Meet Bernard Mansuetti | Co-Founder of Ampersand Creative Co.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Bernard Mansuetti and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Bernard, what is the most important factor behind your success?
For us, our success stems from a great, understanding, and mutually beneficial relationship with our community and all of the small businesses that choose to participate in our events. We always refer to this internally as “sharing ownership”. Not only do we want our events to be approachable both socially and financially, but we want everyone in the room to feel as though they are truly part of the event itself. Rather than simply allowing vendors to sell their items and attendees to shop from them, we aim to provide experiences at our events that invite everyone in the room to both participate and converse with each other. Be it through contributing to the playlist for the event, playing games to support a local non-profit, leaving and taking books from our community book swap, attending our pre and after parties to network, drink, and break bread together – our success is measured by the community impact of bringing people together, not by how many tickets we sell. If we can provide the care and tools to bring people together, and even make them closer to one another, the financial success follows.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My wife and I have been organizing large scale community events, music festivals, and farmers markets both together and independently for well over 30 years combined. We started Ampersand Creative Co. in 2020 during the height of the pandemic. At its core, Ampersand creates a variety of large-scale community experiences that bring hundreds of small businesses and tens of thousands of small business shoppers together each year. Each event takes place over two days, and for many of our events, attendees receive a complimentary drink ticket that they can redeem with our many beverage sponsors. We are the most proud of creating opportunities for small businesses – each of our weekend-long events generates a combined $250,000.00-$300,000.00 in sales for the vendors who participate. It was a big leap of faith to get started, and we funded the first set of events from our personal savings, but we knew that the small business community would reciprocate and support us in return. We have definitely learned a lot – that relationships are so important to maintain, that self-doubt pops up but we can rely on each other and our community to squash it, that not everyone wants us to succeed (which does not matter!) and that if we can open this type of business during a pandemic, we can do anything.

We currently host four different events in two states, as detailed below:

As a 25+ year vegan, my wife, Robin Dionne, had always dreamed of starting a VegFest here in Rhode Island. She was well into the planning of the first event when we met, and having had some experience working with the venue that she was hosting the event at, I offered to jump in and help. We married a year later! RI VegFest is a truly special event that’s both a safe and fun space for vegans and vegetarians to shop and eat from vegan-friendly restaurants and business, but we also aim to make it an inviting event for all foodies, especially those who are interested in learning more about plant-based options. We are in the planning process of the first Vermont VegFest now as well!

The Good Trade Makers Market was created to celebrate and bring together independent makers and manufacturers from all over the country, in a special weekend-long event shortly before the holidays. Our 2021 event in Providence, Rhode Island brought in nearly 100 vendors from 16 different states, and in 2022 we will host The Good Trade again in Providence, and for the first time ever, in Burlington, Vermont.

Little City Thrifty Vintage Market is a shopping event for all things vintage, antique, or up-cycled. In addition to the 85 different vintage vendors from up and down the east coast, this event brings in thousands of shoppers and dealers.

Finally, we partnered up with our good friend Bianca Gallagher to start Bloom Flower and Home Market, a shopping event geared towards urban living for plant lovers, gardeners, and home decor enthusiasts. The event space is filled with florists, plants, pottery, art, and endless home decor items.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Providence really is the best – not just because there is great coffee shops, restaurants, and shops, but it’s usually the people behind them that make it a special place to visit. There’s no way to name them all, but here are some of our personal favorites and some tips to go along with them:

Lucky Enough – a brand new (but very old school) elevated dive bar with a record player
New Harvest Coffee Roasters – a family-owned coffee roastery with a whiskey bar/cafe in it! They offer coffee classes, too.
The Industrious Spirit Co – Providence’s first distillery since Prohibition! Locally owned with great staff and frozen drinks outside by the fire pit.
Plant City 345 – an all-vegan speakeasy!
Queen of Hearts/Modern Love – two sister-shops next door to each other, offering interesting home decor, kitchen items, clothing, and more.
Stock Culinary Goods – a lovely shop featuring local foods, local gifts, cookbooks, and every kitchen item you never knew you needed.
Evolve Apothecary – an apothecary shop with natural bath and home cleaning products, makeup, perfume, and a little spa inside for relaxing facials and massage.
Frog & Toad – Providence’s most beloved gift shop. Funny gifts, locally made items, art, soaps, and their famous shirts, which raised tens of thousands of dollars for charity during the pandemic. Unbelievably charitable owners.
Trinity Beer Garden – a beautiful little beer garden in the city center. They feature local drinks and drafts, food trucks, comedy nights, DJs, and more.
The Graduate Hotel – said to be haunted, this is a very special historic hotel, recently renovated in downtown Providence, right across from Trinity Beer Garden. And, it is where we met!
POP – a vintage store that has the strangest, coolest, most unusual items you’ll find in the state. You will not believe this place.
Hungry Ghost Press – a very community minded business, they are committed to building up a very under-served and often overlooked area of the city. They sell art, vintage, and their own t-shirts, designed and printed in-house.
Bodhi Spa – this is a hot/cold water journey with two locations in Rhode Island. A very relaxing event to do with friends or for a special occasion.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
This is an incredibly long list for us as we’re fortunate enough to be surrounded by so many inspiring and supportive people, businesses, and organizations. If we had to choose one person or business, it would be Rachael Batz, the General Manager behind Trinity Beer Garden in Providence. Not only has Rachael been a sincerely special friend to us both personally and professionally, but we are constantly inspired by the positive attitude she brings to every situation, the endless ways that she takes care of her community, and her ability to create inclusive, positive, and fun spaces for all to enjoy and benefit from. She will go to bat for anyone who is trying to positively contribute to the community. Her “all ships rise” mentality rings true with us and our mission, and her desire to see all the people and businesses around her succeed really is profoundly special.

Website: www.littlecitythrifty.com, www.rivegfest.com, www.bloomflowerandhome.com, www.goodtrademakersmarket.com, www.ampersandcreativeco.com

Instagram: instagram.com/littlecitythrifty, instagram.com/rivegfest, instagram.com/bloomflowerandhome, instagram.com/goodtrademakersmarket

Facebook: facebook.com/littlecitythrifty, facebook.com/goodtrademakersmarket, facebook.com/rivegfest, facebook.com/bloomflowerandhome

Other: Vimeo: www.vimeo.com/showcase/9712331

Image Credits
All photos by Carly Rae Brunault