Market’s entrepreneurs share their stories

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This article was published 27/05/2024 (543 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Turning a side hustle into a successful business is not easy, but it’s worth it and fun, says Westman’s Cassandrea Lesiuk.

Lesiuk, along with her business partner Michelle Lewis have created their own small business that helps other up-and-coming entrepreneurs.

What they’ve created is a conduit for crafters, makers, bakers and brewers with their Apple and Pine Spring Market, offered twice a year in the Manitoba Room at the Keystone Centre.

“Everyone is always looking for an extra sense of income, but I wouldn’t say that was our main goal,” said Lesiuk during Saturday’s event.

In 2018, Lewis and Lesiuk were looking for something to do on the side. They are both mothers and have full time jobs, but Lesiuk said they saw a need to showcase “shopping local.”

“We really enjoy supporting local and that’s what we wanted to do – support local businesses and bring that niche market to Brandon, which I think did exist but I also think it’s grown in the last few years,” Lesiuk said as she looked around the room at the 104 registered vendors at the market.

“And I look at this as a boutique-type market,” Lesiuk added. “Most of these makers totally devote their lifestyle to their business. We like to stick with Manitoba but there are some outside of the province, depending on their categories and their uniqueness

“There are also a lot of makers that are well known in Winnipeg that we don’t see in Brandon, so they like to come to this market as well.”

One of those is Winnipeg baker Olivia Thompson, who said she created her business Liv2bake because of health reasons. Five years ago, when she was 19, Thompson was diagnosed with celiac disease.

When someone has celiac disease, their small intestine is hypersensitive to gluten, which leads to difficulty digesting food. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley.

“I was really disappointed with the food I was finding in stores; I wasn’t really finding a lot of fresh baked awesome stuff to eat on the spot,” Thompson said.

“So, I thought why not do it myself? Let’s help sell some awesome food to other people.

“I took all my gluten recipes and just switched them to be gluten free. I had all the basics, I just tweaked them a little bit by changing a bit of flour, added a little bit of starch, but all those base ingredients and ratios were already there.

“Some of my biggest customers are not even gluten-free.”

Vendor Breanne Kyle’s story — about how she started her small business To the Moon and Back, began about five years ago.

Kyle’s newborn son needed emergency heart surgery, and the family was sent to the renowned cardiac care hospital, the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute in Edmonton, Alta.

“During our first trip to Edmonton,” said Kyle, “I had a bit of time where I wasn’t able to do anything, just wait. So, we started sewing and we made blankets. We took them to the hospital because they needed some.

“Well, that kept us busy and then people started buying them, so it worked out.”

The blankets are made from minky, which is a soft and plush microfiber fabric – and “they’re warm, so the kids really like them,” she said. The more Kyle sold, the more she thought about “giving back.”

“So, a portion of every blanket or anything we sell in our store, we donate back to buying blankets for the hospitals. We make them and give them to Ronald McDonald House, the Brandon Regional Health Centre and the Virden Hospital,” she said.

Browsing the aisles at the market and buying presents for the kids at home were mother and daughter, Cathie Hollier and Emily Cullen.

Hollier said she usually takes part in the Apple and Pine Market with her business KC Designs that she runs with her husband. He makes the wooden frames, and she designs and paints the finished product — signs.

As she experienced the other side of the market as a customer, Hollier shared the challenges that a small business operator can experience.

“For signs, it is a lot of prep work and inventory, and sometimes you don’t know what people are looking for,” Hollier said.

“So, you might make a lot of something, and one sale it’s super popular and then you make more of them for the next sale and they don’t sell.”

Even so, Hollier said as a vendor she understands when people look and keep walking, because “you never know.”

“What people have seen might not be a sale that day, but they remember it down the road,” said Hollier. “And they’ll keep you in mind for when they do need that gift.”

As Thompson sells another gluten-free cupcake she said her dream is to have a store front for people to come in, sit down and she’ll serve them food. But for now, she’s happy to take her baking on the road and set up at “any and all markets.”

“I love to feed people, that’s what I live for. So, this is awesome, and it’s fun,” Thompson said.

“Plus, the market brings people to me, and the people are wonderful. What’s not to love?”

» mmcdougall@brandonsun.com

» X: @enviromichele