23/01/2025
🌟 Had a great time at the 2025 Alaska Wholesale Gift Show last week, hosted by at the Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center!
It was nice getting to connect with fellow business owners and see some familiar faces from last year. I even had some new buyers stop by my booth!
👉🏼 Last year was my first year getting into wholesale and I honestly felt like a small fish in a big pond. The same buyers from retail stores across Alaska come to these shows every year and they can be really intimidating at first… Especially when you’re “the new gal”! 🙋🏻♀️😂 I came to last year’s show not knowing what to expect or how exactly it all worked, but I jumped in head first, rented a small booth, and ended up getting into 4 retail locations that year! I was nervous as heck, but I’m glad I did it. ☺️
👉🏼 Fast forward to this year’s show… I felt way more confident! I was more prepared, I had a better idea of what to expect. I got a better booth, (sometimes you gotta pay to play baby) and I had a much better understanding of how wholesale works. I had a better process in place for when I received orders, and I had repeat buyers and even got into two new retail locations! 🙌🏼
So.. I’ve been asked, “would you do the show again next year?” And the answer is, Yes. You get a lot of brand exposure at these shows, you have the potential to get your products into more retail locations across Alaska, you learn so much, and you get to meet so many incredible people, and then get to learn from those people and hear their business journey, hear their story and their experience at these shows, and in my opinion that information and knowledge is invaluable. You really can’t put a dollar amount on that. So yes, I will continue to do the wholesale show, I will continue to try new things and push myself out of my comfort zone, because it’s worth it to me to learn more and keep growing my business! 😊
Don’t be afraid to start or try something new! Just go for it! Failure does not define you! Learn from it! Pivot, adapt and grow! 🫶🏼
