Four Inane Questions with Strawberry Swing’s Katie Mabry van Dieren
Courtesy Katie Mabry van Dieren
If you look up “shop” or “local” in the dictionary, you might spy a teeny-tiny picture of Katie Mabry van Dieren next to either definition. As the owner and curator of one of the Midwest’s top indie craft fairs, The Strawberry Swing, Mabry van Dieren knows the importance of buying from talented local craftsmen and artists.
Ask any shopaholic, The Swing has become a go-to in Kansas City for finding unique, handmade items from local (and regional) artists and makers. (Fun fact: They were chosen as one of the top indie craft fairs in the world by Buzzfeed.) Just how big is it? The numbers are impressive. “Our festivals created more than $2.5 million in sales for over 100 Kansas City small businesses last year,” says Mabry van Dieren.
Meanwhile, her Shop Local KC hub hosts more than 350 local Kansas City artisans in an online storefront with two brick-and-mortar locations—one in Midtown and the other in Leawood.
We caught up with the maker-rific maven during a recent candle-buying bonanza to ask her our bevy of brainless questions.
The Pitch: In which Olympic sport would you come in dead last?
Katie Mabry van Dieren: Freaking bobsled! There is no way I could do what they do. Curling? Fine. Let me slide some stones on a sheet of ice. Gotcha. Bobsled? Nope. Running and jumping into a teeny tiny sled in a luge? I would miss the sled and be left lying on my back on the ice.
You’re hurling a drink in someone’s face. What’s your cocktail of choice?
Ok, I’ve never actually done that, but if I had to, I would have to assume this means I already had a cocktail in hand—so it would be something with mezcal.
There is a bartender named Derrick at The Rieger Distillery in the East Bottoms that makes the most delightful mezcal cocktails. I’d probably have that in my hand. And for me to hurl a drink at someone, they’d have had to say something very offensive, racist, sexist, or violent—or smack talk my man or my mama.
Alternatively, I may have taken that slide from the second floor to the first floor at The Rieger, and maybe it just accidentally flew out of my hand. You get some speed on that thing.
Courtesy Katie Mabry van Dieren
What are your thoughts on stinky cheese?
Love it. The stinkier, the better, in my book. I mean, can you really go wrong with cheese? It’s my favorite food group. St. Andre from Normandy, France, is my favorite stinky cheese. It has a bloomy, white, edible rind and a soft, creamy interior similar to Camembert.
One of my favorite places to get some non-stinky and some stinky cheese is Cheval on Main, which is up the street from my Midtown Shop Local KC location. They also have a delicious mezcal cocktail I hope I never have to sling at anyone. (Wink, wink!)
Forget Folgers. What’s the best part of waking up?
Nespresso! I have a Nespresso machine at home and my Midtown shop, and I love a good, steamed milk from a frother with a Nespresso.
One of my team members, Lauren Pascolini, and I have a daily ritual where we take the crema off the top of the first Nespresso pour and sip it with a spoon and imagine we are in Italy. (FYI, crema is a flavorful, aromatic, reddish-brown froth that rests on top of a shot of espresso.)
Also, my sweet 6-year-old Teddy is a delight in the morning and always so kind when we wake up. “Mama, did I really sleep all night?” he’ll say. “I closed my eyes, and it was somehow morning when I opened them!”
Bonus 5th Question: Name a color combo you would look fabulous in and one you would refuse to wear.
Hot. Pink. I love it. Magenta. Any bright colors. I actually love all colors and combos. (I’ve been known to mix stripes and animal prints!)
But I do not like camo. You will most likely never see me in anything camo print. I don’t like hunting or war, so, yeah. Also, I’m always wearing a hot pink or red lip color. It’s the only makeup I wear.
