Recap: Peer Mentoring Happy Hour with Handheld Handmade

Last Sunday we hosted a Maker Peer Mentoring Happy Hour with Handheld Handmade in the Distill Creative Studio in Dumbo.

Kelly Rand, the founder of Handheld Handmade, and I met back when we both lived in Washington, DC. She has since started Handheld Handmade, a curated text-based shopping service. We were excited to host local makers and facilitate some peer mentoring!

A variety of makers attended — a textile designer, jewelry design, content maker, and some general accessory and apparel makers. We broke into small groups to discuss our pain points, practice our pitches, and give each other advice.

In my small group we talked about what was holding us back and where we could use support. We talked about how to get noticed, how to sell ourselves as our brand, and how to create pricing strategy that works in various sales outlets.

Towards the end, we all gathered and gave our pitches. It was nice to have time to practice and share, but also not nearly enough time!

Kelly recommended the conference Craftcation Conference, a business and makers conference, for those who want to continue to network with other makers. I also love Craft Industry Alliance, which has helpful blog posts, journal articles, and webinars.

How do you share and get advice as a maker? Share your resources in the comments below!