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The "Why" of The Marketplace
• Marisa Sellman

The "Why" of The Marketplace

“Why did you start The Marketplace?” The Medium Tote played a huge role in the creation of the vision. Tonight we launch into Christmas in Davidson and how appropriate to tell the “why” of The Marketplace. In Fall 2010, I felt God wanted me to use my business skills to help ministries around the world. Business people, I am now talking to you- your business skills are a God given gift. God created you to use these gifts for His glory. I reached out to Jacaranda Creations in Kenya and asked if they needed any business help to further their project. Within 10 minutes I got an email back, “YES!” We started emailing and exchanging ideas. A month later I signed up to sell their products at Christmas in Davidson. Looking back at our set up, I seriously want to cringe. It looked like Africa threw up on a table! We didn’t know what we were doing. But God honored it. We sold over $2,000 in 9 hours! Something special happened that night. Even though it was about 20 degrees, a flame was fanned and a passion ignited. I felt that this is what God created me to do. To sell product? No, to tell a story and motivate people into action to help those without a voice. 

I was the little kid on the playground that would step in when I saw someone getting bullied and stand up to them. As a little girl, I would sit in a library for hours reading stories of adventure. As a 9 year old standing outside of the military base in the Philippines, I watched children dive into the dirty river retrieving coins that Americans threw at them. I grew up in an International family. I studied finance at the University of Florida thinking one day I would work for a corporation. God took all of that and He used it to create The Marketplace, a culmination of gifts and experiences. 

Back to the Medium Tote, many people just see a bag. But what I see is an opportunity. For the artisan, it’s an opportunity to feed her children and give her a dignified job. For the customer, it’s an opportunity to use what God has blessed them with to help others. For me, it’s an opportunity to use what God has gifted me with to connect others. That tote is so much more than a purse. Many people tell me I am a great salesperson. That is so not true. You see it’s not about the sale, it’s about giving people an opportunity. 

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