitement with like. Oh my gosh like this is What it's gonna be is this the first time you guys are fundraising? Yes, yeah, yes, we've been fundraising like we've done this all ourselves So we've been fundraising since the beginning of our but we you know like People donate like right on like and contribute right on our website. Okay, so we created this ourselves So it's all been very much like grassroots reaching out spreading the word and how are you guys fundraising for the? 140 50,000 for the trailer We've been I would call it like soft crowdfunding so on our website You know, we have a page set up where people can go and they can contribute Prosperity market LA.com So you can contribute on our website and we are planning for a proper crowdfund next year Okay, and when you say proper crowdfund is that still on your website? Or will you will you be doing it with like go fund me or we're gonna do it with a fun black founders? Okay, we were like very lucky to win a grant from JLH drew and learn holiday and so as part of that they set us up with Crowdfund better and fund black founders as support and teaching for how to really build a crowdfund What has that been like in terms of like support mentorship? What's what's the program? Oh my gosh? It's been amazing one some of the things that we've Learned have just directly impacted our business not even just about crowdfunding But just really seeing how important it is to be intentional with reaching out and communicating with people You know what we do like the markets are open to everyone we talk to people everybody's invited But even the difference that it made for us to reach out Individually to people to tell them about the market like a lot of people came for the first time once we started doing that And so even something just that small has opened up what we're doing to people to be like And these are people who are on our Instagram and on our email list So something like that has been great and they have a curriculum they do this it's what they do so it's Really taking the guesswork out of it, but it's also revealed like just how much work there is Behind setting up a successful crowdfund like it's not just slap it together and there are steps It is very intentional. It is very created so true and making sure that like people are aware before you're like Hey, press go. I need money. So it's a process and it's at times been a lot because we were doing the training I think it's like starting a different company You're absolutely right for like a bootcamp type type period like eight eight to twelve weeks and the thing and you asked Supported we feel I mean incredibly supported because first of all the training was supposed to be three months And it's just like indefinitely at this point We just meet every Tuesday and it's great and we can call them or email You know, we can contact them with any questions like not even crowdfund specific We actually paused our crowdfund because most of our cohort went live in October and we I mean This was in the midst of we were doing our scavenger hunt the black business scavenger hunt We were planning markets. We had so much going on with ourselves that we couldn't even Put that energy into planning a crowdfund properly and they understood and they you know Take your time and now we're gonna revamp and come at the top of the year Yeah, and they were just really supportive of that. They were like, hey You know if you all have the foresight and the courage even within this cohort situation to say hey like We want to be able to to properly do this and that's not the right time. They were amazing about it Do they give you any help as it relates to like the content like content strategy content creation? Absolutely all that really and just helping us like with everyone like making sure that you refine your brand voice and what you want to Communicate and how to do that. So I'm they're amazing and any resources that we don't have then they connect us with people to help When do you think it'll go live February February and is it equity or is it just like a this is rewards based Okay. Yeah, so different tiers people get some cool stuff. Absolutely. What's the biggest tier you guys are gonna do? I'm always curious when I ask people is because it's like you don't want to go too big You know you want to make it approachable absolutely at the same time like what you're giving away is it's pretty dope Right for that one tier and so absolutely. It's like how good is it how much money? You know, yeah So those are actually details that like we started looking at before but now we're going back and looking to see like what makes sense And do you have a magic number that's trying to hit in your heads? Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah That's a tricky that's always a tricky question for me Especially when it comes to a crowdfund because you know our trailer is a hundred and forty thousand dollars and we I mean From the beginning, that's the number that we've been trying to go towards and we've been chugging along So I think there needs to be some revisiting of what that looks like as it pertains to like crowdfunding And we're still pursuing other funding sources And I just want to take a moment to say like we have been able to put money down on that trailer And that's strictly through our website and people wanting to support us. So that's been really exciting hold It's it's no It's progress. Yeah, yeah, like because people have like come to our markets or seen us and wanted to support like so Strictly through like soft crowdfunding word of mouth. We've been able to Actually like put a chunk down on our trailer and that's exciting. So wait when it comes to this fundraising How much will you guys think to raise? Well, that's what we're looking at now. So it's like now It's got to go beyond the trailer, right? We're yeah, yeah, yeah What's what else is out there that you guys want to tackle outside of the trailer? I mean we need we need a commercial kitchen just to operate the trailer You know a commissary where we park the trailer our monthly operational expenses like these are all Funding that we're gonna need beyond just the actual physical trailer. Yeah, your operations Exactly, and then you know monthly costs when we do the pop-ups. So the reason I'm asking you and I'm pushing you on this is because I'm always like Founders are interesting in the way of like there. There's two sides of them There's the one side of you recognize you need money And you you're putting things in place to do that And then there's the other side of how much money do I need? And that is always a reflection of Them actually it's a reflection of where you think you are in your business It actually has very little to do with the trailer or with your operations And it's like this like deeply personal question You know, I just thought it's hard. I just thought okay So do you remember at the very beginning when we were like Totaling up everything and every time we would have to like increase the number a little bit So when we were just like really calculating the cost of like, okay If we're doing this trailer and if this is the way it's going and these are what the monthly expenses would look like And just getting those rough numbers every time it was like Okay, so I guess we'll add a little more to it then and then it was like, okay What would a year look like if we had everything covered? And so that was something I think that both of us had to get comfortable with because it was like This is a big number, but then it's like but then it's also not When you look at all of the things it's covering. So that just made me think like we were just like All right, and then we could just round up a little You know what else we went through through this process. There was just how we structured it It's like first are we going to be a non-profit because everyone thinks that we should be a non-profit because of Who's everyone did most people people assume we're a non-profit and the other thing is What do you think one farmer's markets are our farms No farms not necessarily wait wait. So every farmer's market you're saying is a non-profit To be a certified farmer's market you either have to be a non-profit an actual farmer or a government entity I had no idea. Could you like so my entrepreneur head goes, okay? Forget that. Let me go left and make myself something similar to a farmer's already been out. Well, we created this entire market. Yes So technically we are not a farmer's market. So you can't legally call yourself as a farmer's market We call ourselves pop-ups. Okay. Yeah, and we are a prosperity market And we're a farmer's market because we're a platform for farmer's markets, but we are not on paper You're not for prosperity. You're for prosperity exactly And that's why and that's exactly why you're for profit. We chose what we chose because okay So you chose to be we chose to be for profit and we created our structure Initially, I didn't want a crowdfund. I don't know why there was a big resistance And I thought like we'll just get investors. I was just disillusioned We'll get investors it'll be super easy But in trying to go that route people are like, oh, that's cute Like it's a nice little lifestyle brand and they don't see the actual That's a real thing by the way We talked a lot of entrepreneurs all the time and it's always a function of It's almost like a self-worth question. It's really what it is. It's What do they think their self-worth is in their head? And then they make products to mirror that it's really interesting And so when they're focused on like one I've been there like for me I had a one product company was my first company. So my self-worth at the time was that one product. It was I wasn't thinking big enough Second company a little more comfortable, you know Still wasn't thinking big enough And so every day like at some point of my day, I'll always ask myself am I thinking big enough today? Yeah, it's it's like it doesn't feel good to look back on that mirror But at the same time it's like when we talk to entrepreneurs We know exactly how big they're thinking based on the things they're telling us And it's this also like oh, okay, I see where they think they are Even though I think like for you guys, I think you guys are like amazing And I think what you guys could do is like massive I've seen you guys evolve in some way in the last like Since we met I've seen the ideas get bigger at a really fast clip compared to most entrepreneurs Sometimes I think like I can speak for myself and saying like sometimes there's a separation of like oh crap This is moving We're going like this is happening quick like the the things we come up with the way it's Happening the responses that people give like it's like oh, this is going Yeah, it takes the momentum and so just to give people like real a real example of this So when we met I put you guys in touch with the solar solar team that was building the beehive All over that will used to be the Goodyear track And the mission's aligned and next thing you know you guys were having an event with them And so I see that and I go oh look this is introduction that led to something real Right, but it's not something anything I did it's everything you guys did and so I was like oh these people are legit Like you guys are legit That gives you a lot of credibility That was our last in-person market of the year and it was like how long ago was that this was october It was everything like the location was amazing. We had was it the most vendors that we've ever had? Other than juneteenth. I think so. Okay. Well, we had a lot of vendors. We had new partners We had like a stage. This was the first time we had live performances We had a kids area. We had a beer garden. I mean this we really made this one a special one Did that open or expand your mind in terms of what you? saw Prosperity market could be or was that in line with what you always knew prosperity market could be I think now it's in line Okay, like from the beginning when we didn't know we would need to create traction for ourselves for these pop-up events No, but like after the first couple of markets. It was like, oh no, like we're gonna make this a thing So our markets are a vibe like we have djs. We do like people people come and they like stay for a long time They don't just shop. It's like a whole experience. It's like they're daily their event for the day So it was really cool to be able to just expand it In that way because we had the space like the beehive is amazing So it was almost like we don't have to scale back our thoughts of what we want to do because it's set up to be able to do anything So would you say that space is one of the larger barriers to achieving your full potential or or maximizing each event? Absolutely. It's a big barrier I finally feel like we're in a place where we're getting ahead Like planning for i'm so excited for next year because it's like we can plan out q1 Like i'm just really excited about that because this past year it's been just month to month It's literally been like, okay, we just finished this market. Okay the next market and it's hard to run a business that way Somebody told me that you're building two businesses the one that you're in right now and the one five years from now And that's exactly what it felt like, but it's just it wasn't it's not feasible right But now you feel like the business that you're running right now Is it seems like it's running under its own steam and then that enables you to focus on the business that you're trying To build five years under its own steam. We're definitely very much still powering it because it's just the two of us but We have a grasp of what it takes like, you know, we've done it enough times now that it's like Okay, we know what these steps are So now we can actually plan forward and people have seen us do it enough that like now we can have conversations And be like oh because we did this and we did this so it's not like what are you trying to do in my space right now? And in going back to locations We were literally there there was our second market. We got that location We had already started advertising because we had the date and we're like, oh crap We we didn't have the location on the on our flyers because we didn't have a location What we had in mind had fallen through that's the barrier that locations are Like so now we're able to get a head start on that so that's And we have some places that we can go back to as of right now All of this past year with the exception of being in Inglewood twice. We haven't done a location twice yet So there are places that already are like, well, when can you come back and those kinds of things and uh So it's it is it's cool because we have new places to check out places that we can come back to And we have enough of a handle on it that every moment is not like, okay What's the next thing we have to do was there ever a location that surprised you In terms of community Support or just a number of people showing up or whatever it might have been Like was there anything that you learned from showing up to a location that you hadn't expected? My first thought to that question is it's not about actually our physical location But for last month, we only did our virtual market, which also that's something to talk about That's my favorite So nick she said virtual market, right? And in my head, I'm thinking what did you think I'm thinking an online store. Yeah Okay, yeah, how does it work? Just run me through the whole thing. So you go So I go on a website and I'm like I want to buy some produce. Okay. Do you see pictures of the produce? Yes Okay, and then yeah, and then I I scroll down. I'm like, oh, I want to buy some iceberg lettuce I want like two heads of iceberg lettuce. I scroll. I you like lettuce. Whatever. Yeah And then what I'm making salad and then and then I go to my car and I check out and then It gets shipped in my mind. Yeah. Okay. Is that more or less what it is? Okay. All right. So how was I wrong? We don't ship So for us we do it in a line with our monthly pop-up market So the virtual market is on a friday the in-person's on a saturday and then on sunday we do free produce giveaways That's why people think we're a nonprofit too. So for the virtual market. We have um contactless pickups So you shop friday you pick up on saturday and we have you can pick up at our market And then we have like satellite pickup locations around the city So if you you know, if we're in inglewood, but you live in west hollywood Well, you can pick up in west hollywood because we have a pickup location And what surprised me for this last market that was virtual only we opened it up to west hollywood and north hollywood Which is the first time we've done that and we were also in inglewood Lemurt park in mid-city, but those are locations that we've been to before We had a like west hollywood was our biggest response and north hollywood was our second And it's something that we wanted to do but this was the perfect opportunity to do it and we had a really great response So not only does it say hey Continue doing this, but it also lets us know Like where some of the people that have been showing up to our markets have been traveling from So that was really cool because there are there are a significant amount of people who come to every market That we see you seeing repeat customers. Oh 100% and just to your point when you said like one of the Locations that like surprised us for me One every location really is different And so we have to learn like how to like reach out and market and stuff like that But I would say the location that surprised me the most was Malibu And some of that was because so they reached out to us. This was our third market Third or fourth they reached out to us But they also were doing marketing on their end because we're not in Malibu So nobody in Malibu knew us at all And so they were doing marketing on their end like reaching out and it was a huge turnout People were excited about it and people they're like, are you guys doing this again? Or is this going to be a regular thing? So many people showed up like it was it was huge. So that for me was like surprising the news came out Yeah, the abc. Yeah, it was a whole thing and so Not like oh, of course Malibu like they know farmers markets. So in that respect at what but just How excited people were and how many people came out was really surprising I'm even the vendors were surprised and there were a couple of vendors are like Malibu's kind of far I don't know if I want to go all the and then oh, okay We do that again for sure So that was one of my most like surprising markets And will you guys just replicate that like for next year? Will you just double down and do one at every single location until you have like 10 markets at a time? What do you guys view as like your scaling? Scaling for us like when we have the trailer It'll be easier to do that because then we can operate daily and it's not just a monthly event or even just the saturday So you want to be like an everyday Yeah, the trailer location. Yeah got it and then for like the expansive That'll be less frequently. So we still might keep it to once a month and rotate it Yeah, but the big in person with all the vendors, but when we have the trailer that's going to be A regular that sets you free exactly And then we'll have a second trailer and a third trailer and and build that way each neighborhood Just at this point has a trailer. Yeah, because the point is, you know, really to support Local growers and food producers and also the economy that way. So it's really like once we do scale once we do have Prosperity market trailers all over the country, you know, we're both from yeah, of course Of course, but you're like we're both from maryland. So it's like, you know Yeah We're in maryland get all the old days I mean, it's coursing through our blood right now. I'm from baltimore In no way. Yeah, so I grew up in olney in Montgomery county. Yeah right out. Yeah in between baltimore and dc There was an amazing vintage in thrift store that I used to go to that was out that way. It was so good I can't remember the name of it right now, but it's so good. He's just not a fan So yeah, like we're gonna have prosperity market trailers everywhere and you know, the local growing food producers in one area and also the local ecosystem and local economy in Maryland doesn't look like it is an la, you know Different things seasonally different producers just you know, and and really it's supporting each neighborhood in each area's local ecosystem and local agriculture system that way never a building Yes Also building the farmers market thing in houston is pretty dope. I can totally see you guys doing that We could just see prosperity market like on the top of it And it's like a vibe like it's so well done and it's all outdoor Yeah, it's super amazing that sounds amazing and they have like top tier chefs like all like michelin star chefs And so it's got the high and low if you want that it's there And if you just want someone making something really good at like, you know, whatever little thing they have it's there too Sounds like you're reading our notes That's part of it. That's the vision that's part of it When you guys do square footage maps, how like how big does it need to be for the building? Even what you're doing now like how much space or is it a parking lot? Like what what size is what you guys are your current markets? It is very big Each because the trailer is small. I mean, it's not small. The trailer is big, but it's not like Like it's not like a football field. Oh, no, the trailer is not like a football field. Right, but like the pop-up to toe The pop-ups Very in size based on the space. Yeah, okay Give me a sense of like how big or how small that they've they've varied Well, we've gone anywhere from like 15 vendors in 10 by 10 spaces to 30 30. Yeah. Yeah depending on Who's available depending on the space that we're working with So the bigger the parking lot the more the more leeway you have to work with and music and then all that good stuff Because we can't not have the vibe. Yeah, it's gotta be a vibe. Yeah Are there any locations in la that are kind of like In your mind or a reach or someday you'd like to host an event here Like let's say the parking lot of the sofai center when you know right before the world cup and the olympics We're the sofai center Or inside the sofai center. That is literally just like that's on my board We need to have a prosperity market in there and it could even just be this I might be saying too much for this podcast Like No, I just mean like I'm saying ideas that like we should just work on privately But But you say I'm here and then there's that exterior pressure It's like now everyone expects a prosperity market at the sofai center. You want to make sure people are thinking big That's really it. Yeah, like I want I want to be in airports Like I want prosperity market and it could be it could be our rotating chef model Or maybe it could be like the produce or both or but airports Sofi all of that and this was something like the airport thing was a conversation early and I think Why airports that was that was in the airport and I was like, aha So what do you see that looking like because you know, I've never seen anything like a market in an airport garbage Right, exactly. It's all just garbage And that we don't want it to be all just garbage and the thing is because we have So many kind of pieces to what we're doing. We could take any of those pieces and kind of tailor it for specific locations So that it's not all just garbage So what terminal at lax are we talking about? I usually fly americans. Yeah, I was just saying yeah, so five. What's america five four and five? Yeah, okay But I'm not gonna lie. Whatever number southwest is gets a lot of traffic. So we gotta be in the southwest terminal number one Yeah, it is number one. Yeah, you know I've done it a lot the next couple times You know you're anything that you guys want to tease. Yeah, we have um, we have holiday boxes Curated prosperity market holiday boxes that you can get on our website And they have um, just like our favorites our bestsellers and our favorites from all of our vendors and nice little giftable How much are the boxes? They range from a 45 to 55 and there's produce box snack box flavor box with like sauces and seasonings and then self care box This could be a good a good like corporate gift. Yeah, absolutely. Are you offering nationwide shipping as well? Right now. We're not shipping We should ship is what you're saying Just from Just ship between la and maryland only. Well, I'm going home for the holidays. So I could just Tell me what you need So we will have pick up locations and like you said for corporate gifting We are having conversations and also open to Companies and organizations that want to do gifting and we will Make sure it's delivered to you and that goes back to the virtual market too If organizations companies want to shop the virtual market we can deliver it to your office. Yeah, so you I'll put an order I'll put a couple orders in. Yeah, maybe 10. We love that. You won't get one Stop, stop, please. You're not even home for the holidays. I mean, what's home? He's that's a great idea. That's really cool. Tell me about the so what's the self care box? What's in that? Would you like to? My my favorite So this is directly curated by you then Every single thing the market itself puts together vendors like all just in general we have curated this. Can I guess? Let me guess. Let me try All right, look some bath salts Not salts a candle. Yes, definitely a candle a luffa That's an add-on. That's an option. Yeah Moisturizer. Yeah, butter slippers In artisan soaps. Oh nice. Yeah Is your e-commerce side going up in business? Like do you see like the virtual market concept is that? Picking up like how do you what's catching on it's been it's been a big experiment Yeah, and I think november was great because since we didn't have a in-person market People if you want, you know the vendors that you've known to grow in love if you still want their Products you have to go on the website. So I think that pushed people who would usually come in person So I think moving forward We'll continue to see that We also have different vendors online. Like there are some vendors who aren't available in person But they can sell online. So there's like new products So you should do both and it's one of those things where we've really gotten to see It is how many points of contact before someone is willing to like check something out How many is it marketing? It's seven to nine But you know what that was our our tenth virtual market And that was actually the time that we saw a lot of our regulars in person shop online Yeah, so that holds true. Yeah, so it really is you know us sharing about it us looking at creative ways to grow it Because we started from scratch. It was like, oh, hey Come buy your groceries online with us You know just people are like, what do you mean? But once people started seeing the market experience Then they were also more willing to be like, okay now I'll check out online or once we had done it had a few markets under our belt people are like, okay I can Check this out. We'll tell people where they can find you We are our website is prosperity market la.com and we're on instagram prosperity dot market And we're working on twitter so you can follow us twitter. Okay, we're working on it at prosperity mr kt because why not mark kt I'm just curious all the touch points. Yeah, I get to tick tock Not tick tock. Not yet. Not yet. We haven't come around I mean all the all the chance I mean our podcast isn't all the channel that I just personally don't know how to use twitter yet It's like, uh, I did at the beginning when I was in tech because it's like a lot of people in tech There's like a real echo chamber. Mm-hmm But it's a bubble now. I never use it I start like personally started very early and then like stopped tapered off. Yeah same and then but I mean There are people who have a lot of things to say about a lot of the areas that we're doing something about and that we're involved in You know, not just economically but in terms of farming in terms of food in terms of access and so you can engage with them You you meet them where they are and then you can engage. Yeah, okay, and so we're you know, we're working on that Yeah, we're also going to have a youtube pretty soon. Oh, that's smart. Yeah, we are What are you going to highlight on your youtube Our process and kind of like just what this is like for us. That's what's building this and growing this. That's great So you're hiring a team Who's going to create the content we're putting when you say hi You're going to collaborate if you bring up partners loosely use that h word What you're rating a team much like we do our market. There you go. Thanks for coming on the podcast Thank you both. Thank you for having us. Thank you