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The Little Big Markets
TLBM is a thriving community hub on a Saturday. This issue we meet a diverse range of local stallholders with an array of talents, from creating vegan food and wellness tonics to sourcing crystals and healing tools.
TLBM is a thriving community hub on a Saturday. This issue we meet a diverse range of local stallholders with an array of talents, from creating vegan food and wellness tonics to sourcing crystals and healing tools.
Thieves & Co
Grace Hodge first made crystal necklaces as Christmas presents. “I started with jewellery and then
I had some leftover crystals, so I started selling them, and just kept branching out more and more,” she says. Over the course of a decade, Thieves & Co has made a name for itself as a one-stop shop for great jewellery, but also healing tools — crystals, books, energetic cleansers like homegrown smudge sticks, as well as offering Reiki services and workshops. “It’s been a really slow evolution,
so as I’ve grown, it’s grown,” Grace says.
Insights gained while travelling have been key, inspiring Grace professionally and personally. Seeing how spirituality is integrated into everyday life in Bali gave Grace the push to hone her craft. “It’s naturally such a spiritual place. In New Zealand, sometimes you feel like you can’t be super open
with it, but they live and breathe it, so it gives you confidence around it,” she says. “In Bali, giving crystals was like giving people gold — in Hindu culture, they have so much meaning.
“I didn’t set out to be a crystal seller, but I think that it was naturally there all along,” she says. Grace grew up in a holistic home, surrounded by crystals. “My mum also had a gift shop, so I got that side
of it. We’d make gift baskets and things like that.”
Those childhood experiences instilled in Grace an attention to detail, such as her lovely packaging. “It’s a full experience,” she says of her online and retail sales. “I’m literally selling energy, so I want to know that every point of that process has been a nice exchange.” And whether you’re buying Grace’s aquamarine, pink amethyst or bloodstone, all her crystals are thoughtfully sourced, often through
her travel contacts. “I make sure that [sales] go directly to the family; you’re not going through millions of channels.”
Thieves & Co also brings family vibes to TLBM. “There’s something about having my parents at the stall that creates this open space for people to come in and ask questions. Everyone knows my dad
— he’ll help people put up their gazebo and go chat to everyone.”
Cultivating that sense of connection has created a loyal customer base over the years, not just at
the markets, but also at pop-up evenings and healing services. “If people can leave feeling better than when they came — yeah, that would be success to me.”
thievesandco.co.nz @thievesnco
Sweet Threads
Mount local Tarina Millar holds a degree in criminology and started Sweet Threads while on hiatus from her social work with youth. “I loved my job, but it had a big impact on my own wellbeing,” she says. The idea of selling Turkish towels and throws was born from that time of introspection.
“I’ve always loved textiles and admire people that are so creative,” Tarina says. She started working with family-run businesses in the Denizli region of Turkey, who work with locally grown chemical-free cotton. Some Sweet Threads pieces are still made on looms, using a mix of automatic and traditional techniques that are rooted in centuries-old traditions.
At her TLBM stall you’ll find thoughtfully crafted, high-quality throws and towels (classic, luxe and roam) in various colours. “Every year I change my style of throws and towels because it keeps it interesting for me too, but there are a few favourites that I like to keep,” she says. “Last year, I did really bright colours because I felt like we needed it after such a tough few years.”
Tarina works with families to ensure ethical sourcing, fair wages and safe working conditions
— a people-focused outlook, reminiscent of her past.
sweetthreads.co.nz sweetthreads_nz
Tiny Seed
Argentine Corina Herschlik travelled the world before settling in the Mount. “It’s the first time I feel
this sense of community because I come from a big city.
“I learnt a lot during years of travelling. And now, I’m ready to start my business and share what
I learnt.” In Spain, Australia and New Zealand, Corina worked her way up in kitchens from dishwasher to chef, spending years behind the scenes. “I felt that I was hiding behind the kitchen, so I wanted to show my face, to challenge myself... and tell my story.”
In November, Corina launched Tiny Seed, a company specialising in vegan food that’s free of gluten and refined sugar: cakes, biscuits, sandwiches, scones and platters. She aims to plant a “tiny seed”
— the idea that real, delicious food can be aligned with the wellbeing of humans, animals and the environment. “People relate healthy food to something that’s boring or without flavour, so I pay extra attention to flavours, to decoration, playing with different colours and tastes. I love when people say, ‘Really, is it vegan?’”
Find her creations at TLBM and local cafes, and online sales are in the pipeline.
@tinyseednz
Honi Herbals
As if a full course load and clinical practice weren’t enough, Paige Dunlop started Honi Herbals in
her final year of uni. Now, as a recent Bachelor of Natural Medicine grad, she’s on the cusp of a new chapter after seven years of studies. “I feel this degree and the knowledge that I have really backs
my business and what I put out there,” she says.
Dunedin born and raised, Paige’s love of science led to a microbiology degree at Otago, followed
by a job in the UK where she was introduced to the world of herbs. “It opened my eyes to the healing qualities of herbal medicine. Then I found out you can study to be a naturopath in New Zealand, so
I came back to do that,” she says. “Aotearoa is filled with so many healing herbs, healing nature and healing ocean.
“In the first few weeks of my degree, we [took] a herbal manufacturing course where we got hands-on with these beautiful herbs, vinegars and honeys, and a spark kind of just went off in me,” Paige says. After two years of creating tonics for family and friends, she decided to market her products
— thanks to a confidence she credits to a newfound love of surfing. “Facing fears and building yourself up, getting better at something and still being humbled — it really was the driving force
just to go, ‘Yeah, let’s give it a go’.”
Paige likens her products to a cross between kombucha and immunity shots. “With apple cider vinegar, there are so many health benefits because it’s so healing, and has beneficial effects on blood sugar stabilisation and our whole digestive health.” Her concentrates are also designed to boost immunity and soothe stress-related stomach acidity. They can be drunk as wellness shots, poured over salads, or mixed with sparkling water as an alternative to alcohol.
Joining TLBM in late 2023, she introduced two products — the Ignite and Vital tonics. They are
four-week-old ferments with the addition of manuka honey that helps extract minerals, phytonutrients and antioxidants from native herbs. “Then, I very tediously hand-squeeze every last drop out [from the herbs] and that process for one batch can take six to eight hours. When I say it’s handmade,
you know it really is.”
Paige prioritises working with local producers, and family-run and Maori-owned businesses,
including a supplier she met at TLBM. “[The market] is a place where I get to talk about things I’m passionate about and get to grow with other people. There’s a woman [who] got a couple of my bottles, then a few weeks later, she was like, ‘I’ve never felt like this before’. This is why I’m doing this work. It’s stories like that.”
