The Interview —

Sonja Rasula, Creator of Unique Markets

The decision to start Unique Markets wasn’t truly planned—it came from a series of events. One day, sitting in traffic, it dawned on me that there was a need for a large-scale community shopping event where you could buy lots of cool, curated items in one place. An event that would help hundreds of small business owners reach new audiences and increase sales, and in turn, help the local economy grow and thrive. So I risked my entire 401k savings to start Unique Markets! In December of 2008, we held our first market in Los Angeles, Unique LA, which instantly became the largest "buy local" shopping event in the country. Now, eleven years later, we host markets across the country and have franchised the business model.

I’ve made a lot of discoveries for new businesses and artists on Instagram. Social media, overall, is a great place to connect with people and learn about new brands that are local to the major cities where we hold our markets. All vendors and products sold at our markets are curated by myself and my team, so it’s important that we stay on top of trends and forecast new ones. This way, customers get a new experience every time they shop at our pop-ups! 

Well, I’ve always been driven by the idea that creativity can change the world. Once Unique Markets picked up, I started to understand the power of my own community. What began as a marketplace became something bigger. Through Unique Markets, I have a platform to give power to small business owners. Unique fosters entrepreneurship, spreads creative thinking, and grows community. 

Now that we’ve expanded outside of LA and have our pop-up markets all around the country, it’s busy year-round! Most of my time is spent on Unique Markets between researching retail trends, curating sellers, leading creative direction and design for the company, speaking at conferences and to groups at corporations, and marketing. My typical day involves a lot of emails! Aside from that, I also advocate for a 4.5 day work week for my team, and we do group lunches. It’s really important that we set time aside to cook lunch together in our office space and share a meal together. I’m also a big believer in a mid-day nap, so anytime I need a little refresher, I’ll take a 20-30 minute nap to recharge.

I love the community my job brings. Aside from Unique Markets, I also own The Unique Space—a modern office building for small businesses in LA’s Artist District—which is where my team’s headquarters are also located. Inside of The Unique Space, there are small businesses of all types, from creative agencies to architects to shoemakers. It’s really nice to talk to different people and learn about their projects. And we do a monthly wine tasting which is probably my second favorite thing!

Show off about what you’re doing. If you’re not excited about your work, how will you make others excited too?!

Modern and eclectic.

I love love love Proclaim, an LA-based brand that makes nude bodysuits and bras in a range of nudes! (Check them out at wearproclaim.com.)

My iPhone and lip gloss!

Now that we announced Unique Markets Franchising, we’re on the lookout for amazing people all over the country who want to be business owners, leaders in their community, and help make a huge difference in the lives of artists, designers, and entrepreneurs. We plan to be in even more cities by the end of the year, and we're looking at franchising international locations in 2020!