Freddie’s Marketplace: Where Mailchimp Makers Sell Their Stuff
Freddie’s Marketplace started in 2017 as an in-person event called Freddie’s Makers Market. It was originally a winter holiday market where we invited all the awesome makers and creators who work at Mailchimp to showcase their goods and provided a space for people to shop for holiday gifts. The first market was a big hit––names were crossed off shopping lists and no one even had to leave the office. It was so successful that we decided to do it twice a year—in the winter and in the spring.
We held 5 Freddie’s Makers events in the Ponce City Market office in Atlanta, the last one with over 45 vendors. We canceled the spring 2020 market because of COVID and working remotely, but we still wanted to provide a resource for employees for the holiday season—so Freddie’s Marketplace was born.
Freddie’s Marketplace is an online internal directory featuring Mailchimp employees and their small businesses.
In line with Mailchimp’s mission to empower the underdog, our goal is to provide all our employees with a virtual resource they can use to support their coworkers. And, for employees who are also entrepreneurs, help them drum up a little business, too.
Carolyn Yoo, a Senior Engineer based in Brooklyn, has her shop, Caro Makes, on the site. “During the pandemic I had a lot more time to dedicate to creative hobbies, one of which was punch-needle embroidery. I started sharing my work on Instagram, which sparked interest from people wanting to purchase items, which is how I got started! I’ve been taking orders manually for now but eventually plan to open up an online shop.”
This story is common—many businesses included in Freddie’s Marketplace were started during the pandemic, and, because it’s online, we have more representation from our offices outside Atlanta.
And for Carolyn, it was a great way to meet coworkers. “I wanted to participate in Freddie’s Marketplace partially to connect with other employees. I’m relatively new to Mailchimp—I joined in August 2020 and still haven’t met anyone in real life!
“I also thought it was a great opportunity to validate and market my business without much lift and to see what items people were most interested in. I actually ended up making a custom set of goods for a Mailchimp employee who found me through Freddie’s Marketplace which became really popular on Instagram, so I know that will be one of my permanent offerings when I open a shop.”
The site currently has 49 businesses, with employees representing our Atlanta, Brooklyn, and Oakland offices, as well as some remote folks.
Categories include books, music, and media, clothing and accessories, cosmetics, fine art, food and beverage, home goods, services, and vintage and collectibles.
This internal directory is meant to highlight our employees’ personal projects and businesses, and will be updated throughout the year. We look forward to hosting another in-person market when we’re able to gather again, but in the meantime, we hope this directory helps employees stay connected.