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

Alright, Kate thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

The Noble Paperie® is a stationery line supporting those struggling through miscarriage, loss, infertility, NICU stays and complicated pregnancies. In other words, The Noble Paperie is a line dedicated to the bereaved and everyone in between!

I’m Kate and I’m the Founder + Creative director behind The Noble Paperie. It feels like life started after I experienced a chemical pregnancy and then a miscarriage. The pregnancy following my second loss was extremely difficult. I’m talking 40+ days in a hospital on bedrest, an emergency C-section delivery of my daughter 2 months early, and an additional 34 days with her in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) before we were able to officially come home as a family of three. Immediately, my priorities changed and I quickly realized the journey to motherhood doesn’t always come easy.

The Noble Paperie was born from these passions—our first six cards were designed specifically with the Miscarried Mama in mind, but have since evolved to include a wide range of products supporting ALL types of mothers and parenting journeys: loss moms, adoptive moms, LGBTQIA+ moms, and moms struggling with infertility. I hope each of our products reflects our mission and values: to inspire and support those struggling through miscarriage, loss, infertility, pregnancy-related issues, and other difficulties on the road to, and through, motherhood.

Kate, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started designing cards after experiencing 2 miscarriages in 2014 and 2015. After two pregnancy losses, and an incredibly traumatic pregnancy that followed, I was struggling with postpartum depression and how to process all the trauma I had endured in trying to grow our family. I confided in a close family friend, who knew my background in art and design and she recommended I try some art therapy to process everything that had happened to me.

I grew up with a deep love of writing letters, instilled in me by my Grandmother who lived on the opposite side of the country, and who was my pen pal for a large part of my childhood. We swapped letters back and forth for years, and I always remembered the feeling of excitement I would get when I would find a new letter from her in our family mailbox. It only seemed right to start designing greeting cards as a way to process my grief – they have always felt like an extension of myself.

My first six greeting cards were specific to those who had experienced a miscarriage. I set up an Etsy shop and launched those first six cards, not expecting much. The response was incredible – so many shared their own stories of loss and mentioned over and over again that they wish they had had cards like this during their own grieving. There was a huge need for cards like mine.

At the time, there really weren’t any cards available on the market to support people who had suffered a miscarriage. Even now, the statistics are staggering: 1 in every 3 pregnancies will end in miscarriage. 1 in every 8 couples is struggling with infertility. And 1 in every 10 babies will spend time in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). These conditions are so common, and even now, the options available in the greeting card market for these conditions are still lacking. It has been my greatest joy to create cards to support families in these situations, As someone who has experienced infertility, pregnancy loss, and a NICU stay with our eldest, it has felt natural to create the cards I so desperately needed in these situations. A greeting card may seem like a small gesture, but it can help shine a light when someone feels that they are alone and in the dark.

Since 2016, I have grown my line to over 100 products, including greeting cards, stickers, suncatchers, ornaments, and gift bags. I have been nominated for and won several awards within the greeting card industry, including multiple nominations for the Louie Awards. The Louies are the greeting card equivalent of the Academy Awards. In 2021, I had the great honor of winning not only Best Sympathy Card but that same card then went on to win the prestigous Card of the Year award. This was such a huge honor as I was one of 3 finalists, nominated alongside 2 other giants in the industry: Hallmark and American Greetings.

I am so proud of what The Noble Paperie has achieved in just a few short years. But my greatest achievement remains to be the feedback I receive from customers and recipients of my cards. To hear the words: “I am so grateful for cards like yours; they have helped me to feel so supported” or, “thank you so much for sharing your story – it has helped me to feel less alone in my own grief” remain my greatest joy. To hear first-hand that The Noble Paperie is making a difference in this world is what keeps me going, day in and day out. To be able to honor all of my children with my work, both the ones who made it Earth-side and the ones I have lost, has been the greatest motivator and it is what keeps The Noble Paperie going.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Sharing my own personal story of infertility, loss, and complications in pregnancy have helped to legitimize the work I am doing. I am not just an artist or designer setting out to create miscarriage or pregnancy loss cards.

It took me over a year to see that first positive pregnancy test. Once we did, I then suffered 2 miscarriages. And then an incredibly difficult and traumatic pregnancy filled with every complication in the book, which ended in 34 stress-filled days as we watched our daughter struggle during her NICU stay.

These experiences were of course so difficult to go through, but they have given me a very unique viewpoint to create cards for others walking these same paths. Sharing about my losses has helped others to connect and understand my background, and to really understand my ‘why’ behind The Noble Paperie.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

In the last year, I have really delved into email marketing to further communication with my customer base. I have put blood, sweat, and tears into creating The Grief Club — my email newsletter that goes out to past and potential customers. Not only does The Grief Club share my own background and experiences surrounding grief, but I also provide resources and exclusive offers. I never expected to love email marketing so much, but here I am a year after delving into it, and it’s one of the sides of the business that I am most proud of.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thenoblepaperie.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenoblepaperie
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheNoblePaperie
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-noble-paperie

Image Credits
Amira Gray Photography