Salsa Lady
Chances are if you landed on my page its because you met me on the island or you have tried my salsa… either way I am excited that you are here now. The pandemic has slightly interrupted my plans of starting my food truck in 2020, but it allowed me the opportunity to enter into the market in a more ‘grass roots’ type of style. There is a saying or perhaps I just made it up along the way… The way you can identify good Mexican food is by trying the salsa first. If the salsa is good- then the food will be. So naturally, it was the introduction route I wanted to take.
Signing up for the Mililani Market Place Market Night was the first opportunity for me to share, meet & greet. I will have to write a blog just about the experience in working a local market. From the signup, preparation, setup and break down. There is a lot of work/steps that are involved that most people would not even realize. Hats off to all of the market vendors!
For me, the market experience has been an opportunity for me to share my vision for Shaka Mex with the public. Each market I enthusiastically offered tastings of my salsa for sell and there wasn’t a person that walked by my booth that wasn’t greeted with excitement. Some people quietly walked by and avoided eye contact as if I didn’t exist. A few others who did engage slightly would politely decline my offer for a sample. In hindsight, I would say that for every five people that would pass by, one person would stop to sample. Each time, I was equally as nervous as the first. It’s crazy to imagine, but in concept in preparing to be a vendor there is a checklist of tasks to complete. However, as prepared as I was with my setup I did not anticipate the effort it would take to entice others to try authentic salsa. Sure, I built it and yes people did come… but let’s face it people were not lining up to buy salsa. At the time, I made an active choice to focus on the people who were supporting- the ‘every one in five’. My focus became more about those interactions as opposed to meeting a sales quota/target.
Once my mindset shifted I began to ride an unexpected wave of continuous support and positive feedback. People were coming back to me each week to purchase my salsa. Those people shared with their friends/family and before I knew it I was receiving private messages with salsa inquiries or warm sentiments. Wow, what an amazing feeling and a blessing! Now here I am now, still hoping that my food trailer will eventually arrive here- but I now have a tribe that is waiting with me. Organically, I have reached 95 followers on my Shaka Mex instagram and I am just overwhelmed with gratitude. “Only 95 followers?” - someone mentioned this to me as they were trying to get me to advertise to gain more followers…
Those 95 followers represent people who I have connected with organically & there is no place I would rather be. For now, I am their ‘Salsa Lady’.
