MFF Road Trip 2014 - Salt Lake City

At the end of the first week of the Made for Freedom Road Trip, we arrived in Salt Lake City, the location of the Outdoor Retailer Show, one of the main reasons this trip was routed as it was. Our first evening there, we watched the preview for Stolen Innocence, a documentary about sex trafficking in India being produced by Casey Allred. The event was being hosted at ImpactHUB Salt Lake, and we were excited to be part of the Kickstarter campaign kickoff. If you are able, please go to  http://kck.st/1ok62ZF to support the making of this documentary and to getting the word out.

Our first day at the OR Show, we traversed the pavilions to see what the new vendors had to show. All in all we were impressed with several booths that also pinned social causes to their business models and look forward to being part of the pavilion group at the Summer Show in the future.

We were not the only Arch Grant 2014 recipients attending the OR Show. Our next-door neighbors in T-Rex, Hyde, had a booth set up and were making a lot of great connections. We managed to run into them a couple times and also to visit their booth to share in the excitement and to offer encouragement. Both of our companies agreed that the OR Show is well worth the time and effort.

We managed to get around to Salt Lake City boutiques and festivals as well to see whether Made for Freedom, and particularly Creabelis, could find a fit there. Several boutiques liked what we were doing but did not feel their clientele would purchase our product. One boutique was mentioned by several others, though, so we stopped in and learned that our product does fit in with their store; we're not sure whether the price point will connect with their clients yet. Ah, the travails of being a small business!

While we were in Salt Lake City, we stayed with my cousin Lisa Gillespie Pappas, and her husband, Chris, and their two daughters. They were very gracious, allowing us to come and go, and checking with us to see how our time at the trade show was going. They are familiar with the event and how it impacts the city so gave us great advice about how to get around and places to visit.

We also spent some time with part of Dawn's extended family in Park City, which brought us in touch with several boutiques there as well. In addition to adding to our contacts, we enjoyed the time seeing some of the sights in Park City and spending time getting to know some very fun ladies.

Back at the OR Show, we attended the final day in order to meet the person who will be our contact as we prepare to exhibit Made for Freedom products there in the future. Naturally, everyone wants to set up on the main floor, and we could possibly do this at the Winter Show, but we felt much more comfortable with the look and feel (and size) of the booths in the pavilions, so we would prefer to set up there for future Summer Shows. We also made some great contacts (and sales) on that last day and look forward to being part of this community in the years ahead. (Maybe someday we'll have a booth like Life is Good, which we dubbed Business is Good!)

On our final day in Salt Lake City, Dawn had the opportunity to address the congregation of City Presbyterian, a church plant started by her fellow Covenant colleague, Mark Peach. We felt this was a great finish to our time there and left the area with full stomachs and full spirits. Thank all of you in Salt Lake City who made us feel welcome and a part of your culture! We will see you again someday.