We were lucky to catch up with Polly Payne recently and have shared our conversation below.

Polly , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Almost every entrepreneur we know has considered donating a portion of their sales to an organization or cause – how did you make the decision of whether to donate? We’d love to hear the backstory if you’re open to sharing the details.

We donate 20% of our profits quarterly to A21.org to help fight human trafficking. To date we have raised more than $80,000!

Polly , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’ve always been a paper planner lover. I started a career in advertising technology in NYC in 2009 straight out of college. I had this tug on my heart to create a meaningful company to purpose my calling. I finally landed on my idea as I was reading the book, “The Artisan Soul” by Erwin Mcmanus. In this book McManus teaches that our “we are all artists because we are created in the image of God.” He goes to to explain that “Our greatest work of art we will ever create is the life we live.”

At the time my life was a complete mess and I got to work on my 2015 Dream Planner. I started Horacio Printing LLC while living on Horatio street in the west village of Manhattan. I bought 1.,000 planners with the hope to sell them all. We sold out by January and the next year we did a kickstarter to fund our second print. After the success of the planner we expanded the line to have journals, notepads, Soap bible studies, and online courses.

We really believe that our time on earth is a precious gift. We want to empower women to take control of their schedule so they can pursue their big dreams!

In June 2022, I started a program to empower the next generation of creators who wish to print their dream products. Print School 2.0 contains everything I know about the world of luxury printing. I love empowering other dreamers to create their own planner, devotional or journal.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

When I got started I had NO CLUE what I was doing. I did know that I wanted my paper products to be excellent. I wanted to thick luxurious paper and high quality materials, no matter the cost.

I made a lot of expensive mistakes along the way and orders lots of samples. Eventually I found the right printer and after a lot of trial and error we created a planner that I am SO proud of. My number one piece of advice is always order a sample. My students in Print School get to skip the headache and work directly with my list of preferred printers.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Starting out I had a major limiting belief that I simply wasn’t smart enough to run a business. I think deep down I had this belief that was simply “not enough.” I had to unlearn this and keep putting one foot in front of the other. I had a fantastic coach who helped me through the transition from side-hustle to full time entrepreneur. She had me list out all the things I had accomplished over the years and reflect on how far I have come.

I think its easy to hold on to the negative words spoken over us as children and assume that is your label for life. We are naturally so hard on ourselves. Having a third party encourager is critical and I am so grateful for her support in calling out leader in me. I leaned on my faith heavily and still do. God has been a critical board member of my company and joins me in all my meetings.

Its amazing how much you can grow if you allow yourself to try.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.horacioprinting.com // www.dreamprinting.co
• Instagram: @horacioprinting @polly_payne
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/horacioprinting
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pollypayne/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@horacioprinting249