June 3, 2026 • 41 mins
On this episode of the STL Bucket List Show, we sit down with Katie of May’s Place and May’s Night Market to talk about building one of St. Louis’ most influential vintage brands and transforming a small local market into a citywide cultural event drawing more than 10,000 people.
Katie shares the story behind launching May’s Place in South City, leaving the corporate fashion world behind, and creating a business rooted in sustainability, vintage fashion, and community. From signing a storefront lease in a single day to growing a nationally recognized vintage destination, this episode explores the evolution of one of St. Louis’ most beloved creative brands.
The conversation dives into the environmental impact of fast fashion, the rise of vintage culture in the Midwest, and how May’s Night Market exploded from a small indoor gathering at The Ready Room into one of the region’s biggest shopping and community events at City Foundry.
They also discuss balancing entrepreneurship and motherhood, building a business with family values, curating vendors with intention, and how local partnerships and community support helped the event grow year after year.
From fashion and sustainability to small business and creative culture, this episode highlights how May’s Night Market has become one of St. Louis’ premier community-driven events while helping shape the city’s growing vintage and maker scene.
They discuss:
- The origin story behind May’s Place
- Leaving corporate fashion to start a vintage business
- Sustainability and the impact of fast fashion
- Growing St. Louis’ vintage and creative community
- How May’s Night Market began
- Expanding from 800 to 10,000+ attendees
- Curating vendors and building community-driven events
- Balancing entrepreneurship and motherhood
- Social media, photography, and creative branding
- Favorite St. Louis restaurants, shops, and family activities
🎙 New episodes drop every Wednesday.
🔔 SUBSCRIBE FOR NEW EPISODES EVERY WEEK 🔔
🎧 LISTEN ON:
Apple Podcasts ▶ https://apple.co/36ycuuO
Spotify ▶ https://spoti.fi/3svGoqS
🔗 CONNECT WITH STL BUCKET LIST:
Instagram ▶ https://www.instagram.com/stlbucketli...
Website ▶ stlbucketlist.com
🤝 WORK WITH STL BUCKET LIST
Interested in partnering or sponsoring an episode?
Email ▶ show@stlbucketlist.com
Website ▶ https://www.bucketlistcreative.com/ab...
🎙 New episodes drop every Wednesday.
🔔 SUBSCRIBE FOR NEW EPISODES EVERY WEEK 🔔
🎧 LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts ▶ https://apple.co/36ycuuO Spotify ▶ https://spoti.fi/3svGoqS
🔗 CONNECT WITH STL BUCKET LIST: Instagram ▶ https://www.instagram.com/stlbucketlist Website ▶ stlbucketlist.com
🤝 WORK WITH STL BUCKET LIST Interested in partnering or sponsoring an episode? Email ▶ show@stlbucketlist.com Website ▶ https://www.bucketlistcreative.com
🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube
📍 Recorded at Bucket List Podcast Studio, St. Louis, MO
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_04 (00:00):
It was like kind of a perfect storm of timing where
it was like one of the firstevents after people were able to
be outside and unmasked.
After that regulation wasdropped.
And the largest event we had atthe Ready Room was about 800
people.
And our first at City Foundrywas about 7,000 people.
SPEAKER_00 (00:21):
If you wanna hear about St.
Louis, tune into the BucketlessShow Weekly.
Hear what Marissa and Luke say.
It drops every Wednesday.
Got a dope new guest everysingle week.
Buckle up for the ride.
Who's it gonna be?
Who's on the show today?
They rap St.
Louis.
What to do in the loo on a latenight?
(00:43):
I maybe what to do on a datenight.
Yeah.
Bucket list as you cover, theyknow what's going on.
What's going on?
They'll give you eight.
18 different things to do on 19.
If you need one more to choose,yeah.
This city, city, city is a placewe call home.
A place we call home.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (00:59):
St.
Louis, welcome back to anotherepisode of the STL Bucketlist
Show, highlighting the people,places, and events that make St.
Louis special.
We have one of those people andevents in the studio that make
St.
Louis special.
I want to give a huge shout outto Julia for producing our
episode every single week herein Maplewood at our studio at
Bucketless Studios.
The amount of work that goesinto creating podcast episodes
(01:20):
that are almost an hour longevery single week is pretty
inspiring.
So we're so grateful that youguys continue to listen.
Our show has been growing onApple, Spotify, YouTube, and of
course Instagram and othersocial channels.
But I want to get right into it.
We have the wonderful Katie withMay's Place and Mays Night
Market.
We've been acquaintances andfriends for a while.
(01:41):
I've supported your store datingback to the grove.
And then obviously I've been toMays Night Market.
We've been partners of themarket.
And this year, super excited tobe there as a vendor now that
we're doing apparel.
So we're going to be at theevent.
We're going to be posting aboutthe event.
We're going to be selling stuffat the event.
So I just wanted to first startby thanking you for coming in
the studio today.
SPEAKER_04 (01:59):
Yeah.
Thank you so much for having me.
It feels like a very full circlemoment.
SPEAKER_03 (02:02):
I know.
We were just talking, both ofus, about how we had challenges
with the kids.
You stayed up all night.
I have a kid that's, you know,at the urgence care.
So it's like, I wanted to firststart by how becoming a mother
has changed your business andwhat pivots that you've made
during that.
SPEAKER_04 (02:17):
Sure.
Um, I think it kind of changeseverything.
SPEAKER_03 (02:22):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (02:22):
Um, when I first opened the business in 2015,
when I opened May's Place, um, Ihad not yet had our first child.
So it was just like that was mylife.
I was all in.
I was pretty much the onerunning the shop.
I could kind of step away if Ineeded a day and have like a
friend or my mom kind of sit inand, you know, help out.
Um, but when I got pregnant in2017, that is when I kind of
(02:45):
started thinking about like, oh,I'm gonna need some help with
this.
Yeah.
Um, and started bringing on myteam, which kind of grew over
time.
Um, in those early days, we wereactually just um, you mentioned
the grove.
We initially started thebusiness on Ivanhoe in
Lindenwood Park where we live.
So I was just a few houses upfrom our shop.
So once I had my daughter, um,if I was in this store, my
(03:07):
mother or my mother-in-law wouldjust kind of like trade places
with me when it was time tonurse her.
Or um, so like presence wasalways front of mind.
Like, how can I be both be partof this thing that's really
exciting that I want to do, andalso be the most present mother
that I can be.
Um, so as um when we moved fromIvanhoe to the Grove, then
(03:27):
definitely brought in more of myteam um and took a little bit
more of a step back to kind oflet them run the operations
while I was a little bit more uhfamily-facing.
And then when we had our twinslast year, no, two years ago,
December of 24 when we had ourtwins.
Yeah.
Um that was like the big, thebig shift when we decided to um
(03:52):
obviously decided before, butclosed the store in February
after almost 10 years.
Um you know, in my mind, I waslike, I've had this business
with a child before, like I knowhow this goes, so naive.
Like it's not that I'm justhaving the business with the
child again, it's nowcompounding, and there's two of
them.
SPEAKER_03 (04:09):
One to three, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (04:10):
So it's it's wild.
Yeah, but it's um, you know, theit's everything I've ever wanted
to be a mother to my children.
So that comes first, and it'ssuch a short window for them to
be this small, you know, they'lleven my little ones will be
starting school in a cut just acouple years.
SPEAKER_03 (04:28):
So it's really important to me to be present
for this time for those moments,and you can always pursue other
things, um, you know, and stufflike that.
So in 2015, um, I guess myquestion with how did May's
place come to be, obviously thename, you know, is pretty, you
know, it's it's in line withobviously you and it means a lot
to you.
But like what was the moment,like what were you doing before
(04:50):
that that kind of drove you towant to actually open up a
physical location?
Because that's like a big stepfrom like selling things on
Instagram and Facebook, then tolike kind of turning around and
opening up a new location.
SPEAKER_04 (05:00):
For sure.
Yeah.
Um, so I I went to school forfashion when I graduated.
I got a job at what was BrownShoe Company, now Calaris.
So um all of my work experiencehas been retail fashion centric.
Um we had um sort of a wildsituation.
We had a friend pass suddenly inDecember of I'm sorry, in April
(05:21):
of 2014.
And that to me was just kind ofthis really like shocking moment
of that was the first timeanyone in my life had ever
passed that wasn't like very oldor very sick.
Um, and it was just this likereally eye-opening moment of you
never know what's gonna happen.
Yeah, so you might as well justlike take the risk and see.
Um, I'm very lucky that myhusband is extremely supportive
(05:42):
and he's like, you gotta jump tofly, like let's let's go, let's
try it out.
So I left my uh corporate job inDecember of 2014.
Um I started initially my labelwas called Black Sheep Vintage
and I had my first market inlike March, I think, of um 14,
(06:04):
March or April.
And then like really had nointention of opening a brick and
mortar store.
I kind of liked the idea ofbeing um not tied to a location,
and uh I had this vision of kindof like traveling and uh selling
from the road and stuff likethat.
Um and that spot that was just acouple uh couple doors down from
us opened one day and we were onour way to breakfast and we were
(06:25):
kind of peeking in there, likewe've always really liked that
building.
I wonder what it looks likeinside.
And uh the current occupierswere moving out, and the
building owner was there, helived upstairs and he was just
kind of like, Oh, you want tosee it?
I'll take you inside.
And he's like, What would you dowith the space?
Like, oh, you know, open like avintage antique shop.
He's like, Oh, that's cool.
You know, I I I know it's reallyhard getting started, so I'll
(06:46):
knock like a couple hundreddollars off the rent for you for
the first few months, and wejust kind of looked at each
other like that's intriguing.
So then we went to breakfast,and I think we had signed the
lease by like two o'clock in theafternoon.
SPEAKER_03 (06:58):
So it's just a very yeah, like talked about it at
breakfast and you just made thejump.
SPEAKER_04 (07:02):
Yeah, I'm like, why not?
Let's give it a shot.
SPEAKER_03 (07:04):
Yeah, I love stories like that.
Like, um obviously it's a hugerisk because you're signing a
lease, but it sounds like youknow, every like part of it,
like your husband's support, thelandlord, the first initial
landlord support, because noteverybody's like that, you know,
and and and stuff like that.
So did you always see yourselflike wanting to become an
entrepreneur, or was there likesomething that sparked that in
you?
(07:24):
Was it either the corporateworld wasn't fully fulfilling
you, or kind of walk me throughlike what made you decide to
make that jump?
Because in in terms you went toschool and you were working at
that place in St.
Louis that is known as you knowthe top place to work for what
you wanted to do.
SPEAKER_04 (07:37):
For sure.
Um I don't know that I alwayswanted to be an entrepreneur
entrepreneur necessarily.
Um, like front of mine, I'mgonna pursue a business.
I always knew I wanted to workin fashion.
Yeah.
And then once you get in thatspace, um, I definitely felt
like it was not a good fit, likethe corporate environment, the
corporate ethos.
Um, as I'm sure you know at thispoint, May's place has always
(08:00):
been extremely rooted insustainability and um like very
eco-conscious.
So working in retail, you know,you can see how wasteful the
whole industry is, and thengoing to school for it, you you
know that it goes as far back aslike the pesticides that go on
the cotton that grows and thepetrochemicals that make the
polyester, and um so thatknowledge mixed with like my
(08:26):
love of vintage and sourcing,and um it really kind of came
about from wanting to just likelet people know that there's
another option.
I just felt like if people knewthis, like they would not have
the habits that they do.
They would they would maybe shopa little bit differently or
think twice before they buy thisthing, like, oh I'm going out
(08:46):
tonight, I need a new top.
Like, you know, yeah.
Um, so that's kind of reallywhere it started.
I'm um I'm sort of likeruthlessly stubborn in the fact
that like, no, these are myvalues, this is what I want, and
just kind of figure out a way tomake it work, I think.
SPEAKER_03 (09:02):
Yeah, and and being like ruthlessly about that can
also sometimes likebusiness-wise, it's not always
the most valuable decision, butit the people that shop with you
understand that, and that's whatset you apart in that market
because you're like, well, Icould do this, this, and this
and make more margin, but you'relike, no, like this is my value.
SPEAKER_04 (09:19):
For sure.
I mean, to order a productwholesale and take one photo and
sell a hundred of them, yeah.
Way back so much easier, butthat is just not what I'm trying
to do.
SPEAKER_03 (09:31):
For over 150 years, SSM Health has been providing
hope, healing, and opportunitiesto the St.
Louis community.
With over 40,000 employeesacross four states, they're not
only delivering exceptionalcare, they're one of the
region's largest employers,shaping the future of
healthcare.
We're proud to present SSMHealth as the official
healthcare partner of the STLbucket list show.
If you've dreamed of a careerwhere you're truly making a
(09:52):
difference every day, SSM Healthcan help you take that to the
next step.
Learn more at their website inthe link in the show notes.
So walk me through that firstyear in business.
Like, were you know, originallyyou were a black sheep?
When did you decide thatrebrand?
Like, walk me through the upsand downs of that first year.
SPEAKER_04 (10:08):
Yeah.
So um black sheep was kind oflike my um my idea of like sort
of personification personifyingmyself into the brand.
Um, I saw this uh quote one timethat was by Truman Capote that
said, I may be a black sheep,but my hooves are made of gold.
So like I may be different.
Um, you know, I may not go withthe grain, but like I'm standing
(10:32):
on something special.
Um, so that's kind of where thatcame from for me.
And this maze place endeavor wasreally like Andy and I coming
together to build something.
Um, ultimately, it was like acreative expression of both of
us.
So we wanted to really representthat kind of like mom and pop
feel.
Um, our initial vibe that wewere kind of going for was like
(10:52):
an old general store.
Um, the name actually came fromhis great-great-grandfather, I
believe.
I always forget if it's great orgreat-great, but you know.
Um in the family, there was ageneral store and a tavern in
California called Mays Place.
So um they were restoring hisgrandfather's truck.
Um, he one of the boards hadrotted out of the bed.
(11:12):
He had flipped the sign over torepair the spot.
And when his grandpa was workingon the truck, he flipped over
the sign and found it.
So they gave us the originalsign from the tavern.
So um that was kind of the storywe were trying to tell.
Very family focused, uh rootedin history.
SPEAKER_03 (11:31):
That's really cool.
Like just to be able to likepull from inspiration like that.
Like, obviously, like the namemeans a lot to the family, but
then it's also like, how do weturn this into something
completely different than whatthat that general store was, but
still that same level of servicethat you would find at a local
market or general store.
So May's Place was always, youknow, I don't know if net
(11:51):
necessarily you were ahead ofyour time because I had first
moved to South City probably in20, what was that, 2019 is when
I moved to South City.
But you were one of the firststores that, like, when my wife
was going to shop like at thosetypes of stores, but like now
you're seeing so many of themaround the city.
What does that mean?
Like, do you feel like youplayed any part in that?
Or are a lot of those people,some of I wouldn't say you're a
(12:12):
mentor to them, but like areyour peers and like seeing so
many people have success indifferent ways throughout the
city.
SPEAKER_04 (12:17):
Yeah, it's incredible.
It makes me so happy.
Uh, I have heard that.
Like, I feel like I don'tnecessarily see myself that way,
but I've gotten a lot offeedback and that's amazing.
Um, my goal, I've always triedto maintain like a community
over competition mindset.
I think that my goal, again,like with the sustainability
education piece, like the morepeople shop vintage, the better,
you know, the more we can kindof keep people from going to the
(12:40):
mall and going to shop vintage.
Amazing.
Um, so I love to see it growlocally.
I think that the Midwest has areally strong um draw for people
who are interested in invintage.
If you um are looking for thesame thing on the coasts or in
Nashville or in Austin, it'sgonna cost you probably two,
three times as much.
So a lot of those peopleactually come here to source
(13:02):
their product and then take itback to those bigger markets.
Um, so I think that we have areally strong opportunity to be
like a vintage destination, andI'm really happy to see that
growth happening.
SPEAKER_03 (13:12):
Yeah, when we met like three or four years ago,
like we were sitting in thefoundry eating lunch, and you
were like, you know, you go tothese events in New York City,
like what's the big event upthere that you're gonna do.
SPEAKER_04 (13:19):
Manhattan Vintage is the one that I'm gonna.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (13:21):
So like you go up there and you like you see this,
and then you bring that energyback to St.
Louis.
And like when you mention likethe Midwest as a destination, is
like you look at what CherokeeStreet's doing, you look at what
some of these, like I sawvintage pop up at the family
arena in St.
Charles.
Like people are doing stuff likeall over the area, and like I'm
getting tagged, and people aresharing events to us all the
(13:41):
time.
I'm sure.
Um, there was just like a coffeeparty at 10 a.m.
where drops out of vintage wasthere, and like it's different.
And then you have like the guysat reset down the street that
are doing more men's, and it'slike all these different things
that are happening.
I guess the sustainability thingis something that I want our
audience to learn more about.
So, like, obviously, you see thefast fashions of the world.
Like, what is like some of thatdata?
(14:02):
What is some of that, like, whatare like the consumers of
America, like what what is likesome of that stuff?
What made you like, oh my gosh,like this is like an actual big
problem that nobody's talkingabout?
SPEAKER_04 (14:11):
Yeah, it's actually the fashion, the fashion
industry as a whole is reallythe second largest polluter to
our world after the oilindustry.
So um, I think it really comesback to from like seed to the
final product.
You think about um all thechemicals that are being sprayed
on this cotton and um even thefact that just due to people
(14:31):
trying to get things cheaper andcheaper, a lot more things are
made from synthetic materials,which like you know, like your
polyesters and things like that,which are uh derivative of oil
and petrochemicals.
Um, when you're dying a garment,all of that water is I think of
I can't remember the exactfigure now, but like to dye a
pair of jeans uses like hundredsof gallons of water, and then
(14:55):
the dyes from that then go outinto local waterways.
SPEAKER_01 (14:58):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (14:59):
Um and then, you know, maybe the cotton is grown
in India and then it's shippedto Bangladesh, where it's made
into cotton fabric, and then thefabric is shipped to China, and
then the garments made in China,and then that's shipped across
to California, and then it's youknow, trucked or train to
somewhere else.
Like it's just so much.
(15:21):
And um, another statistic thatI'm probably botching that I see
a lot is something like there'slike enough clothing currently
on the earth if we stopproducing garments to clothe the
next six generations.
Wow.
SPEAKER_03 (15:34):
So it's just there's so many things that like
counting everything that's inretail, but then also everything
that's in people's closets.
Yeah, exactly.
All that stuff.
Wow.
That uh I could see that becauselike we just cleaned out our
closet the other day, and I'mlike, why do we keep doing this
every six months and we stillhave too much stuff?
Yeah, you know, it doesn't makeany sense.
And it's like, this is my dad'sshirt that I'm wearing today,
and it's way higher quality thanlike this is from the 70s, and
(15:56):
I'm like, this is just great,this shirt, you know, and it's
like there, like, when is enoughenough?
SPEAKER_04 (16:01):
Yeah, and that's kind of becoming part of the
problem too, because things weremade with such a quality at one
time where it would last for along time, you wouldn't need to
keep buying new clothes, and um,you know, people who thrift or
are active in that way at allare absolutely seeing a shift
where once upon a time you sawolder clothes, more uh quality
clothes at the thrift, and nowit's just full of like, you
(16:25):
know, really poorly made churnand burn clothes that are just
made to theoretically be wornlike a few times and then passed
on.
SPEAKER_02 (16:32):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (16:33):
And those sort of things.
So I think a lot of people havethis like, oh, I'll just donate
it and it'll go to a good cause.
There's so much in that streamnow that actually a lot of our
garments are shipped to likethird world countries.
SPEAKER_02 (16:46):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (16:46):
Um, and then you can actually see there's like a
mound of clothing so large thatyou can see it from space in the
Atacama Desert.
SPEAKER_03 (16:54):
Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_04 (16:55):
It's just it's wild.
SPEAKER_03 (16:56):
You can go down like a rabbit hole with the stuff.
So how do you live that out inyour own life?
So, like, have you committedlike, I mean, 100% that you
don't buy anything new?
Or is it just no, notnecessarily.
SPEAKER_04 (17:09):
Um, I'm someone who uh I'm like a quality over
quantity person.
If I do buy something new, it'sum something that I will
absolutely wear for years andyears and years.
SPEAKER_01 (17:17):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (17:18):
Um, I'm absolutely an outfit repeater.
I don't understand this wholelike, oh, I've worn that before,
I can't wear that again.
Like, yeah, you wore it beforebecause you like it.
So what does it matter?
SPEAKER_03 (17:27):
Nobody actually notices besides you.
No, exactly.
SPEAKER_04 (17:29):
That's be you know, it's um I feel like when people
have a really strong sense oftheir own style, um, then you
can kind of like find what youlike or like a um almost like an
outfit algorithm and then kindof like lean into that.
I do have um, I feel like I havelike my vintage collection,
(17:49):
which is like sort of oneaesthetic and one vibe, and then
the things that I sort of likeactually wear every day as a
person who is with children andlike you know, digging through
bins of clothes, and um theykind of skew a little bit
differently, but my personalwardrobe is very like minimal,
neutral, um, mix and match.
SPEAKER_03 (18:10):
Yeah, and then trying to do that with the
kiddos too, because obviouslythey're getting dirty, they're
getting into new clothes all thetime and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_04 (18:15):
So I pretty exclusively for the most part
shop secondhand.
I don't exclusively wearvintage, but always like thrift
stores, eBay, other vintagedealers.
SPEAKER_03 (18:24):
The STL bucket list show is proudly sponsored by
Suede Dispensary with 11Missouri area locations.
Suede does so much for the St.
Louis community.
We've been working with thisteam for a couple years back
since Medical was here, andwe're excited to support their
new product launches, events,and community initiatives.
We couldn't be happier to workwith this premier cannabis
brand, and we're excited forthem to sponsor the show.
(18:46):
Enjoy the rest of the podcast.
Okay, sweet.
Yeah, I was uh I just wascurious because like it is so
accessible now, like youmentioned with online and eBay
and stuff.
Like at one point when you werefirst like getting into it, it
might have been harder to findthose things that you were
looking for and and stuff likethat.
So let's talk about your yourstore because you've created
this following and this likepeople from all over the country
(19:07):
were driving in to come see youguys at one point.
Like tell me some of thosestories of like impact that you
had at the store and like justbecause you were there working
the front for a lot of it.
SPEAKER_04 (19:16):
Yeah, yeah, we've had some fun stories.
Um, so initially on Ivanhoe,Daryl Hannah came in.
She is um married to Neil Young.
So when he was in town, she camein and shopped.
And um that I was kind of like,you know, when you see
celebrities and it's kind of outof context and like she didn't
have any makeup on, and I waskind of like looking at her and
I was like, man, she looksreally familiar.
(19:36):
And then she was on the phoneand I heard her voice, and I was
like, oh, that's for sure DarylHannah.
That's wild.
Um, Charlie Crockett used tocome through a lot when they
were touring in town.
I feel like he's like a big guynow.
So I don't know if he's like outshopping, but uh Tyler the
Creator came in when we were umin the grove.
unknown (19:55):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (19:55):
That's a lot of really cool like and they just
found it like when they come anddo a show, like maybe Tyler was
at the pageant or something, andthen it's like, oh, like there's
a shop that has really uniquestuff, and then they come by
because you guys did like a lotof like like Charlie Crockett
would be like some westernpieces and stuff like that.
I don't know what Tyler bought.
Did he buy anything special?
SPEAKER_04 (20:12):
Um, he had a woman with him and she bought some
stuff.
SPEAKER_03 (20:14):
Okay, cool.
That's awesome.
Um, so that's really cool to beable to have that impact.
And then, like, just on a localscale, like finding those
people, those repeat customers,like being able to serve people
and like them be able to DM youand be like, hey, like I'm
looking for this for a weddingor this, and like you were able
to kind of source and findstuff.
SPEAKER_04 (20:32):
For sure.
We have um sold peopleengagement rings before.
We've sold wedding dresses.
I've helped a lot of localmusicians with music videos.
Um, we've done fashion showswith mother.
Yep.
Um, it's so fun.
I feel like a lot of our repeatcustomers and a lot of our
really good um longtime clientsare like more creative people
who have um maybe like a stagelook that they're looking for,
(20:54):
or um something like they're inneed of something extremely
unique and somethingeye-catching.
Um, so they would come to us.
SPEAKER_03 (21:02):
That's awesome.
And then I've noticed likethrough your guys' photography,
like you kind of creative directa lot of that stuff that you do,
and you're still doing a lot ofit.
Um, what are like what what goesinto that?
Like how hands-on are you oneverything that goes out on
Instagram and social media andeverything like that?
SPEAKER_04 (21:16):
Yeah.
So once upon a time, um, beforewe closed the shop, I had a team
of, I think there was six of us.
Um, and at that point, I had umElise who worked with me, one of
my managers, was doing a lot ofthe photography.
Um, and she's extremely,extremely talented.
Now it is just me.
So anything you see is for themost part just me.
(21:37):
Um, I have a studio that I workout of downtown where I kind of
process my collection and getthings ready to take to the
green shag, which is now where Ioperate.
Um so yeah, I feel like I lovephotography.
It's just like one of thosethings that it's like you roll
all your passions into one, andthat's that's how things come
about.
But I just really enjoy it.
(21:57):
I feel like part of my favoritepart of selling things.
Things is making them lookreally beautiful.
Um, so again, I've brought insome other models to um do some
shoots before.
Um like a million years ago whenI was in college, I did a uh
styling internship and so justlike pulling from all the little
strings of experience I've hadover the years.
SPEAKER_03 (22:20):
So that kind of leads me into like what a lot of
people know you from.
Like a lot of people might knowyou from Maze Night Market now
and not Maze Play.
Like that's what's like thiscrazy shift of like now you're
this event promoter, this youknow, connector.
And tell me about the first MazeNight Market, kind of like what
your vision was from that.
Were you pulling inspirationfrom stuff you've seen around
the country, or kind of walk methrough like what you were
(22:41):
thinking through that?
Because I think the one that Iwent to where I met you at was
in that abandoned area in thefoundry, which is now probably
the gym, the true fusion in theMo Modern over there.
Yep.
That was probably the coolestone because of how it looked
inside the building.
That was sick.
Yeah, that was very lucky.
It was a good night.
SPEAKER_04 (22:57):
Um, so May's night market came about actually.
Um, so a little bit about theevolution of the store.
We started on Ivanhoe, thatbuilding sold.
We ended up moving to the grove,so we were right across the
street from uh the ready room.
So at that time, they werelooking for um some events to
fill the calendar.
And uh they approached us.
(23:18):
We had some you know friends whoare the management there and
they said, What do you thinkabout putting on a market?
I was like, I have no idea howto do that, but sure, like I
know a lot of very creativepeople.
I'm sure we can make it reallyfun.
And um, that space, I think wetypically had between like 15 to
18 vendors.
We probably had about 15 at thatfirst one.
I think it was maybe one ofGolden Gems' first markets that
(23:40):
they ever did.
Oh, cool.
Um and it was great, it was sowell received, everyone loved
it, I had a great time.
Um, I've always just kind ofthought of it as like a shopping
party.
Um, you know, in other citiesI've been to markets before and
really liked the vibe and waslike, how can I make this a
little bit different?
Um and it's just kind of like,do you want to keep doing it?
(24:00):
Sure.
Um, we had them at the readyroom until our last one was
December of 2019.
Obviously, there were no eventsin 2020.
Um, but the ready room closed in2020.
So we were like, if we're gonnakeep keep this up, we gotta
figure out something else.
The foundry had been um sort oflike uh what's the word I'm
trying to think of?
(24:21):
They were kind of like uh tryingto entice May's place to come
and join the foundry.
Of course.
Um so they were like, we havethis very large outdoor space if
you would like to host the eventhere.
Um I it actually wasn't evenopen yet the first time we had
the event there.
It was like um spring of 21.
It was it was like kind of aperfect storm of um timing where
(24:43):
it was like one of the firstevents after people were able to
be outside and unmasked afterthat regulation was dropped.
And uh the largest event we hadat the ready room was about 800
people, and our first at CityFoundry was about 7,000 people.
SPEAKER_03 (24:56):
Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_04 (24:57):
So we were like, okay, it's an outdoor market
now.
SPEAKER_03 (24:59):
Yeah, and then that winter you probably did the one
inside.
SPEAKER_04 (25:03):
Correct.
So we always did um March, June,September, and December.
So with the foundry not beingopen yet, they had a lot of like
large indoor spaces where we canmove it to in those March and
December shows, whichunfortunately are now occupied.
So now we're down to two a yearfrom now.
SPEAKER_03 (25:18):
Yeah, it's like a big social event too, like just
people getting getting out andand uh so that first one when
you had 7,000 people, like Imean, what was your like you
probably like were like, oh mygosh, I am not prepared for like
the team and like you're likebecause you just didn't know
you're like, Oh, I'll probablyhave like a couple thousand
people here, maybe, you know.
SPEAKER_04 (25:33):
I can't remember specifically.
I want to say Taco Circus wasour food vendor for that one,
and they literally sold out inlike an hour, and they were
like, Well, yeah, thanks forhaving us.
SPEAKER_03 (25:42):
Thank you so much, but you're like, man, I need
more food for my yeah,absolutely.
SPEAKER_04 (25:46):
Um, I remember so uh we were still at the Grove at
the time.
I spent all day um like gettingthe sorry, getting the place
ready.
Um, and I was like, you know,I'm gonna go back to the store
real quick, which is just rightdown the street.
I'm gonna change and I'm gonnacome back because my team,
everyone was set up, they hadit, they were rolling.
Um, and I come back and I juststarted crying.
(26:08):
I was like, what is going on?
There's so many people here, andit's just kind of been like that
ever since.
SPEAKER_03 (26:14):
So last summer, I mean, uh how do you get the
data?
I mean, does the foundry helpyou kind of collect data from
like how many people come?
Because I feel like what was thenumbers last year?
I mean, it was uh the whole citywas like almost shut down
because like they had to shutthe streets down and stuff.
SPEAKER_04 (26:27):
Yeah, last June was our biggest event we've ever
had.
It was over 10,000 people.
Oh my gosh.
Which was also crazy because asan outdoor event, you know,
weather is like a huge factor.
SPEAKER_03 (26:35):
For sure.
SPEAKER_04 (26:36):
And it absolutely dumped on us for the first hour,
and it still turned out to beour biggest event.
unknown (26:42):
Wow.
SPEAKER_03 (26:42):
And so this year, obviously, probably something
similar.
SPEAKER_04 (26:45):
I'm assuming so, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (26:46):
Um and then you don't have a date yet for later
this year.
SPEAKER_04 (26:49):
Uh September 25th, I believe, is our follow-up.
That's my birthday.
That's awesome.
Yeah, amazing.
SPEAKER_03 (26:53):
And that will be at the foundry as well.
Yes.
Okay.
And that will be outside justlike fall.
So you just do like early springor like spring, fall now,
instead of um obviously summerwhen it's hot and winter.
Um so how do you manage that nowthat you're a one-person team?
Like, I mean, obviously you haveincredible partners, Forehand,
Suede, the City Foundry, and allthat.
(27:15):
But like, what goes into like,because at the end of the day,
you're dealing with 40 or so,however many vendors you have.
And I'm doing the same thing atFood Truck Friday next week,
where like I'm personallytalking to every single small
business owner, and like everysingle one of it matters because
that's a big night for them, butit's also a big night for you.
So it's like, how do you manageall of that client
communication?
(27:35):
How do you manage likecoordination with the venue,
like all that while still, youknow, with your three kids and
still doing all your otherthings that you do?
SPEAKER_04 (27:43):
Um, I will say at this point, this is our ninth
season, so it is pretty plug andplay.
I feel like I have like mysystem down.
Um, all of the applications gointo a spreadsheet.
I'm a hundred percent aspreadsheet girly.
Like they keep my brain dialorganized.
Yeah.
Um, so my spreadsheet is life.
Um, I am I'm very much anover-communicator ahead of time
(28:06):
to make sure everyone has whatthey need.
Um, that they, if there's anyquestions I can answer, I do um
kind of help everyone once theyarrive, get them in their space.
Um, I am selling at the event aswell.
So I tend to set my space upahead of time, kind of get
everyone settled.
Um, usually have someone helpingme sell so that I don't have to
actually physically be in mybooth.
(28:27):
Um, and then all night I'm justkind of like making the rounds,
making sure everyone's got whatthey need.
SPEAKER_03 (28:31):
The STL Bucketlist show is fueled by Upshot Coffee.
My friends at Upshot Coffee havesome of the best beans in town.
I got some of their newpackaging here.
Look at this bag.
Look how big this is.
Um, they have four St.
Louis locations, their flagshipin Coddleville, the break shop
over by Lindenwood in St.
Charles, their Clayton locationcalled Hi-Fi, um, and then Flyby
(28:53):
over in Tower Grove, theirnewest location.
Um, and they also sell theircoffee online everywhere.
If you guys haven't added UpshotCoffee to your STL bucket list,
it's time to try it.
Some of the my favorite peoplein the industry and some of the
best coffee in the game.
Yeah, that's really cool.
And uh what I really loved waslike your application process of
like, for one, you haveassistance for people to be
(29:14):
there at the event.
Like, obviously, sustainabilitywas one of those questions on
your application.
What a what does that processlook like as far as like getting
and making sure that you'recurating the event the way that
you actually envision it to be?
SPEAKER_04 (29:25):
Yeah, that's probably the most difficult
part, honestly.
SPEAKER_03 (29:27):
It's not just accepting any vendor that wants
to.
SPEAKER_04 (29:30):
Um, and I think you know, May's place has always
been extremely rooted in ourvalues, and I think the market
is exactly the same.
Um, it is first and foremost afashion event.
So um over half of our vendorsare going to be vintage or
handmade or upcycled or um, youknow, local brands.
Um, and then the rest kind ofget filled in between um what I
(29:51):
call like these likesupplemental categories of other
things that people would findinteresting, whether it's
candles or art or ceramics, umjewelry.
So um looking through theapplication, uh like I probably
necessarily wouldn't bring in aboutique that's selling garments
made in China.
Like that's totally great.
(30:12):
This is probably just not theevent for you because we are so
rooted in right, vintage,sustainability, that kind of
thing.
Um so it is really hard.
You know, I had over 200applications this time and I try
to do my due diligence to lookthrough every single one and
find those very values-alignedum uh brands that I think are
(30:35):
gonna align with our customertoo.
SPEAKER_03 (30:36):
And you have to you owe it to the customer base, and
then you also owe it to theother vendors is like when the
customer comes there, like thisis what they're expecting.
So it's like I have to give themwhat they're expecting and and
stuff like that.
So, and then it's a big nightfor you because you have this
huge setup and all this funstuff that you do.
So it's it's cool that you getto kind of have the market and
then also, you know, be able toshowcase a lot of your pieces.
(30:57):
I'm sure you're like alreadylike envisioning what your set's
gonna look like this year.
And I have my racks going and uhand stuff like that.
And and then how important arethe sponsorships?
Because as I know from someonewho's done events, I mean, those
are the reason that we're ableto do those events, you know.
And you've had loyal partners inForehands and Suede and have
been a partners for you guysalmost as long as I can
remember.
SPEAKER_04 (31:15):
Yeah, they're amazing, amazing partners.
Um, it is such a blessing tohave people who like see the
vision and really not only justwant to be a part of it, but are
excited to support it andexcited to get behind you.
SPEAKER_03 (31:28):
Right.
SPEAKER_04 (31:28):
Um, and as you said, they every year they're like,
all right, let's go.
What are the dates?
SPEAKER_03 (31:32):
Yep, yeah.
And it's it's great when you'vedone it before because now it's
like is it wasn't always likethat when you first start doing
things.
SPEAKER_04 (31:38):
Well, it as I'm sure you know, it's like every new
piece of what you're doing inyour business is like, I don't
know how to do a market.
I guess I'll figure it out.
I don't know how to acquiresponsors, I guess I'll figure it
out.
You know, it's like every dayyou're learning something new.
So that was definitely anintimidating hurdle for me to
like go out and ask for money.
SPEAKER_03 (31:57):
But um But they'd gladly give it, and it's like
the the the other side of thecoin is like the value that
you're giving them for that islike extreme value.
So it's like those because Iremember it.
I'm like, oh, those brands areinvolved with that.
So it's like, and I'm sure yourguests do too, but like it is so
hard because you're like, myfirst sponsorship I sold was
like a$50 sponsorship, and nowit's like those look completely
(32:18):
different because I know now youknow the value and you know what
you can deliver, and you haveyou have a track record of doing
that.
Um, so what advice um would yougive to other entrepreneurs?
Because there's a lot of peoplethat listen to our show.
Um, specifically, you know,maybe we can lean it more
towards moms too.
Cause I know that you work witha lot of uh women entrepreneurs
as well.
But like, is there any advice oflike somebody that can, you
(32:39):
know, run a business, be apresent mom?
Like, is there any tips andtricks that you've learned
throughout the process?
SPEAKER_04 (32:44):
Um, I I could not do what I do without our village.
I lean hard into my village.
Um, my parents are veryinvolved.
Andy's parents are veryinvolved.
SPEAKER_02 (32:54):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (32:54):
Um, I feel comfortable.
There's like a handful of peoplethat I feel comfortable being
like, I really have a tough weekthis week.
Is there any way that you couldlike come over and play with the
kids while I'm in the other roomof the computer for a little
while?
Um, so finding your village andleaning into them is everything
if you're trying to do that.
Um I would also say like it'skind of impossible to do it all,
(33:17):
you know.
Like I've I definitely find thatlike when I'm coming into a week
or a month of work that's likereally demanding, I I lean on
people a lot more than and Imaybe am not as present as I am
when it's you know summertimefor me is like I kind of slow
down a little bit and am luckyto be able to like take that
(33:38):
liberty.
Um but absolutely use yourpeople.
SPEAKER_03 (33:43):
Yeah, for sure.
And and we do that the samething, but like sometimes you're
like, man, like it's like thatconstant poll because they're
helping, but they want to help,but it's like do you want to
like have that fine line ofbeing like, you know, only use
it when you really need it, notjust take advantage of it
because you're like, oh, like Iknow my mom will come over
anytime I call her.
Yeah.
But I'm also like, I need her tocome over just on these certain
days.
And yeah, um, but yeah, that'sthe hardest thing is like, well,
(34:04):
the the one thing is like isbusinesses like what we do is
like I can do this at home.
And that's the actually the mostannoying part about it because
when I am at home, like mycomputer's at my desk is right
there, and I know I have stuff Ineed to do.
So then I'm doing bathtime lastnight, but like I hear like
ding, ding, ding, and I'm like,she's like, just be pro like
wait one hour, wait one hour,they're gonna go to sleep.
And I'm like, you're right.
(34:24):
Like, I'm like, but we feel likeeverything has to be urgent
because we get it.
It's not like you know, 10 yearsago in the corporate world, like
you just wait till Mondaymorning and you check your
email.
It's like you don't have tocheck your email every second,
you know.
And that's the problem with meis like I'm so aggressive with
responding fast.
And like, because I'm abusiness, I'm like, I need to,
you know, that's what I wantwhen I talk to customers.
So it's like I expect that samething.
(34:45):
And it's like, you know, we haveto start setting those
boundaries with ourselves.
And and uh, you know, that thething I I hate the most, me with
me personally, and I wouldn'tuse the word hate, but like
where I get disappointed inmyself is like when I hear my
daughters talking and they'relike, dad, dad, and I'm just
like one sec, one sec, one sec.
And then you like set up andyou're like, I was like DMing
somebody about something stupid,you know.
(35:06):
But I just think that it's soimportant.
So that's like something that Ichallenge, like I battle with
daily.
And my wife's a teacher, so likeshe has summers off.
So like her last day is onFriday, and it like just opens
up the whole summer.
So like I know that they'regonna be having fun and like I
can lock in and work and and youknow, it's just we take turns on
locking in.
SPEAKER_04 (35:23):
Totally.
Communication is huge.
As you mentioned, Andy also hashis own business that he's
operating.
And as far as like customerservice, people reach out
wanting a tattoo.
He wants to get back to themimmediately and book that
appointment.
So totally same thing.
I think being able to be like,no, I I really need like 10 more
minutes of time to finish thesecommunications, and then I'm
(35:44):
like back to it is has beenreally helpful.
SPEAKER_03 (35:46):
So it is the STL bucket list show.
We've talked all about one ofthe bucket list events on my
calendar, which is Mays NightMarket on June 19th at City
Foundry, maze nightmarket.com.
You guys can get all theinformation.
But what are some of those otherbucket list places that maybe
you and your family love aboutSt.
Louis?
So we can talk about food spots,we can talk about other stores
that you guys like to shop at,really anything that you love
(36:08):
about St.
Louis.
SPEAKER_04 (36:09):
I have been thinking about this question for so long.
I listened to the podcast, so Iknow it's coming.
Um, and I'm one of those peoplethat like when you ask a
question, it's like, well, itdepends.
Like, um, so I I've beenthinking about my birthday.
Uh, I feel like I have sort of aroutine for my birthday.
We go to breakfast at SouthwestDiner.
Um, they serve Goshen coffee, soI probably am not going anywhere
(36:32):
else for coffee.
Love their coffee.
Um, our routine, we love thebotanical garden.
I'm there all the time.
So we'll walk around thebotanical garden for the day.
Um, usually we get lunch atUnion Loafers.
I um pride myself as being kindof a turkey sandwich
connoisseur, and there's just myfavorite.
So definitely lunch there.
Um, the cookie cannot be missed.
(36:53):
It's the best chocolate chipcookie in the whole world.
Um, and then dinner at Rights.
SPEAKER_03 (36:59):
Wow.
SPEAKER_04 (36:59):
Can't go wrong.
SPEAKER_03 (37:00):
It's a really good day.
So the whole front of the day iswith the kids, and then it's the
babysitter, and then it's nice.
SPEAKER_04 (37:04):
Exactly.
SPEAKER_03 (37:04):
Yeah, so exactly.
I love the full day itinerary,and it's like you stayed
literally, besides dinner, youstayed like within like a
two-minute block of like ofthat.
And uh Southwest, I mean we'rein Maplewoods, so Southwest is
right down the street from here.
But um, yeah, their chocolatechip cookie is really good
there.
A little flaky sea salt on top,too.
Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_04 (37:21):
I think on their menu they call it like a quarter
pound of decadence or something.
It's like the best chocolatechip cookie.
SPEAKER_03 (37:27):
And rights is really good, it's just so hard to get
in there.
And that's the thing.
SPEAKER_04 (37:30):
One of the very um lucky things about Andy's
profession is that he's in witha lot of the food and beverage
folks.
He tattoos a lot of people inthat industry.
So whether it's like a bartenderor uh, servers we know are like,
hey, Katie's birthday's comingup.
They're like, I got you.
SPEAKER_03 (37:47):
Yeah, that's kind of what we do too with us our
stuff.
Because like if we like messageon STL buggers, like, of course,
but like you always are like,when do I want to pull it?
Because I don't want to like Ialways pull it on the birthdays.
It's like, hey, like it's mywife's birthday.
I forgot to make a reservation.
Like, I always forget.
And it's like, you know, it'stwo weeks before, and you're
like looking everywhere andyou're like, dang, why is this
the busiest night ever?
You can't find anything.
So um, what about your kids?
(38:07):
So is that with your kids too?
Like they love union loafers,they love Oh no, no.
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (38:11):
Uh very picky eaters.
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (38:13):
Yeah.
I mean, they're so little stillthat it's like hard for them,
but like I didn't know ifthey're so besides the botanical
gardens, like what are some ofthose like really fun things
that you do with your kids?
SPEAKER_04 (38:21):
Um, we spend a lot of time at the zoo.
My I have an older daughter thatis eight, and she absolutely
loves the zoo.
Um, we recently have beenspending a ton of time at the
nature playscape.
Do you ever go there?
It's so beautiful right now withthe spring, everything blooming.
Um, she just recently went tothe city museum for the first
time and is absolutely obsessed.
SPEAKER_03 (38:40):
I'm scared to go there because I just don't want
her running.
I'm like, I don't know if I canget in and get around in there
anymore.
SPEAKER_04 (38:45):
It is.
I can't imagine what their likeinsurance premiums are or
something like that.
You just look everywhere andyou're like, risk, risk, risk,
you know.
SPEAKER_02 (38:53):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (38:54):
Um, but no, she loves it.
She thinks it's amazing.
Um, her and Andy have thisreally sweet little like
father-daughter ritual of goingto Courtesy Diner, maybe like
once or twice a month.
SPEAKER_03 (39:04):
That's really cool.
Oh, yeah, there's lots of littlespots that are very nostalgic
for us.
Yeah, the little solo dates arefun.
But yeah, this summer, so likethis last Christmas, all of our
gifts were justexperience-based.
So, like, we got the Magic Housemembership, we got the zoo
membership, we got thismembership, and then like
literally my wife, Marissa, justlike we have a family calendar,
and like I'm looking at it, it'slike every day of the week
(39:26):
they're doing one thing.
So it's like Little Diggers isthis sand place, and then it's
like this place, and then it'sthis.
And I'm like, So every day it'sjust like a two-hour activity,
but then it's like your wholesummer is just planned.
And then I was looking at thecalendar, I'm like, I don't see
any date nights planned for us.
So I'm like, I have to fill insome other nights in there too.
SPEAKER_04 (39:41):
That's so amazing that you are cognizant of that
though, because I remember Ithink it was maybe the episode
with Dave and Stephanie you weretalking about the way you
prioritize date night.
SPEAKER_01 (39:49):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (39:49):
And like, especially with a family of two
entrepreneurs and leaning on ourfamily so much.
Um, I feel like that is one ofthe things that we do because
we're calling on them so muchfor work stuff, it's like we
very rarely are like, and wealso need you Friday night so we
can go to dinner.
So that's amazing that you'revery intentional with that.
SPEAKER_03 (40:09):
It's hard to ask, but we got a lot of like
teenagers in our neighborhood.
So that's when we pay for thiseither.
When it's pleasure, we're like,okay, we can pay for some for
some child care for this.
But no, Katie, I appreciate youfor coming on and and uh we're
looking forward to supportingthe event this year um and being
a part of it, but then you know,also just supporting your
business and so and you'vealways supported what we've done
and and stuff like that.
So I thank you for coming on andcan't wait for the audience to
(40:30):
listen and and uh be at theevent.
Hopefully, we're gonna clear10,000 again.
SPEAKER_04 (40:33):
So yeah, thank you so much for having me.
I've always really appreciatedBucketlist and the support for
small businesses in the area.
So thanks for all you do.
SPEAKER_03 (40:40):
Cool.
See you guys next week.
SPEAKER_04 (40:42):
Bye.
SPEAKER_03 (40:43):
St.
Louis, thanks for listening.
Everything we do here is abouttelling the story of this city,
and that doesn't stop with thisshow.
On the Bucketlist PodcastNetwork, we're diving even
deeper into the people, places,and moments that make this city
what it is.
Meet Me in Music with NeilSalzick captures the sound of
the city, past and present,ending each episode with a live
performance.
For my foodie lovers, the saucewith Lauren Healy brings you
(41:04):
inside the restaurants thatdefine our culture every
Tuesday.
Gateway to Growth with JamalCornelius highlights the stories
behind the people that make St.
Louis work.
And every Thursday, Bryce breaksdown your weekend with This Week
in St.
Louis.
More stories, more voices.
Explore the full bucketlesspodcast network wherever you
listen.
It was like kind of a perfect storm of timing where
it was like one of the firstevents after people were able to
be outside and unmasked.
After that regulation wasdropped.
And the largest event we had atthe Ready Room was about 800
people.
And our first at City Foundrywas about 7,000 people.
SPEAKER_00 (00:21):
If you wanna hear about St.
Louis, tune into the BucketlessShow Weekly.
Hear what Marissa and Luke say.
It drops every Wednesday.
Got a dope new guest everysingle week.
Buckle up for the ride.
Who's it gonna be?
Who's on the show today?
They rap St.
Louis.
What to do in the loo on a latenight?
(00:43):
I maybe what to do on a datenight.
Yeah.
Bucket list as you cover, theyknow what's going on.
What's going on?
They'll give you eight.
18 different things to do on 19.
If you need one more to choose,yeah.
This city, city, city is a placewe call home.
A place we call home.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (00:59):
St.
Louis, welcome back to anotherepisode of the STL Bucketlist
Show, highlighting the people,places, and events that make St.
Louis special.
We have one of those people andevents in the studio that make
St.
Louis special.
I want to give a huge shout outto Julia for producing our
episode every single week herein Maplewood at our studio at
Bucketless Studios.
The amount of work that goesinto creating podcast episodes
(01:20):
that are almost an hour longevery single week is pretty
inspiring.
So we're so grateful that youguys continue to listen.
Our show has been growing onApple, Spotify, YouTube, and of
course Instagram and othersocial channels.
But I want to get right into it.
We have the wonderful Katie withMay's Place and Mays Night
Market.
We've been acquaintances andfriends for a while.
(01:41):
I've supported your store datingback to the grove.
And then obviously I've been toMays Night Market.
We've been partners of themarket.
And this year, super excited tobe there as a vendor now that
we're doing apparel.
So we're going to be at theevent.
We're going to be posting aboutthe event.
We're going to be selling stuffat the event.
So I just wanted to first startby thanking you for coming in
the studio today.
SPEAKER_04 (01:59):
Yeah.
Thank you so much for having me.
It feels like a very full circlemoment.
SPEAKER_03 (02:02):
I know.
We were just talking, both ofus, about how we had challenges
with the kids.
You stayed up all night.
I have a kid that's, you know,at the urgence care.
So it's like, I wanted to firststart by how becoming a mother
has changed your business andwhat pivots that you've made
during that.
SPEAKER_04 (02:17):
Sure.
Um, I think it kind of changeseverything.
SPEAKER_03 (02:22):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (02:22):
Um, when I first opened the business in 2015,
when I opened May's Place, um, Ihad not yet had our first child.
So it was just like that was mylife.
I was all in.
I was pretty much the onerunning the shop.
I could kind of step away if Ineeded a day and have like a
friend or my mom kind of sit inand, you know, help out.
Um, but when I got pregnant in2017, that is when I kind of
(02:45):
started thinking about like, oh,I'm gonna need some help with
this.
Yeah.
Um, and started bringing on myteam, which kind of grew over
time.
Um, in those early days, we wereactually just um, you mentioned
the grove.
We initially started thebusiness on Ivanhoe in
Lindenwood Park where we live.
So I was just a few houses upfrom our shop.
So once I had my daughter, um,if I was in this store, my
(03:07):
mother or my mother-in-law wouldjust kind of like trade places
with me when it was time tonurse her.
Or um, so like presence wasalways front of mind.
Like, how can I be both be partof this thing that's really
exciting that I want to do, andalso be the most present mother
that I can be.
Um, so as um when we moved fromIvanhoe to the Grove, then
(03:27):
definitely brought in more of myteam um and took a little bit
more of a step back to kind oflet them run the operations
while I was a little bit more uhfamily-facing.
And then when we had our twinslast year, no, two years ago,
December of 24 when we had ourtwins.
Yeah.
Um that was like the big, thebig shift when we decided to um
(03:52):
obviously decided before, butclosed the store in February
after almost 10 years.
Um you know, in my mind, I waslike, I've had this business
with a child before, like I knowhow this goes, so naive.
Like it's not that I'm justhaving the business with the
child again, it's nowcompounding, and there's two of
them.
SPEAKER_03 (04:09):
One to three, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (04:10):
So it's it's wild.
Yeah, but it's um, you know, theit's everything I've ever wanted
to be a mother to my children.
So that comes first, and it'ssuch a short window for them to
be this small, you know, they'lleven my little ones will be
starting school in a cut just acouple years.
SPEAKER_03 (04:28):
So it's really important to me to be present
for this time for those moments,and you can always pursue other
things, um, you know, and stufflike that.
So in 2015, um, I guess myquestion with how did May's
place come to be, obviously thename, you know, is pretty, you
know, it's it's in line withobviously you and it means a lot
to you.
But like what was the moment,like what were you doing before
(04:50):
that that kind of drove you towant to actually open up a
physical location?
Because that's like a big stepfrom like selling things on
Instagram and Facebook, then tolike kind of turning around and
opening up a new location.
SPEAKER_04 (05:00):
For sure.
Yeah.
Um, so I I went to school forfashion when I graduated.
I got a job at what was BrownShoe Company, now Calaris.
So um all of my work experiencehas been retail fashion centric.
Um we had um sort of a wildsituation.
We had a friend pass suddenly inDecember of I'm sorry, in April
(05:21):
of 2014.
And that to me was just kind ofthis really like shocking moment
of that was the first timeanyone in my life had ever
passed that wasn't like very oldor very sick.
Um, and it was just this likereally eye-opening moment of you
never know what's gonna happen.
Yeah, so you might as well justlike take the risk and see.
Um, I'm very lucky that myhusband is extremely supportive
(05:42):
and he's like, you gotta jump tofly, like let's let's go, let's
try it out.
So I left my uh corporate job inDecember of 2014.
Um I started initially my labelwas called Black Sheep Vintage
and I had my first market inlike March, I think, of um 14,
(06:04):
March or April.
And then like really had nointention of opening a brick and
mortar store.
I kind of liked the idea ofbeing um not tied to a location,
and uh I had this vision of kindof like traveling and uh selling
from the road and stuff likethat.
Um and that spot that was just acouple uh couple doors down from
us opened one day and we were onour way to breakfast and we were
(06:25):
kind of peeking in there, likewe've always really liked that
building.
I wonder what it looks likeinside.
And uh the current occupierswere moving out, and the
building owner was there, helived upstairs and he was just
kind of like, Oh, you want tosee it?
I'll take you inside.
And he's like, What would you dowith the space?
Like, oh, you know, open like avintage antique shop.
He's like, Oh, that's cool.
You know, I I I know it's reallyhard getting started, so I'll
(06:46):
knock like a couple hundreddollars off the rent for you for
the first few months, and wejust kind of looked at each
other like that's intriguing.
So then we went to breakfast,and I think we had signed the
lease by like two o'clock in theafternoon.
SPEAKER_03 (06:58):
So it's just a very yeah, like talked about it at
breakfast and you just made thejump.
SPEAKER_04 (07:02):
Yeah, I'm like, why not?
Let's give it a shot.
SPEAKER_03 (07:04):
Yeah, I love stories like that.
Like, um obviously it's a hugerisk because you're signing a
lease, but it sounds like youknow, every like part of it,
like your husband's support, thelandlord, the first initial
landlord support, because noteverybody's like that, you know,
and and and stuff like that.
So did you always see yourselflike wanting to become an
entrepreneur, or was there likesomething that sparked that in
you?
(07:24):
Was it either the corporateworld wasn't fully fulfilling
you, or kind of walk me throughlike what made you decide to
make that jump?
Because in in terms you went toschool and you were working at
that place in St.
Louis that is known as you knowthe top place to work for what
you wanted to do.
SPEAKER_04 (07:37):
For sure.
Um I don't know that I alwayswanted to be an entrepreneur
entrepreneur necessarily.
Um, like front of mine, I'mgonna pursue a business.
I always knew I wanted to workin fashion.
Yeah.
And then once you get in thatspace, um, I definitely felt
like it was not a good fit, likethe corporate environment, the
corporate ethos.
Um, as I'm sure you know at thispoint, May's place has always
(08:00):
been extremely rooted insustainability and um like very
eco-conscious.
So working in retail, you know,you can see how wasteful the
whole industry is, and thengoing to school for it, you you
know that it goes as far back aslike the pesticides that go on
the cotton that grows and thepetrochemicals that make the
polyester, and um so thatknowledge mixed with like my
(08:26):
love of vintage and sourcing,and um it really kind of came
about from wanting to just likelet people know that there's
another option.
I just felt like if people knewthis, like they would not have
the habits that they do.
They would they would maybe shopa little bit differently or
think twice before they buy thisthing, like, oh I'm going out
(08:46):
tonight, I need a new top.
Like, you know, yeah.
Um, so that's kind of reallywhere it started.
I'm um I'm sort of likeruthlessly stubborn in the fact
that like, no, these are myvalues, this is what I want, and
just kind of figure out a way tomake it work, I think.
SPEAKER_03 (09:02):
Yeah, and and being like ruthlessly about that can
also sometimes likebusiness-wise, it's not always
the most valuable decision, butit the people that shop with you
understand that, and that's whatset you apart in that market
because you're like, well, Icould do this, this, and this
and make more margin, but you'relike, no, like this is my value.
SPEAKER_04 (09:19):
For sure.
I mean, to order a productwholesale and take one photo and
sell a hundred of them, yeah.
Way back so much easier, butthat is just not what I'm trying
to do.
SPEAKER_03 (09:31):
For over 150 years, SSM Health has been providing
hope, healing, and opportunitiesto the St.
Louis community.
With over 40,000 employeesacross four states, they're not
only delivering exceptionalcare, they're one of the
region's largest employers,shaping the future of
healthcare.
We're proud to present SSMHealth as the official
healthcare partner of the STLbucket list show.
If you've dreamed of a careerwhere you're truly making a
(09:52):
difference every day, SSM Healthcan help you take that to the
next step.
Learn more at their website inthe link in the show notes.
So walk me through that firstyear in business.
Like, were you know, originallyyou were a black sheep?
When did you decide thatrebrand?
Like, walk me through the upsand downs of that first year.
SPEAKER_04 (10:08):
Yeah.
So um black sheep was kind oflike my um my idea of like sort
of personification personifyingmyself into the brand.
Um, I saw this uh quote one timethat was by Truman Capote that
said, I may be a black sheep,but my hooves are made of gold.
So like I may be different.
Um, you know, I may not go withthe grain, but like I'm standing
(10:32):
on something special.
Um, so that's kind of where thatcame from for me.
And this maze place endeavor wasreally like Andy and I coming
together to build something.
Um, ultimately, it was like acreative expression of both of
us.
So we wanted to really representthat kind of like mom and pop
feel.
Um, our initial vibe that wewere kind of going for was like
(10:52):
an old general store.
Um, the name actually came fromhis great-great-grandfather, I
believe.
I always forget if it's great orgreat-great, but you know.
Um in the family, there was ageneral store and a tavern in
California called Mays Place.
So um they were restoring hisgrandfather's truck.
Um, he one of the boards hadrotted out of the bed.
(11:12):
He had flipped the sign over torepair the spot.
And when his grandpa was workingon the truck, he flipped over
the sign and found it.
So they gave us the originalsign from the tavern.
So um that was kind of the storywe were trying to tell.
Very family focused, uh rootedin history.
SPEAKER_03 (11:31):
That's really cool.
Like just to be able to likepull from inspiration like that.
Like, obviously, like the namemeans a lot to the family, but
then it's also like, how do weturn this into something
completely different than whatthat that general store was, but
still that same level of servicethat you would find at a local
market or general store.
So May's Place was always, youknow, I don't know if net
(11:51):
necessarily you were ahead ofyour time because I had first
moved to South City probably in20, what was that, 2019 is when
I moved to South City.
But you were one of the firststores that, like, when my wife
was going to shop like at thosetypes of stores, but like now
you're seeing so many of themaround the city.
What does that mean?
Like, do you feel like youplayed any part in that?
Or are a lot of those people,some of I wouldn't say you're a
(12:12):
mentor to them, but like areyour peers and like seeing so
many people have success indifferent ways throughout the
city.
SPEAKER_04 (12:17):
Yeah, it's incredible.
It makes me so happy.
Uh, I have heard that.
Like, I feel like I don'tnecessarily see myself that way,
but I've gotten a lot offeedback and that's amazing.
Um, my goal, I've always triedto maintain like a community
over competition mindset.
I think that my goal, again,like with the sustainability
education piece, like the morepeople shop vintage, the better,
you know, the more we can kindof keep people from going to the
(12:40):
mall and going to shop vintage.
Amazing.
Um, so I love to see it growlocally.
I think that the Midwest has areally strong um draw for people
who are interested in invintage.
If you um are looking for thesame thing on the coasts or in
Nashville or in Austin, it'sgonna cost you probably two,
three times as much.
So a lot of those peopleactually come here to source
(13:02):
their product and then take itback to those bigger markets.
Um, so I think that we have areally strong opportunity to be
like a vintage destination, andI'm really happy to see that
growth happening.
SPEAKER_03 (13:12):
Yeah, when we met like three or four years ago,
like we were sitting in thefoundry eating lunch, and you
were like, you know, you go tothese events in New York City,
like what's the big event upthere that you're gonna do.
SPEAKER_04 (13:19):
Manhattan Vintage is the one that I'm gonna.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (13:21):
So like you go up there and you like you see this,
and then you bring that energyback to St.
Louis.
And like when you mention likethe Midwest as a destination, is
like you look at what CherokeeStreet's doing, you look at what
some of these, like I sawvintage pop up at the family
arena in St.
Charles.
Like people are doing stuff likeall over the area, and like I'm
getting tagged, and people aresharing events to us all the
(13:41):
time.
I'm sure.
Um, there was just like a coffeeparty at 10 a.m.
where drops out of vintage wasthere, and like it's different.
And then you have like the guysat reset down the street that
are doing more men's, and it'slike all these different things
that are happening.
I guess the sustainability thingis something that I want our
audience to learn more about.
So, like, obviously, you see thefast fashions of the world.
Like, what is like some of thatdata?
(14:02):
What is some of that, like, whatare like the consumers of
America, like what what is likesome of that stuff?
What made you like, oh my gosh,like this is like an actual big
problem that nobody's talkingabout?
SPEAKER_04 (14:11):
Yeah, it's actually the fashion, the fashion
industry as a whole is reallythe second largest polluter to
our world after the oilindustry.
So um, I think it really comesback to from like seed to the
final product.
You think about um all thechemicals that are being sprayed
on this cotton and um even thefact that just due to people
(14:31):
trying to get things cheaper andcheaper, a lot more things are
made from synthetic materials,which like you know, like your
polyesters and things like that,which are uh derivative of oil
and petrochemicals.
Um, when you're dying a garment,all of that water is I think of
I can't remember the exactfigure now, but like to dye a
pair of jeans uses like hundredsof gallons of water, and then
(14:55):
the dyes from that then go outinto local waterways.
SPEAKER_01 (14:58):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (14:59):
Um and then, you know, maybe the cotton is grown
in India and then it's shippedto Bangladesh, where it's made
into cotton fabric, and then thefabric is shipped to China, and
then the garments made in China,and then that's shipped across
to California, and then it's youknow, trucked or train to
somewhere else.
Like it's just so much.
(15:21):
And um, another statistic thatI'm probably botching that I see
a lot is something like there'slike enough clothing currently
on the earth if we stopproducing garments to clothe the
next six generations.
Wow.
SPEAKER_03 (15:34):
So it's just there's so many things that like
counting everything that's inretail, but then also everything
that's in people's closets.
Yeah, exactly.
All that stuff.
Wow.
That uh I could see that becauselike we just cleaned out our
closet the other day, and I'mlike, why do we keep doing this
every six months and we stillhave too much stuff?
Yeah, you know, it doesn't makeany sense.
And it's like, this is my dad'sshirt that I'm wearing today,
and it's way higher quality thanlike this is from the 70s, and
(15:56):
I'm like, this is just great,this shirt, you know, and it's
like there, like, when is enoughenough?
SPEAKER_04 (16:01):
Yeah, and that's kind of becoming part of the
problem too, because things weremade with such a quality at one
time where it would last for along time, you wouldn't need to
keep buying new clothes, and um,you know, people who thrift or
are active in that way at allare absolutely seeing a shift
where once upon a time you sawolder clothes, more uh quality
clothes at the thrift, and nowit's just full of like, you
(16:25):
know, really poorly made churnand burn clothes that are just
made to theoretically be wornlike a few times and then passed
on.
SPEAKER_02 (16:32):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (16:33):
And those sort of things.
So I think a lot of people havethis like, oh, I'll just donate
it and it'll go to a good cause.
There's so much in that streamnow that actually a lot of our
garments are shipped to likethird world countries.
SPEAKER_02 (16:46):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (16:46):
Um, and then you can actually see there's like a
mound of clothing so large thatyou can see it from space in the
Atacama Desert.
SPEAKER_03 (16:54):
Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_04 (16:55):
It's just it's wild.
SPEAKER_03 (16:56):
You can go down like a rabbit hole with the stuff.
So how do you live that out inyour own life?
So, like, have you committedlike, I mean, 100% that you
don't buy anything new?
Or is it just no, notnecessarily.
SPEAKER_04 (17:09):
Um, I'm someone who uh I'm like a quality over
quantity person.
If I do buy something new, it'sum something that I will
absolutely wear for years andyears and years.
SPEAKER_01 (17:17):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (17:18):
Um, I'm absolutely an outfit repeater.
I don't understand this wholelike, oh, I've worn that before,
I can't wear that again.
Like, yeah, you wore it beforebecause you like it.
So what does it matter?
SPEAKER_03 (17:27):
Nobody actually notices besides you.
No, exactly.
SPEAKER_04 (17:29):
That's be you know, it's um I feel like when people
have a really strong sense oftheir own style, um, then you
can kind of like find what youlike or like a um almost like an
outfit algorithm and then kindof like lean into that.
I do have um, I feel like I havelike my vintage collection,
(17:49):
which is like sort of oneaesthetic and one vibe, and then
the things that I sort of likeactually wear every day as a
person who is with children andlike you know, digging through
bins of clothes, and um theykind of skew a little bit
differently, but my personalwardrobe is very like minimal,
neutral, um, mix and match.
SPEAKER_03 (18:10):
Yeah, and then trying to do that with the
kiddos too, because obviouslythey're getting dirty, they're
getting into new clothes all thetime and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_04 (18:15):
So I pretty exclusively for the most part
shop secondhand.
I don't exclusively wearvintage, but always like thrift
stores, eBay, other vintagedealers.
SPEAKER_03 (18:24):
The STL bucket list show is proudly sponsored by
Suede Dispensary with 11Missouri area locations.
Suede does so much for the St.
Louis community.
We've been working with thisteam for a couple years back
since Medical was here, andwe're excited to support their
new product launches, events,and community initiatives.
We couldn't be happier to workwith this premier cannabis
brand, and we're excited forthem to sponsor the show.
(18:46):
Enjoy the rest of the podcast.
Okay, sweet.
Yeah, I was uh I just wascurious because like it is so
accessible now, like youmentioned with online and eBay
and stuff.
Like at one point when you werefirst like getting into it, it
might have been harder to findthose things that you were
looking for and and stuff likethat.
So let's talk about your yourstore because you've created
this following and this likepeople from all over the country
(19:07):
were driving in to come see youguys at one point.
Like tell me some of thosestories of like impact that you
had at the store and like justbecause you were there working
the front for a lot of it.
SPEAKER_04 (19:16):
Yeah, yeah, we've had some fun stories.
Um, so initially on Ivanhoe,Daryl Hannah came in.
She is um married to Neil Young.
So when he was in town, she camein and shopped.
And um that I was kind of like,you know, when you see
celebrities and it's kind of outof context and like she didn't
have any makeup on, and I waskind of like looking at her and
I was like, man, she looksreally familiar.
(19:36):
And then she was on the phoneand I heard her voice, and I was
like, oh, that's for sure DarylHannah.
That's wild.
Um, Charlie Crockett used tocome through a lot when they
were touring in town.
I feel like he's like a big guynow.
So I don't know if he's like outshopping, but uh Tyler the
Creator came in when we were umin the grove.
unknown (19:55):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (19:55):
That's a lot of really cool like and they just
found it like when they come anddo a show, like maybe Tyler was
at the pageant or something, andthen it's like, oh, like there's
a shop that has really uniquestuff, and then they come by
because you guys did like a lotof like like Charlie Crockett
would be like some westernpieces and stuff like that.
I don't know what Tyler bought.
Did he buy anything special?
SPEAKER_04 (20:12):
Um, he had a woman with him and she bought some
stuff.
SPEAKER_03 (20:14):
Okay, cool.
That's awesome.
Um, so that's really cool to beable to have that impact.
And then, like, just on a localscale, like finding those
people, those repeat customers,like being able to serve people
and like them be able to DM youand be like, hey, like I'm
looking for this for a weddingor this, and like you were able
to kind of source and findstuff.
SPEAKER_04 (20:32):
For sure.
We have um sold peopleengagement rings before.
We've sold wedding dresses.
I've helped a lot of localmusicians with music videos.
Um, we've done fashion showswith mother.
Yep.
Um, it's so fun.
I feel like a lot of our repeatcustomers and a lot of our
really good um longtime clientsare like more creative people
who have um maybe like a stagelook that they're looking for,
(20:54):
or um something like they're inneed of something extremely
unique and somethingeye-catching.
Um, so they would come to us.
SPEAKER_03 (21:02):
That's awesome.
And then I've noticed likethrough your guys' photography,
like you kind of creative directa lot of that stuff that you do,
and you're still doing a lot ofit.
Um, what are like what what goesinto that?
Like how hands-on are you oneverything that goes out on
Instagram and social media andeverything like that?
SPEAKER_04 (21:16):
Yeah.
So once upon a time, um, beforewe closed the shop, I had a team
of, I think there was six of us.
Um, and at that point, I had umElise who worked with me, one of
my managers, was doing a lot ofthe photography.
Um, and she's extremely,extremely talented.
Now it is just me.
So anything you see is for themost part just me.
(21:37):
Um, I have a studio that I workout of downtown where I kind of
process my collection and getthings ready to take to the
green shag, which is now where Ioperate.
Um so yeah, I feel like I lovephotography.
It's just like one of thosethings that it's like you roll
all your passions into one, andthat's that's how things come
about.
But I just really enjoy it.
(21:57):
I feel like part of my favoritepart of selling things.
Things is making them lookreally beautiful.
Um, so again, I've brought insome other models to um do some
shoots before.
Um like a million years ago whenI was in college, I did a uh
styling internship and so justlike pulling from all the little
strings of experience I've hadover the years.
SPEAKER_03 (22:20):
So that kind of leads me into like what a lot of
people know you from.
Like a lot of people might knowyou from Maze Night Market now
and not Maze Play.
Like that's what's like thiscrazy shift of like now you're
this event promoter, this youknow, connector.
And tell me about the first MazeNight Market, kind of like what
your vision was from that.
Were you pulling inspirationfrom stuff you've seen around
the country, or kind of walk methrough like what you were
(22:41):
thinking through that?
Because I think the one that Iwent to where I met you at was
in that abandoned area in thefoundry, which is now probably
the gym, the true fusion in theMo Modern over there.
Yep.
That was probably the coolestone because of how it looked
inside the building.
That was sick.
Yeah, that was very lucky.
It was a good night.
SPEAKER_04 (22:57):
Um, so May's night market came about actually.
Um, so a little bit about theevolution of the store.
We started on Ivanhoe, thatbuilding sold.
We ended up moving to the grove,so we were right across the
street from uh the ready room.
So at that time, they werelooking for um some events to
fill the calendar.
And uh they approached us.
(23:18):
We had some you know friends whoare the management there and
they said, What do you thinkabout putting on a market?
I was like, I have no idea howto do that, but sure, like I
know a lot of very creativepeople.
I'm sure we can make it reallyfun.
And um, that space, I think wetypically had between like 15 to
18 vendors.
We probably had about 15 at thatfirst one.
I think it was maybe one ofGolden Gems' first markets that
(23:40):
they ever did.
Oh, cool.
Um and it was great, it was sowell received, everyone loved
it, I had a great time.
Um, I've always just kind ofthought of it as like a shopping
party.
Um, you know, in other citiesI've been to markets before and
really liked the vibe and waslike, how can I make this a
little bit different?
Um and it's just kind of like,do you want to keep doing it?
(24:00):
Sure.
Um, we had them at the readyroom until our last one was
December of 2019.
Obviously, there were no eventsin 2020.
Um, but the ready room closed in2020.
So we were like, if we're gonnakeep keep this up, we gotta
figure out something else.
The foundry had been um sort oflike uh what's the word I'm
trying to think of?
(24:21):
They were kind of like uh tryingto entice May's place to come
and join the foundry.
Of course.
Um so they were like, we havethis very large outdoor space if
you would like to host the eventhere.
Um I it actually wasn't evenopen yet the first time we had
the event there.
It was like um spring of 21.
It was it was like kind of aperfect storm of um timing where
(24:43):
it was like one of the firstevents after people were able to
be outside and unmasked afterthat regulation was dropped.
And uh the largest event we hadat the ready room was about 800
people, and our first at CityFoundry was about 7,000 people.
SPEAKER_03 (24:56):
Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_04 (24:57):
So we were like, okay, it's an outdoor market
now.
SPEAKER_03 (24:59):
Yeah, and then that winter you probably did the one
inside.
SPEAKER_04 (25:03):
Correct.
So we always did um March, June,September, and December.
So with the foundry not beingopen yet, they had a lot of like
large indoor spaces where we canmove it to in those March and
December shows, whichunfortunately are now occupied.
So now we're down to two a yearfrom now.
SPEAKER_03 (25:18):
Yeah, it's like a big social event too, like just
people getting getting out andand uh so that first one when
you had 7,000 people, like Imean, what was your like you
probably like were like, oh mygosh, I am not prepared for like
the team and like you're likebecause you just didn't know
you're like, Oh, I'll probablyhave like a couple thousand
people here, maybe, you know.
SPEAKER_04 (25:33):
I can't remember specifically.
I want to say Taco Circus wasour food vendor for that one,
and they literally sold out inlike an hour, and they were
like, Well, yeah, thanks forhaving us.
SPEAKER_03 (25:42):
Thank you so much, but you're like, man, I need
more food for my yeah,absolutely.
SPEAKER_04 (25:46):
Um, I remember so uh we were still at the Grove at
the time.
I spent all day um like gettingthe sorry, getting the place
ready.
Um, and I was like, you know,I'm gonna go back to the store
real quick, which is just rightdown the street.
I'm gonna change and I'm gonnacome back because my team,
everyone was set up, they hadit, they were rolling.
Um, and I come back and I juststarted crying.
(26:08):
I was like, what is going on?
There's so many people here, andit's just kind of been like that
ever since.
SPEAKER_03 (26:14):
So last summer, I mean, uh how do you get the
data?
I mean, does the foundry helpyou kind of collect data from
like how many people come?
Because I feel like what was thenumbers last year?
I mean, it was uh the whole citywas like almost shut down
because like they had to shutthe streets down and stuff.
SPEAKER_04 (26:27):
Yeah, last June was our biggest event we've ever
had.
It was over 10,000 people.
Oh my gosh.
Which was also crazy because asan outdoor event, you know,
weather is like a huge factor.
SPEAKER_03 (26:35):
For sure.
SPEAKER_04 (26:36):
And it absolutely dumped on us for the first hour,
and it still turned out to beour biggest event.
unknown (26:42):
Wow.
SPEAKER_03 (26:42):
And so this year, obviously, probably something
similar.
SPEAKER_04 (26:45):
I'm assuming so, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (26:46):
Um and then you don't have a date yet for later
this year.
SPEAKER_04 (26:49):
Uh September 25th, I believe, is our follow-up.
That's my birthday.
That's awesome.
Yeah, amazing.
SPEAKER_03 (26:53):
And that will be at the foundry as well.
Yes.
Okay.
And that will be outside justlike fall.
So you just do like early springor like spring, fall now,
instead of um obviously summerwhen it's hot and winter.
Um so how do you manage that nowthat you're a one-person team?
Like, I mean, obviously you haveincredible partners, Forehand,
Suede, the City Foundry, and allthat.
(27:15):
But like, what goes into like,because at the end of the day,
you're dealing with 40 or so,however many vendors you have.
And I'm doing the same thing atFood Truck Friday next week,
where like I'm personallytalking to every single small
business owner, and like everysingle one of it matters because
that's a big night for them, butit's also a big night for you.
So it's like, how do you manageall of that client
communication?
(27:35):
How do you manage likecoordination with the venue,
like all that while still, youknow, with your three kids and
still doing all your otherthings that you do?
SPEAKER_04 (27:43):
Um, I will say at this point, this is our ninth
season, so it is pretty plug andplay.
I feel like I have like mysystem down.
Um, all of the applications gointo a spreadsheet.
I'm a hundred percent aspreadsheet girly.
Like they keep my brain dialorganized.
Yeah.
Um, so my spreadsheet is life.
Um, I am I'm very much anover-communicator ahead of time
(28:06):
to make sure everyone has whatthey need.
Um, that they, if there's anyquestions I can answer, I do um
kind of help everyone once theyarrive, get them in their space.
Um, I am selling at the event aswell.
So I tend to set my space upahead of time, kind of get
everyone settled.
Um, usually have someone helpingme sell so that I don't have to
actually physically be in mybooth.
(28:27):
Um, and then all night I'm justkind of like making the rounds,
making sure everyone's got whatthey need.
SPEAKER_03 (28:31):
The STL Bucketlist show is fueled by Upshot Coffee.
My friends at Upshot Coffee havesome of the best beans in town.
I got some of their newpackaging here.
Look at this bag.
Look how big this is.
Um, they have four St.
Louis locations, their flagshipin Coddleville, the break shop
over by Lindenwood in St.
Charles, their Clayton locationcalled Hi-Fi, um, and then Flyby
(28:53):
over in Tower Grove, theirnewest location.
Um, and they also sell theircoffee online everywhere.
If you guys haven't added UpshotCoffee to your STL bucket list,
it's time to try it.
Some of the my favorite peoplein the industry and some of the
best coffee in the game.
Yeah, that's really cool.
And uh what I really loved waslike your application process of
like, for one, you haveassistance for people to be
(29:14):
there at the event.
Like, obviously, sustainabilitywas one of those questions on
your application.
What a what does that processlook like as far as like getting
and making sure that you'recurating the event the way that
you actually envision it to be?
SPEAKER_04 (29:25):
Yeah, that's probably the most difficult
part, honestly.
SPEAKER_03 (29:27):
It's not just accepting any vendor that wants
to.
SPEAKER_04 (29:30):
Um, and I think you know, May's place has always
been extremely rooted in ourvalues, and I think the market
is exactly the same.
Um, it is first and foremost afashion event.
So um over half of our vendorsare going to be vintage or
handmade or upcycled or um, youknow, local brands.
Um, and then the rest kind ofget filled in between um what I
(29:51):
call like these likesupplemental categories of other
things that people would findinteresting, whether it's
candles or art or ceramics, umjewelry.
So um looking through theapplication, uh like I probably
necessarily wouldn't bring in aboutique that's selling garments
made in China.
Like that's totally great.
(30:12):
This is probably just not theevent for you because we are so
rooted in right, vintage,sustainability, that kind of
thing.
Um so it is really hard.
You know, I had over 200applications this time and I try
to do my due diligence to lookthrough every single one and
find those very values-alignedum uh brands that I think are
(30:35):
gonna align with our customertoo.
SPEAKER_03 (30:36):
And you have to you owe it to the customer base, and
then you also owe it to theother vendors is like when the
customer comes there, like thisis what they're expecting.
So it's like I have to give themwhat they're expecting and and
stuff like that.
So, and then it's a big nightfor you because you have this
huge setup and all this funstuff that you do.
So it's it's cool that you getto kind of have the market and
then also, you know, be able toshowcase a lot of your pieces.
(30:57):
I'm sure you're like alreadylike envisioning what your set's
gonna look like this year.
And I have my racks going and uhand stuff like that.
And and then how important arethe sponsorships?
Because as I know from someonewho's done events, I mean, those
are the reason that we're ableto do those events, you know.
And you've had loyal partners inForehands and Suede and have
been a partners for you guysalmost as long as I can
remember.
SPEAKER_04 (31:15):
Yeah, they're amazing, amazing partners.
Um, it is such a blessing tohave people who like see the
vision and really not only justwant to be a part of it, but are
excited to support it andexcited to get behind you.
SPEAKER_03 (31:28):
Right.
SPEAKER_04 (31:28):
Um, and as you said, they every year they're like,
all right, let's go.
What are the dates?
SPEAKER_03 (31:32):
Yep, yeah.
And it's it's great when you'vedone it before because now it's
like is it wasn't always likethat when you first start doing
things.
SPEAKER_04 (31:38):
Well, it as I'm sure you know, it's like every new
piece of what you're doing inyour business is like, I don't
know how to do a market.
I guess I'll figure it out.
I don't know how to acquiresponsors, I guess I'll figure it
out.
You know, it's like every dayyou're learning something new.
So that was definitely anintimidating hurdle for me to
like go out and ask for money.
SPEAKER_03 (31:57):
But um But they'd gladly give it, and it's like
the the the other side of thecoin is like the value that
you're giving them for that islike extreme value.
So it's like those because Iremember it.
I'm like, oh, those brands areinvolved with that.
So it's like, and I'm sure yourguests do too, but like it is so
hard because you're like, myfirst sponsorship I sold was
like a$50 sponsorship, and nowit's like those look completely
(32:18):
different because I know now youknow the value and you know what
you can deliver, and you haveyou have a track record of doing
that.
Um, so what advice um would yougive to other entrepreneurs?
Because there's a lot of peoplethat listen to our show.
Um, specifically, you know,maybe we can lean it more
towards moms too.
Cause I know that you work witha lot of uh women entrepreneurs
as well.
But like, is there any advice oflike somebody that can, you
(32:39):
know, run a business, be apresent mom?
Like, is there any tips andtricks that you've learned
throughout the process?
SPEAKER_04 (32:44):
Um, I I could not do what I do without our village.
I lean hard into my village.
Um, my parents are veryinvolved.
Andy's parents are veryinvolved.
SPEAKER_02 (32:54):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (32:54):
Um, I feel comfortable.
There's like a handful of peoplethat I feel comfortable being
like, I really have a tough weekthis week.
Is there any way that you couldlike come over and play with the
kids while I'm in the other roomof the computer for a little
while?
Um, so finding your village andleaning into them is everything
if you're trying to do that.
Um I would also say like it'skind of impossible to do it all,
(33:17):
you know.
Like I've I definitely find thatlike when I'm coming into a week
or a month of work that's likereally demanding, I I lean on
people a lot more than and Imaybe am not as present as I am
when it's you know summertimefor me is like I kind of slow
down a little bit and am luckyto be able to like take that
(33:38):
liberty.
Um but absolutely use yourpeople.
SPEAKER_03 (33:43):
Yeah, for sure.
And and we do that the samething, but like sometimes you're
like, man, like it's like thatconstant poll because they're
helping, but they want to help,but it's like do you want to
like have that fine line ofbeing like, you know, only use
it when you really need it, notjust take advantage of it
because you're like, oh, like Iknow my mom will come over
anytime I call her.
Yeah.
But I'm also like, I need her tocome over just on these certain
days.
And yeah, um, but yeah, that'sthe hardest thing is like, well,
(34:04):
the the one thing is like isbusinesses like what we do is
like I can do this at home.
And that's the actually the mostannoying part about it because
when I am at home, like mycomputer's at my desk is right
there, and I know I have stuff Ineed to do.
So then I'm doing bathtime lastnight, but like I hear like
ding, ding, ding, and I'm like,she's like, just be pro like
wait one hour, wait one hour,they're gonna go to sleep.
And I'm like, you're right.
(34:24):
Like, I'm like, but we feel likeeverything has to be urgent
because we get it.
It's not like you know, 10 yearsago in the corporate world, like
you just wait till Mondaymorning and you check your
email.
It's like you don't have tocheck your email every second,
you know.
And that's the problem with meis like I'm so aggressive with
responding fast.
And like, because I'm abusiness, I'm like, I need to,
you know, that's what I wantwhen I talk to customers.
So it's like I expect that samething.
(34:45):
And it's like, you know, we haveto start setting those
boundaries with ourselves.
And and uh, you know, that thething I I hate the most, me with
me personally, and I wouldn'tuse the word hate, but like
where I get disappointed inmyself is like when I hear my
daughters talking and they'relike, dad, dad, and I'm just
like one sec, one sec, one sec.
And then you like set up andyou're like, I was like DMing
somebody about something stupid,you know.
(35:06):
But I just think that it's soimportant.
So that's like something that Ichallenge, like I battle with
daily.
And my wife's a teacher, so likeshe has summers off.
So like her last day is onFriday, and it like just opens
up the whole summer.
So like I know that they'regonna be having fun and like I
can lock in and work and and youknow, it's just we take turns on
locking in.
SPEAKER_04 (35:23):
Totally.
Communication is huge.
As you mentioned, Andy also hashis own business that he's
operating.
And as far as like customerservice, people reach out
wanting a tattoo.
He wants to get back to themimmediately and book that
appointment.
So totally same thing.
I think being able to be like,no, I I really need like 10 more
minutes of time to finish thesecommunications, and then I'm
(35:44):
like back to it is has beenreally helpful.
SPEAKER_03 (35:46):
So it is the STL bucket list show.
We've talked all about one ofthe bucket list events on my
calendar, which is Mays NightMarket on June 19th at City
Foundry, maze nightmarket.com.
You guys can get all theinformation.
But what are some of those otherbucket list places that maybe
you and your family love aboutSt.
Louis?
So we can talk about food spots,we can talk about other stores
that you guys like to shop at,really anything that you love
(36:08):
about St.
Louis.
SPEAKER_04 (36:09):
I have been thinking about this question for so long.
I listened to the podcast, so Iknow it's coming.
Um, and I'm one of those peoplethat like when you ask a
question, it's like, well, itdepends.
Like, um, so I I've beenthinking about my birthday.
Uh, I feel like I have sort of aroutine for my birthday.
We go to breakfast at SouthwestDiner.
Um, they serve Goshen coffee, soI probably am not going anywhere
(36:32):
else for coffee.
Love their coffee.
Um, our routine, we love thebotanical garden.
I'm there all the time.
So we'll walk around thebotanical garden for the day.
Um, usually we get lunch atUnion Loafers.
I um pride myself as being kindof a turkey sandwich
connoisseur, and there's just myfavorite.
So definitely lunch there.
Um, the cookie cannot be missed.
(36:53):
It's the best chocolate chipcookie in the whole world.
Um, and then dinner at Rights.
SPEAKER_03 (36:59):
Wow.
SPEAKER_04 (36:59):
Can't go wrong.
SPEAKER_03 (37:00):
It's a really good day.
So the whole front of the day iswith the kids, and then it's the
babysitter, and then it's nice.
SPEAKER_04 (37:04):
Exactly.
SPEAKER_03 (37:04):
Yeah, so exactly.
I love the full day itinerary,and it's like you stayed
literally, besides dinner, youstayed like within like a
two-minute block of like ofthat.
And uh Southwest, I mean we'rein Maplewoods, so Southwest is
right down the street from here.
But um, yeah, their chocolatechip cookie is really good
there.
A little flaky sea salt on top,too.
Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_04 (37:21):
I think on their menu they call it like a quarter
pound of decadence or something.
It's like the best chocolatechip cookie.
SPEAKER_03 (37:27):
And rights is really good, it's just so hard to get
in there.
And that's the thing.
SPEAKER_04 (37:30):
One of the very um lucky things about Andy's
profession is that he's in witha lot of the food and beverage
folks.
He tattoos a lot of people inthat industry.
So whether it's like a bartenderor uh, servers we know are like,
hey, Katie's birthday's comingup.
They're like, I got you.
SPEAKER_03 (37:47):
Yeah, that's kind of what we do too with us our
stuff.
Because like if we like messageon STL buggers, like, of course,
but like you always are like,when do I want to pull it?
Because I don't want to like Ialways pull it on the birthdays.
It's like, hey, like it's mywife's birthday.
I forgot to make a reservation.
Like, I always forget.
And it's like, you know, it'stwo weeks before, and you're
like looking everywhere andyou're like, dang, why is this
the busiest night ever?
You can't find anything.
So um, what about your kids?
(38:07):
So is that with your kids too?
Like they love union loafers,they love Oh no, no.
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (38:11):
Uh very picky eaters.
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (38:13):
Yeah.
I mean, they're so little stillthat it's like hard for them,
but like I didn't know ifthey're so besides the botanical
gardens, like what are some ofthose like really fun things
that you do with your kids?
SPEAKER_04 (38:21):
Um, we spend a lot of time at the zoo.
My I have an older daughter thatis eight, and she absolutely
loves the zoo.
Um, we recently have beenspending a ton of time at the
nature playscape.
Do you ever go there?
It's so beautiful right now withthe spring, everything blooming.
Um, she just recently went tothe city museum for the first
time and is absolutely obsessed.
SPEAKER_03 (38:40):
I'm scared to go there because I just don't want
her running.
I'm like, I don't know if I canget in and get around in there
anymore.
SPEAKER_04 (38:45):
It is.
I can't imagine what their likeinsurance premiums are or
something like that.
You just look everywhere andyou're like, risk, risk, risk,
you know.
SPEAKER_02 (38:53):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (38:54):
Um, but no, she loves it.
She thinks it's amazing.
Um, her and Andy have thisreally sweet little like
father-daughter ritual of goingto Courtesy Diner, maybe like
once or twice a month.
SPEAKER_03 (39:04):
That's really cool.
Oh, yeah, there's lots of littlespots that are very nostalgic
for us.
Yeah, the little solo dates arefun.
But yeah, this summer, so likethis last Christmas, all of our
gifts were justexperience-based.
So, like, we got the Magic Housemembership, we got the zoo
membership, we got thismembership, and then like
literally my wife, Marissa, justlike we have a family calendar,
and like I'm looking at it, it'slike every day of the week
(39:26):
they're doing one thing.
So it's like Little Diggers isthis sand place, and then it's
like this place, and then it'sthis.
And I'm like, So every day it'sjust like a two-hour activity,
but then it's like your wholesummer is just planned.
And then I was looking at thecalendar, I'm like, I don't see
any date nights planned for us.
So I'm like, I have to fill insome other nights in there too.
SPEAKER_04 (39:41):
That's so amazing that you are cognizant of that
though, because I remember Ithink it was maybe the episode
with Dave and Stephanie you weretalking about the way you
prioritize date night.
SPEAKER_01 (39:49):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (39:49):
And like, especially with a family of two
entrepreneurs and leaning on ourfamily so much.
Um, I feel like that is one ofthe things that we do because
we're calling on them so muchfor work stuff, it's like we
very rarely are like, and wealso need you Friday night so we
can go to dinner.
So that's amazing that you'revery intentional with that.
SPEAKER_03 (40:09):
It's hard to ask, but we got a lot of like
teenagers in our neighborhood.
So that's when we pay for thiseither.
When it's pleasure, we're like,okay, we can pay for some for
some child care for this.
But no, Katie, I appreciate youfor coming on and and uh we're
looking forward to supportingthe event this year um and being
a part of it, but then you know,also just supporting your
business and so and you'vealways supported what we've done
and and stuff like that.
So I thank you for coming on andcan't wait for the audience to
(40:30):
listen and and uh be at theevent.
Hopefully, we're gonna clear10,000 again.
SPEAKER_04 (40:33):
So yeah, thank you so much for having me.
I've always really appreciatedBucketlist and the support for
small businesses in the area.
So thanks for all you do.
SPEAKER_03 (40:40):
Cool.
See you guys next week.
SPEAKER_04 (40:42):
Bye.
SPEAKER_03 (40:43):
St.
Louis, thanks for listening.
Everything we do here is abouttelling the story of this city,
and that doesn't stop with thisshow.
On the Bucketlist PodcastNetwork, we're diving even
deeper into the people, places,and moments that make this city
what it is.
Meet Me in Music with NeilSalzick captures the sound of
the city, past and present,ending each episode with a live
performance.
For my foodie lovers, the saucewith Lauren Healy brings you
(41:04):
inside the restaurants thatdefine our culture every
Tuesday.
Gateway to Growth with JamalCornelius highlights the stories
behind the people that make St.
Louis work.
And every Thursday, Bryce breaksdown your weekend with This Week
in St.
Louis.
More stories, more voices.
Explore the full bucketlesspodcast network wherever you
listen.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Hey Jonas!
Hey Jonas! The official Jonas Brothers podcast. Hosted by Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas. It’s the Jonas Brothers you know... musicians, actors, and well, yes, brothers. Now, they’re sharing another side of themselves in the playful, intimate, and irreverent way only they can. Spend time with the Jonas Brothers here and stay a little bit longer for deep conversations like never before.
Betrayal Weekly
Betrayal Weekly is back for a new season. Every Thursday, Betrayal Weekly shares first-hand accounts of broken trust, shocking deceptions, and the trail of destruction they leave behind. Hosted by Andrea Gunning, this weekly ongoing series digs into real-life stories of betrayal and the aftermath. From stories of double lives to dark discoveries, these are cautionary tales and accounts of resilience against all odds. From the producers of the critically acclaimed Betrayal series, Betrayal Weekly drops new episodes every Thursday. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal Team by emailing them at betrayalpod@gmail.com and follow us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.