My First Market Stall: A Beginning I Didn’t Expect

This weekend, I finally did something that has been sitting on my heart (and my to-do list) for a very long time: I worked my first market stall for RaeMoonRose.

It was at the Advent Market at the Steiner School — the same school my daughter Koa started her very first year in. The twist? The school is actually closing down after Christmas. So there was this bittersweet feeling in the air: a sense of ending, but also, for me, the start of something new.

For years, the idea of doing a market stall has been there - in the books, in my dreams, in that space between “I want to” and “I will.” But life happened. A lot of life. I’ve been physically in England, raising three kids, but mentally I’ve been in the States where my family, my partner, and most of my customer base are. For a long time, my plan was to return. But life, courts, and circumstances decided differently. We’re staying in England.

Accepting that has been its own journey  and part of that journey has been letting myself root here, even a little.

I’ve changed so much as a person that I knew my business would have to evolve with me. The hard part was simply starting again. My online community has been such a blessing, but posting consistently has become overwhelming with three kids and very limited time. I’ve felt stretched thin, scattered, and unsure how to show up.

The local market felt like a chance to try something different to create without pressure, to meet people in person and to build a community where I actually live.

And honestly? I went into it with zero expectations. I wasn’t trying to prove anything or hit a number. I was just creating to create. I found myself really leaning into kids’ clothing because children are so free, so unapologetic, and I love how the funkier their clothes are, the cooler they look.

The Chaos of Getting There

Market day arrived and, naturally, it was a circus. I had seven boxes of product, two clothing racks, and three kids. We had to take an XL Uber because even I was overwhelmed by how much I was bringing.

Setting up felt like being the ringmaster of a small, enthusiastic, overly curious troupe. All three kids wanted to help, and I was having four conversations simultaneously while trying to make the table look somewhat presentable. But the more I involved them, the more things actually got done. Somehow, in the chaos, we found a rhythm.

The Magic Once It Started

When the market opened, things were slow. I wasn’t even sure if my card reader was going to work. Then my first customer came. Then the second. Then the third. And suddenly it was flowing - people were buying, smiling, asking questions, loving the colours and the textures. My sweaters were literally flying off the racks.

The kids were absolute stars. They wandered around, helped each other, checked in on me. Lotus, my youngest, stayed mostly by my side, and sometimes his sister would take him for a snack run. We were a team. And honestly? We did amazing.

I went home exhausted - like collapsed-on-the-floor exhausted - and we celebrated with pizza. The next day, it all caught up with me. I stood in the kitchen alone and cried. Not from sadness, but from everything — the pride, the loneliness, the empowerment, the grief of doing it alone, the joy of proving to myself that I could.

What This Moment Means

This market wasn’t just a stall. It was a turning point.

I saw what happens when I show up without doubting myself. When I let things unfold. When I trust my creativity. When I allow myself to root, even in a place I didn’t expect to be.

It reminded me of my own potential - not the potential I dream about, but the potential I live when I take action.

I don’t know exactly what RaeMoonRose will grow into next. I’m still evolving, and so is the brand. But I do know this:

I felt confident. I felt powerful. I felt free.

And it felt like the beginning of something I’ve been waiting for.