We recently connected with Natalie Reilly and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Natalie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

The most compelling chapter of my story began with a love note, one simple, handwritten gesture of love, hope, and gratitude. For the better part of my life, I dreamed of and even prayed for an epic love story, and this is a love story on so many levels. I just never expected it to come at such a great toll, but then again, if you look back through the course of history, the greatest love stories always do.

On Valentine’s Day 2016, a few months after my mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer, she and I set out on a journey to write 50 Love Notes, predominantly for veterans and first responders. We wrote a small handful for everyday humans, but the real push in that moment was for our nation’s frontline heroes. After two hours and as many homemade reuben sandwiches, I bundled Mom up and got her into my Jeep. Over the next three hours, we set out on a mission to find our heroes. We left notes on the windshields of their cars. We hand delivered a few to war veterans in the grocery store and to a police officer pumping gas. It opened up the door to conversation, inviting us in to these people’s stories. By the time we returned home, having delivered almost all 50 love notes, we were laughing so hard that our smiles hurt. I’ll never forget my mom leaning over and saying, “I can’t remember why I was so worried.”

From that day forward, we got up every morning with a sense of purpose. We faithfully hand-wrote handfuls of love notes at our local coffee shop. We carried those notes of gratitude in our purses, close to our hearts. We handed them out every chance we got. Some days we would get into the car and spend hours driving around looking for these heroes. What began as a means of self-preservation became so much more. It saved us both, improving the last two years of my mom’s life. It also opened up a mother-daughter dialogue that would have been lost in those last two years.

It has been more than seven years since that day. With the help of our community, we have delivered over 35,000 Love Notes across the country. My mom made me promise I would keep spreading love … one Love Note at a time. This simple act has changed my life, and it means something to me because it keeps me connected to my mom. She is in every love note that I write. She is still very much a part of what we do and why we do it.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

From a very young age, I have always known that I am a writer. Words are my jam. I believe I inherited my love of words from my paternal grandfather. Rooted in that passion, it was always my plan to become a writer living by the beach. It was my high school guidance counselor who tried to shoot that dream down when he told me that was “not a reasonable career path.” He told me that being a writer would never pay the rent, especially if I had plans to live near the ocean. So, while all my friends were talking about becoming “reasonable” orthodontists, accountants, and teachers, I clung to the hope that I would become a writer by the beach. So, I never stopped writing. Slowly, I began to carve out a career, writing for newspapers, magazines, blogs, corporate communication and the like.

I am proud to say that of all my friends in high school, I am the only one who realized her dream and followed her career path with fierce courage and determination. All these years later, I AM a writer by the beach! And it wasn’t until I took that leap of faith with my mother and started this Love Note mission that the better part of my success happened. I can’t help but think that by expressing gratitude in a handwritten thank you note to strangers within my community, I was able to build credibility, trust, hope, and love in (and for) humanity. People around the country have responded so positively and with so much gratitude of their own and because of that, doors and windows were thrown open. I have made so many wonderful connections, people looking to me to write, edit and publish their books for them.

On top of which, my Nothing but Love Notes mission keeps me busy in the business of healing and spreading of love in my community and around the country. Talk about a dream job!

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Word of mouth has been my best source for new clients. I have never had to solicit my work. I kind of love that.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

I keep in touch with clients with handwritten love notes–of course!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.nothingbutlovenotes.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nothingbutlovenotes/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lovenotes68
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliejunereilly/

Image Credits
All of these images belong to me.