When I launched Olokoi, I never planned on doing farmers markets (FM). I had it set in my mind that I didn’t have time to commit a weekly farmers market in addition to my full time job, being a mom, a wife, a sister, friend, and so on. The logistics were too overwhelming and I just relied on already being in Kroger (on the West Coast) as more of a reason to not do the FMs.

But, let’s be real, I used “being busy” as a guise for being scared. I was afraid to hear what people had to say if they didn’t like something that I was passionate about. I was worried about criticism, so I avoided it like the plague. It’s as if, I was so focused on criticism, that I failed to realize how much people love Olokoi.

Let me just add that living behind fear does absolutely nothing for brand awareness. So it was time to take a leap of faith and give the FMs a shot!

The path to big grocery for most food products is to start small at an FM and eventually grow enough to get onto a grocery stores shelves. For Olokoi it was the complete opposite. From the launch of my company to Kroger took less than a year. This fast forward move into Kroger, meant a greater mental block with the FMs. Let me clarify that being in grocery doesn’t mean instant success, especially as a small business. I still have a long road ahead.

Show time

It’s been a year and a half since I moved back to Texas and I picked the greatest time to start attending outdoor farmers markets….August. I hope you can sense the sarcasm.

I was over prepared in some areas and under prepared in others, obsessed over all the details, ya know, all the feels. Even through I was navigating those feelings, it was all oddly so much easier than I anticipated because I had the best partner in crime with me, my 13 year old daughter Emma. When I say I am grateful she was by my side, I mean it with my whole heart. Since then, we’ve attended 3 Saturday markets together and in this short time we have become more efficient with packing and unpacking, setting up the pop-up tent, doing samples and so on. One of the greatest take-aways from these events is seeing the pride on Emma’s face when she takes the lead on talking to customers and generating sales. Real life skills she’s learning now that will help her out down the road. I will soak up as many Saturdays as I can with her, because before I know it, she will be in college 😭.

It’s crazy to think I was nervous to attend these FMs, because I get so much out of them. I love meeting everyone that comes to our booth and to be totally transparent, my soul is happy when I get to chat it up with new folks who are curious about Olokoi.

As I write this blog, I am realizing that (without any sort of planning) this is how it was always supposed to go. I wasn’t supposed to start attending farmers markets last year or the year before, but now and with my kid. It’s funny how sometimes things just work out perfectly ❤️.

Olokoi attends these markets

• Thursdays at Kingwood Farmers Market

• Saturdays at Memorial Villages Farmers Market