Thank you to everyone who came to the Creative Mornings Los Angeles event at the Poketo store last Friday! It was an honor to hear the stories of two individuals, entrepreneurs, and brand visionaries, Sharon Montrose and Clare Vivier.

We have been huge supporters of Creative Mornings, as attendees, as a speaker, and now for the first time, as a host. The Poketo store was packed and bustling before 8am, and it was amazing to see everyone mingling and enjoying their morning fuel with Handsome Coffee and ice-cream from the Be Cool Cow Truck. Both Sharon and Clare were amazing, touching on failure, success, and business. One quote that resonated with me in particular was one that Sharon ended her presentation with, “Your desire for success must be greater than your fear of failure”. Yes.

Kate Miss and Laure Joliet.

Alissa Walker of Gelatobaby.

As always, Creative Mornings was inspiring and humbling. Hearing photographer Sharon Montrose and handbag designer Clare Vivier speak from the heart, sharing their experiences of starting their small businesses from scratch, their successes and failures – it truly resonated with the audience.

Sharon Montrose with her husband, Spencer.

Me and Angie with Clare Vivier, whose collection of bags and clutches we proudly stock in the Poketo store.

Heather Taylor (left) of L.A. in Bloom and co-owner and director of contemporary art gallery Taylor de Cordoba.

Lisa Tahk of the Storefront Bazaar pop-up and Bonnie Tsang.

The man, our friend, Mr. Michael Phillips of Handsome Coffee.

Last week was the 3rd annual Bloomfest in the Arts District of Downtown Los Angeles. Each year, this event gets bigger and bigger, expanding the streets and I believe they estimated about 20,000 people this year! Every LA food truck lined 3rd street, two music stages were set in the heart of the district, and hundreds of different vendors selling art, clothing and handmade goods were on the streets. Of course, the Poketo Store is in the heart of the district and we naturally were part of the festivities. Hundreds of people streaming in and nout, it was busy morning to night. Super fun seeing all of LA descend on the Arts District.

The Poketo Store was packed, non-stop!

Nathanel in the middle there, he’s the man behind Woodsmithe. Together they build amazing stuff.

A cool kids wall for painting fun!

I had to grab a pic of this gentleman wearing our Axelhoney x Poketo tee… old school! We may not have it in mens any longer, but, we do have the womens cut.

The Poketo crew that held it all together… Mariel, Nichole, Sonya, and Joyce.

Food Trucks galore… seemed like almost all of them in LA.

I had this one for the first time… pretty dang good.

Our neighbor Jeremy at District Millworks taking a pic of me taking him…

Poketo. Store. LA. Summer 2012.

Our friend Chris Bettig stopped by the Poketo Store yesterday… we are scheming up some amazingly huge plans once we get these doors open! Stay tuned.