We were lucky to catch up with Carmelle Kendall recently and have shared our conversation below.

Carmelle, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?

You want to hear about the craziest story related to our business? Buckle up… or rather hold on to the subway handle. When we were first launching we paid a local business in Harlem to print cards they were unable to deliver on. One of the company’s employees knew we were unhappy and suggested we work with a printer in the Bronx. So, we rode the subway to the Bronx where the employee then picked us up and drove us ten minutes to another printer that also did not work out for us. That story is crazy because we traveled too far to the printer, rode with a near stranger, and still did not get the outcome we hoped for. It was very kind of the employee to help us as we launched our business, but in retrospect we were doing too much. The Bronx printer didn’t ship so what was our plan moving forward as two business owners working full time and with no car to pick up cards?! It is a story we laugh about often.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Neighborly Paper is an Atlanta-based paper company that specializes in greeting cards. My cofounder, Robin Stokes, and I grew up outside of Atlanta and started Neighborly in Harlem where we were neighbors once again. We wanted our brand to feel like home. We wanted a brand that was warm, fun, friendly, and kind. That is what we created.

Robin is the writer behind the cards, and I am the illustrator. We often say Neighborly is what happened when we combined our personal and professional interests. Robin is also a writer during the day working in communications and I am a creative director at an agency so it’s really fun putting our skills into a company of our own.

We want our cards to feel like your friend is having a conversation with you or centered around what you and friends would already be sitting around laughing about. With every product we want to make sure we’re keeping it real with our customers. We are inspired to explore topics that may not be traditional for the greeting card industry.

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

Word of mouth is always the best way for us to build brand loyalty and gain clients because customers share their experience and most people of course trust their friends. Because we’re in the business of making greeting cards, we’re super lucky as most of our customers are buying cards to send to their loved ones — it’s an automatic endorsement right there. They are saying “I may not have the perfect words, but this card does.” Working with wholesalers has helped us tremendously because our cards appear in more places and we can gain brand recognition faster than selling direct to consumer.

We’d love to hear about you met your business partner.

Well, our company isn’t called Neighborly Paper for nothin’! Robin and I grew up down the street from each other outside of Atlanta and attended school together. After we graduated from college, we both found ourselves as neighbors again in Harlem and we combined our talents to build a brand focused on warm words and vibrant illustrations. We often say that Neighborly is what happens when neighbors who also happen to be an art director and writer come together.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.neighborlypaper.com
• Instagram: neighborlypaper
• Facebook: Neighborly Paper
• Linkedin: Neighborly Paper
• Twitter: neighborlypaper