EtsyCA Captains Summit 2015

It's hard to believe it was just one week ago that I was in Toronto taking part in my second Etsy Canada Captains Summit. 

I laugh when I look at this photo with my big cheesy grin and eyes closed. I really look like I'm in a state of Etsy bliss. The love for Etsy just seeping from my pores. Truth be told, it is. 

Sometimes being an entrepreneur who sells mostly online can be a lonely existence. Don't get me wrong. I love my job. I get to be creative, try new things all the time and work for myself. It's not always easy though being a one woman show. 

Sometimes being the captain of a relatively newer team of 100+ members can also be a hard task. Keeping people motivated, inspired and working together as a community to bring a collective success to our shops and promote small handmade business in our region. You wonder sometimes if you are doing enough. If anyone notices that you don't always sleep well thinking about certain members and their struggles. Or how to get people more engaged. Or how to make sure that your next event is a huge success for everyone. You feel like it all rests on your shoulders and that can be a heavy load to carry sometimes.

That's where the Etsy Captains Summit becomes one of the most influential and supportive moments during your year. When you meet other people that are struggling with the same issues. Where you don't have to be afraid to discuss what problems are keeping you up at night. You have an opportunity to vent, to relate and to laugh at things that didn't exactly work out as you'd hoped. The best part is sharing those experiences with people who understand and love you for trying.

Last year's summit blew me away. It's a bit like seeing the wizard behind the curtain. You are completely surprised at the reality of what EtsyCA really is. It's a small team of extraordinary people

that work every day to support it's online vendor community. Every day they are pushing our products, making media focus on our shops, working hard to make Etsy a household name for Canadians. You would think it's a huge team of people but it's really only a small team of incredibly hardworking and passionate people. The best part of this team is they are the most approachable and kind people you could ever hope to have in your corner. They love their jobs. On the left you can see a few of us speaking with the amazing Tanya from Etsy admin.



So let's talk more about this years summit and what happened. First of all, this year there were almost double the amount of captains from last year. 50 people from all over Canada coming together to discuss Made In Canada 2015/ Fait Au Quebec 2015.

50 people who volunteer their time to helping

others in their community become successful entrepreneurs. How can you not be inspired by that fact alone? You want to know something even cooler? We all genuinely like each other as well. Many of us are friends and interact with each other daily. I guess you could say we have quite a bit in common.

The best part about being a larger group this year is that more communities across Canada will be able to take part in this yearly event. Last year there were 23 markets across Canada with more than 45,000 attendees. Imagine how that impacted the sellers involved. Beyond that think about what that means for you as an Etsy seller. Spreading the word about Etsy means more exposure for all of us. I encourage anyone who is reading this to check out the Teams section of Etsy. Search for a team in your area and get involved. If there isn't one already you could be the person to get the ball rolling.

So a lot of people want to know... what are we doing at these summits? Well besides networking with like-minded people and planning for our annual cross Canada event we are learning. Learning how to be better captains, how to engage our teams and communities, learning how to better utilize Etsy itself and connecting with sponsors and media specialists to help us grow. It's 2 days of intense and inspiring material. We listen to speakers, we break into small groups and brainstorm. We discuss the future of Etsy in Canada. What does that look like? What does that involve? How can we reach a larger audience and involve our communities big and small.

Last year CEO Chad Dickerson came to speak with us. This year we had Moishe Lettvin who is an engineer with Etsy Seller Growth Team. We had been pre-warned that he was going to be epic and we were not disappointed one bit. I was lucky enough to have lunch with this kind fellow and I have to tell you.. I'm a fan. He spoke to us about how he found his true sense of home with Etsy. How much it meant to him to be creating things that meant something to somebody. He understands how his work is impacting our work and our ability to sell our wares. It's a good reminder to all of us that there are people with heart working on the back end of things. Coming from a creative household himself he finds this work to be more rewarding than any career move he's ever made. Aren't you happy to hear there are people like him working to make the site better?

Here I am pictured with Jessika Hepburn from Oh my!handmadegoodness. She blessed us with a speech regarding community engagement. I have to say that listening to her was like somebody peering into my heart and brain and speaking it out loud. She made us think about how what we are doing can truly make a difference in our areas. How we can welcome people and help them achieve their goals. How we can become the bridge that spans the gap and bring the passion back in our communities. The goal of making our markets more than just your average market by getting the unseen people of our region involved.

Sadly, I don't have photos of all our speakers. We heard from Ruth Smith, the captain of WEST, on how to engage our teams and encourage people to volunteer. She reminded us how the more our teams are active the more we are able to accomplish together. Ruth is such a helpful member of the community that she was awarded with a plaque from Etsy this year. She was nominated by fellow captains.

There were two guest speakers from Canada Post who spoke to use about the value of understanding shipping and your options to save money. They also reminded us of how to use direct mailers as a business tool. They were one of our sponsors last year and will fortunately be backing us again this year.

It's hard to explain just how epic this summit is. Every where you turn you are inspired, supported and celebrated. You are networking with like-minded people and learning from leaders of other communities. I am so fortunate to have been included 2 years in a row. I hope that I can continue to attend this event. It's a huge highlight of my year and has really changed me as a person. For somebody who is an introvert to be going to a conference of people with big personalities and planning a giant market event where I am constantly engaging with people it's had a huge impact on me. I will always be eternally grateful I was able to be a part of all of this.

So what does this mean for you? Get ready for big things. Mark September 26th on your calendars. Check to see what is happening in your area. Keep up with all the new ideas EtsyCA is coming up with to spread the word about us. Utilize teams to connect with people in your area. There is a big team of people who want to see you succeed.

And here they are:

Big thank you to Erin Klassen, Tanya Santos and all the EtsyCa team for making this all possible.