Tent Talk

Eek! April 15th is just around the corner! It's time to get your receipts gathered and your books in order so you can file those 2022 taxes. This week on Tent Talk our guest is Danielle Hayden, CEO of Kickstarter Accounting where her and her team help entrepreneurs understand their numbers so they can gain the confidence needed to create sustainable profits. In this episode Danielle gives us a pep-talk & much-needed reprogramming on how we approach bookkeeping. She shares her philosophy on judgment-free accounting and provides insight on what small business owners should be doing to prepare for tax season. Whether you're a farmers market vendor, market operator, or just someone with anxiety when it comes to finances, this episode is for you! This week's episode is made possible by support from Square.

As state legislatures across the country rethink laws on food safety and street vendor permits, farmers market managers are having to rethink their market guidelines and policies. This week on Tent Talk we go over some of the various regulation changes that have been rolled out and implemented and how they are impacting farmers, food makers and local farmers market communities. Listen in for updates on recent shifts in public policy, how these changes are shaking out on a local level and what market managers should be aware of when it comes to food and vending legislation. This week's episode is made possible by support from Food4All.

Our guest this week is Sean Kirkpatrick, co-owner and the culinary creative behind Down to Ferment Hot Sauce. Sean has cooked professionally for all his adult life, filling roles as an Executive Chef, Food and Beverage Manager and Culinary Director. At the on-set of the pandemic, his love of fermented foods coincided with his dissatisfaction with corporate cooking culture and in early 2021 he and his business partner launched their line of vinegar-free hot sauces at local farmers markets in San Diego. Join us this week to learn how Sean applies his corporate training to his farmers market business from sourcing ingredients to keeping labor costs in balance. We also dig into the spicy double meanings of his hot sauce flavor names and discuss the vision behind his playful brand voice. This week's episode is made possible by support from TentCraft.

While we tend to focus mainly on farmers markets, here on Tent Talk, we love food markets of all shapes, sizes and persuasions! So this week we were delighted to speak with John Wang, founder of the Queens Night Market, an open-air night market in Queens, New York. Every Saturday night from April-October, the Queens Night Market features up to 100 independent vendors selling merchandise, art, and food as well as small-scale cultural performances, celebrating the rich cultural diversity and heritage of its borough. Now heading into its eighth season, the wildly popular and uniquely affordable event has launched over 350 new businesses in NYC and represented over 90 countries through its vendors and their food. In this episode we hear about how John got this project off the ground, how he curates his diverse roster of vendors, and his philosophy behind the $5 price cap on food sold at his market. This week's episode is made possible by support from Yiftee.

This week we're discussing an issue that all market managers seem to face: pirate vendors. No, we're not talking about buccaneers that sail the seven seas, we're talking about sellers and solicitors that set up in or around a farmers market as unofficial vendors. Though usually well-intentioned, hawkers, buskers, petitioners, and street vendors can confuse shoppers about where and when the actual farmers market begins, encroach on sales, and could potentially be a liability for farmers market operators. Tune in for some commiseration and brainstorming about what to do and how to handle these unofficial farmers market vendors. This week's episode is made possible by support from Vendor-101.

Ever wonder why farmers markets and small farmers don't have a bigger say in public policy? Us too! This week on Tent Talk, we brought in an expert to help shed light on the big issues that small farmers are facing. We learned a lot and it confirmed that the old adage is true: the squeaky wheel gets the cheese! Join us for this week's episode in which we get schooled by the one and only Kathy Zeman, Executive Director of the Minnesota Farmers Market Association, volunteer treasurer at Cannon Valley Farmers' Market and owner of Simple Harvest Farm Organics in Nerstrand, Minnesota and winner of the 2021 Gus Schumacher Award. Having spent most of her career in agriculture Kathy leverages the reach of the Minnesota Farmers Market Association to build strong collaborations with diverse groups, paving the way for successful public policy efforts in Minnesota and beyond! This week's episode is made possible by support from Vendor-101.

Farmers markets are often touted as a key to revitalizing failing downtowns. And while they aren't a panacea for all Main St. issues, when executed well, they really can turn around a business district in a special way. Our guests this week represent one of those Main Street success stories: Ivy Hagedorn and Lindsay Gagnon, of the Downtown Joplin Alliance and Joplin Empire Market. Back in December of 2016, the Empire District Electric Company donated to the Downtown Joplin Alliance over 33,000 square feet of buildings on 3.34 acres in the center of Joplin. Downtown Joplin Alliance re-purposed this historic building and its attached 11,000 sqft. garage as the new four-season Empire Market which opened in April 2018 and is now home to a growing roster of farmers, vendors and a brand new shared use commercial kitchen. Not only did the Joplin Empire Market reactivate a lackluster business district, it also breathed new life into a defunct historical building! Listen along to hear this incredible story. This week's episode is made possible by support from The Food Corridor.

This week we're joined by the dynamic duo behind City Gates Events, Brett and Patricia Keller. Since 2012, this husband & wife team has designed and executed high quality festivals that bring communities together, create connections, and encourage commerce. In 2021 they were recruited to take over management of the San Marcos Farmers Market, and though they had nearly a decade of experience pulling off large-scale events, this was a whole new ball game! In this episode Brett & Patricia fill us in on how they wound up working as event planners, what they've learned since adding weekly farmers markets to their roster of events, and what farmers market operators should consider if their thinking about launching an annual event. This week's episode is made possible by support from the InTents Conference.

What does a brand new farmers market manager need to know? Well... kinda a lot! Join us this week on Tent Talk as we discuss all the must-have tools, some tricks of the trade, and helpful advice that novice farmers market operators need to make a smooth transition into their new role. Don't tune out if you're a longtime market manager—even the most seasoned farmers market professional is bound to learn or thing or two! This week's episode is made possible by support from Manage My Market.

Happy Holidays from us here at Tent Talk & Farmers Market Pros! This week we have a very special treat for you! We are airing an episode of The Meaningful Marketplace podcast which is co-hosted by our dear friend and farmers market whiz Sarah Marshall of Marshall's Haute Sauce. A couple weeks back, Farmers Market Pro & Tent Talk co-host Catt Fields White joined Sarah and her fabulous counterpart Sarah Missoni to chat about the wild world of farmers markets. Listen along to hear Catt share her story of how she launched San Diego's largest farmers market and all that led up to her career in food. You can find more episodes of The Meaningful Marketplace on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts. This week's episode is made possible by support from Square.