Dear Creativity,

I went to my third craft fair of the season and uncovered my mission.

Each has its unique vibe and flare—hotel lobbies, a small downtown outdoor area, and a convention center.

Today, I arrived mid-faire and witnessed people walking away with bags upon bags of goodies. I wasn't there for a bargain or to do any shopping, although I did walk away with a unique pair of earrings.

I was there to get curious about the artisans and their journey to creating. The stories that go untold and unnoticed. This was my mission since the first fair that I attended. That fair was small and uncrowded, so I could spend time with each artisan and uncover their path from seedling to booth. It was there that a seed of idea got planted.

And now I am on a circuit to learn and grow my vision. The fair today was in a large conference center. It felt like it went on forever and it was extremely crowded, so I bee-lined my way to the women with booths that weren't filled with people. I knew these were the artisans I needed to talk to.

Today, I met:

• Angelina, a Mexican woman who stumbled into ceramic through a $5 workshop.
• Christina, a small independent book publisher of Filipino stories.
• Nikitha, an engineer turned paper folder extraordinaire, commissioning her works of art.
• A mom and 2 daughters who are entrepreneurial baddies, crocheting, making sustainable goods, and embracing their multipassionate selves.

I can't wait to learn more about them and share the stories with you, Creativity, and the world as I know they will inspire and motivate my community to take action on their passions to partner with you.

Outside of sharing these beautiful stories of small business women creators following their passions and carving out space for their joy, a vision came to me.

It is clear, my purpose, is to make enough money in my business so that I can start a fund to provide wannabe creatives the means to play, be joyful, and wonder.

The directive is clear, so I guess we should keep following the breadcrumbs despite not knowing where they will lead us.

I know it will take a bit of time, but what's on the other side is well worth the journey.

Innovatively yours,
Dr. Abigail