Building A Stronger Future - Business, Community & Friendship

On March 24th, 2025 on the patio of a Northeast Portland coffee shop, a group of dreamers met up to share ideas on a new way to do business. We came together as a group of acquaintances and coworkers, some of us meeting for the first time, and we chatted for hours about ourselves, our crafts, and our experiences. We shared our ideas about what we thought needed to change in typical retail stores and consignment programs. Our values and hopes for a workplace that prioritized people over profit were all aligned and moving forward together felt like the natural next step. This meeting was the first of many. Monday mornings soon became our regular time to create the plan of how to make this grand idea come to life. Over the weeks, the structure for the collective came together organically as we shared our aesthetics, ideals, and visions for the future.

Throughout the following months we spent countless hours discussing ideas, sharing resources, and collaborating on projects to get the collective established. Each of us leaned into our strengths and took on the tasks most aligned with our abilities and interests. We’ve each brought to the table our own unique experiences that equipped us with a variety of skills that we were able to share with one another. We view our skills not as assets to be shielded and gate kept but rather tools to be exchanged and shared for the mutual benefit of the group. By supporting one another with our abilities we are embodying the principles of community. We take the risk of conflict and difficult conversations for the abundance found in connection and care. Together we are stronger and can achieve a better future for ourselves and each other.

Running a small business can be a lonely pursuit. It often takes years of working non stop to build momentum and those years are not time that can be recovered. Running a business shouldn’t come at the expense of your physical, mental, or social well being. We are humans first and business owners second. The worker-owned business model allows for each of us to have a better balance in life with built in support when things get tough. During this process each of us has needed time to rest, recover, and handle life's unpredictable challenges. In a single-owner business there is little time to rest and if you need a break all of those tasks are waiting for you the moment you return. With the collective we have organized it to be a safe place where we can be honest with each other about our challenges and know that we will receive the support necessary to take a break. The work will continue to be done, and support and care is available and not contingent on our performance or productivity.

Throughout this process of making decisions together, creating and imagining what could be, and thinking outside the box we have learned so much about one another. We came together to build a business centered on community and cooperative principles and along the way we found friendship. Business, community, and friendship do not have to be mutually exclusive. We can create a future where workers are valued and have decision making power, people are supported and cared for, joy is prioritized and celebrated, and success is achieved through collaboration. 

Collective owners responses to the question "Is there a moment that you have had in this experience where you felt the intersection of business, community, and friendship sync together?

Joselin 

"I think when I really noticed a moment of intersectionality between those things was when I went away on a trip and came back. I could actually take a break and give my attention to the people I was visiting and wasn't worried about personally falling behind or the collective falling behind because I trust these people so much and we each have each others' backs. I know they care about not only the success of the collective, but me as a person. And after getting back and seeing everyone when we vended a market together I noticed how much I had missed everyone when I was gone! I feel like I'm able to be serious, vulnerable, and myself around this crew and the support is endless."

Julia 

"In the past months I have had a handful of opportunities to vend with other Collective members. Beyond the more obvious gratitude of being able to help each other with setup and takedown for these markets, other moments stood out to me as clear examples of this intersection. Sharing display strategies, seeking out sweet treats or going for snack runs, shedding a tear or two after getting support sharing a personal story during lull in traffic, and of course, endless art trades. It’s not easy to be vulnerable in so many ways - financially, relationally. To be with a group to trade laughs with while tackling very real challenges has been such a joy. Thank you to my co-owners for holding my dreams so tenderly alongside yours."

Mar 

"Through all of the big moments of building this dream so far — the celebrations, logistical challenges, and vending experiences — the moments that stick out the most are the small ones. The transitional times between tasks, spent in cars or at Spielman’s or a conveyor belt sushi spot. I’m a fairly (unintentionally) reserved person, I tend to overthink and end up keeping to myself a lot of the time. But this group is so genuine, and silly, and comfortable sharing very vulnerable parts of their lives in the quiet moments. It makes me feel comfortable enough to be that way too."

Sean 

"This year I turned 30 and it's been quite the season of change in my life. As I navigated through a breakup and loss of a pet while juggling my brand, my day job, and the collective I started to feel weighed down and afraid that I wasn’t able to keep up with the speed of the collective. I tried to work through it and keep my struggles close to my chest but it became too much. After a meeting I decided to be vulnerable with the group and share the challenges I had been facing and it was an instant relief. My fear of being seen was immediately replaced by the comfort of community support and care ; I was embraced wholeheartedly, struggles and all, and I knew I was in the right place with the right people. The folks in this collective are not only brilliant and talented business people and artists but also top notch humans. Being in community with them assures me that I am building the better future that I want to be a part of."

Sofi

"A few months in, I was feeling really stretched thin between straddling my business, personal life, the collective, while also going through some really difficult family stuff. I broke down while talking to my partner, expressing that I felt like I was letting the collective down because I couldn’t be as productive or get as much done as I’d promised. His response was, “I think if anyone would understand, it’d be this group. Isn’t supporting each other by tagging in and out a big focus of the collective?” His response brought tears to my eyes because this was the first time I’d ever experienced the intersection of business, community, and friendship; where people didn’t only care about my productivity, but instead cared more about me as a person and their friend. Being in community with this group of people has really healed a lot for me and is helping me learn how to rely on others while thinking more communally. Whether it be creative problem solving, expressing vulnerable personal moments, celebrating wins, and sharing in each other's losses, I now get to be in community with an incredible group of people I also get to call my friends. It’s truly everything I’ve been looking for throughout my life and I couldn’t be more grateful. "