Normal, Beyond New York
Get to know the brand and some of our market vendors a little better.
Welcome to the fourth issue - I can't believe it has already been a month since we launched The Motherlode. As most things are in life, this has been a process of growing and learning how I want to speak about Normal and its transition from being my baby and very identified with me, Lale, to letting it grow into a business and strong brand itself.
There are so many things happening all at once with Normal. It is definitely not a baby anymore nor it should not just represent me as the founder - it's bigger than me. It is a brand that touches so many people’s lives and creates value by designing as sustainably as possible, helping intentional makers, creators, small businesses, and brands to find their own communities through markets, and closing out homes to help clients have the easiest transition to a new journey. It also has a real, full time team: Diana & Emma. They have been a huge part of all of the growth the company has done thanks to their hearts, minds, and hours they have - I consult them, they consult me, we make each other better humans. We really have been working non-stop, our schedules are almost full till the end of the year! In fact, they’re such a big part of Normal that I could take a trip to NYC to work with my family while they took care of all the important tasks for LA work - endlessly grateful to them.
I spent this past week in New York with my brother and sister-in-law as they were here to show their brand, Knitss' upcoming collection to buyers (more to come on this side of my life later). NYC has always been my dream since I was a kid. It was a chaotic, crazy, overwhelming love for the city and I admittedly tied my identity a lot to a place back then. I think doing so fueled me so passionately that when I found a way to express my interior design passion through Normal, it became my mission to grow the account to something more permanent in the city. Normal's IG account is @normal.nyc, the website is normalnewyork.com - even the registered company title has NYC in it, so it makes sense that still today I sometimes get asked if the brand is based in NYC whenever we host an event in LA. If you would have told me, even a few years ago, that I would move out of the city or find a way to live bicoastally, I never would’ve believed it. Funnily enough, despite my heart connection to New York, breaking the cord between my identity and the city by moving to LA became the catalyst for taking Normal from a location bound entity to a real community and company.
I consult my family a lot, especially my mom (I know you're reading this mom), especially when it comes to my work. Last year before everything got crazy busy, she made me sit down and write very clear goals, values, and priorities for Normal as a brand as well as Lale as a person and a business owner, for the next 3, 6, 12, 15, 18, 24, 60 months. She told me that when you know and align with your values well, you attract people with similar ones. It is energetically impossible to stay in the same room with people who don't match your values and I do believe some magic was created with that work. It forced me to shake up the ground a bit and shed the unnecessary part of my personal and work life so I could welcome and accept the expansion with a calm mind.
I was confronted with this same mentality again when my coach/trainer Akin AkmanI said to me that when we get to live in the life that we always dreamt of, we take it for granted once it becomes our reality. It has stuck in my head ever since and everytime I get too stressed with our schedule, I try to remind myself of the fact that I’m really living my dream. I have been writing this as I’m walking the same downtown streets that I used to walk with big eyes looking up to the sky, dreaming of all that I wanted to create in this world, all the people I wanted to attract as a team. Reflecting on those dreamy moments, I realize now that I have so much more than that today, something better in my hands that is not just for me anymore.
With all my heart, thank you to everyone who encourages me and gives me the ability to live my dream: my family who sacrificed a lot for me, Diana and Emma for always holding it down, Blythe for putting all my never ending writing into clear words (my parents were called into school when I was a kid cuz my professors could not finish reading my exam papers), and all our amazing clients and the brands that see and believe in our vision.
Now, Normal can continue to grow and expand beyond New York, beyond Lale, beyond a passion project with a simple goal into a multi-layered, multi-service business with a life and voice of its own and one hell of a strong community. This is the beginning of the new kind of Normal that’s anything but. We’ll be focusing on the business here, solely coming from the perspective of Normal as a brand rather than the interior lives of our team with the hopes of expanding our community and sharing insight into how we function, live, operate, and play in this bicoastal world we’ve created.
Not-A-Normal-Market: LA & NY
This week, we launched the first round of our quarterly bicoastal markets in Los Angeles next weekend, March 2nd & 3rd, at 1201 S Santa Fe Avenue in the Arts District.
Yes you read that right, quarterly AND bicoastal! The next markets will be in June, September, and December in both cities, and more. NYC and LA are home for now, though we hope to expand our markets to other locations soon.
Click here to get your tickets.
From established artists to first-ever showcases, every single vendor was carefully selected to curate a collection of local, national, and global talent. We received so many thoughtfully written applications and curated an extensive list of amazing makers, sellers, and creators for our community to shop. There will be over 100+ intentional brands, designers, and vendors in furniture, and art collectors in both LA and NYC. You can also expect sellers of home decor, apparel, accessories, jewelry, food, beverages, wellness, tattoos, and more at both markets.
We have vendors who are joining us from Mexico, Turkey, and the UK, as well as LA locals. Some sellers are launching their brands here or connecting with new buyers, while some are generational, established brands. Most of our amazing vendors from our December market are coming back for round two and some are even selling at both the LA and NYC market!
We also have partnered with The Hoxton Hotel both in DTLA & Williamsburg as our hospitality partner. We couldn’t be happier that our vendors will have a relaxing space to spend their downtime or unwind after crazy market days.
Vendor Spotlights
For this week’s newsletter, we asked some of our beloved vendors about their experiences as business owners getting ready for something as large-scale as our markets: the craziness of the process, moments when shit hits the fan, and handling the chaos when things (inevitably) don’t go according to plan.
Thanks so much to the vendors who took the time to share their thoughts! Take a look at what they had to say:
John Ahmad Rugs
“The best part about it is getting able to express yourself artistically in your setup. The markets bring me joy and bring me the inspiration to create a beautiful scenery for my customers to enjoy. I look at rugs as art as I sell art, so my job is to paint the most beautiful picture by putting up the most beautiful display for clients to see. When preparing, I pick out the things that I love most, things that have stood out to me most recently. Sometimes maybe I’ll pick some things that are trendy, but I tend to stay away from that. It's whatever makes me feel inspired and I pick those things and bring them to the markets to show an expression of who I am and what I love. Sometimes when you get to a market you don't know what your space looks like or how big it is or who your neighbor is, that's part of the anxiety that gets built up as far as being a retailer in the flea markets. You can experience parts of the culture that are not so nice in the morning so you have to warm them up as best as you can.
Once you get there you just go with the flow. I put my head down and start building and as I go, a vision starts coming together and my booth starts looking good - although I may go and change it three or four times. In the last market I had two different displays on two different days just because I didn't feel the first one worked. I remember being the first one there on Sunday and changing out my entire booth so that I could bring more things the clients liked and take out some of the things that weren't getting the same response. Thinking on the fly and adjusting to the market is definitely one of the chaotic parts of the experience but if you can do it well, then you'll be super successful.”
Catalog Three
“The best part is definitely getting the chance to meet our community! We don’t have a physical store (yet!) so these markets are our chance to really showcase our brand in a way you can’t convey digitally.
We honestly love every step of the process though. It’s a very surreal experience spending months planning everything out from the curation of the rugs (they are all one-of-a-kind so narrowing down a selection is never an easy task), to sketching out how we want the space to look, to actually building it out and seeing it come to life!
Shit, ultimately, always hits the fan but we like to tell ourselves that it’s just a result of us refusing to play it safe! As a team, we have big dreams and we love to challenge ourselves and execute things we haven’t tried before. We love what we do and we consistently remind ourselves that any moment of perceived “failure” is a chance to learn and grow.
We are so lucky to have an amazing team and our number one goal has always been to support each other no matter how chaotic things get. Oftentimes, stressful situations can lead teams to become frustrated with each other but we have always strived to use these moments to put our heads together and tackle our problems as a collective. If anyone on the team runs into a problem, we ALL make it a priority to support them — you know the whole “there is no I in team” saying. We love that one.”
Ah Um Design Studio
“The best part of the process is for sure finishing the first prototype; when you finish a piece for the first time and it looks like how it did in your head. It’s just so rewarding to step back and see an idea manifested in physical form. Shit always hits the fan and handling the chaos is mostly just pushing through it and finishing the thing. So much of the process of making stuff, especially in the beginning, is fucking up and then finding solutions or re-doing.”
The Garage Vintage
“The best part is visually planning how the booth will look. No matter how meticulously I plan, it’s never perfect when I get there. Having a background in interior design and producing photoshoots, I’ve learned to always bring options so you’re not left unprepared. I tend to work best under pressure so markets are fun for me!”
Chula Silver
“Throughout the crazy process, the best part for us is being able to meet all the people we do. Curating our jewelry pieces is a tedious process, in which we go over all our products with the utmost care. Being able to see our products met with so much admiration is very rewarding in itself, but having those same people continuously come back to us over the years is something we hold very dear to our hearts.
Sometimes shit does hit the fan, and it’s a hump for us to pivot and adapt from. For us, chaos is something we somewhat thrive in. It is accompanied with nerves and adrenaline, but at the end of the day all that we hope to accomplish is for our customers to feel confident in our products and what we have to offer.”
Candid Home
“For me, market prep is pretty smooth as I have a physical store to pull pieces from, but a month out I definitely start keeping a loose mental list of what I think will work for the Normal market. As I’m out shopping for the store or my design clients I’ll snag some market specific pieces and stash them in my storage space. I’m the type to make a plan but adapt/change it at the 11th hour based on my mood, so keeping it loose is key. I’d say I still only know half of what I’m bringing.
As for chaos, I mostly embrace it… something’s always gonna go “wrong” so you can’t get too attached to anything. Last Normal market, I didn’t wait long enough for the command strips to seal and immediately smashed one of my just-framed art pieces, so I’ll definitely not be doing that again. Otherwise, I try my best not to stress in general as I’m in this biz to enjoy myself. I have spent a lot of years stressing for other people and I’m not about to do that for me!”
Slinky’s Matcha
“The best part is honestly getting to meet new people and seeing our growth from a small idea. When we started, we were doing maybe 15-20 cups and now we’re selling out halfway through most of the markets or events we do. The biggest blessing is we’ve both been doing markets since we were in college and had a vintage clothing booth in 2018. We have so many friends who run markets and are in the scene from jewelry, food, specialty coffee, art and more. Having this pop up allows our friends to come by and really be a part of our journey too. It was always my mom and grandma's dream to open up their own cafe so I feel like I get to live a little bit of that for them with this experience.
Shit hits the fan all the damn time. That’s the biggest part about learning how to communicate as a team and staying organized. Now matter how much you plan in advance something can run out or happen at the last minute. I think the best thing is we’re both so quick on our feet and my entire career has been based on really being resourceful and having a strong network. Sometimes shit hits the fan and I can call up a friend who will be there in 20 minutes. I don’t think everyone can say they have that and I can’t think of anything more to be the biggest blessing than a community! We definitely look like we’re about to both explode when things happen but I think part of that is I’m a perfectionist to some extent haha. But it’s nice to remind myself we’re a small business - we’re doing more than we anticipated five months ago so we have to be grateful for everything we do have at the moment.”
What We’re Loving
Lido Consignment Gallery in Newport Beach
This place was a hidden treasure in Newport Beach that we got to visit after our inventory meeting at the estate sale location. They have inexpensive art and an array of good pieces from modern to antique.
It felt like a one stop shop for any furniture/decor you could want or need. Vendors from any era or style you could think of and the staff is super helpful and kind. We bought two lamps for our Hancock Park design project here:
Long Beach Antique Market
Diana took a trip here last weekend to find home goods and some remaining furniture pieces for our design client. Long Beach was great for little knick knacks but for the fashion girlies, this market has a great selection of clothing and jewelry. It takes place every third Sunday of the month.
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That’s all for this week and now we’ve gotta go put the finishing touches on our LA market before running off to the NYC market a week later…it’s ok, we know we’re crazy. Stay tuned for next week’s newsletter as we’ll take you through EVERYTHING that went down at the LA market, updates on our design projects, upcoming estate sales, and so much more.
We hope to see all of your stunning, fashionable, joyful faces at the LA market - come meet our amazing vendors above and so many more, connect with new friends, and most importantly shop all of our amazing secondhand and vintage pieces. If you see us floating around the space, come say hi if you’re a reader! We love connecting with all of you out there in the real world.
Stay (anything but) Normal!