PERSON OF INTEREST

DARE TO DREAM

Holly Gresto opened her craft workshop studio, Dare to DIY, in Fullerton right before the pandemic. Then came Plans B, C, and D. by Astgik Khatchatryan

What made you start Dare to DIY? I was working in the event industry, and I taught cookie-decorating classes on the side. I left my job and started teaching full time. After a while, I wanted to have my own space so that I could teach but also have outside artists come in and teach crafty workshops. The weekend I had my grand opening was actually when everything started to shut down. I have since learned that you have to have many backup plans for your business.

How did you adapt? We still do some limited in-person workshops, and we do virtual workshops such as macramé, watercolor, and calligraphy. But we’ve also pivoted to focusing on private events and hosting small-business markets. I’ve had micro weddings, baby showers, bridal showers—they rent the space per hour, and they can add on rentals or in-house event coordination. Normally, I can fit 48 people for a dinner party, but with COVID-19 it’s obviously fewer, and it just depends on the rules at the time.

Tell us about the small-business markets. Twice a month, I host the markets at Dare to DIY, and then I also partnered with my friend Michelle Casillas of Desert Hangers to form Creative Babe Market, which is a vendor market we organize but it’s held at different venues such as Golden State Coffee and other small businesses. In either case, the vendors are all local, womanowned small businesses—all sorts of things from clothing and jewelry to candles and macramé. Small businesses are struggling, so we just wanted to find a way to help.

CHECK IT OUT!

Find out about upcoming workshops, markets, and event rentals at daretodiyoc.com.