COMRADERY — you don't have to be best friends with everyone in the group to know you have their support.
Who is a comrade? A close friend or someone who comes to mind when you say, "We're in this together."
This is the feeling I had with our group of Etsy Ellijay team members during a recent team meeting at the Gilmer County Library. The Etsy Team attempts to meet monthly to stay in touch face-to-face. This meeting included active Etsy shop owners, both veteran and virgin (long timers and newbies).
The team's captain, Melisa Searcy of Blessed Bee on Etsy, made sure everybody got a copy of the agenda in advance to encourage team discussion. Kitty of Mattie's Hodge Podge on Etsy, kept us all on point during the informalities by highlighting the agenda when a point was discussed moving everything along at a good pace. Every single member of the team and those contemplating joining the team participated and we want to say a BIG THANK YOU to all!
COMRADERY in action. A true feeling of TRUST, a bond created by a shared goal or experience came about during that meeting. Since the meeting was so successful, lets use it as the basis for all our meetings to come. Let's here it: GO TEAM!!!
Quoting a newbie to Etsy: “This is great! I was feeling timid about coming to a group I didn't know by myself, but really felt welcomed and know it was a big step in moving this along with greater confidence and understanding.”
Quoting one Etsy veteran: “It's always so great to have actual human contacts, especially when you live in small-town USA! There are always so many questions that we have as Etsy shop owners and we also have answers from what we have learned along the way, so it's always good to share, ask and tell! We all have a lot that we can share, and I love that Etsy is not just about promoting yourself, but helping to promote others.”
MENTORING is a good way to describe the Etsy Community as a whole. So taking a cue from the community, we--Melisa (team captain) and Becca (team leader)--are mentoring the newbies who want to be a part of the Ellijay Team on Etsy as soon as their shops are up and running. Encouragement goes a long way and starting out alone can be scary. Etsy has helped us learn, and we are happy to 'pay-it-forward.' We hope that by our next team meeting we can add a couple more members to the team line up. Would you like to meet our active team members on Etsy?
Select a link below to meet our Ellijay Etsy COMRADS:
Melisa Searcy of Blessed Bee Melisa:
https://www.etsy.com/people/BlessedBeeMelisaJim Harmon of Rustic Lodge décor:
https://www.etsy.com/people/jimharmonCandace Harmon of White FeatherJewelry:
https://www.etsy.com/people/candaceharmonJolee of 12 Precious Stones:
https://www.etsy.com/people/JoleeJoyKitty of Mattie's Hodge Podge:
https://www.etsy.com/people/mattieshodgepodgeMary of Starry Nites Farm:
https://www.etsy.com/people/starrynitesfarmBecca Shuler of Green Craft Studio:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/GreenCraftStudio/about?ref=shopinfo_about_leftnav
