Behind the Scenes: Hawaii Etsy Sellers on TV

My Friday Food feature has to be postponed yet again, to bring you this important announcement!

I'm a member of the Etsy Hawaii Street Team. I met with them once to discuss ideas and had a great time with 3 other sellers. Last week I was contacted by the street team and informed that Kathi from Isabella Smiles was performing some covert Etsy promotion. She contacted the local NBC news affiliate channel 8 KHNL in Honolulu about featuring Etsy and the Hawaii Sellers on their Talk Story feature. They grabbed it and she asked if I was interested in being a part of it. Are you kidding? Me?! With a microphone?!Totally my element! (Maybe being a middle child in a large family made me crave attention. Hmmm...)

I've been giggly all week after talking to Kathi and arranging that we would meet at her house and carpool down with Michelle of 3DCranes. I struggled with what to wear and wishing I could lose 20 lbs before the big day. I decided to make a new blouse for the event and struggled more if it was really flattering on me. I also wish I'd had a haircut and manicure but, oh well!

I made a new bag, my new blouse and packed a few samples to show. I arranged 2 different angel friends to care for my kiddos and off I went. I had a fun time visiting with Kathi and her sweet family. Her mom was so awesome and kept complimenting my new shirt. Michelle showed up and we hopped in my big mini van and headed to Honolulu!

We all felt nervous, but I had such a great calm hanging with these cool ladies and knew we would do great. I wanted to look good for my own shop but I felt the responsibility of representing Etsy and more importantly all the Hawaii Etsy sellers who will benefit from the public learning of this great resource.

We took turns being interviewed and showing our products and then they filmed a product display we put together with our items and some great bags, and wood creations from SasakiCreations on the Big Island (I was so excited to see their gorgeous wooden business card holders I have been eying for awhile) I think each of us were super and brought in some great angles on Etsy. Kathi talked about how Etsy started and showed her gorgeous jewelry. Michelle shared her cool origami crane creations and talked about the Etsy challenges. I, well, I talked alot, but I explained searching for the HI808 tags to find Hawaii sellers and got to show my new bag and pineapple blanket. (and even my new blouse I made yesterday!) It was so much fun! It is impossible to share everything about Etsy and our crafts and experiences in a short time but I know we hit on many great points and don't think we could have done better. We were as prepared as we could be and I am so excited to see how it is edited and comes together.

The reporter Cindy Cha, made us feel very comfortable and asked very good questions. She said she will let us know when it airs so I can DVR it and it should also be available online so you can view it too! Here are some pics from our time there. We posed with Cindy and then took a pic of Darrin, the cool camera guy.

It was great sharing my televison debut with Kathi and Michelle, some wonderfully good people, very talented Etsy crafters and sellers and my new friends. We went to lunch to celebrate and shared lots of advice and, as always, I learned more great ideas to help my business grow. It was an overall super day which couldn't have happened without my great friends Sara and Griselda loving my little babes. Thanks so much!

The 1st pic are the 3 of us with Cindy. What do you think of my new shirt? It is cream and black. Some of you have never seen me before. Then are friendly camera guy, our display of product and Michelle and Kathi smiling because we are so happy we did it but glad it's over!

Next for me..hmmm..Oprah of course and then my own show on HGTV or DIY. Gotta dream big!