Hayley Matthews-Jones: Vintage, Vision & Crafting Community

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You know what we doing?
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You know it takes a special track to do this. I’mma be a super sauce. It’s just a fluid. It’s a chef. I’m here to remind
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y’all I’m sick with it. My name is ubiquitous meaning it’s one of the same.
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Simple and plain. I’m all about my paper. The bacon chitter and pain. I got these lanes running for the border. The talent to miss the border. Keep it flowing like it’s water. But here we go.
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There we go. Creeping to a low speed. Is it him and his friend sitting in the nose bleach playing cool? He ain’t special just cuz he’s on TV. Everybody’s
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hands up acting like they know we
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welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of the Taste Music Food podcast show. I am your host Ed Porter and this
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is the place for food, music, and culture and how they all connect. Today we have a lovely guest that uh is is is
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is super duper cultured in a lot of different ways. Very multi-verse in a lot of different areas. And before we
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get in and jump in who this young lady is, I have to give her just flowers. And so I’m attempt to do that with this
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intro here. Okay. Today’s guest turned a creative side hustle into a cultural mainstay. She’s the founder and CEO of
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Minneapolis Craft Market and Minneapolis Vintage Market, two powerhouse platforms that support over 2,000 local artists
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and 500 vintage vendors and hosts more than 120 pop-up events annually. From
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her UK roots to becoming a cornerstone of Twin Cities creative culture, she’s now opening a retail store inside MSP
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Airport, literally putting local creativity on the map. She’s a market maker, cultural shaper, and community
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builder with vision. Please welcome to the show, Miss Haley Matthews Jones. A thank you so much. You’re so kind.
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Like, you got to come everywhere now.
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Oh, yeah. No problem. Listen, you can book me. It’s It’s all good. It’s all good.
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Thank you for being here. Thank you for having me. Truly. Truly. Um, so let’s talk Let’s jump right in. Let’s talk about your your How did you get here?
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like literally physically and where you are currently in the space that you occupy.
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Yeah, I moved here in 2008 uh to get married and um I had met my now ex-husband when I was traveling around
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the world. He was a cross-country tour guide in the US and so we did the whole, you know, holiday romance, fell in love. I’ve seen this movie before.
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Yeah. Yeah. It’s literally like a Hallmark movie. um we were engaged within 6 months and then I moved here the following year and um and then kind
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of put down roots and I think in my mind it was not necessarily a long-term like I I figured maybe we’ll live in Minneapolis for 5 years and then maybe
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move back to London or or something and Minneapolis just really kind of after an initial hard couple of years adjustment
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uh I really found my feet here and and now I feel like it would be really hard to leave. Yeah. Yeah.
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Yeah. This is uh it grows on you in a in a I remember when I first came here I like I had no intentions in staying. Matter of fact, every week I
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I wanted to leave like just and so then it got to to a point to like I I went home at least once a month and then
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less and less and less and then you Yeah. It it definitely grows on you.
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This is a a city of a community once you find your people. Yes. Then that’s that’s the magic, you know.
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Truly. Truly. I I feel like my first two years were very hard for a number of reasons. I also moved here in November, which is like
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So, same thing. I got here. I got Oh, yeah.
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November of 2008. So, like right before the economy tanked. Um, it was right after the Yeah. Right after the Obama election. Um, and so I moved here with
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high hopes and thinking, “Oh, it’s going to be so great and easy.” and then so hard to find a job. And you know, and when you move here from another country
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as an immigrant, you start from scratch, you know, no matter how you come here, it’s um they don’t care about your job
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history or your, you know, like you become person zero again. And so you have to build everything from scratch again. And so that was a really
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a really tough thing. And just um culturally here, you know, uh it’s notorious for the the whole Minnesota
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nice and it being, you know, hard to break into. And I think it took me a couple of years to realize that you have to insert yourself.
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The people here, I I find that white culture here is very insular. It’s that Scandinavian reserved um you know, you
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know, the people that you went to elementary school with and stuff and it’s hard to break into that. And so most of my friends here are transplants
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or people who moved to other places but then came back. And so I think that those people tend to be a little more welcoming because they know what it feels like to be an outside.
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Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. And you’re you’re right. There is uh very clickish as far as the group that you came up with. That’s the group that people usually stay in.
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Right. Right. That’s a it’s a sad existence.
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It is. It really is. There’s so much more to life. Absolutely.
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Absolutely. So being from the UK, market culture in UK, which is pretty
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much you’re just basically I guess to bring a little bit of of home. Yeah.
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To to to your new home because markets are huge um in the UK and actually everywhere
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else except for Minneapolis and Minnesota, the Twin Cities specifically, it’s not a huge market culture. At least it wasn’t.
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There wasn’t. Right. And so that was what I noticed was that there were farmers markets and then there were annual craft fairs that would happen once maybe twice a year. And so if
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you’re an artist or a maker and you missed that deadline or you didn’t get into that show, there wasn’t another opportunity for you for a whole another
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year perhaps. And so um I really missed uh the street market scene in London and that’s it always provided that third
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space for particularly teenagers. you know, I think teenagers are often left out of spaces. Even the mall now, it’s
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like you need parental um you know, uh guidance and stuff. And so I think there’s not many spaces that teenagers
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can be and just hang out without being monitored in that way. And so I that’s how I grew up was like weekends spent at
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Greenwich Market and there was like antiques day, then there was vintage day, then there was arts and crafts day and you know and so uh I really just
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missed that third space and a place to belong in that way.
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Right. Yeah. So you built a better mousetrap. That’s uh at the end of the day, you you definitely fill the void because and it’s it’s one of those
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things that people didn’t understand they were missing until because they never, you know, which was weird to me because we had so many artists here like and we had the
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Northeast Arts District was already established and you had all these arts buildings and and art well is like the example of no consistent outlet.
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No consistent outlet. And so it was really important to me to build something that was regular like literally every weekend and that had a
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low cost of entry, like low barriers to participation. So you didn’t have to apply 6 months in advance. You could
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literally sign up as as late as the weekend before. And so just like providing those access points um and I I
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did it alongside having my day job at the time and this was back in 2015. And um then I was like working seven days a
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week because it just kind of blew up and everyone was like we need this every weekend year round. And so it just went so that was that was the spark. It was just you know you it caught fire.
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Totally. Yeah. I’ve been trying to Yeah.
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contain the fire ever since. So absolutely. No, that’s that’s that’s amazing. It’s amazing. And it’s it’s great to to have specifically so I’m
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from New York so um tons of markets and things like that in New York. It always has been um and then I travel a ton. It’s huge in
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every other culture and China, Japan, everybody they have their markets for everything. and the maker specifically.
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I I would say there’s more of a scene for or more of a an affinity for something that’s handmade or from a maker than it is for,
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you know, a uh manufactured good%.
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Um and it has you’re you’re you’re buying a piece of of a person’s story. Yeah.
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And so that to me carries a lot more weight, tons and tons more weight. All right. So
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here like to play a few games I’m aware to uh to to you know to light the move and to
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get a little more knowledge about about about you. So we’re going to do a little game that I call one’s got to go. Oh okay.
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Okay. So in this specific one I’m going to give you four examples of some things
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and you just got to tell me which one you want to kill.
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So very Okay. All right. So, we’ll do this. This is vintage stuff. So, 90s windbreakers,
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high-waisted Levis’s 501s, beaded granny purses, chunky white trainers. Which one got to go?
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Beaded granny purses. I knew you was going to say that. Yeah, just not my style. I don’t know.
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But there there’s so many of them. Like I when I was doing this, I’m like this.
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Why is there so many beated? Like who I would say when was this in fashion? Because I I don’t grandmother’s error, I guess.
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I I don’t think I don’t I don’t see it. I don’t see it.
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No. Grandma Porter didn’t No. No. She didn’t get down with that. I mean, but I’ve seen But I’ve always seen them. Like Like I’m trying to figure You know how you can pinpoint when this was hot? Like I don’t I don’t get it.
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Yeah. I like a cleaner look in general. Okay. All right. All right.
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We’ll go with some eats now. So, chip shop curry sauce, state fair cheese curds, Sunday roast with York sharp
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pudding or juicy lucy. Which one got to go? Juicy Lucy.
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Oh, immediately that that was that was super fast. Yeah. You know what I find? Not even close.
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I find in in just crazily interesting to me because specifically being here and
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and have lived here for a significant amount of time, left and then came back. Yeah.
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How and that’s what this show we’re going to help change that narrative is that the Minneapolis and the Twin Cities, you
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know, you ask somebody about food, what they’re known for, they’ll say two things.
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Hot dish and Juicy Lucy.
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The worst cheeseburger. The two things that most people do not I know plenty of people that’s born and raised here have never had even had a
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juicy. It’s not a, you know, I mean, if you want your mouth sloed by like steaming hot cheese when you the second that you bite into it, then it’s
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the burger for you. But I have a whole another a whole another theory on that. But I mean, that you made you said it so nicely. I have I mean, just as a man.
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Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I I I did my I did my very carefully.
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Understood. Understood. Okay. Next, we’ll do some music. Okay. All right. Adele’s Heartbreak Anthems.
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Princess Purple Rain. Mhm. The Beatles Everything. Mhm. Or Lizo’s Flute, Sass, and Body Glitter. One got to go.
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Oh, that’s kind of a tough one. I I’m not a big Adele fan. I find her just I I respect her talent very much. So, I can
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see objectively that she’s talented, but to me, it’s like the style is just not my particular style. Having said that,
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Lizo might be on the on the block for me because I used to be a big Lizo fan and now I’m just kind of like, oh. Um, so
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it might be Lizo. I just might. Okay. So, why why does she fall from grace?
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Um, well, I mean, I know she had all the kind of scandal with her dancers and and all of those things. I think I just feel
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like she hasn’t progressed much as an artist. I feel like she’s still producing similar style of music that she was 5 10 years ago. And so, I would
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have liked to see her some growth.
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Yeah. I just feel like she’s making the same kind of stuff. So, I’ll go with the dill. That That makes sense. Okay. All right.
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That has been one’s got to go. All right. Okay.
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Talk to me about spaghetti Sundays.
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Yeah. So, I started hosting this bi-weekly dinner party.
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Speaking of which, I have You got the tough one. Yeah. I I got spaghetti Sunday. Yeah. Today. Yeah.
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Which I’m looking forward to.
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Yeah. So, I’m a little I’m a little You were I can tell you didn’t want to give this to me.
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I Yeah, I I said I’m going to bring you a plate and then the moment that it left my I was going to say my mouth but my fingers cuz I typed it to you. I was
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like what are you thinking like bringing a chef food? You had Gavin Kase on the podcast like last week. I’m like he
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doesn’t want your crappy lasagna that you like. But it’s not crappy. It’s not you. Listen, you I you posted and
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whenever you do, I always I always always give you props. I like listen you you are doing you’re making the pasta. Yep.
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You was okay. To be fair, the post said vegetarian lasagna. And then I had to chime in cuz I’m looking at the little
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baby chicken eggs. I’m like, it’s not very vegetarian. And by vegetarian just means no meat.
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Eggs is just baby chickens. Let’s just put this out there. Eggs are baby chickens. If you’re using eggs, you’re eating chicken. No way around it.
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Okay, I’m going to I’m going to reformat my Instagram stories next time. But um so I started this just basically felt
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like this this year particularly, it kind of came to a head for me where I felt like I was just missing that human connection and that like dinner table
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conversation. That’s always been like one of my favorite things um that I really miss from London again. And like when I go back home, the first thing we
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always do is we go to my mom’s best friend’s house for Sunday dinner, like without fail. And it’s a table like this
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with whoever can make it. It’s casual invite. Dinner’s at 7:00 every Sunday.
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You don’t need to RSVP. It’s nothing formal. You show up, you eat great food, you drink a lot of wine, there’s a lot of conversation. And we talk about
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everything from politics to relationships to whatever’s happening in the world, you know, it could be anything till 2 3 in the morning. And
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it’s to me, you said seven, right? Seven.
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Yeah. Yeah. Let’s go. Let’s go. Um, you know, and I think that it’s just such a simple form of feeling like you have a
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place in the world, right? And I think that, oh, I could talk about this all day, like as it pertains to dating and technology and all of the things that
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have made life feel like we’re falsely close to one another when we’re not actually doing the things of like
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how many times do you actually call your friend on the phone versus just texting them, you know, real connection. And I I felt like I was really missing that. And
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I um you know, I told people like, I don’t think this is going to solve all of my problems, but I think it’s going to solve most of them. And it’s funny, it’s
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funny that and the reason why I brought that up because it’s it’s a necessary thing as a human
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to have connection, genuine connection with people that you have a reverence for.
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And it’s a give and take situation. And the it’s the reason why I cook to begin with. Like I I I just want to There’s no
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more intimate thing than to share food that you created from the
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heart with your own two hands with people and then to ingest it. Yeah. And to have reverence for it.
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I I literally tell people like making food is my love language or like and being cooked for is is Oh, for sure.
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And it doesn’t have to be anything fancy. It can be I was going to say beans on toast, but I know I’m going to get [ _ ] from you for that. No, no, no. 16:14 16 minutes, 14 seconds I I mean, I know what it is. They don’t like, you know, it could be it could be something as simple as that, like scrambled eggs on toast, whatever. Like, 16:23 16 minutes, 23 seconds it doesn’t have to be a big thing, but it’s just like such an act of care. And it’s how I like to show people that I care for them is like 16:30 16 minutes, 30 seconds gathering people, making food. I’m working on my kids attitudes to my food, like trying to expose them to more and 16:37 16 minutes, 37 seconds more things. Um, I have one extremely picky eater and I always and it took me a long time to like adjust my 16:44 16 minutes, 44 seconds expectations with her of now it’s become as long as you try it. If you don’t like it, that is fine, but I just But you have to try. Yeah. I’m I’m the same way. 16:53 16 minutes, 53 seconds Yeah. And so like we’ve reached a a point of acceptance for both of us where she’s like, I don’t really like this. 16:58 16 minutes, 58 seconds And I’m like, thank you for trying. And I’m like, yeah. Yeah. She will come around. Like this taste buds always they evolve. They evolve. You mentioned beans on toast. 17:08 17 minutes, 8 seconds Yeah. 17:08 17 minutes, 8 seconds Okay. So, you you know I wasn’t going to skip over that. 17:12 17 minutes, 12 seconds Let’s talk about the things you miss that you cannot get cuz that’s a that I’m sure that like okay as a New Yorker 17:19 17 minutes, 19 seconds there’s things that I I thought were everywhere. 17:22 17 minutes, 22 seconds Yeah. That are not just not they’re just not like food is different places specifically in the UK. Yeah. 17:29 17 minutes, 29 seconds So, what are some of your favorite things that you that you cannot get that you love? You mentioned two of 17:36 17 minutes, 36 seconds them. Although I will say actually we are just down the street from the closest thing that I have found to one of them which is chips and curry sauce at the Anchor. The Anchor fish and chips. Phenomenal. 17:46 17 minutes, 46 seconds Yeah. That’s Yeah. Undefeated. 17:48 17 minutes, 48 seconds They don’t have a They don’t They don’t The curry sauce is not So I only know that I know. So I’ve been privy to to Yes. 17:54 17 minutes, 54 seconds Yeah. The curry sauce is different, but it’s it’s the closest that I have found here. Um and then the Sunday roast with Yorkshire puddings, specifically if it’s made by my own mom. 18:04 18 minutes, 4 seconds Yeah. is like top tier and that’s like that’s probably my go-to comfort food. 18:10 18 minutes, 10 seconds Second place would be my own roast dinner. Um Oh, but yeah, like uh when’s that happening? 18:17 18 minutes, 17 seconds Oh, you like let’s go. Let me know. Let me know. Like let’s go. Let’s do it. 18:22 18 minutes, 22 seconds I will ab This is again, this is how I get myself into trouble. I’m like inviting a chef to your house for dinner. Like what? 18:27 18 minutes, 27 seconds I’m going to tell you. So little little secret about chefs. Okay. 18:31 18 minutes, 31 seconds We just like that we’re not cooking. I Well, my friend said that. She’s like, I bet he’s just gonna be glad to not have to be the one doing it for 18:39 18 minutes, 39 seconds Listen, I I we’re the most chefs, first off, because we, you know, we do what we 18:46 18 minutes, 46 seconds do. We we we eat like [ _ ] like right on the fly.
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And it’s it’s always, you know, it’s always so so we appreciate the effort specifically someone doing, you know, all the things. So now now that doesn’t
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mean he’s like there are yeah that does not mean if I mean you know anyway so speaking let’s start let’s take a little
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trip down memory lane with the UK foods. So I have some snack foods I need some clarification.
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I have some UK snack foods that are no longer in existence that I want to bring up. Yeah.
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And I just want you to give shed some light.
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Oh my gosh. I love this. Yeah. Okay. So so super producer Gabe. Okay.
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I don’t know what this Hubba Bubba bubble jug. Okay. So, all right. So, I can give So, I obviously I did all the research in the world on all
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this. Okay. So, Hubba Bubba is an American company. However, in the UK this this powder, shake and chuck.
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You shake it and you drank the chewing gum, which was crazy. As powder.
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As powder. And then it it formed as it hit the saliva, it turns into a gum mass.
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Oh, this I don’t know. This was this this was this was all the rage in the UK. I have never heard of this.
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Oh, you’re in for a treat cuz I’m sure I have some things on this list that you’ve never heard of. So, we’re learning together.
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This is evil. This is could only be invented by an American company, I feel like.
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Okay. Did you know that candy cigarettes? Candy cigarettes. Yep.
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So, we had them here, too. Yeah. But they started in the UK.
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Oh, yeah. I can believe that. I can believe that. So we took the we we took it and ran with it because we put a little uh red red number 40 on the tips.
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Nice. So authenticity.
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Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You make it we we lit our cigarettes, you know. We kept it lit here. Nice. So these tasted like chalk.
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Yeah. Yes. I can still taste them as soon as that picture pop.
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Oh my goodness. The powdery. So what was better than these is you you you haven’t had the gum? No.
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So they had gum came in a pack like that and it had like the the gum powder. So you would they had one puff to blow out and it it made like smoke.
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Oh. Oh, maybe we did. No, we didn’t have those.
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And the gum was like the the texture of I don’t know, a handful of rocks. It was really bad. Chalky.
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Yep. Okay. What’s next? So good. So good.
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So I’ve had these. I haven’t had this flavor, but I’ve had Brenan’s chips.
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So I’m sorry, crisp. So So you everything’s, you know. Okay.
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Yes. They’re so Have you had this one specifically?
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Yes. That’s my favorite flavor. So, they used to be actually branded, I think, with Coleman’s mustard. Have you ever had Coleman? Yes. And Okay. For for everybody for everybody that’s
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listening, we’re talking about mustard powder. So, not Yeah. It’s It’s very So, it’s the stuff that they use to make mustard gas. Let’s leave it at that.
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It’s very very very strong.
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Yes. And that uh it’s a really old company. I want to say it’s been around uh definitely since uh the turn of the
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last century um because they used to ship it in the war and that’s why they it came in powder form I think so stable and stuff but
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yeah okay so this flavor specifically so good give me the rundown what is it um it will literally make your eyes water so they’re really thick cut almost
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like kettle chips um roast beef and mustard flavor and that mustard flavor is super strong so it’s like a you don’t have roast beef flavored chips here, but
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that’s like a very popular chip flavor at home. And so it’s kind of like barbecue but without the sugar on it.
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Like so it’s just this savory salty um it almost tastes like steak seasoning. All right.
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And then with that and then burn your eye out water. Yeah, exactly. Powder. If you have any um any
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sinus uh issues, this is the chip right up. Yeah. It’s basically medicine. Awesome. Yeah. Okay. What’s next?
22:45
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Okay. Well, I haven’t seen these.
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So, two things that most people need to understand about chocolate in the UK. Oh, it’s so good.
22:54
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So, yes, chocolate in the UK is way different. So good.
22:56
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Way different than anywhere else. Nestle is supreme and so is Cadbury. Cadbury is probably the premier candy company.
23:03
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Cabri over Cabri and Mars over Nestle any day. Okay, that’s now this is cool. So, have you had the vice vers? I have not.
23:11
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So, I’ve had this. Okay. So, it’s basically there’s a dark chocolate and a white chocolate. The dark chocolate has a white chocolate outer. It’s It’s an M&M.
23:20
23 minutes, 20 seconds
It’s an M&M with an identity crisis. So, then then there’s the the the white chocolate one is has a dark
23:29
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chocolate coat. Even though it’s not chocolate, this a you know, a brown crispy coating. Shell coat. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. I love it.
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No, I feel like these I I do remember them, but they didn’t last long.
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23 minutes, 40 seconds
No, they didn’t last long at all. They they fizzled out like mid 90s. Yes.
23:44
23 minutes, 44 seconds
And uh Yeah. So I’m the I’m the guy that like any snack like I just want to I just I have to have it. Yeah. I have to try. There’s
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some that that I wish I hadn’t but I did. Yeah. I feel it. Okay. What’s next?
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The Fuse Bar. You know the Fuse Bar, right? I do. I do.
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24 minutes
Okay. The Fuse Bar uh was It’s actually two candy bars in one because it has that
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uh the the what’s the the arrow? It’s like the airrated chocolate inside that’s like crumbly like a whisper. Exactly.
24:14
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Yep. And then it had like the pop rocks and stuff, right? Yeah.
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Yeah. Pop rocks in it. And there’s like basically like some cereal crisp in there and Yep. Yeah. Some little bit biscuit pieces.
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24 minutes, 24 seconds
Yeah. That was uh that didn’t last long either. I can’t imagine why.
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Okay. What’s next? Taco. Okay. Do you do you remember this?
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I do. And I feel like they were like the poor men’s rollolos. Yes. Yeah.
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Except all toffee though. No, there’s no chocolate. There’s not chocolate. No, no chocolate covered.
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Exactly. It’s super poor, man. Yeah. No chocolate whatsoever.
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So, this was a toffee uh a caramel toffee hybrid Frankenstein thing
24:52
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that um that what I’ve heard cuz this one I have not had was super duper like like think of a Worthers
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and the little craft caramel if they had a baby. Okay.
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What that would be I’m sure it wasn’t sticky. I’m sure it wasn’t a good eating.
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Yeah. It’s going to pull your fillings out. Yeah. Yeah. Or just give you lock jaw. Yeah. Next. Or was that the last?
25:18
25 minutes, 18 seconds
Yeah. Yeah, that’s the last one.
25:19
25 minutes, 19 seconds
Okay. So, that was All right. So, what what was your go-to snack food of choice in your teens?
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Oh, in my te like I was always Well, still a crunchy a crunchy, which is the honeycomb with milk chocolate. So good.
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If you have you ever had seas um candy have a honeycomb? Okay.
25:39
25 minutes, 39 seconds
So it’s a they have a dark chocolate and a milk chocolate variety. Got it.
25:42
25 minutes, 42 seconds
And except it’s thinner than It’s thinner. Mhm. As far as candy goes.
25:51
25 minutes, 51 seconds
Yeah.
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If you had to rate UK candy versus US candy. Just say it. Just go ahead. Do you need to even ask question?
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I have to because most people don’t understand why. Have you ever smelled a Hershey bar?
26:06
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A Hershey chocolate is it’s wet. The worst chocolate.
26:11
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It smells like feet. Like smell. It doesn’t smell like chocolate. And so like my kids laugh at me cuz when we do
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s’mores at home, I get like the bougie chocolate like you usually get lint chocolate.
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Oh, I’m coming to do s’mores at your house. Yeah. Yeah.
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26 minutes, 25 seconds
Yeah. Like I’m like Hershey who? Like what? No, we’re not doing that here.
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You know the story of Hershey? How that how that chocolate recipe came out?
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No. Okay. So, I’m sure it’s terrible.
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It’s so when they were developing the Hershey recipe, it’s but a little burnt and that that’s that was
26:43
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it was done that way. And also, of course, cuz milk chocolate is an amalgamation anyway. It’s not really
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um it’s a way to stretch. So, if you by adding with the milk solids and everything. So,
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and it has a unique taste because of the the the the roasting. Let’s I don’t want to say the word burnt. The roasting quality
27:06
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that they used that they roasted the the cocoa beans too, but in every sense of the word. So, the Belgium guys that they had that were helping them with the trip
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like, “Yeah, we can’t use that.” Yep.
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And that’s what they use and and the rest is history. And it’s basically the Starbucks of of chocolate.
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I You said it. So I agree. They burn they burn and then Yeah.
27:27
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Yep. Absolutely. They they roast to a certain point. Yeah. That has a It is unique and distinct.
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I’ll give them that. It sure is.
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But it’s not for my taste whatsoever. I um Yeah. So obviously you’re going to say the UK
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snacks, specifically candy, is is better.
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Yeah. I mean it just it just tastes it tastes better. And I don’t know if you’ve ever seen on uh on social media, there’s like a comparison of breakfast
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cereals or ketchup or baked beans even and like the ingredient list from Yeah.
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28 minutes
Yeah. This country allows the FDA does does not love you.
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No. Yeah. It’s insane. And even soda like I occasionally get like a craving for a Diet Coke and it just never hits here. Whenever I I’m like, “Let me try
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that.” And then I’m like, “No, it just doesn’t.” Cuz we have the same similar recipe to Mexican Coke. So, it’s just that more even though it’s a bunch of the same
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chemicals, like the sugars are different, the sweeteners are different.
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Yeah. Everything about everything about it. So, I I was just having this conversation about soda specifically.
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So, Fanta everywhere outside of the US. Delicious.
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It’s delicious. And it it’s not neon orange either. It’s uh it’s it’s colored of orange. Yeah.
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And and the the number one ingredient is orange juice. Right. Right. I remember the first time I uh poured a Mountain
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Dew. I’d never had Mountain Dew before and I poured it out of the bottle and I was like trailer park gold. What do you mean?
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What do you I was like I thought that was just the bottle. No, that’s the actual color of the drink.
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Hey, that’s I guarantee you super producer Gabe has has a trove of Mountain Dew in the back right now. Oh my gosh.
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Oh yeah. That’s Yes. Yes that’s yes
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that’s yes that’s yes that’s yes that’s
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As it should be.
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Hey, listen. Mountain Dew usually in a title of a of a of a beverage. It’s it’s it’s usually the flavor of notes. Right.
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Right. Right. Mountain Dew.
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Yeah. Car air freshener. I don’t So, it’s actually named that. It’s actually Nana because um the in the Appalachian Mountains when they were
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doing a uh all of the prohibition um moonshining.
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Okay. Truly, I was trying to figure a better word for it, but that’s what it was.
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That that was it. The original mascot for that was a was a mountain dude, an Appalachian Mountain dude. And he was like they were out there playing the jugs and mountain dude.
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Mountain dude.
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Dude, dude. Dew.
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Yeah. Like what what does that mean in that context?
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Okay. So, the context is just the the do on the mountain because the mountain is where they were doing the the distilling of the moonshine.
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Oh, I I didn’t say it made sense. I’m just saying. I’m just saying it’s a thing. Got it.
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It’s a thing. Yeah, it’s really I know it’s a thing. And now it’s neon green.
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I don’t know whether I’m guessing the mountain side. Yeah. I don’t know.
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I don’t I don’t know what color combination you have to you have to put together to make that shade of I don’t think you should think too about anything to do with
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green and yellow. Yeah. I’m pretty sure it’ll kill you eventually. Or rot your teeth out. One or the other.
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You’ve never seen a successful person drinking Mountain Dew? Never.
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Yeah. You’ve never seen a press conference where someone has to pause and take a drink of a Mountain Dew. Yeah. Hold on a second. For a do break.
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You Yeah. Right. Right. Right.
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It’s It’s pretty bad. It’s Mellow Yellow. Okay. Do you remember that one? That’s That’s an American name.
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That’s an American I think I’ve tried it, but I used to love Melo Yellow. It’s It’s It’s Mountain Dew’s cousin, though. Okay. Yeah. It’s neon yellow. American Seven Up, right?
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Oh, way worse than that. Okay. No, but I mean like the the relationship is like there’s like two versions of the same thing or like Yeah.
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Exactly. Exactly. All right.
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31 minutes, 20 seconds
You’ve created spaces for makers. I mean thousands and thousands of makers.
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How or is there a story of a maker that you’re specifically proud of where they started and where they are at now?
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31 minutes, 37 seconds
You know, I think there’s a lot of them.
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31 minutes, 39 seconds
I think um to be part of people’s small business journey is the most rewarding thing
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about my work. And so we have seen dozens if not hundreds of people go from
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maybe being doing their first ever market or popup with us or their first sale and then eventually having a
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brickandmortar store or then being like really well known in the Twin Cities.
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And so to just see that evolution, there are so many examples of people who I could think of. A good example is um the
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brand that we’re actually buying our airport booth from. The lady who owns that uh Siri from Urban Undercover, she owns a travel clothing brand for women.
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She was at my very first market 10 years ago. So, you know, she her evolution has been so solid and she has a building um
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at Vanelia, a shop at Vanelia Tower and then the airport location for seven years she’s been there. And so just to
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be a small part of that journey and one of the things that I always wonder if there’s a way to map and maybe this is something I’ll eventually get around to
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is like the e economic impact of our market brands you know because there’s there’s the impact on you know
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like I can map what I have have done over the years but like the ripple effects of that and seeing uh you know
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in our communities how many people have been able to sustain their families is through building their small business and us being a a one venue that they use for that. Yeah.
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Um and then I think that you know co was such a transitional moment obviously for everyone but
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my business closed overnight in that period right so I went from being the sole income for my family to having
33:30
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nothing overnight and trying to figure out okay what’s next and so I had um already been accepted
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into an accelerator program to launch an online marketplace so it was basically going to be like a local version of Etsy
33:45
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where vendors would set up their own store within our website and so we would take the orders, they would do all the fulfillment so we didn’t have to carry
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inventory or anything like that. And so it was that kind of marketplace model and I had uh a plan to build that out over a year in this program and then
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when my business closed overnight I was like let’s go we got to do this in six weeks and so we did. And so um we launched that and we kept that live for
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about two and a half years and um you know to even during that time to give people a lifeline of like you can’t sell
34:18
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at any of the events that you’re used to selling at um to have that online option for them. And then we saw a lot of people as well go all in on their
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businesses in that time. And I think that was like one of the really cool things, one of the very few cool things to come out of co was that a lot of
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people were left with no choice but to get it out the mud, right? So this thing that had been a weekend’s only side hustle or a passion project for years is now well I lost my corporate 9 to5.
34:45
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Let’s vintage like let’s let’s go, you know. And so I think that was part of how we came out stronger after COVID was
34:54
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a lot of people invested in themselves and their businesses in that way and were like, I got to make this work. I need these venues. I’m going to be a
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regular, you know, and so that’s been really cool to see. I think it really just galvanized the community here.
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I I think every market that I’ve ever been to has its own unique idiosyncrasies, right? It has it own culture if you will.
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How do you feel that because you built this off of a need a wants and then off a memory, right?
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Yeah. Yeah.
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So, how do you what what would you say the DNA of your market? Why is it how is it unique?
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I mean, I feel like just there is something unique about being one of the pioneers of of that movement. And that’s
35:46
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not to say that there were never anything before me that for sure were and there were a lot of people doing a lot of different stuff. But I think part
35:53
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of the vision of just it needs to be solid. It needs to be regular. People need to be able to count on this to make their paychecks and their bill payments.
36:03
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Um that’s like uh how that was able to be solidified. I think
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my my sense of going all in on it helped that. And so I think um you know I did it for two years as a side thing
36:17
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alongside a day job and I had a small my my youngest was you know a year old at that time and then in 2017 I felt like I
36:24
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was doing nothing well you know I was a partner and a a parent and you know and a business owner and a full-time employee and I just felt so stretched
36:33
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thin and so I was like I think if I go all in on this and dedicate those 40 hours of work to just this I can take it
36:41
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from here to here and That’s exactly what happened. And that was really a like turning point for the business in my mind where it was like
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like we’re turning on all the all the things like I said yes to everything.
36:53
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And now I’m fortunate to be in the position to be a little bit more selective about what we what we do, what we take on, what the team can manage.
37:00
37 minutes
Um, and so, you know, that’s a great spot to be in to to feel like we’ve got the basics figured out and we have the
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37 minutes, 8 seconds
structures and the systems. And the other piece of it, and I think this is kind of how my brain works in terms of business, is like I’m always thinking
37:15
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about how you build the foundation of something that is sustainable for now a decade, right? And that was always in my
37:24
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mind from day one is like I’m never thinking, well, I’ll just do this because this is where we’re at right now. I’m like, no, I’m going to put these systems in place even though we
37:32
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don’t need them yet because two years from now, I know we will and then we don’t have to change everything. It’s so much harder to build for growth. Yeah.
37:39
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Yeah. Yeah. And so like that’s been that’s been like just a the most fun thing for me to like build this network.
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I think also too you you seamlessly kind of inject the spirit of of of the cities, right,
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of the Twin Cities into the the mind of a maker with
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UK flare. And I think, no, honestly, if you if you really really step like, you know, yeah, a view of the the the forest through the
38:12
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trees, that’s that’s the magic that that it’s all cooked up. And and it couldn’t and I’m saying that to say that
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your your business could not have been done anywhere else by anybody else.
38:25
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And that’s Thank you. You that’s that’s the magic of it.
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Yeah. and and the fact that you put the makers and the vendors at the forefront
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of everything and um there’s a a a an kind of a north star
38:43
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for for everything that you do and I and that’s that’s why the brand is successful.
38:48
38 minutes, 48 seconds
Thank you. Yeah, my background was always in I thought I was going to be an artist my whole life like you are.
38:53
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I I am in a way. Right. Right. Um, not the same way that I thought, but yeah, I loved painting and drawing. Um, and you
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know, I went to art school. My degree is in silver smithing and metal work, and so I was always like involved in Yeah.
39:07
39 minutes, 7 seconds
Like so random. Like what’s a nice practical degree? Make me a sword.
39:12
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Yeah. Right. Right. Like literally, I could forge you a sword, but that’s it’s one of the coolest things. So I’ve always like I’m enamored by that kind of stuff.
39:20
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Yeah. Yeah. It’s It is actually There are practical uses for it. like I can weld, I can forge, I can do silver smithing like I haven’t done those
39:27
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things for a long time but no the muscle memory would come back you know so yeah so I always had a hand in in the art side of things and then
39:36
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professionally moved into event production and that’s like such a good training round for ground for entrepreneurship. Yeah like you just you learn a little about everything when you’re producing events.
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That’s a that’s amazing. All right so let’s let’s let’s talk about so first off congratulations are in order. Let’s talk about the opening of MSP.
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Thank you.
39:56
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That’s a major major thing. So, think about it this way. As someone who is a frequent traveler,
40:06
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one of the best ways to be in touch with the city or the place that you’re either coming into, it’s
40:14
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usually when you’re leaving to be honest.
40:16
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It’s usually when it’s usually when you’re leaving. Cut this. Yes. Mhm.
40:19
40 minutes, 19 seconds
is to get something from representative of the city. And let’s be fair, 99% of all of these items are mass
40:29
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manufactured, made in China, stamped on whatever city, USA, you’re in. Yep.
40:35
40 minutes, 35 seconds
This is not that, right? So, talk to me about what it is.
40:38
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Yeah. So, we’re going to have a booth on the Secon course right outside the Delta Sky Club, which is such a great location. I’m I’m really excited to be there. Um and we’ll be featuring
40:46
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handmade goods by designers and makers of the north. So it will be branded as the craft market. And um we have had the store down at Meet Minneapolis gift um
40:56
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shop at the visitors center down on Nichollet Mall and Nichollet for the past year and a half now. And so that has been a great study for us in what
41:05
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products are selling, what are people actually buying. It’s a very similar audience, primarily a tourist audience.
41:11
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Um, and so just, you know, taking those top sellers from over there, bringing them to the the airport, and the airport
41:18
41 minutes, 18 seconds
has been so great to work with. Um, they’re very invested. The people at Mac are very invested in the local arts
41:26
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community. You know, they have all the art exhibits in there. Yeah.
41:29
41 minutes, 29 seconds
Um, you know, and I you don’t see that at a lot of airports. And then they are very invested in getting small businesses in through their cart retail
41:37
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opportunity. So, um, it’s a huge opportunity for us to just reach that broader audience and then even to be able to market the events to them as
41:46
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like, oh, if you just landed or, you know, here’s what we’ve got going on this month, you know, and so I’m excited
41:53
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to give our makers a bigger platform and um, hopefully get their products into the hands of shoppers traveling all over the world.
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42 minutes
Absolutely. And it’s a it is a it is a major thing and and and good for everybody because I’m you know I’m
42:08
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thinking you would have rotating vendors through right so you know what you got on your trip in maybe in May won’t be the same
42:17
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as in the fall and then things are seasonal and you’ll have your favorites and then you can connect with your favorites through. So I mean I think
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it’s a it’s a it’s a it’s a wonderful thing. Yeah.
42:27
42 minutes, 27 seconds
And uh it’s super cool. Yeah. That’s like the I’m in the fun stage right now of designing the layout and the signage and buying the inventory and I’m like I
42:36
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get to go shopping for my business. Like this is very fun.
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That’s super cool. Super cool. Super cool.
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Do you believe that markets are in a way a form of resistance as far as specifically for economic liberation?
42:53
42 minutes, 53 seconds
100%. So our tagline is meet your maker, right? which is was a little tongue and cheek, you know, but like um it is about
43:01
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cutting out that middleman of oh, you need to have a store or an art gallery to meet your customers. Um it was always
43:08
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about the storytelling piece and I think motans care a lot about where their money goes. They care about sustainability.
43:16
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They care about supporting the local community. And so, you know, I think that’s part of why we were adopted so
43:22
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quickly is that people really do give a damn, you know, and so, uh, to give people a platform where they can connect with their customers directly like that
43:31
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has been huge, right? If you if you had funding to scale,
43:39
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whatever you wanted to without any bearings, what would you build next and why?
43:46
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Well, I already know the answer to that.
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Uh, so you’ve had this thought already. Okay.
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Yeah, there’s always that’s like always in my mind. I’ve got 10 business ideas in my head right now, you know, like um
43:58
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but specifically for this, I would like to if the airport model is successful, I would like to expand to other airports
44:06
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in the country. So, there is a huge opportunity to uh build that network. And I I have thought about this through the years as it pertains to markets.
44:15
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And I haven’t always felt like from a business perspective that that makes sense to do a traveling market
44:23
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because so much of the so much of it is relationship building.
44:28
44 minutes, 28 seconds
And it took a number of years to get to the point where I didn’t have to be going to other shows to physically hand
44:35
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out flyers and meet people and do all that stuff. We’re now in a position where people come to us, right? Um, but it takes a long time to
44:42
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get there, you know, and and so the beauty of technology and retail, the retail and commerce model is different now that there are opportunities to be
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in another city without a physical presence, but still only carry Chicago makers or New York makers or LA makers.
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45 minutes
And so, uh, that’s the pipeline that I see and that’s the, uh, the business plan that I have in my head. That’s just ingenious, by the way.
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Yeah. Yeah. to have the and what better place in the airport 100%. So this is why I’ve never done a
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45 minutes, 14 seconds
retail store is because um how to continuously drive traffic is such a challenge. And you know, I I even
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thought originally when I started the business about would I ever want a market hall, you know, a giant space where where we have like an actual
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permanent location for the markets and oh my gosh, I’m so glad I didn’t do that because I would have been saddled with this giant warehouse building during co
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absolutely you know and so the model that we have is very nimble. Um we can try things and then quickly pivot if they don’t work.
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And I think that’s that’s the most fun thing for me is the flexibility and the creativity that comes with let’s try this and see what we can do.
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Before I let you go. Mhm. We have to play another little bit. Okay. Okay. It’s the lightning round. Okay.
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I’ll say so in the lightning round when I ask you a series of questions and you just say the first thing that pops into your head.
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Okay. This is like what dissociation. I mean it’s just an answer. It’s just an answer. Okay.
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46 minutes, 16 seconds
Okay, so here we go. What’s one creative trend that needs to go?
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Oh, wet look hair. Like wild girls. What’s What go?
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It has to go by. Okay, understood.
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46 minutes, 34 seconds
What’s your market superpower in one word?
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My market like my Yeah. Your market superpower in one word. Oh.
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Um, warmth. That’s a good one.
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Craziest thing you’ve ever seen at a popup.
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We here. We’re here now. You Yeah, we’re really getting into this. We had a couple incidents last holiday
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season of vendors arguing with each other, which has never happened. Oh, that’s a TV show.
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47 minutes, 9 seconds
Yeah. And I like, what is going on? And it happened at different venues like a couple different times and I was just really surprised and I think it was just
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47 minutes, 17 seconds
a reflection of people were people are having a rough time right now, you know, and so try and approach that with a little bit of grace and a little bit of
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47 minutes, 24 seconds
humanity, but it was it was very surprising.
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47 minutes, 29 seconds
Yeah, that sounds hilarious, by the way. Um, but I’m not saying it’s good.
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47 minutes, 33 seconds
Yeah, we it’s not the kind of energy we need.
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47 minutes, 35 seconds
Yeah, we don’t need that energy, but you might want to film that. Um, one vintage item you’d fight someone over.
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Oh, that’s a good question. I would say anything by Alexander McQueen. Like vintage Alexander McQueen would be
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worthy of of a knuckle sandwich for sure.
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100% 100%. I’m not really into designer stuff in general, but Alexander McQueen,
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there is nothing in his collection that I wouldn’t wear. So like vintage. Yeah. Okay. Okay.
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What is a piece of advice that you would give to the 12-year-old Haley? Oh, that’s a great question.
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Um, you know, I think a lot of the advice that I did get or a lot of the messaging
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that I got from my both of my parents and my grandparents was that basically you can do anything you want to do. And
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I really believed that. I really believed that. And so uh like you have
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to I I believe fully in uh investing in your children this sense of anything is
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yours if you want it. That’s not to say you’ll get it with no work. Like you can work for it and and decide. And like just quick side note on like going back
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to the kids topic, you know, I think that one thing I’m trying to make my kids understand is that college might
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49 minutes, 1 second
not be for you and that’s okay. Like I don’t know that I want my kids to come out 100 grand in debt at the age of 22 or whatever. Like there are some of the
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49 minutes, 10 seconds
most successful people I know here in the Twin Cities are self-made entrepreneurs who maybe graduated high school or maybe not, you know, and so I
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49 minutes, 18 seconds
think there is a lot of other pathways to follow. It’s just understanding what your skills and talents are.
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49 minutes, 24 seconds
Awesome. That’s amazing. And I would say that because of those seeds
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that were planted by your parents that you have definitely superseded
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those things because not only in you know a time that was uncertain to to everyone like anybody so this regular
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49 minutes, 48 seconds
time and this co years right so right co years that’s like one co year is like five regular years right and so
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the learning curve serve in that time frame of uncertainty.
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50 minutes
Like remember two weeks, it was supposed to last two weeks, right? So two weeks turned into two years. Yeah.
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Anybody that did anything worthwhile during that time, kudos. Because you had to persevere and have a spirit
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of ingenuity during a time where we didn’t know what tomorrow was going to bring, right? So, if you were able to plant any good seeds worth any damn
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during that time frame, you are built to last.
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I appreciate that. Thank you. Yeah. Some of some of my best work is, you know, when the back’s against the wall and you got to really like grind and figure something out.
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Yeah. Like literally like that’s and I was always like that as a kid, too. When my mom would be like, “Why you leave everything to the last minute?” I’m like, “Ah, cuz I don’t want to.” And
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then I just knock out some great essay the night before or whatever. Um, but yeah, sometimes I work best under pressure.
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Awesome. Awesome. Okay, you have to tell all of our listeners where they can find you, how they can follow you, how they
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50 minutes, 59 seconds
can be a part of everything, when the store is going to be done. Yeah, there’s a lot going on, you know.
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51 minutes, 7 seconds
So, yeah, we have obviously social media and websites for both of the markets and and everything, but everything is on my website. So, haleymatthewsjs.com.
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Um, and then from there you can branch out to any of the other spaces and then you can find events that I’m doing just as me rather than the markets and stuff.
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So that’s a a good spot or on Instagram too.
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Okay. Instagram handles are Haley Matthews Jones with H A Y L E Y like Haley Mills and then uh MLS Craft MKT and MLS Vintage MKT.
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Okay, awesome. And the airport. Yes.
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Summer this summer. Yeah, July. Early July, we’ll be able in in the sea concourse.
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Yeah. Right outside the sky club. So, as soon as you have your little mimosa, come go get lit, get your mimosa, and then come shop with us.
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Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, again, thank you so much for being here. This has been amazing.
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Um Oh, one quick question. If I if there was a piece of clothing right now
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that someone would have in their possession that you think 5 to 10 years well what is it 20 years 10 years 10 it’
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be to be vintage is 10 uh no it’s like 20 25 20 what would those items be today what do
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you think is going to hold value down the line I mean I would always say anything in natural fibers particularly leather
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cotton denim you know anything like that. The polyester stuff is I I feel like people are starting to realize like I don’t know why we’re paying $200 for
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polyester pants. Like I don’t know where that’s coming from, but um any of those like well-made pieces, especially if you’re buying them from independent
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makers where there’s really like quality in the tailoring and the assembly. Like that’s that’s the things that I think will retain value.
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Awesome. Yeah.
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Awesome. Save the save the well-made things. Yeah. 100%. And nyx the other stuff.
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Yeah. I mean, we already see all like Goodwill is full of like Sheen and Timu and stuff from last year even, you