Today we’d like to introduce you to Deaf artisan Market Day.
Hi Deaf artisan Market Day, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, how can you bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My name is Lisa Bromley. I am a jewelry artist, an aspiring florist, and a gemstone fanatic. I have a Master’s degree in business and marketing. My business is Moon Dang (Instagram.com/moondangatx), where you can find unique items made once for you. I always have had a passion for business. For years, I noticed what is missing in our largest deaf community based in Austin, Texas. Our deaf talent crafters, artists, service, and business owners. They struggled to enter the market or business as a deaf person(s) and communication barrier. In our community, we do have events that happen once a year. More is needed to help them earn their living and get themselves out there to be noticed by others. This is the reason why brought me to create Deaf Artisan Market Day (DAMD); our focus is on deaf vendors only to give them access to the unlimited experience of being in the market where the majority of our customers are ASL users. We also have some volunteer interpreters at our markets. We also love our local businesses around Austin, Texas. We reached out to them to be our partner to allow us to set up the markets at their venue. I started this project backing 2019, right before the pandemic started. I had an awesome team of LGQBTIA+ and biopic women. During the pandemic, we had to put our markets on hold until last year for our community’s safety and vendors’ safety. We brought it back and had our first of a few successful markets.
Little about the DAMD team, my position for DAMD is a founder, vendor coordinator, venue coordinator, and graphic designer of our marketing/information. I want to talk about my team members., They are all deaf biopic women. Deidra Pelletier is DAMD’s director of public relations/ social media specialist. Deidra began her humanitarian journey in high school. She is a jack of all trades and will go the whole nine yards regarding community outreach. She has experience planning events, marketing, bartending, community recruiting, providing resources, caretaking, and more! These are just some of the many talents Deidra possesses. Her two long-term goals are to become a Certified Black Deaf Interpreter and own her own business.
Deidra and I spent most of our time working together to make DAMD one of the successful markets and accessible for our deaf community. We also have two other team members who help to make this happen. April Alonso is our Instagram Specialist. She keeps DAMD Instagram active by sharing our DAMD vendors’ posts and keeping the information updated for our communities. Another one is Monica Bartels; she is our photographer for DAMD; she takes behind the scene of the market and during the market to make memories where our people are socialized and enjoy browsing handmade items at our markets.
Would it have been a smooth road, and what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
At first, during a pandemic, we struggled to keep DAMD actively remotely online. We realized that DAMD is ideal for the in-person market due to socializing that our community needed. After that, it is going smoothly and hopefully will continue for DAMD. We are seeing steady numbers of attendees and vendors signed up for our markets. We are hoping to continue providing support and accessibility for our community.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Lisa: As we mentioned, I am an artist and a jewelry maker. I create pieces with crystals and nature items. I enjoyed soldering and bringing unique jewelry for our customers. I was known for my artwork for years in the deaf community; I enjoyed painting a lot in my younger years. Now, I am focusing on my jewelry, and occasionally, I bring a little artwork or handmade that isn’t jewelry into the market. I am proud that I could experience the non-deaf markets before and have several of my jewelry in our local shops. I was brave to face my fear of being rejected due to my being a deaf person and having communication barriers, but my work spoke for itself that the local shops love to do consignments with me.
Deidra: I put my career aside and wanted to talk about non-profit organizations with which I’m heavily involved. I am a board of Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf, Rainbow Social Deaf Austin, Austin Black Deaf Advocates, Austin Deaf Club, Handsync Con, and of course, Deaf Artisan Market Day. I love giving back to the Deaf community and staying connected with them. I’m known for multitasking to continue to be involved in the Deaf Community. I am proud of those non-profit organizations for making it happen for the Deaf community/members to grow their journey. I am different from the other 3 boards on the DAMD team. I’m beyond a social butterfly and not a crafter.
Monica: I’ve always been a photographer nearly all my life. I recently moved to the Austin area and was asked to join DAMD to empower other deaf-owned businesses, and I couldn’t be happier working for DAMD along with an amazing team! I started my photography business in 2012, and I’m still growing and learning!
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 crisis?
Lisa: I noticed that people changed significantly due to the Covid-19 crisis, for the better or worse. We lost our family members, co-workers, friends, and friends of friends to Covid; we experienced the sadness together. It helps us to find ourselves and do some deep searching within ourselves to see what our soul is searching for. We go through the crisis together, experience them and everything. It brings the community a lot closer than ever before.
Deidra: Covid 19 taught us so much in different circumstances. It forced us to take a back, think, understand, and appreciate what it means to live and not just survive. Many of us have become aware of how much we need each other. I have managed to maintain my social connections even if we had to use technology to keep in touch.
April: Part of the Covid-19 crisis changed our communication, boundaries, work, lifestyle, technology, and economy. It’s slowly shifting back to the new norm. Some of us learned how to go out all over again, some growing gardens, some to socialize and cope with our mental health. As a result, we learn how to cope and live our lives. A new lesson after the Covid-19 crisis is that I can just set boundaries if I need to. Focus on what I want to be with my family and friends, especially wanna give back to the deaf community vendors and deaf and hard of hearing people.
Monica: As a business owner, I’ve learned the importance of keeping going despite a pandemic because life continues.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deafartisanmarketday/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deafartisanmarketday
Image Credits
Monica Bartels Photography
