We're so excited to shine a special spotlight on a fellow female entrepreneur who is making big moves in the Bay Area -- Phoebe Sherman!

Phoebe stands for Women's Rights, she is also a business consultant AND she produces an incredible shopping event called Girl Gang Craft which Katie Dean Jewelry will be at this weekend! (...to be honest, that's not even scratching the surface of all the things Phoebe does but just to give you a taste!)

Read on get to know Phoebe and hear her wise words on business, social media and so much more. 

xx, Katie 

1. Hi Phoebe! Can you tell our readers a general summary of who you are and what you do? (including your endeavors outside of Girl Gang Craft)

Hey Katie! I'm Phoebe, the founder of Girl Gang Craft. I am an artist and I also teach yoga. I spend most of my days working out of my home office running Girl Gang Craft. Girl Gang Craft is a community powered by womxn for womxn. We host craft fairs, empower brands, and have an in-house feminist clothing line. You've maybe seen our little uterus enamel pin around. It has a diamond on it and it's cute and pink and it's a reminder that we all come from the same place. We here at GGC believe that anyone with a uterus should be able to do whatever they want with it, without the government getting involved! Please + thank you. Our uterus line collects 10% for Planned Parenthood and other reproductive rights orgs like Yellow Fund. We've donated over $1700 to date. 

2. Why did you start Girl Gang Craft and what’s the message that you want to get out there with the work you do in GGC? 

Girl Gang Craft started by accident at our friend's cafe in Oakland. There weren't enough places for artists to show that are inclusive and fun, so we got our friends together and hosted a market, but it felt more like a party. Many of the craft fairs in the Bay Area are expensive to be a part of and are often exclusive and hard to get accepted into. I wanted to create a space for womxn, trans + non-binary artists to sell their wares and collab with each other. Our shows started at 15 vendors and now we've grown to 130 artists under one roof!  

Girl Gang Craft supports new and upcoming artists. We offer affordable vending spaces plus scholarships to those that need it. GGC strives to blur the lines between the craft and the art world, and aims to highlight womxn, trans, and non-binary creatives doing extraordinary things. We host markets that are clearly more exciting than your average craft fairs. Not only do we have artists selling jewelry, ceramics, and fine art, but we host healers and interactive experiences. We've had reiki practitioners, tarot readers, and even Aura photos. Beyond the craft fair space, we support small businesses in education and branding. GGC hosts branding workshops, helps with logo + web design and has online resources to elevate your business. 

Essentially GGC wants to help small businesses and creatives be the best they can be. Plus we'll be fighting the patriarchy while doing it. 

3. When you consult with small businesses (or big businesses) are there pain points that come up again and again that businesses seem to struggle with? If so, can you tell us about one or two and what you advise the solutions to be?

 This is a tough one! I think over and over again I hear that people feel like they have to be perfect. Perfect Instagram feeds, perfect photos. This is SUFFOCATING and comes from fear and often prohibits artists from posting at all. Yes, cohesive feeds are great. Yes, having a brand identity is a good idea, but we here at GGC believe that perfection is boring and TRUTH is much more fascinating. Take people behind the scenes of your craft, tell your story, go ahead and post that selfie or a picture of your cat. Your authenticity, your story, that's why people want to follow you, support you and buy from you.

Yes there are presets and planning apps and all these things that can make your life easier. (and yes we talk about them in our #Basic Branding Course avail online soon or in person in Oakland in the Fall) But ultimately you have to LOVE what you post, ultimately you have to be the cheerleader for your own business. If you don't believe in what you do 100% then who will? 

I am also a virgo so my other tip would be to plan things (instagram, schedule, etc) at the beginning of the week. It absolutely saves time and stress, I promise. We love the Planoly app. :)

4. What’s your advice for a business owner that feels like they have all these great ideas but they don’t know where to start or they feel suffocated by the competition? 

My advice, start simple. Create an instagram, get a logo and a website made. Find a craft fair to show at if that's your thing. Offer to buy someone breakfast to get some advice. Be patient with yourself. We at GGC believe competition is not really a thing. We believe in abundance and that there is room for us all to prosper. 

There is tons of business advice on our blog, come to our conference, stay tuned for our online courses, and maybe we'll even have a podcast next year. GGC is here to help! You can also work one-on-one with me if you're not sure where to start. 

5. You recently decided to do a Girl Gang Craft Small Biz Summit which I’m honored to be a panelist at - woohoo! What inspired you to do this and what can people expect to learn at this summit?  

COME! You won't regret it! Are you an artist or creative? Do you own a small business? Do you want to? Are you a nutritionist or a yoga teacher? Are you a blogger? Do you take photos? THIS EVENT IS FOR YOU!

We've loved throwing our craft fairs and will continue to do so, but GGC especially wants to pivot in the direction of creating community and educating small businesses. Our craft fairs are super fun, but our vendors get stuck behind their booths and don't have too much time to build community and create connections with each other. We have amazing speakers on August 17. Our conference speakers will discuss partnerships, creativity, money, social media, taxes, boundaries, getting started and so much more. We will have break-out workshops and panels, a mini market and a happy hour. This event will be a place to really soak in other artists' advice while truly connecting and building networks. PLUS if you get a VIP ticket Lisandra Vazquez of Auraology will be taking super fly headshots. 

You can Register and see our FAQ and our confirmed speakers here: https://www.girlgangcraft.com/smallbiz-summit 

6. Anything else you’d like to add or tell us about?

Thank you so much for taking the time to interview me, Katie! We're super excited about the upcoming year's events. Come see us at our Oakland Craft Fair June 22 at Scottish Rite in Oakland (flyer below!). We will also be having another Oakland show December 14, so if you want to apply to be a vendor make sure you sign up for our newsletter to know when apps open. We are expanding into another California city for the Fall. It's a secret for now, but we can't wait to tell you more. :)

If you want more info about the conference you can scope it here: https://www.girlgangcraft.com/smallbiz-summit

If you want to vend at a future show, sign up for our newsletter!

You can shop for our feminist goodies here: www.girlgangcraft.com/shop 

Make sure you are following us @girlgangcraft