My First Vendor Event: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Sometimes things don’t go according to plan. And sometimes, the experience leaves you with more questions than answers.

On November 7, 2026, Cresha’s Cozy Cravings participated in its very first vendor event at the Heart of Albany Festival. I wish I could tell you that everything went smoothly, that all my preparations paid off exactly as planned, and that I walked away feeling like I’d conquered the world, but that wouldn’t be the truth. The truth is, it seemed like everything that could go wrong did go wrong! And by the time it was all said and done, I was physically exhausted, emotionally drained, and questioning whether I ever wanted to do another vendor event again.

But that’s not the whole story.

Because somewhere between the disappointment, the exhaustion, the unexpected encouragement, and the people who helped me along the way, I found something else; hope

The Excitement and the Preparation

When I decided to participate in my first vendor event, I was excited. Nervous, absolutely, but excited nonetheless. This was an opportunity to introduce Cresha’s Cozy Cravings to people who might never have heard of my little microbakery. This would be an opportunity to share the sourdough breads, cookies, and other goodies that I pour so much love into making, and I wanted everything to be just right.

I planned my menu, calculated quantities, purchased packaging, worked on labels, and gathered everything I thought I would need to create a welcoming booth. I had visions of beautiful sourdough loaves displayed alongside my cookies and granola. I wanted people to see what Cresha’s Cozy Cravings had to offer, and I prepared. Boy, did I prepare!

But one thing I learned is that there’s a difference between planning for an event and actually experiencing one, and I was about to learn that lesson the hard way.

The Bad: When Things Started Going Wrong

I don’t even know where to begin. I’d spent so much time preparing my bread dough, and somehow, despite all my planning, the bread became one of my biggest disappointments. My cranberry orange bread, which I had been especially excited to offer, ended up scorching on top, and on top of that it just looked wrong. My sandwich loaves weren’t turning out the way they should. Why would they stick to the pans??? My sourdough boules had texture issues. Why would they forsake me in this manner???

The more I tried to make things work, the more it felt like things were unraveling. I’d made bread countless times before. This wasn’t something new to me, but suddenly, when I needed everything to come together, it just wasn’t happening; that was heartbreaking.

Ultimately, I made the difficult decision not to bring the bread to the event. Imagine being a sourdough microbakery showing up to your first vendor event without any bread! That was definitely NOT the debut I had imagined.

And as if that weren’t enough, I was running on very little sleep, my body was aching, and there was still so much to do.

I had already baked my cookies, but they needed to be packaged; I had labels to finish, and a booth to prepare. It felt like I was constantly working yet somehow falling further behind, and the clock certainly wasn’t slowing down for me.

The Ugly: The Part Nobody Sees

Here’s the part of entrepreneurship that doesn’t always make it into the pretty social media pictures.

• The exhaustion.
• The frustration.
• The money spent before you’ve earned a single dollar.
• The hours of preparation that don’t necessarily translate into sales.
• The ingredients that go to waste.
• The products that don’t turn out.
• The feeling that you’ve worked yourself to the bone and still somehow have fallen short.

I had invested in supplies, booth decorations, packaging, ingredients, and the vendor fee, and because I’m not currently working a traditional job, those financial investments weren’t something I could simply brush off. I had to be mindful of what I was spending, and I was hopeful that the event would at least help me recover some of those costs. But when things started going wrong, I couldn’t help wondering whether any of it would be worth it.

Then there was the physical toll. I pushed myself too far. Between the long hours of preparation, the baking, the lack of sleep, and trying to get everything ready, I asked more of my body than I should have, and my body let me know it. Even several days after the event, I was still recovering and experiencing some pain in my legs. That’s something I can’t ignore.

I love baking, and I want to see Cresha’s Cozy Cravings grow, but I also have to learn how to pursue that growth without sacrificing my well-being in the process because what good is building something you love if you’re too exhausted to enjoy it?

The People Who Poured Into Me

Now, before I go any further, there’s something I absolutely have to acknowledge; it’s the people who poured into me throughout this entire process because as much as this experience tested me, it also reminded me that I have people in my corner who genuinely want to see me succeed.

I had people who believed in me and Cresha’s Cozy Cravings enough to invest financially in my business. I had people who gave their time, talents, and resources to help bring my vision to life. I had people who helped create my product labels, even when things didn’t go quite as planned. Then when I found myself needing labels redone at the last minute, my husband stepped in and made it happen. Actually, my husband was a tremendous help on the day before the event and I don’t know how I would have managed some of those last-minute challenges without him. I also had people speaking words of encouragement into me when I was frustrated, overwhelmed, and questioning whether I could pull everything together.

I had people praying for me; People who were lifting me up in prayer, believing with me, and praying that everything would come together. I don’t take any of that lightly. There were moments when I felt like giving up, and sometimes a word of encouragement, a helping hand, or knowing someone was praying for me was exactly what I needed to keep going.

When you’re trying to build something of your own, it’s easy to focus on everything you still need to accomplish, everything you don’t have, and everything that isn’t going according to plan, but this experience reminded me to recognize what I do have.

• People who believe in me.
• People who are willing to invest in a vision that’s still growing and evolving.
• People who give of themselves without expecting anything in return.
• And people who cover me in prayer.

I may have been the face behind the booth that day, but there were so many hands, hearts, and prayers that helped me get there, and for that, I am incredibly grateful.

Finally, Festival Day!

After all the preparation, the setbacks, the late nights, and the things that simply refused to go according to plan, I finally made it to the festival, and when my booth was set up and I could stand back and take it all in, I felt something I hadn’t had much time to feel during the chaos leading up to that moment.

Relief and pride.

I was exhausted. I was running on very little sleep, and my body was feeling the effects of everything I’d put it through, and yes, I was still disappointed that I hadn’t been able to bring my bread, but surprisingly, that disappointment wasn’t at the forefront of my mind.

I was proud of what I was looking at:

The baskets, the displays, the cookies, the granola, all the little details I’d spent so much time thinking about and putting together; it had finally come to life.

This was my booth, my business, something I’d envisioned, planned, worked for, and brought into existence. Despite everything that had gone wrong, I was there.

For a moment, I wasn’t thinking about all the things that hadn’t worked out. I was looking at what I’d actually accomplished, and that felt good.

Putting Myself Out There

One thing I hadn’t fully prepared myself for was what it would feel like to actually stand behind my booth and interact with customers.

It was exciting, but it was also nerve-wracking. A little scary, even. I didn’t know quite what to expect. Would people stop? Would they be interested in what I was selling? Would they enjoy my products? Would I know what to say?

There’s something vulnerable about putting something you’ve created in front of complete strangers and waiting to see how they’ll receive it. Overall, I felt like I was received well.

I had some genuinely refreshing conversations with people. Some were curious about sourdough, some were intrigued by the cookies, and others simply stopped to chat.

And then, of course, there were the interactions that reminded me that dealing with the public can be an experience all by itself! One gentleman decided to give me a little lesson about the dangers of sugar. He told me, “When you know better, you do better,” and proceeded to explain how sugar contributes to health problems like high blood pressure.

Now, I’m not under any illusion that cookies are health food. I think we’re all pretty aware that consuming too much sugar isn’t good for us, but sir, you’re standing in front of a booth selling cookies! I couldn’t help but find a little humor in that. While that particular interaction wasn’t exactly encouraging, it certainly wasn’t representative of my experience.

Most people were kind, curious, and receptive. One of my favorite things was watching people’s reactions when they learned that my cookies were made with sourdough.

Some were skeptical at first.

Sourdough? In a cookie? But then they’d take a sample, and their expressions would change. Some of those same people ended up purchasing cookies! Those moments were incredibly rewarding.

I also received compliments on my booth, which meant a lot considering how much thought and effort I’d put into creating an inviting space. Someone even stopped to take a picture of it. There was the customer who specifically came looking for my bread. At the time, that was another reminder of what I hadn’t been able to accomplish. Looking back, I realized something…Someone came looking for my bread. There was interest in something I’d created, even though I couldn’t offer it that day, and that was encouraging.

The Accomplishment I Almost Overlooked

Something else happened during all of this that I don’t want to forget. When I looked at all the cookies I’d baked, I felt proud. I mean genuinely proud. There were so many of them!

Chocolate chip toffee cookies, cookie butter cookies, vegan cookie butter cookies, confetti cookies, and more.

I’d mixed, portioned, chilled, baked, packaged, and prepared more cookies than I’d ever tackled for a single event. I did it! The packaging of the cookies was done with a lot of help, of course.

Was it overwhelming? Absolutely. Would I do everything the same way again? Not a chance!

I accomplished something that once would have seemed enormous to me, and in the middle of everything that went wrong, I nearly overlooked everything I’d managed to do right.

That’s something I’m trying to be more intentional about; recognizing my accomplishments, even when they don’t come wrapped in the outcome I’d hoped for.

When the Festival Was Over, the Work Wasn’t

You would think that once the festival ended, I could finally breathe a sigh of relief, put my feet up, and recover.

Not quite.

Remember all that bread dough and dough that didn’t cooperate before the festival? Well, I still had to deal with it.

For days afterward, I was baking bread, trying different things, making focaccia, and attempting to salvage what I could.

At one point, I felt like I had dough coming out of my ears! Every batch was another reminder of how differently things had turned out from what I’d envisioned. I was disappointed about the bread; really disappointed.

Bread is such an important part of Cresha’s Cozy Cravings, and I’d put so much effort into preparing it for the festival.

To have all of that work result in bread I couldn’t bring to the event was difficult enough, but having to continue dealing with the aftermath for days made it even harder. Eventually, I had to accept that not everything could be saved. That’s a frustrating reality when you know how much time, effort, and money went into making it.

The festival may have ended on Saturday, but for me, the experience continued long afterward, and in some ways, it still hasn’t ended because I’m still processing everything.

And I want y’all to know that I figured out why the tops of my loaves burned, it was too close to the top element. That’s what happened to the cinnamon roll focaccia too. Just betraying me!

So, Was It Worth It?

That’s a question I’ve been asking myself. Financially, I’m not convinced it was.

When I consider the vendor fee, supplies, ingredients, wasted bread, and everything else that went into preparing, I have to acknowledge that this may not have been a profitable experience, and that’s a hard pill to swallow. I’m also beginning to understand that not every return on an investment shows up in dollars.

• Sometimes it shows up in experience.
• Sometimes it shows up in confidence.
• Sometimes it shows up in a customer who tries something unfamiliar and discovers that they love it.
• Sometimes it shows up in realizing how many people genuinely believe in you and want to see you succeed.
• And sometimes it shows up in recognizing that you’re capable of more than you thought, even when things don’t turn out the way you planned.

Does that mean I’ve made peace with everything? Absolutely not. I’m still disappointed about the bread. I’m still thinking about the money I invested. My body is still recovering from the physical demands of preparing for the event, and I’m still coming to terms with the fact that the experience didn’t look the way I’d envisioned. But I can acknowledge all of that and still recognize that some good came from it.

I’ll be honest, I really don’t think this event was supposed to include bread because this bread tasted great. Everyone who tasted it felt that way, but to me, it did not look right. The texture seemed really off. I was able to make use of some of it and even repurposed some into French toast sticks.

What I’ll Do Differently Next Time

If there’s one thing this experience taught me, it’s that I don’t have to do everything.

I went into this event wanting to offer a variety of products because I wanted people to see all that Cresha’s Cozy Cravings could do, but offering more isn’t always better. If I decide to participate in another vendor event, I want to simplify: fewer products, better production planning, more realistic expectations about what I can comfortably accomplish.

I want to focus on the products that represent my bakery well without stretching myself so thin that I can barely enjoy the experience, and I need to be more mindful of the physical demands because I started this business out of a love for baking.

I enjoy creating recipes, experimenting with flavors, and sharing what I make with others, and I don’t want that love to get lost in the pressure of trying to do too much. I’m learning that building a business isn’t just about figuring out how to grow; it’s also about figuring out how to grow in a way that’s sustainable for me.

The Hope That Remains

I left my first vendor event with mixed emotions. I was disappointed. I was exhausted, and I had plenty of reasons to question whether I wanted to put myself through that again, but I also left with encouragement.

• People enjoyed my products.
• They appreciated my booth.
• They were curious about my bakery.
• And I had people who supported me before, during, and after the event.
• People who invested in me, helped me, encouraged me, and prayed for me.

That means more than I can adequately express.

My first vendor event wasn’t the success story I’d imagined. It was messy; it was stressful; It was humbling; and there are parts of it that I’m still trying to make sense of. It was also a beginning. I’m still figuring out what the next chapter of Cresha’s Cozy Cravings will look like. I don’t have all the answers, and I’m certainly not ready to pretend that every disappointment has magically turned into a blessing.

Some things were simply disappointing. Some things were costly, and some things took more out of me than I was prepared to give, but I can acknowledge all of that and still be hopeful. I can recognize what went wrong without ignoring what went right. I can be grateful for the people who helped me without minimizing the challenges I faced. And I can be proud of myself for showing up, even when the experience looked nothing like I expected.

I’m learning that I can be proud of what I accomplished and still be disappointed by how things turned out. Both can be true. And maybe that’s where I am right now. Not at the end of a perfectly wrapped-up success story. Not completely at peace with everything that happened, but grateful, a little wiser, still recovering, and hopeful about what’s ahead because even after the good, the bad, and the ugly, I still believe there’s something worth pursuing here.

And for now, that’s enough.

With love and a little sourdough,

Cresha

Cresha’s Cozy Cravings