We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Grace Berbig. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Grace below.

Hi Grace, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Growing up, my mom was my best friend. She would climb trees with my two little sisters and me, dance with us, and always have a smile on her face. She would put little notes in our lunch boxes every day, stick them on our pillowcases, and write us Valentines… We grew up with a love for handwritten notes.

When I was ten years old, my mom was diagnosed with leukemia. Every day, my two little sisters and I would make her piles of drawings and notes. I have such happy memories of getting to visit our mom, and all three of us running and jumping onto her hospital bed. She would go through all our pictures and letters we made her and tape them all over her walls.

When I was 11, my mom lost her battle with cancer. After losing her, I decided I wanted to devote my life to helping people who are fighting a similar battle to my mom. As I got a little older, I started to get involved in organizations that were giving back, like LLS, Camp Kesem, and St. Jude; but I never felt like I was doing enough. I continued to realize that every opportunity presented to youth required some sort of donation or fundraising minimum- everything revolved around financial support and no one was talking about the importance of emotional support for cancer patients.

When I was 16, I had a lightbulb moment. I remembered the cards my sisters and I made our mom and the joy those simple words brought her. I came up with the idea to start a club at my high school where my friends and I could make cards for patients at our local children’s hospital. I decided to name it Letters of Love, in honor of the letters of love my mom gave me. By the end of my junior year, we were the biggest club at my high school, and by the start of my senior year, kids from other schools started to reach out to me and ask if they could start a club at their school.

When I was 17, I decided to turn Letters of Love into a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. I never intended for the club to be any bigger than myself or my school, but I had this feeling that I had to take the next step. I didn’t know it at the time, but I had created a unique opportunity for youth to make a real impact that wasn’t there before.

Letters of Love now has 222 active chapters around the US and Canada, and we have sent over 250,000 cards to patients in pediatric care around the world.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I have always been described as a really happy person. What brings me the most joy is giving joy to others, so Letters of Love has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. I love building connections with people and spending time with people, especially those that I love. Although I’m not the most artistically gifted, I love being creative in other ways.

My biggest goal with my nonprofit is to spread joy not only to the children we serve but also to the people who make cards for us. One of the most special parts of Letters of Love is the community it builds. Each club I have had the opportunity to visit is filled with the kindest, happiest people I have ever met. You walk into a club meeting and everyone is smiling and laughing and having a good time. That is one of the most fulfilling things, seeing the joy that others feel as they are spreading joy to others.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

My best advice is to truly care about the people you work with. Since I run a nonprofit I don’t have any employees, so everyone who works for me is a volunteer. This can make it a lot harder to depend on people because they’re not getting paid. I have found that creating real relationships with my volunteers, and truly caring about them as people first and volunteers second has been the best way to sustain loyalty and hard work. Continuously encouraging them and sharing the good things that we are doing as a team is something I try to do often as well to help motivate everyone and remind them that everything they are doing is making a positive impact.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Social media has been the most effective for us to build our “clientele”. Most people find out about Letters of Love from Instagram, their friends sharing our posts, etc. I have been lucky enough to know what my demographic wants because I am my demographic, so it makes it easier for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lettersofloveglobal.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lettersofloveglobal/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lettersofloveglobal/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/letters-of-love-global/?viewAsMember=true