Maria De La Rosa and Gabriela Toledo, best friends and co-owners of The Found Vintage Co., hosted the first For the Girls market in May. The idea was to create space for women-owned businesses to showcase their work, build clientele, and befriend other women who understand the highs and lows of owning a small business.
After experiencing these types of community events in other cities, De La Rosa and Toledo sought to create a similar space here. “Our mission is the same,” De La Rosa says, “to provide community in a safe place for women to connect, meet new people, support one another. There are a lot of woman-owned small businesses in Memphis, so we wanted a place where they could be showcased.”
The markets feature many vendors offering a variety of goods, along with DJs, food trucks, henna, photo ops, and more. Planning the monthly markets has been a group effort that has highlighted many allies. “It’s not just women who support women. It’s a community. It’s men, it’s kids. It’s older people,” De La Rosa says. “Seeing so many people behind that has been a blessing.”
The two women say they owe their grit to their parents for setting examples of how to build livelihoods from the ground up as immigrants. “A lot of my entrepreneurship and taking a little bit of a step of faith in doing this with Maria has been from seeing my parents take a big step of faith,” Toledo says, “leaving their countries and coming here and building something.” Smiling, she adds, “I feel like I’m literally taking a page out of their book … to have seen what my parents have done, and to learn from that, and build something, and then have them be a part of it, too.”
From starting small, having a market at De La Rosa’s house with about 50 people, to hosting For the Girls at Crosstown Brewery with about 1,000 attendees, the journey so far has been rewarding. They’re proud of the growth, and of how they’re able to help women from all walks of life.
Creating third spaces for women to feel safe, celebrated, and respected for the work they put into their businesses is one of the Collective’s many goals. Each vendor is given the chance to share a piece of themselves with the public and make connections. It has created priceless moments where everyone’s work can be in the spotlight and shared with the masses.
Celebrating girlhood has proven to be bigger than having 11.4K Instagram followers. It’s also been about bridging the gap between generations and recognizing everyone’s similarities, rather than emphasizing superficial differences. Through music, photos, picnics, and more, women, girls, and allies can connect based on their shared interests, which can blur the lines that sometimes discourage people from starting new friendships.
De La Rosa describes a vendor and how they’re “the same at heart … there’s a big age difference,” she says, “but we have the same wants and dreams. We’re just living them at different stages of our lives. It is so beautiful to see our platform be an opportunity, not just for Gen Z or any specific generation, but for everybody.”
Toledo adds, “What’s really been meaningful is … when I get a chance to talk to the vendors and encourage them and pour back into them.” The importance of women encouraging one another in spaces geared toward their growth is pivotal for not only the women participating, but also the individuals who attend and bring their loved ones.
So what’s next for De La Rosa, Toledo, and For the Girls Collective? Their goal is to continue to grow “community-wise, event-wise, and womanhood-wise.” They’ve mentioned doing community outreach events and donating items and services to those in need if the greater Memphis community is receptive.
They’ve recognized the power of the initiative and how much more it can grow. Giving back to the community that has given them so much has always been the goal. “The whole point of our market is to honor the hard work, the sacrifice, the dedication, the care, and the effort of every vendor,” says De La Rosa.
The next market is Saturday, October 31st at Shelby Farms Park, 11:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
