Trade Show Series -Guest - Renaissance Man Andrew Thornton

I’ve already written about Andrew in July, 2010. If you care to see what I wrote originally, check it out: My Friend Andrew Thornton.

It’s a rainy dreary day in Bartlesville, the perfect time to write about Andrew. At the end of Pat's blog, I intro'd Andrew as a "man who changed my life."  How, you ask – can one man, met so infrequently – change your life?  Andrew came into my life at a very tough time – just losing my grandmother, my dog, my cat. . . I was full of grief. Broken.

 Andrew in a way only Andrew can (if you’ve met him, you’ll know) –and just being Andrew – pulled me in with his sharp wit, dry sense of humor and tale telling. I have to say, I looked for excuses to pass his booth, linger over his Green Girl treasures, hoping he’d exchange mindless banter with me. Talking Twinkies and Twilight gave me something else to dwell on and look forward to – rather than the screeching of my broken heart.

Thank you Andrew, for helping heal my invisible wounds and thank you for selflessly participating in our blog series. . . part one of Andrew Thornton, starts here:

I love this smile - he has like 20 more different smiles - but this is one of my favorites

1. What brand do you fall under (if any): Independent Jewelry Artist, Business Owner; Artisan and/or other:

I'm in an interesting position, where I fall under all of the various titles. I feel like I've had to wear a lot of hats to keep this creative castle afloat. I have a Fine Arts degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York City, work with my family at Green Girl Studios, have my own online Shop, and will be opening a physical location soon!

2. What type of Trade Shows do you attend as a vendor (not buyer) and how many shows do you attend:

I primarily attend bead shows and craft shows. At the height, I was going to about 26 shows a year – pretty much every other weekend.

One of Andrews' artworks

3. How far in advance do you plan for each show (i.e. inventory, advertising, hotels):

For the larger shows, we generally start right after the previous one ends. It allows us to stay innovative and creative and do all the business work that needs to happen. I will say that, just because of the very nature of the shows and companies, a lot of times we have to wait until the last minute to get the best deals. Also, advertising is best done in increments with a concentration the week before the show.

4. What type of advertising do you use, if any:

Green Girl Studios does a lot of different kinds of advertising. One of the biggest, most solid examples is that we advertise in many of the jewelry-making magazines. But we also keep our blogs and social media pages going, and rely a lot on word of mouth.

Like what you've read so far, tune in 9/9/2011 for more Andrew.

Find Andrew here - Andrew's Blog  Shop with Andrew   Shop Green Girl

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