A new vendor fair aims to unite people from all corners of the city and promote collaboration among the local vendor community, said entrepreneur and event organizer Dontavious Young.
“I see a lot of events in Kansas City that are geared toward a specific type of crowd, or a specific type of culture, or a specific type of ethnicity,” Young said. “The mission we want to carry out is connecting all cultures, all people, all backgrounds. … We want everybody to be connected, so that was the reason I really wanted to do an event like this.”
Dontavious Young, Equal Minded Cafe, stands with Dan Smith and Charon Thompson, The Porter House KC, after winning second place in the PHKC fourth cohort pitch contest; photo by Austin Barnes, Startland News RELATED: Pitch contest winners salute PHKC as fourth cohort wraps; $15K in prizes awarded to small businesses
Young — the property owner, event coordinator, and cafe manager at Equal Minded Cafe — is set to host Midtown Marketplace Events July 1 at the cafe’s location just south of 43rd and Troost.
The market will be free to vendors and attendees, Young said, in an effort to encourage participation and provide accessibility.
“A lot of vendors complained that vending prices are going up,” Young said. “There aren’t enough events where they actually are able to make money. So I decided if I make it free for the vendors and free for the attendees, there’s no reason the vendors won’t make money.”
Midtown Marketplace Events will specifically feature vendors based in Midtown Kansas City, which Young defined as an expansive area extending from 18th to 63rd streets.
“We’re trying to promote togetherness and unity among people in the different parts of what I call Midtown,” Young said. “There are a lot of people thriving within that community together. … I want to reimagine what people consider Midtown and highlight all of the partners and vendors that we’ve been able to work with in those areas.”
Although Midtown businesses and vendors are preferred, Young encouraged entrepreneurs from other areas of the city to reach out via email or Instagram.
Vendors can participate for free, but a $100 donation is encouraged in order to keep the event happening quarterly.
In all, 60 vendors — with products ranging from food to daiquiris to perfume to jewelry — will be present at the event, Young said, which runs from noon to 6 p.m.
Victoria Campbell Osborne, The Scented Webb, pitches during The Porter House KC’s fourth cohort pitch competition; photo by Austin Barnes, Startland News
Breaking from a broken format
Victoria Campbell Osborne, founder and owner of The Scented Webb, is among the vendors planned for the Midtown Marketplace Events, sharing her luxury handmade fragrances with attendees. (The Scented Webb and Equal Minded Cafe were both members of the recently completed fourth cohort of The Porter House KC, and among the top three prize winners in Tuesday’s PHKC pitch competition.)
The Scented Webb
Victoria Campbell Osborne, The Scented Webb
Since starting her business in October 2022, Campbell Osborne has been to more than 80 vendor fairs across the city, but she thinks this event will be unique for a couple reasons, she said.
“It’s for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs, which is rare,” Campbell Osborne said. “Most organizers aren’t the ones selling; they’re the ones selling space. So, the event being done by someone who understands what it’s like to be in the marketplace is great.”
Additionally, the ability for vendors to participate at no cost is incredibly valuable, Campbell Osborne said.
“It’s a difficult thing to go from show to show and figure out whether your stuff is going to sell,” she said. “You have to be on the hook for the money that you paid for a space hoping that you make the return on your investment. Opportunities to do this … without cost are unheard of.”
By eliminating the pressure to sell merchandise in order to break even, Campbell Osborne said she’ll be able to take more time with each attendee as she introduces them to her line of more than 300 customized products, allowing them to try before they buy.
“Fragrances can be difficult for some people,” she said. “They can be overwhelming as far as the options and figuring out the notes. … The thing that I think sets us apart, especially in the Kansas City area, is that we do a lot of this in person, and a lot of it is personalized.”
Dontavious Young, Equal Minded Cafe
Putting good out into the world
Beyond featuring local businesses like The Scented Webb, Young hopes that Midtown Marketplace Events will forge connections among vendors, he said.
“Connecting the vendors with each other is huge, too,” Young said. “I’ve noticed that some people in certain industries don’t want to do events like this, because they don’t want to connect all these vendors together, because then they’ll start talking … maybe even start throwing their own vending events.”
Kansas City vendors and entrepreneurs need more leaders working to encourage collaboration rather than competition, Campbell Osborne said.
“Kansas City has some of the hardest working people I’ve ever met, and it seems like people don’t do things to make it easier for them,” she said. “Vendors have it really hard. … People don’t realize that they throw their whole hearts out there on the table. That’s not easy to do.”
Young praised vendors as the “backbone” of events and bemoaned the lack of respect they often receive, calling out what he sees as a “scarcity mindset” in Kansas City.
“People have this scarcity mindset — that there’s only so much to go around, and if I help you or benefit you at all, then that takes away from what’s available for me,” Young said. “I want to get rid of that mindset and show people that when we work together, we can just make things bigger. … There’s a way for us all to eat.”
Young connected that philosophy back to Equal Minded Cafe’s location in Ubuntu Village.
“The meaning of ‘ubuntu’ is we are who we are because of who we all are, so if you’re not taken care of, then I shouldn’t be taking resources at all, because you haven’t had access to them,” Young said. “I want to get back to our roots and send that clear message.”
Ultimately, Young believes that by paying it forward to his fellow entrepreneurs in Kansas City, he and Equal Minded Cafe will reap the benefits in time.
“It gives us an opportunity to give back, and to make our name relevant to all these vendors and business owners in the community who we care about … and hopefully that comes back tenfold for us,” Young said. “I just know putting good out into the world will always come back to you in some form or fashion.”
