We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lindsey Wittstruck a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Lindsey, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you take us back in time to the first dollar you earned as a creative – how did it happen? What’s the story?

It was the fall of 2020 and people were still trying to figure out how to navigate the pandemic. We wanted to stay safe, but we also needed to try normal things even in different ways. I had been designing cards for a while, but I didn’t have an outlet for them other than trying, unsuccessfully, to sell them on Etsy. Then along came a small outdoor market on Thursday afternoons. I applied, and got in. Everything was outside, no matter how rainy, or windy the weather was, and vendors and customers were masked. I didn’t know what I was doing, and my setup was pretty rinky-dink. I was using a shower curtain as a tablecloth because that was all I had. I had no signage, no business cards, and really no expectations about how things would go. And then someone stood in front of my table, looked at my cards, laughed at the things that I think are funny, and bought one.

It was such a simple exchange, but it never gets old, that realization that someone likes something I made.

Lindsey, 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 am a greeting card designer from Baltimore, Maryland, and I own One Pony Paper. I design cards for all occasions, especially cards for no reason, which is the best reason to send a card, as well as lots of holiday cards. My designs are brightly colored, modern, and very playful. I work full-time at a bridal salon, and I design my work in my colorful basement in my spare time. I come from a creative writing background, but art and snail mail have always been incredibly important to me. I have an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Baltimore, but I also simply have a passion for making things. For years this meant that I handmade hundreds of holiday cards to mail to friends and relatives. I spent hours cutting and gluing my colorful creations until I got an iPad (where all stories start, right?). I was able to take my love of design, color, and writing, and start designing on a larger scale.

These creative pursuits also coincided with a cancer diagnosis and the global pandemic. Both made sending mail extremely important, and were the driving forces behind taking my designs from the basement to a business. I had some designs printed and I put them in little cellophane sleeves with bright envelopes and thought I might really have something.

My progress is slow-going, but I really love what I do. I love making cards that are bright and cheerful and that help connect people. My favorite cards to design are what I call “fridge cards.” They are flat notes that have a message on the front and a blank back. They’re like a postcard, but with more room to write a message, and they hang on the fridge perfectly, which is where they always end up. That means that every time the receiver goes to their fridge and looks at the card, they think about the person who sent it. I have fridge people that have been there for years, and I truly think of them every time.

I think that cards, written in your own handwriting and put into the mailbox by you and sent on a journey, are so powerful to receive. That’s why I take such pride in making them. I also enjoy the opportunity to just design things that I wish existed. I always keep my customer in mind of course, but what drives my creativity is my own amusement, my own voice, my own way of seeing the world. That is what I am most of proud of, the fact that other people take joy in what I see, and that they want to spread that joy. Even on a small scale, it is so gratifying when someone likes something I made. I haven people order my cards from all over the country and each order is a new thrill. A complete stranger likes what I make and that is a constant source of accomplishment.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I work full-time, I have continuing health issues, and I’m also a mom, so just showing up for my creative side hustle is an act of resilience. I have to design cards in the middle of the night. I have to pack orders as I pack my son’s lunch. I have to leave my actual job and head home to my “other” job. I give up my spare time and my sleep because I like what I do. When I see people online with similar businesses excelling and succeeding it’s so hard not to compare myself to them. It’s hard not to ask when is it my turn or should I keep going? But despite those doubts and the hardships of working non-stop, I just keep going. I keep trying. I keep seeing value in my work, and I keep connecting with people who see it too.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Snail mail saves lives! Or it comes pretty close. I grew up in a family where writing thank you cards was extremely important, and even though as a fourth grader, sitting at the kitchen table after Christmas, I hated it, I grew into an adult that sees the value of sending cards and the value of handwriting your own sentiments. I think the internet and texting have only made this clearer to me. Sending a card takes effort, not a ton, but it does take effort. It means you have to pick a card, write a message, know the address, find a stamp, and remember to mail it. At all of those points you have to make a decision to keep going in order to mail the card. At all of those points you have to think of the person you are sending it to. I think that’s magical. I think that’s way better than a text or an email, and at the end there exists an object that might be treasured for years.

Snail mail doesn’t just brighten mailboxes, it creates keepsakes. It makes memories. I have cards from my grandmothers, from my mom, from my friends, from so many important people that create this beautiful record of our lives in our own writing and our own words. If I am helping other people to have that as well then I think I’m doing something worthwhile.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @oneponypaper
• Other: Etsy Shop – One Pony Paper

Image Credits
All photographs were taken by me.