Residents gather to support local entrepreneurs in the Hub City

JACKSON, Tenn. — Saturday evening vendors gathered in Downtown Jackson to sell a multitude of items ranging from handmade dolls to homemade barbecue. Jaquisha Buddie, Founder of the Jackson Entrepreneurs Group says she never imagined the event would get this big.

“Today we’re just having a market, we have it every four Saturdays here at the Farmers’ market. We just have all your local entrepreneurs come out and showcase their products and services,” Buddie shared.

Buddie says, as an entrepreneur herself, she knows the struggle and challenges that comes with this work.

“It’s very hard, you have to grind every single day. Day in and day out, everyday, it’s hard,” Buddie explained.

Maria Velasquez, owner of Miss V’s Accessories and More, says she loves that this event exists because of the exposure she gains from it.

“I thought it was an awesome opportunity for me to meet other small entrepreneurs and to network with them, so they can get into other pop-ups and find out where else they can set-up at,” Velasquez said.

Another entrepreneur from New York says she was amazed at the friendly atmosphere here in Jackson and says she decided to come and sell because of the welcoming environment.

“They should come. It’s a lot of friendly people and everybody is so nice. We all have different things. It’s quite a variety, so I would come, it can’t hurt to come and look,” Curtis said. 

Lacy Tuesdale, Founder of BodyBar by Dr.Lacy, says she came out to have fun with her business partner, who is also her daughter. 

“We’re a home base of an all natural store, so we’re kind of just coming out for exposure. So we thought this would be a good opportunity to get our names out there,” Tuesdale said.