July Newsletter – Passionate Volunteering

We talk in our upcoming book, The Retirement Boom, about the things you might want to do in your next chapter of life that relate to your passions.  And for over 1600 volunteers who came together in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for a long weekend in July to mentor and assist 150 folk artists from over 62 countries for the International Folk Art Market, the Boomers are out in force following their passions!  Many served in the State Department or Peace Corp, while others are teachers, lawyers, executives, communications, retailing and marketing specialists, and collectors of folk art from around the world.  Many have volunteered year after year at the market.These Boomers, making up over 70 percent of the market volunteers, have a passion for giving back, and for helping the folk artists reach economic sustainability. We Reboot Partners have been active in the Mentor to Market program from its inception, this year mentoring over 60 folk artists new to the Market. In a two-day training session, we taught artists marketing, selling, display, telling their story, how to photograph their art with a smartphone, and how to cost and price their goods.

The mentors included former CEO’s, a prominent journalist, business men and women, and others from all walks of life. All were Boomers in some stage of retirement, who wanted to leverage their skills and contacts to help these folk artists. Over half the volunteers came from out of town.  The positive energy on all sides was palpable.

Go to www.folkartmarket.org to get a glimpse of what happens in two and a half days at the Market that resulted in total artist sales of over $3 million, 90% of which goes back with the artists to help in their communities.