Today we’re sitting down with Erica Guida of Bleached and Bewitched and the curator of the the Bleached and Bewitched quarterly market at The Beehive. Erica has been doing local markets for almost two years now at Beehive, with the upcoming market being her seventh market she’s put together. I managed to sit down with Erica and pick her brain about what it takes to put together such an incredible community-focused event.
Hi Erica! Will you introduce yourself? Give us a brief rundown of who you are and what you do!
My name is Erica, and i wear many different hats. I’m a person who loves create, so i’ve turned that into my full time job. I do circus arts, live performances, and various forms of mixed media art. Bleached and Bewitched is a small boutique style business where i make bleached dyed clothing and small batch apothecary goods like bath bombs.
Getting right into the heart of things, how did you decide to start a market?
I had looked at other markets before starting my own, but the price point always intimidated me, so i never took the leap. Then, once the pandemic happened i saw my opportunity and decided to start my own!
You associate with several communities regularly in your personal life, from circus performers to artists. What kind of communities are brought together at your events?
I definitely see a lot of support from all sides of the circus community, as well as the regular crowd that i have gotten close to at The Beehive, but i always try to pull from different scenes and groups when i’m choosing my vendors so that our community is always growing and changing. It also always blows me away that all sorts of people show up that i have no idea how they found us.
Obviously these are great events for small businesses, but how do your markets go past simply being a place for vendors and really capture your sense of community?
The first thing that comes to mind is the response that i get from the vendors. I always get incredible feedback that they are all enjoying meeting so many new people and that they have a good experience. My performance background also drove me to want to create a more immersive event, i think a lot of markets put all their focus on the vendors and their products, while i want to make the entire event an experience.
And how does someone who wants to be a vendor or to get involved get on your radar? Are there other ways to be involved if you don’t have a small business?
I have an application process for all the vendors. As soon as a market wraps i take a week or two to reset, then post the application for the next one on my social media. I am always looking for new ideas, but right now the markets are pretty self contained. We love a shout out on social media, help with promotion, or just grabbing your friends and coming down to say hi at the market tho.
what are you goals for the future / what kind of growth would you like to see this event reach in the next few years?
I have gone through a bunch of variations of the market, including filling the space far past capacity, and now that i think have a good grasp on the size that works best, i would like to pour my focus into furthering the immersive experience and making the whole market an event. Maybe in the future we’ll see elements of live performances or some other fun experiments.
Give us a peek into your creative process… where do you work, where do you get inspiration, and what are you listening to when you work on projects?
I work from home, and specifically i spend A LOT of time in the kitchen and my bathroom. Currently my inspiration stems from literally anything that makes me feel good in the chaotic world we live in, and i have been listening to almost exclusively 80’s goth playlists and true crime TV.
Can you give us a plug for all of your projects? Where can we see what you’re working on and support what you do?
You can follow me on instagram and tiktok at @bleachedandbewitched for strictly business stuff, or check out my personal things at @cupcakemuch. I perform regularly at Prohibition and I’m also cast in Sin Cirucs at Kyros Fitness, where i teach circus and pole.
Do you have any other final plugs and shout outs you’d like to make?
Every single one of my vendors, the full list is on my instagram. Make sure to come down and say hi to them at the market Saturday and follow all of them and their incredible work.
Everyone at Mark of the Beastro, The Beehive, and AAMP Utah, without them and all they do i wouldn’t be able to do this!
