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0:00:00 - Speaker 1 All right. Hello everyone, we're here again for the Missoula Makers Maker interview series. This is our I believe our fourth week, so thank you for tuning in. We're doing this every single Thursday at noon. Thursdays obviously are market days, so we are doing this prior to the market to kind of let you know who's going to be at the market, and we're interviewing our permanent vendors. And today we are here with Kendall from Wimsicle Wearables And if you've been coming to our markets like consistently, even a little bit, for the last two and a half years, you've definitely encountered Kendall. Kendall is like one of the OGs and has been doing our markets for so long, and so I'm really excited about this And I'll pass it off to Kendall in just a minute to tell us a little bit more about their business and kind of what they do. Yeah, actually I'll pass it off right now. Can you mind telling us a little bit about Wimsicle Wearables and what you sell and kind of how you make stuff? 0:00:58 - Speaker 2 Yeah for sure. Yeah, watch, take it. So yeah, i'm Kendall. I'm the owner of Wimsicle Wearables. I've been. My business has kind of been going around for maybe like three or so years now And I've been making my product for I'd like to say 10 years. So yeah it's. I had no idea. I was in like elementary school when I started. So it's been a while. I've had a lot of time to kind of work on what I'm doing. So, yeah, i make polymer clay, food themed jewelry and miniatures. So I like to tell people I'm a toy maker as well as a jewelry maker, just because that's fun. Like whose dream isn't it to make toys, you know? 0:01:42 - Speaker 1 that's so fun. 0:01:43 - Speaker 2 So, yeah, i started off making food themed earrings and selling them at markets. And well, when I originally started I was just selling them to, like my friends, like when I was in middle school and elementary school, and I'd make cupcake earrings for them, and it's really grown from there, obviously, yeah. So I started selling in Missoula about, like, yeah, three years ago And my first year, you guys, the Missoula Makers Company started up and I got started with them as well. So I've just been going around Missoula trying to do in Montana, doing all these local markets and trying to grow and meet new people. It's been great. 0:02:20 - Speaker 1 Yeah. All right, that was great. I had no idea, like literally no idea, that you'd be doing it for 10 years. That's insane. Yeah, well, i guess it makes sense to. If anyone, if you've guys out there, have seen Kendall's work, you're over here like, yeah, doug Bailey, that makes sense. You've seen it right, like it's immaculate. So that makes a lot of sense. Do you mind? Let's see? Yeah, you were so, kendall, you were at our like very first market ever, i believe, in the OyoA studio. Do you mind telling us a little bit about that? Like I Like now that I'm thinking back to them, like I can barely remember what happened that night, But, yeah, you've been with us in Oyo-e and then at the summer at Kettle House, you've been with us here in the space and then also, you know, at our summer markets now. So do you mind being a witness and kind of talking about the evolution of markets? 0:03:15 - Speaker 2 Yeah, Yeah, um, i remember again, it was my first year selling and I remember hearing about this market that had popped up and it was a bunch of like local businesses And I remember knowing like, oh, i know some people who do polymer clay earrings, who do this, and I've just sort of I got into contact with them and decided to check it out. And I remembered not knowing anybody and I was like there's a Rachel and a Bailey and I know that And so, and I show up and and I don't know like it's like super scary because I don't know what's going on and everybody knows each other, but they were all like so welcoming. And again it's very like. It's a very like foggy memory because it feels so long ago And when you look at all the like everything that goes on with with these events, and I just remember showing up and you came up to me right away and you were like hey, like super like welcoming and everybody was like super cool And and even now it's like the same group of people. I just that's something that I like about this is you get to know these people very like closely and it like move on with them as this business and this community grows. It's been great And so, yeah, it was just. I just remember being very welcoming and I was very scared before I showed up, but it was all good when I got there. 0:04:32 - Speaker 1 I love that. I mean, it's almost yeah, it's almost like we scripted this for you to say that That's like out of the perfect answer. So, yeah, i love that. Let's see, do you mind Let's talk about because you have so many products and I could name off like my like top five things you've makes. They're very cool Do you want to like roll out some of like your favorite products right now and tell us about like some things you're like proud of that are new or your favorites or best sellers at markets or kind of whatever? 0:05:04 - Speaker 2 Yeah, for sure. So I've my new. Something newer that I've been doing this year mostly is I've brought in croc charms, the little gibbits, and I know I'm very excited for them. I don't have crocs personally, but I'm tempted to get them just so I could wear them, since I don't necessarily. I'm not a big food earing person myself, i just really like to make them. But I was like I'd wear croc charms of like a cosmic brownie and stuff. So I make. I've been making cosmic brownies and they have already like they have popped off, like everybody is like just been like not literally eating them up, but but kind of eating them up, and they've been like hugely successful and I'm like in love with them And I'm starting to make like hair, hair barrettes and stuff. And then so, yeah, the croc charms are. I love them, they're, i'm just excited to have those there. And I started making stickers too. I've had stickers in the past and I've hand drawn them on sticker paper And it's just been such an ordeal. But I've started to. I have a bunch of old print like carving tools from one of my classes last semester And so I've been carving erasers and using my old designs to make hand printed stickers. So that's been really fun And I know everybody's getting into printmaking now, it's fun. 0:06:23 - Speaker 1 It's so fun. Yeah, awesome That's been great Yeah. Cool, alrighty. Um, i think that's about it. I feel like this interview has gone a little bit longer than most of our interviews, which is great, i mean. I would say that means that we're probably getting better at this. I keep looking over Brianka's here with us. She's running the camera today, so I keep looking over, yep, brianka, but yeah, i don't know. Kendall, do you have anything that we missed that you want to talk about? 0:06:57 - Speaker 2 Nothing comes to mind. 0:06:58 - Speaker 1 No, No it just Yeah. All right. Well, everyone, get your butts down to the market for some crock charms. Tonight We're at Caris Park from 5.30 to 8.30. Obviously, if you've been tuning into these, you know the drill. We're there with Downtown Tonight. Downtown Tonight is an event put on by the Missoula Downtown Association. They have food trucks, live music, there's going to be beer and cocktails, and then we have the market and we will have almost 30 vendors this week, which we're really excited about. We've been kind of inching our way up to the full 30 vendors to make sure we have room for everyone, and I think we'll be entirely full tonight. Brianka, what's up? You're laughing? Oh, cute, very nice, anyways. So, yeah, we will see you there. Thank you for tuning in and we'll be back at this next week.