Popping Around Town
“That’s kinda how most things start in my life. I just say, ‘I can do that’.”
This weekend brings the fifth Pop Up Boone art show, so we couldn’t think of a better time to sit down with Megan Kelly, the founder and owner, and listen to her story for #instaboonies.
2018 has been nothing short of eventful for Megan. Originally from Houston, TX, she came to Boone for the sustainable development program at Appalachian State University. However, she came to the decision that an entrepreneurial path suited her best. In January she started her own ceramics business, Clay by Jane. With studio support from @jefski, Megan was able to create her own line of pottery. In the beginning she was having a difficult time selling her pottery on a regular basis in Boone. She thanks Artisan Market Boone for giving her a foot in the door to sell her work in the Spring and Summer. However, for the most part she traveled around the state to sell. Because of all of this travel, she wasn’t building a customer base. It was when she participated in a Pop Up show in Asheville that the lightbulb went off. Enter the can-do attitude Megan is so well known for. Enter Pop Up Boone.
“Most people, when they want to start a business, they think about it for a really, really long time. They come up with this business plan for it. They try to work out as many things as they can before they go for it. And then it becomes a step by step process, slowly getting yourself organized as a business. With Pop Up, it’s like I adopted this wild stallion into my life. I’m trying to tame the stallion...” Megan chuckles throughout her metaphor, “Pop Up just does what it wants. I watch it and I take notes and I see what’s working. I see what people like. I see what the vendors like and then every single month I just change it a little bit. But I really never know how I’m going to change or adapt until I do.”
Megan thinks that if she tried to launch a monthly Pop Up such as her own anywhere else it wouldn’t be nearly as successful. “That’s why Boone is such a sweet place of opportunity because you can try things out here… People just want something different. So as long as you deliver them something different then they’re all about it, they’re super stoked on it, they want to talk about it, they get excited every month for it.”
A driving force for her motivation to keep the Pop Up popping up - pun intended - is the students and new artists who get the regular opportunity to sell their work. She loves to empower people by giving them opportunities to see the reward they get from putting effort into what they do. “It’s been great to bring together a community of makers.”
When it all boils down, Megan says she just wants Pop Up to be a celebration. A celebration of being human, making things, and sharing them with others. So celebrate with Megan this Saturday and Sunday from 9am-6pm at Hatchet Coffee!