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

Hi Nicole, thanks for joining us today. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

I am working towards creating a legacy where I am remembered as the person behind the business that created more space for joy. I want SowSweet to be the Kleenex of eco-friendly greeting cards, where our brand is synonymous with quality stationary, uplifting original artwork, and environmental activism. Personally, I want to be remembered for leaving every interaction with a positive impression, no matter how small. We have so much power as individuals and businesses to make hundreds of little positive impressions every day, and I want to be a role model for those who are seeking out how to make that happen.

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?

Our vision at SowSweet Greetings is to put smiles on faces and flowers in the ground. We accomplish this via our mission which is to provide consumers with an environmentally-friendly, all-Canadian product to share with loved ones in the place of a traditional greeting card.

Growing up in Toronto, ON, since I was old enough to hold a pencil, I was a big fan of illustration. Drawing inspiration from the newspaper comics my grandfather set aside for me as a kid, a lot of my downtime was spent sketching, colouring, and writing rhyming poems and stories. As I got older (and I like to think smarter), those poems turned to puns and the sketching turned to graphic design.

Cue March 2020, the month the world shut down. Without a clue of what was to come and working part-time as a substitute teacher, I launched my passion project – SowSweet Greetings Inc. – as a way to get my puns out into the world in a way that was fun, accessible, and meaningful. Two and a half years, one global pandemic, and 200+ punny designs later, SowSweet Greetings Inc. proudly stocks over 60 stores across Canada, with the bulk of our buyers being fellow small businesses that champion sustainable business practices.

True to our mission, SowSweet continues to rely entirely on Canadian suppliers and certified eco-friendly elements for all product materials – including the plantable seed paper. All of our cards are made from 100% recycled paper sourced from Winnipeg, Manitoba and embedded with wildflower seeds ready for planting. Accompanying envelopes are sourced from Toronto, Ontario and are made from recycled content as well. Additionally, our clear-sleeve packaging is sourced from Strathroy, Ontario and made of post-consumer waste material. Our authentic hand-drawn designs, printed at home in Toronto, feature over 200 different punny sayings and images, making us The Original Plantable Pun.

The meaning behind the mission of SowSweet Greetings Inc. is that as a brand, in and of itself, we are a greenhouse for growing opportunity. At first glance, SowSweet is a greeting card company, prioritizing humour, the environment, and supporting local whenever possible. We drive forward our green agenda through our branding, marketing and business practices, but with every card sold, we spark creativity and imagination for ways that people and businesses can go green. Oftentimes, people do not know what seed paper is, nor do they know how post-consumer waste products are used and have not thought about ways in which they can make minor changes to their purchasing habits that can create massive outcomes for the planet and community at large.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

This is a hilarious one. My business partner Renato is very much a silent partner (never front-facing) but I can’t imagine us being where we are today without his influence and methodical thought processes.

Our grandmothers (Italian “Nonnas”) were neighbours in Stoney Creek, ON and lifelong friends – though we never met growing up. In 2018/19 both Renato and I were living and working in Africa, him in Ghana with a venture capital firm, me in Kenya/Tanzania as a travel guide. Our Nonnas, missing us both, thought it was such a coincidence that we were both abroad in Africa, and insisted we try to meet (not really grasping the sheer size of the continent). We never did end up meeting while abroad, but were in communication from time to time (via Instagram), and both ended up back in Ontario full-time in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Throughout 2020 (when I first started selling plantable cards), I would post about different designs, sales, website updates, and farmer’s markets. It was December of 2020 when Renato reached out about purchasing some Christmas cards for his family and was really intrigued about what I was doing/how. At the time I was at a bit of a crossroads myself, trying to decide whether to simply maintain my day-to-day working as a teacher and keep SowSweet (previously CuteRoots Cards) a passion project, or to try and make it into something more.

Deciding to bet on the business, I brought Renato on as a partner – he was the ying to my yang (in a business sense), and felt like the perfect level-headed, numbers-oriented compliment to my creative, spontaneous, and at times mildly chaotic self. We changed the original name to SowSweet Greetings and incorporated in 2021. Though it’s not easy working with your exact opposite – I truly believe it’s one of the reasons we are where we are today and I feel confident we’ve built a partnership to last.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

A year ago I landed – what I thought at the time was – my dream job. Working for a Canadian EdTech company doing curriculum development, teacher training, program management, and event planning – the role was completely remote and on my own schedule with a team of high caliber co-workers. I was just shy of two years running SowSweet Greetings Inc. at this point and having worked exclusively in contract and freelance roles my entire life, I was excited to finally take on something full-time, with a steady salary, benefits, and travel opportunities.

It wasn’t until six months into the role that I realized I had already created my dream job. I was sitting at a team meeting with my colleagues going over our “Why”, explaining to each other what working for the company meant to everyone and why that connection was so important. I realized during that meeting that I would never feel the connection I felt with SowSweet for a brand that wasn’t mine, and a week later I resigned.

I am someone who is notorious for doing many things at once, holding four gigs because I love them all, and saying yes to every opportunity that comes my way. It hasn’t been easy to start learning how to say no to certain opportunities, but I finally reached a point where I am ready to go all in. SowSweet Greetings Inc. is an extension of who I am, embodies what I love, and (I firmly believe) is capable of making positive impact in a world where we desperately need more smiles on faces and more flowers in the ground.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sowsweetgreetings.ca
• Instagram: @sowsweetgreetings
• Facebook: SowSweet Greetings
• Linkedin: SowSweet Greetings Inc.
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@sowsweetgreetingsinc.8851
• Other: https://sowsweetlearn.wordpress.com/