I’m doing-cartwheels-excited to share that our friend, Stacia Guzzo of Handcrafted Honey Bee is headed to NYC for Etsy’s “Open Call” event. Stacia was selected as one of 30 makers (out of 5,000+ entries!) in this nationwide competition and she’s in the Big Apple prepping as I type this.

 

I’m particularly thrilled for Stacia because I’m intimately aware of how much foundational work has been poured into the development of her brand. I’ve had the honor of working with Stacia for two years now in a variety of capacities: she’s an LBU alum, we work together daily in my LBU Alumni Coaching Community, we’ve had monthly private consults for more than a year now, she’s now an official mentoree AND she’s a graduate of my Brick House Branding + GMP programs. My design team has even had the pleasure of building the line sheets she sends out to potential wholesale buyers. So I’ve had a front row seat to the evolution of her company, and I can tell that it’s been a WILD ride full of equals parts heart + hustle.

 

I asked Stacia to give us a peek behind-the-scenes of Etsy’s Open Call and she graciously carved out time to share some insight. She also agreed to circle back to this blog next week to share the intimidate details of what it was like to pitch to major national retailers, mingle with press professionals and get up + close with Etsy execs. I hope you’ll swing by for part two!

 

1. How did you first hear about Etsy Open Call and what compelled you to enter?
I first heard about Etsy Open Call on a post in the LBU Alumni Coaching Community. Apparently the contest had been going on for a few months…I saw the post on June 3rd and applications were due June 4th. The brands that were chosen would be given the opportunity to pitch major retailers at Etsy HQ, including Nordstrom, Land of Nod, the Walker Shop, Clementine, and Lou & Grey. As for why I entered…it gave me another good excuse to work on my pitch and hone my brand. And I feel like those kind of efforts are never in vain. Besides…I always figure: what is there to lose?

 

2. What did entering the Etsy event entail?
Although I was able to jump over all the necessary hurdles within twelve hours, it was certainly a fast and furious day for us! First and foremost, all applicants had to be sellers in the Etsy Wholesale market. That was my first hurdle, because although I had been an Etsy seller for quite some time and had intended to apply to the wholesale market at an earlier date, I hadn’t yet done so.

 

Therefore, the very first thing I did that morning was to craft my application to the wholesale market.I was accepted within a few hours, and then spent three more hours setting up my wholesale account, uploading pictures and product descriptions to my line sheets, and getting my account published on the Etsy Wholesale platform.

 

Next, I researched the various retailers that would be present at the Open Call event so I could tailor my pitch to the stores where I felt our product would be the best fit. Finally, the application itself was required to be in the form of an Instagram post tagging @EtsyWholesale and with the hashtag #EtsyOpenCall. We were asked to craft a post that talked about why we thought our products would be a good fit for the retailers at the Open Call event. By the end of the day, we had done everything necessary to enter…now all we had to do was wait.
 

 

3. Take us back to the day you discovered you’d been selected. What was that like?
I was pretty shocked. They contacted me via email just a week after applications closed, so at first I read the email wrong and thought that I had passed through the first round of judging into the second. After all, they had said that they likely wouldn’t be contacting the winners until June 23rd, so I wasn’t expecting an email with any final decisions.

 

I picked up the phone to text my husband the good news, and as I began to write the text, I re-read the email so I could get the details right. It was then that I realized that I hadn’t been chosen to move on in the competition…but that Handcrafted Honey Bee had actually been chosen as one of the thirty businesses out of around 5,000 applicants to pitch the retailers in New York. I stopped mid-text, hands shaking, and read the email again, over and over, about eight more times. I then called my husband, hands still shaking, and said, “We’re going to New York!!!!” It felt so surreal. It still feels kind of surreal.

 

4. As one of the selected participants, you’re soon headed to NYC. Tell us what’s on the agenda for the trip.
It’s going to be a packed schedule! We participated in Renegade San Francisco last weekend, so right after teardown on Sunday night we took a redeye to New York. Once we arrive in New York, we have just a few hours to get settled before heading over the Etsy HQ in Brooklyn to meet the Etsy team and set up our table (we sent over all of our display items earlier this week). Then we’ll hopefully get a good night’s sleep, because Tuesday’s schedule is very full!

 

Starting in the morning, we’ll have a seller’s breakfast along with a “Prep Your Pitch” refresher with one of the Etsy seller admins. Following this, we’ll dive right into pitching. We’ll be grouped into five different rooms, with six sellers per room and the five retailers rotating through each room throughout the day. Each seller will have about five minutes to pitch their product. Etsy has asked us to hone our pitches to about thirty seconds with the remaining time for Q & A with the buyer, so we’re well-prepared with a concise but action-packed pitch. We’ll have two of these pitching sessions before we break for lunch.

 

During lunch, we’ll have a keynote presentation from Refinery 29 editor Erin Cunningham on pitching to the press. Then, we’ll continue on with our remaining three rounds of pitching. At about 4:30pm, we’ll wrap up the pitching portion of the day. The retailers will then convene to discuss their shared experiences with the various sellers.

 

During this time, Robert and I will be attending a workshop given by the experts at Canon on product photography, as well as getting a constructive critique specifically tailored toward our photography. This will be followed by everyone gathering back up together for a Q & A panel with the retailers and a “closing ceremony” where they will talk about some of their favorite pitches of the day. Finally, we’ll wrap up the very busy day with a cocktail party to celebrate.  

 

 

5. How have you prepared for the live pitches?
One of the most important parts of preparing has been really refining our general pitch. We wanted to have an element of storytelling, be able to talk about the need our product addresses, and also pitch the product itself…all within 30 seconds. That has definitely been a challenging but helpful exercise!

 

The next part of preparation involved learning about the various retailers. What is their brand ethos? What kinds of products would fit well in their stores? I learned as much as I could, eventually compiling a 23-page study guide on the retailers that would be present at the event.  I considered the ways I could refine my pitch (and product suggestions) to fit the needs of each retailer. We’ve rehearsed the pitch over and over…and have talked about possible lead times, our order threshold, and various other questions that retailers might ask.

 

Finally, we’ve inwardly prepared for the big question: what if we come away with a large order? Robert and I have talked before about how we would scale and what steps would need to be taken; now we are faced with it becoming a reality, and we feel like we are ready for it if it does happen.

 

6. What are you crossing your fingers + hoping for at the NYC event?

We would love to walk away with an order, of course! There’s one shop in particular that we have a little crush on and we’d love to partner up with. That being said—as cliché as it sounds—it really will be such an amazing experience just to participate. We already feel incredibly honored to have been chosen out of so many businesses, and the opportunity to pitch these retailers, to get direct feedback from them, to have our product photography critiqued, and to learn directly from Refinery 29 about pitching to the press will all be incredibly beneficial to the future growth of Handcrafted Honey Bee. No matter what, it will be an experience we’ll never forget.

 

 

7. Many makers hold themselves back by thinking “I’d probably never win that.” Why haven’t you let that hold you back?
Winning is beside the point. Anything I can do to step up my business game is never a wasted effort. Whether a contest requires that I fill out an application, write an essay, post on social media, or ask people to vote for my business—all of it requires me to hone my craft as a businesswoman.None of those efforts are ever in vain, even if I don’t “win.” Besides…instead of thinking, “What if I don’t win?”, there’s always the flip side to that. What if you do? What is there to lose?

 

8. You’ve had great success with national competitions, Can you tell us about your other contest experiences and how they’ve benefited the Handcrafted Honey Bee brand?
Our first opportunity for national recognition came from being chosen as one of Intuit’s “Small Biz Local Buzz” winners in March of 2014. We were given a $5,000 grant and used it to rebuild our website from the ground up. It truly was a game-changer for us in the sense that it helped us to represent the aesthetic of our brand much more accurately online.

 

Then, in September of 2014, we were chosen as finalists in Martha Stewart’s 2014 American Made competition. We went through a rigorous month-long process of asking the public to help vote for us in an attempt to become the 2014 American Made Audience Choice winner. Out of almost 1000 finalists, we actually came in second place with over 32,000 votes! While it didn’t win us the coveted winning spot, the benefits to our brand were huge. I used the opportunity to get into local newspapers, on the radio, and even got onto the evening news! It put us on a public platform in a way we’d never experienced before, and we’re still enjoying the benefits. Earlier this year, the team from Martha Stewart’s American Made Marketplace approached us about selling on their online platform. Soon you’ll be able to see Handcrafted Honey Bee there as well!

 

The way I see it, only good can come out of throwing my hat in the ring for these competitions. I don’t believe that efforts to better my business are ever in vain. They’re all just steps toward my dream. Some steps end up being bigger than others, but as long as I’m moving forward I’m happy.

 

 

Seriously, how much do we love Stacia Guzzo? Please light a candle, say a prayer, send good juju, dance naked around a bonfire, etc. for Stacia and Robert as they prepare to put their best foot forward with national retailers. She’s promised to capture a few pics from the big event and I’m eager to share those with you.

 

Want to watch it unfold live? Follow Stacia on Instagram to get the 411.

 

Want to see who else made the cut? Refinery 29 has the complete list of the 30 Etsy Open Call winners.

 

Want to ask Stacia a specific question? Drop it in the comments below and I’ll see if I can tug her ear and have it answered in the  follow-up to this post!