Colorful booths line the walls of the Town Center, the wares ranging from ripe apples, to flakey samosas to hand lotion. Eager customers mill around the open-air market, peering into the tents that catch their eye, perhaps looking to buy or simply curious about a product for sale. Vendors chat amongst themselves or to customers, and comforting smells of kettle corn and tangerines settle over the market. Backed by a warming sun and light conversation, strolling through the Corte Madera Farmers’ Market is a relaxing way to spend a Wednesday afternoon.

For Redwood alumnus Lucas Addleman, this is not just a fun activity, but also his livelihood. Addleman works at both the Wednesday and Friday farmers’ markets at the Town Center, selling amethyst stones and similar crystals at a booth called Amethyst from Uruguay. He believes that working in the pleasant environment is an experience unique to the market.

“[ Part of the [job] is being responsible because you’re your own boss, so you can do anything. Like what time you show up to work—there’s no one to verify things like that,” Addleman said. “[In a department store], you’re losing out on quality, you’re losing out on service. I don’t think anyone at the department store will help you like I’ll help you.”

Annika Abbott, a former Redwood student now enrolled in TEAM—a program that allows students to study outside of the classroom in real-world settings—shared a similar sentiment when speaking about her experience working at the Thursday farmers’ markets over the summer at Full Belly Farm.

“[The farmers’ market is] a lot more personal. You can get to know [all the vendors] as friends because they’re there every week; it’s always the same person you know who you’re getting your food from… It’s a lot more personal and it’s kind of like more of a family thing and more of a community,” Abbott said.

After graduating high school in 2017, Addleman held a variety of jobs, but none that he enjoyed as much as working at the farmer’s market. Addleman joined the Amethyst for Uruguay team after he heard from a friend that the booth would need some extra help. Since he started the job, Addleman has become outspoken on the healing and emotional balance powers of the crystals.

An amethyst is a healing crystal. It is an amazing thing. It transmits positive energy, it’s for abundance. So if you have a positive energy about yourself or if you are feeling good or just feel neutral, it will make it so that energy will bring you to your center,” Addleman stated. “I started meditating a lot to try to wrap my head around some things during a tough time in my life and many times [the amethyst] brought me to the center of things.”

Addleman’s employer and owner of Amethyst from Uruguay, Rio Feundernann, explained that the market is more than just selling crystals. It is about allowing customers to have access to the properties of the crystals and fostering a community.

“[Customers] get more of the story, where it’s from, it’s just like a nice setting, the farmers’ market. People are usually in a really good mood and outgoing and are really happy for the most part when they purchase from us, but it’s also better priced at the farmers’ market. It just gives the public an opportunity to have affordable, quality crystals,” Feundernann said.

Feundernann believes that Addleman plays a large part in creating the comfortable atmosphere. Addleman has a good reputation at the booth because of his optimistic personality and dedication to the job, according to Feundernann.

“[Addleman]’s perfect for the business. He’s very outgoing, he’s nice, he’s organized, he’s always giving new ideas and he does more than what’s in his job title … he doesn’t just do the minimum, he beats that,” Fuendernann said.

Going above and beyond is something that Addleman is happy to do. Selling crystals, talking to customers and listening to all the stories they tell is truly something he loves. Addleman is enthusiastic about almost every aspect of his job.

“I’m really passionate about geology and I like bringing [the product]to this market; a lot of other people appreciate it and that makes their day which makes my day… I enjoy that it doesn’t feel like work. I’m there for seven and a half hours and I have a smile on my face the whole time,” Addleman said.