A bit more than a year ago there was going to be a new Etsy Portsmouth Team starting up and I was asked if I wanted to work with a group of other creative business owners to assist in the running of the team. Of COURSE I wanted to help. I'd love to meet other small business owners and work closely with some local businesses I really admire. In May we celebrate our one year birthday as the Etsy Portsmouth Team and I've just been lucky enough to spend my weekend at the Etsy UK Teams Summit. I wanted to take the opportunity while it was all still fresh to share Three Highlights From the Etsy Teams Summit. On Friday I hopped on the train to Leamington Spa to join other Etsy team leaders from around the country. We'd spend the weekend learning loads of info about how they're supporting us to grow Etsy UK behind the scenes. I had such a great weekend, it's tough to narrow it down but here we go...
The Etsy team leaders and captains are wonderful, fun, kind people.
Going off to an event like this was a little intimidating. I knew I'd be spending my weekend with a huge group of people I didn't know and I was heading there on my own, not knowing what to expect. I work from home on my own, what was it going to be like spending an entire weekend meeting new people?
The night before I was catching the train, I had a message from Kate, one of the Southampton Etsy team leaders and owner of Pinyatay, saying we'd be on the same train. We decided to meet up on the train to travel together and within minutes it was like we'd been friends forever. We chatted non-stop the entire journey and I started to relax into the weekend.
Over the weekend I met countless other small business owners from around the country. I also got to meet some of the Etsy admin team from the US and India as well as the London office. Every single person I met was so lovely. They were kind, funny and full of life. I laughed so much over the weekend and I've definitely walked away with some new friends.
Collaboration is key.
Running a small business is hard. It can be really lonely at times. It can feel like you're the only person who is struggling with the issues you are and you can end up feeling quite isolated.
Spending the weekend in the company of Etsy's vibrant community of sellers was inspiring as hell to say the very least.
It was great to get our creative brains going as a collective, working together to see how we could better help the teams we lead. It turns out that leaders across the country face the same issues that we do with our team. And small business owners the world over face them too.
We were encouraged to choose an accountability partner from the other leaders, to make sure we stick to the action plans we set out. Kate (from Pinyatay) and I have already been talking about how we can get the Portsmouth and Southampton teams together.
Etsy UK is strong, and growing still.
When you hear the word Etsy, what do you think? In the US it's almost as household a name as Amazon is here. It's the go-to for creative, unique gifts. It's being heavily invested in in the UK to help grow it for the UK market. It's more than just a place to buy and sell things. It's unique in that it has a strong community behind it. It provides a platform for sellers to communicate and bond, seek advice and grow their businesses together. I'm excited to be along for the ride!
My first Etsy UK summit was exhausting, but brilliant. I've come back buzzing, full of loads of ideas, plans and lots and lots of food. Can't wait to see what the future holds!
As you can probably guess from this, I sell on Etsy. You can visit my Etsy shop here: Angela Chick's Etsy Shop.