Hundreds of Bronxites attended Build-A-Baddie; an immersive shopping experience focused on uplifting female entrepreneurs and bringing together women on July 11 and 12.
Olivia Glowacka previously founded the Jersey Creators Market, but after noticing it was dominated by primarily male owned brands, she created Build-A-Baddie.
After multiple successful events throughout New Jersey, Glowacka’s friend Bella Almanzar convinced her to visit the Bronx, resulting in their most viral event so far.
“I’m very proud of being here, and that’s why we just want to create a space where other people can feel that same way. Where they can feel empowered, where they can feel like they have other people that are just like them, that look just like them, that talk just like them. Because at the end of the day when you’re from the Bronx, it’s a different vibe,” Almanzar said.
After considering whether or not to come for a long time, Ashley Sampson bought her ticket last minute. “It’s a beautiful space and I’m a local in the Bronx. Why not support a Bronx event?” she said.
Tianna Osbourne, owner of Bournestar, has vended at other Build-A-Baddie occasions, but was happy to support the first Bronx event.
“Of course I have to come here because I’m from the Bronx as well so I had to show out for my borough … I feel this is the last affordable borough left in New York City,” Osbourne said.
Other than the many kinds of vendors selling slushies, clothes, art prints, books, accessories, fresh food and baked goods, the event also included dance workshops and free headshots for attendees.
Pier Valerio ended up even getting two stars tattooed on her bicep, after some convincing from her friends.
“Being a baddie means being a good person, protecting each other, and just raising up everybody so that you can all be confident baddies together,” Valerio said.
Nicole, owner of next.sett, has been tabling at various Build-A-Baddie events throughout the past year, and enjoys seeing repeat attendees.
“It’s such a cute feeling because sometimes customers from a different event will show up with my items, like the Bratz dolls or the nails. It’s just nice to see them walk by and see everything that they bought or their faces just light up,” Nicole said.
Caroline Gonzalez, owner of LemonBalm Handmade, said this was her first time tabling at any sort of event, and she spent about two months preparing.
“I want to make it feel unique and one of one because if you could find it anywhere else then why would you buy it from me? I want you to have the best experience finding something that’s so unique,” Gonzalez said.
Glowacka described how one mother came up to her expressing gratitude for hosting the event in the Bronx, and the opportunity to show so many female entrepreneurs to her daughters.
“I thought that was really powerful when her daughters were quite young and they were going around asking all the vendors a lot of questions and how they got started,” Glowacka said.
When tickets nearly sold out for the event in only 10 days, Glowacka decided to add another date. This also allowed her to spotlight more of the nearly 200 vendors who applied; about 35 were hosted each day.
“We also did a lot of sponsor outreach to get the products because we wanted to build a VIP gifting suite because if you’re an influencer, you go to a lot of events, you get free products all the time. But if you’re an average girl like me, you don’t really get that,” Glowacka said.
One vendor, Shy, wasn’t sure if her business (the Case File Club) which sells blind dates with a book would be welcome at Build-A-Baddie, but ended up having an amazing time.
“I thought I would be overwhelmed, but it’s been really easy. It’s been really enjoyable. Everyone has been so great and I would love to do this 10 times over,” Shy said.
Maurice Burbridge is an intern at the Bronx Times. He can be reached at mburbridge@schnepsmedia.com. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
