Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kristin Joiner. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Kristin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your business sooner or later?
I’m a big believer that everything happens when it’s supposed to.
I’ve known I’ve wanted to open a brick and mortar shop for over 10 years. The first step was saving enough money while working full time elsewhere—I accomplished that in about 5 years even after going through a divorce that wiped out my savings. Around that time, I had the opportunity to move abroad which gave me the freedom to work for myself full time, but would not allow me to have my shop.
I went for it even though it would delay my ultimate goal and I’m so glad I did. That time allowed me to recover from the extreme burn out I didn’t even realize the extent of until I quit, it gave me the opportunity to expand my skill set and build my brand on social media, all of which set me up for future success.
Kristin, 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?
Falling in love with letterpress sent me down the road to where I am now. I took one letterpress class in college while getting my design degree and was hooked. A year after graduation, I stumbled across an old press for sale not too far from where I was living in Wisconsin at the time, rescued her from the barn she had been stored in, and spent several months restoring and re-learning how to print (oh, and named her Bess!). I started an Etsy shop not too long after, and was soon printing business cards and wedding invitations as well as wholesaling original greeting cards to local shops.
During that period of growth while I was living abroad, I taught myself to make high end crepe paper flowers. I started with bouquets and the occasional wedding and now also do large-scale installations for commercial clients as well as home décor and events. I love this work and it’s become a large facet of my business.
I love making things by hand—even if it takes way too much time (which I never seem to have enough of these days). I love that I get to work with my hands. I love the problem solving that needs to happen when working on a 100-year-old printing press and also making giant sculptures out of paper. I’m proud that everything in my shop is something I have personally made or something that enables my customers to make something themselves.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
Opening a retail location has grown my business exponentially. I’m in a very visible location with lots of foot traffic, so I have people wander in off the street that I may have never reached through social media or advertising. I’ve also had several clients say that it made them trust me more with the bigger projects—investing in your business shows you’re in it for the long haul!
We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.
I make everything in my shop, from letterpress stationery to paper flowers to jewelry. Manufacturing probably isn’t the right word, but I create everything by hand. The stationery is printed one at a time on my antique letterpress using hand-mixed inks. The paper flowers are made from petals that I hand-cut, colored and placed on each bloom. Each polymer clay earring is hand-sculpted, the macrame pieces are hand-knotted and dyed—you get the idea!
I learn a lot by trial and error. I’m not a big fan of following tutorials or instructions, I typically think through a problem for a while and then just get in there and try it. Even if it doesn’t work, I learn something that makes the next solution better.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.besspapergoods.com
- Instagram: @besspapergoods
- Facebook: @besspapergoods
Image Credits
Odessa James Photography