“At the beginning of the new year I finally got a chance to stop into Good Crowd Shop that opened about a year ago right around the corner from my house on Edgewater Drive. I immediately was drawn into the welcoming, innovative space that is filled with the cutest local products from Orlando-makers as well as products from small independent minded makers from around the country. The owner, Sarah, is kind and friendly, and so knowledgeable about all the goods she expertly curates. I especially love that Sarah makes special effort to carry products created by women. Even though this space is made for special events, like workshops and pop ups, Sarah quickly pivoted her business model when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and made it super easy to shop Good Crowd online and even offered same day pickup and also delivery within a certain area. Shop The Good Crowd Shop online here!” – Beth Lashley Rothwell
What is your favorite thing about running a small business?
My favorite thing about running a small business is chatting with so many awesome people from our community who want to shop small and support local businesses. I have met the coolest, nicest people!
What advice would you give to those looking to start a new business?
Find a mentor. My mentor is a friend and business owner who coached me through the opening of my business from beginning to end. I had a vision for the shop itself – but all the paperwork, the insurance, the permitting, the inspections…that was the part of the process that I really was unprepared for and was so thankful for the guidance. It would have been overwhelming otherwise. In addition, I was lucky to have a close personal friend who would hold me accountable for hitting milestones by doing 6-month check-ins with me in the years leading up to opening my shop. She helped me move from “someday I’d like to open a shop” to “here’s how I can make it a reality.”
What responsibility do you see small businesses having to show up for racial justice right now?
I named our shop Good Crowd for a reason. My vision for the shop was to be a place for the community to gather, to shop, to laugh, to learn, to socialize. A place where everyone is welcome, where everyone is part of the good crowd.
When George Floyd was murdered in a neighborhood just blocks from where I lived in my home city of Minneapolis, I felt a call to action that I hadn’t quite felt before. As a business owner, I knew I could join the fight against racial injustice and support the Black Lives Matter Movement in a meaningful way at Good Crowd. Though I already carried merchandise from BIPOC-owned businesses as well as merchandise that reflects our diverse world, I could do more. Aurora James’ 15% pledge really resonated with me and so I made the commitment to buy at least 15% of my merchandise from Black-owned businesses by June 2021.
To further our support of racial equality, I partnered with one of our vendors, Natalie Henry-Charles, to create our exclusive “Raise Your Voice” print. Natalie is the owner and creative genius behind Pretty Peacock Paperie, which is a Winter Park based black-owned business whose cards and art prints are definitely Good Crowd customer favorites. 100% of the proceeds from the sales of our ”Raise Your Voice” prints are donated to the National Congress of Black Women. To date, we have donated over $500 to the NCBW.
I am a member of the College Park Neighborhood Association’s newly formed committee which is working towards positive change in our own community when it comes to racial injustice. And although these kinds of conversations we are having with our community members are long overdue, they are finally happening and the work can continue.
How can we best support small businesses such as yours in this time of economic uncertainty?
I never imagined a first year of business quite like this one. It has been very challenging to say the least, and continues to be with all the uncertainty and stress we are all facing due to Covid. However, I am so thankful for all of our customers that not only supported us during those very scary months where we were mandated to close due to Covid, but have continued to once our doors reopened. I was also so appreciative of the “support small” and “shop local” initiatives that the City of Orlando, the College Park Main Street and many bloggers and publications were promoting during that time. We know that College Park residents enjoy the variety of businesses that our neighborhood has to offer, so I would love this “support local” message to be shared again and again by our community leaders in whatever way possible all throughout the year. It’s a really scary time to own a small business, but it’s also a really rewarding one when you know your community has your back and wants to see you make it through in one piece. And for that we are grateful.
Sarah Johnson-Markve, Owner
Good Crowd