Our first month of direct sales to the public is in the books. I know we initially said we would do impact statements at the close of each accounting year, but the excitement, what can I say. We decided to bring our little world into our local farmer’s market. Since so much of the impact we want to make involves impacting the community we call home as we lift while rising, what better way to do this than by having the opportunity to have one on one conversations with our neighbors and bring all of our hard work to display.
Of course, this means only focusing on the products we directly make as opposed to those we tirelessly source and stock as this is a hard and fast rule of our local market. And this is the furthest thing from a deal breaker for us. With a mix of the anxiety that percolates the night before a big test and the excitement of walking the stage, we gathered a selection of our soaps, body butters, bath bombs, lip balms, incense, beeswax candles, scented soy candles, newly created resin & 3D printed products, as well as even our laundry soap (this product will be available to purchase online VERY soon!)
It took a few market days to really get our metaphorical sea legs, both for setup flow as well as product placement and conversation. But let this introductory impact statement speak for itself.
What an amazing first month! As you can see while in our original Magic with a Mission blog post, we chose to skip straight to a 1 for 1 match program on our soaps. So right out of the gate if a bar of soap is purchased, we are immediately allocating a bar for donation. In such difficult economic times we find ourselves in as a nation, dignity is non negotiable. For the month of May, we chose a local shelter for unhoused youth called Home Plate Youth Services (in partnership with Fresh Start Detail) to receive our very first donation match. We chose to allocate 10 nourishing lip balms as well from a percentage of our proceeds.
We also had the honor of selling 4 smudge sticks in the months of May enabling us to make our first direct (from in person sales) contribution to Tongva Taraxat Paxaava Conservancy working to protect the environment/land that sacred white sage grows in.
For June, we are looking forward to donating to H.U.M.A.N. (Hillsboro United Mutal Aid Network, providing critical supplies for families in need) for the 1 for 1 soap bar match. We will absolutely be thrilled to contribute to Tongva Taraxat Paxaava Conservancy again as so far we are up to 3 smudge sticks sold.
For the remainder of June & July, we can be found at the following local Markets:
Downtown Hillsboro Farmer’s Market
June 20th & 27th (Saturday, from 9am until 1pm)
July 11th, 18th & 25th (Saturday, from 9am until 1pm)
Hillsboro Tuesday Night Market
June 16th & 23rd (Saturday, from 5pm-8:30pm)
July 7th, 14th, 21st, & 28th (Saturday, from 5pm-8:30pm)
Downtown Hillsboro Station
June 21st (Sunday, from 11am to 5pm)
July 19th (Sunday, from 11am to 5pm)
South Hillsboro at Tamarack Park
July 1st (Wednesday, from 4:30pm to 8pm)
As lined out in our initial blog post, from 2026-2028, Esotérika will be laying the groundwork to connect every, single product to a cause that will positively impact the planet and its occupants. We encourage like minded entrepreneurs to see how they too can build this into your business plans. While economically life is becoming increasingly difficult to stretch a dollar, this proves exactly why we cannot rely on corporations to show up according to their capacity. We encourage like minded customers to aim to shop local and to shop for impact whenever possible. We all must take care of each other. Especially now.
If there isn’t enough room at the table then it is time to build a bigger table! Come build with us; come lift with us!
To see more from our little corner of the farmers market world, follow Esotérika on Instagram & Facebook