Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sarah Schwartz. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Sarah , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
Creating a quarterly stationery trade publication from scratch in 2008, as one magazine after another was shuttering, has been an incredible journey. When Great American Media Services approached me in 2008 to inquire if I was interested in becoming the founding editor of Stationery Trends — I had already cut my teeth for six years as stationery market editor at Gifts & Decorative Accessories, considered ‘the Bible’ of the gift industry — I certainly was, but I didn’t want to create yet another (in my view) dry trade magazine. After all, our readership — stationery store owners, manufacturers, sales reps and makers — all read and nerd out on consumer shelter and lifestyle magazines; shouldn’t their trade publication resemble those? The stationery and boutique gift market is exciting and dynamic — our publication had to be too!
While it did take some time for Stationery Trends to hit its stride as we learned what readers responded to most, in my opinion, it’s our visual approach that led to our success. Retail is all about story-telling, people go to physical stores to see something fresh that really resonates — so that is always my aim in my pages. When I share a trend, I show many expressions and faces of it not just so retailers can build displays and statements, but understand a bit better perhaps why it is occurring now. Most independent retailers that manage to stay open have a very good idea of what their customers respond to — so they can review my editorial and decide how it applies to their clientele. That I can connect small, artisanal makers with independent shops, who can then present their customers with compelling merchandise that feels as though it speaks to directly to them — it’s really been quite the honor.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I am a creative who needs to generate my own output —but helping other creatives make smart decisions as they stay true to their passions yet still make their businesses thrive has been a most unexpected gift.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
It’s not just one lesson we need to unlearn, the list is endless, and questioning pre-conceived notions is best constantly done. One of my favorite paintings is The False Mirror by Rene Magritte; it’s simply a huge eye. Our perspectives are limited at best, rarely do we have the full picture. Once you realize this — and hopefully remember it at the right time — you can better comprehend the situation at hand.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thepapernerd.com
- Instagram: @ms_sarah_schwartz
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stedit/
- Youtube: @thepaperfoldpodcast
Image Credits
See image notes on images. Contact me with questions sarah@thepapernerd.com