A Boston couple hopes to tap into the same small-business, craft-loving crowd that frequently shops on Etsy to use its website to find places to create and learn new things in and around the city.
They call the site Hoamsy and consider it the Etsy of experiences. The website is a one-stop shop for people to find events in the Boston area while helping local creators get more involved with their community.
“People get it, right? You say it and they get it,” co-founder of Hoamsy, Nelly Laksham, told MassLive about the analogy for her company. “A lot of people we find are on Etsy. They’re like, ‘we love this.’”
Laksham founded Hoamsy with her husband, Richard, in June 2022. The idea for Hoamsy first came from the Boston couple having cooking nights to help Laksham introduce her husband to her Indian cuisine.
“I’m South Indian and he’s white and he’s never had anything spicy before he met me, basically. So I was like, if this is going to work, you need to be able to eat my cooking,” Laksham joked.
“But we started sharing with friends and family, and then even opening it up to other people and it was really nice because it was learning something new,” she continued.
Laksham said the cooking class in particular helped people better understand Indian cuisine and the proper use of spices. She and her husband thought that this experiential learning opportunity could be expanded to more events.
The Lakshams started hosting game nights during the COVID-19 pandemic where people would often ask about how to find more unique events in Boston or how to host one themselves. Thus Hoamsy was born.
Events posted on Hoamsy range from candle making and painting to board game nights and bird watching.Courtesy photo
The website serves as a platform for small, local creators to host events within their community by connecting them with venues like breweries, stores or coffee shops.
Hosts create an event by selecting a venue while Hoamsy handles all of the ticketing logistics, such as selling and refunds. Essentially, Hoamsy does all the heavy lifting for creators so they can just focus on being hosts.
“People really like this because a big portion of what they struggle with is ‘where do I do this, how do I talk to them, how do I figure out the date?’ And we’ve kind of brought that together,” Laksham said. “It’s a really nice way to find a place without them really having to talk to them at all. We’ve done the talking for them.”
Hoamsy takes 20% on commission of ticket sales from hosts. The website offers a wide array of events from candle making and painting to board game nights and bird watching. The events are mostly hosted in Boston, but have been held as far north as Peabody and as far south as Quincy, according to Laksham.
Guests can find and register for upcoming events by browsing on Hoamsy’s website. If an event sells out, guests will be added to a waitlist or notified when another event opens up. Aside from helping people find new things to try in Boston, Hoamsy also helps businesses flourish.
“These spaces want customers through the door that buy food and drinks,” Laksham said. “They’re all looking for ways to get traffic through the door. So they’re very happy, honestly, to have a way to just have someone send events to them instead of them having to try and find the events themselves.”
The venues often let hosts book the space for free because they are still making money. However, smaller stores often do charge because they might not be able to afford a free event, according to Laksham.
But perhaps the most important work that Hoamsy does is help creators build their own audiences, either through the events, networking or social media, she said.
“The idea is everyone comes together to make them succeed. It’s not just that one person on their own trying to figure it out,” Laksham said. “It works really well because it’s our audience, it’s the host’s audience as well as the venue.”
The company places an emphasis on supporting smaller creators because they often do not have the resources as larger, more-established creators. This effort has been backed by hosts who have said how Hoamsy has helped them increase their following.
“I really love the Hoamsy model and what it’s done for my small business,” one testimony reads. “I have nothing but good things to say about it.”
“Thanks so much for helping organize the cake decorating event — it was a huge success,” another host told Laksham. “I also had a ton of people at the venue take my business card so all in all, it was such a great night.”
Hoamsy started in Boston but expanded to Nashville, Tennessee last year, Laksham said. The company is expanding to other major cities this year and is looking at creating an app, she added.
You can find events in Boston, become a host or register your venue by visiting Hoamsy’s website. You can also follow Hoamsy on Instagram to see upcoming events.
