For student-owned small businesses, opportunities to showcase their work are vital to their career growth. For Shelby McCleary, a second-year UC Santa Cruz student, the Makers’ Market was a learning opportunity.

“I don’t really know how to run a business. I don’t really know how to advertise my stuff, so having a space like this is important,” McCleary said. Prior to the event, she sold hand-sewn quilts from upcycled textiles and handmade beaded jewelry for about two years. However, she only sold her products online.

The Women’s Center, Lionel Cantú Queer Center and Jack Baskin School of Engineering hosted the Makers’ Market to uplift student creatives by providing an inclusive space to share their art, as well as an opportunity for students to spread their entrepreneurial wings. 

The Makers’ Market has a different theme each iteration, and this time it had a Pokémon twist. 

The event organizers held the market on Oct. 29 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Porter Quad. By 4:50 p.m., the event had attracted close to 300 visitors, with participant numbers increasing over the course of the day. Students perused the vending tables, some dressed in costumes of Pokémon characters, while others waited eagerly in line for a bowl of steaming, free food. 

Students enjoyed vendors selling themed goods, warm food, and activities hosted by various student organizations at the market. 

Participants partake in the Pokémon theme, dressing up as Pikachu and Ash Ketchum, and playing the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

“It was actually really nice,” said Kirti Sachdeva, a first-year UCSC student. “The vendors are really sweet and they have a lot of cool things. They had good food and really well-themed drinks and snacks that were on theme with Pokémon.” 

The hosting organizations provided four tables decorated with a variety of food items, including trays full of golden curry, chicken katsu, and short grain rice, along with a selection of cookies and two huge pitchers of spicy mango mocktails. The lines for food trailed across the quad and throughout the event, up to 30 students or more were waiting for their chance to grab a bite. 

Two attendees pose with their respective bowls of assorted food items offered by the hosting organizations.

Pokémon themed sugar cookies rest on the table, available for students that obtained food tokens to enjoy. 

In another area of the quad, two rows of tables managed by 11 student creatives and small student-led businesses. The vendors selling Pokémon trading cards, paintings, hand-knit items and more lined a sidewalk in the Porter Quad.

Student vendors showcase a variety of themed goods ranging from figurines, art prints, handmade jewelry, and an assortment of Pokémon trading cards. 

Evan Johnson, a third-year UCSC student and vendor, was selling Pokémon trading cards. Unlike Shelby Mcleary, who was a vendor selling for the first time, the Makers’ Market was not Johnson’s first rodeo. 

Johnson sells at Pokémon trading card shows almost every weekend. Up to this point, his most lucrative trade sold for over $3,000. For him, his small business is more than just a hobby. 

“It’s really been a big help,” Johnson said. “I don’t have a job outside of college, so I pretty much just do college and vending. Selling the cards supplements a lot of the financial stuff.”

Apart from the student artists, the Women’s Center, Lionel Cantú Queer Center and Jack Baskin School of Engineering, tabled alongside other organizations.

The organizations include: 

  • Slug Anime and Manga Association
  • Out in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Association
  • Slug Gaming
  • Slugworks

Meanwhile, Sa’Niya Murphy, the Women’s Center’s Program Organizer and event emcee, announced student-led performances from groups like StarChrome and Cloud 9 A Capella. Murphy also announced the winner of the Makers’ Market costume contest, in the spirit of Halloween.

Long past the end of the event, Ava Anderson, a fourth-year at UCSC, was still accepting commissions from clients as well as selling small canvas paintings.

Student entrepreneur Ava Anderson paints while their previous creative projects rest on the table available for purchase. 

“I really hope there’s more events like this,” Anderson said. “I think it’s a great opportunity for artists and for people who want to go out and meet people, or just have something to do on a weekday.”