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

Wanda , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I have always been attracted to the arts, dance, fashion, music, and of course the paper arts ever since I can remember. I dabbled in all those areas through high school. When it was time to pick a major in college, though I loved the arts, I also knew that there was the entrepreneurial spirit deeply embedded within, and I felt it would be prudent to study business and finance. I wanted to be in control of my own destiny, of my own art. Upon graduating from University of Southern California in 1985, I got a job with my favorite designer at the time, Perry Ellis in Los Angeles. And after a year, I moved to New York and worked for various designers including Perry Ellis, Stephen Sprouse and Isda & Co. in sales, marketing and merchandising. It was during those 11 years that I cultivated an acumen for luxury merchandise and product, and had the opportunity to travel to all parts of the US visiting high-end retailers. But always, the passion for the paper arts never left, it just kept intensifying. In 1995, when I was pregnant with my oldest child, Simone, I knew it was now, or never, to start the paper business I always dreamed of creating. So, along with my late partner, Grant, we opened Soolip on Melrose in West Hollywood, one month before Simone was born. Twenty-eight years later, and having lived through many cycles of business and life’s changes, the brand continues strong.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

As I’ve forever had a passion for paper, while I was working in the fashion industry in New York, I would educate myself in the paper industry by attending industry trade shows, so I could get a sense of the dynamics of the industry. I also called up the owner of the largest, and most popular paper store in NYC at the time, Kate’s Paperie, and took him out for lunch, just so I could meet him, and hear his story. In the end, your story is going to be different from everybody else’s. No two paths will ever be the same, which is what makes each of us unique. I utilized my time away from day-job to cultivate my craft. I discovered letterpress printing, and found a studio in Pasadena, California where I could apprentice at. I became a letterpress printer and now my quest was to get printing presses of my own. I found 2 late-1800’s vintage printing presses in Chicago, and turned my garage into a make-shift print studio. That essentially was the start of Soolip. I had a drawer full of paper and paper scraps. The drawer became a closet full of the same, then became a room full of paper. By then, I realized that it was time to open a paper store.
Our core business in the beginning was retail – paper, stationery, albums, writing accoutrements, greeting cards, gift wrapping. However, custom work overtook retail and became our core bread and butter – wedding and event invitations, elevated packaging.

We did not have much working capital, started the business with a $50K bank loan. So, we relied on word-of-mouth, and aligning the business with organizations, magazines and events where our target customer circulated. I even attended a West Hollywood city council meeting where residents and business owners come to essentially share grievances. I stood up to speak, thanking the Mayor and City Council Members of the City of West Hollywood for the ease with which I was able to set up my business. These meetings are televised. Smart, and economical, publicity.

Our reputation grew rapidly, as we were in the center of action in Los Angeles. Our clients were the who’s who in entertainment, interior design, fashion, and publishing. Eventually we built a solid business servicing corporate clients who accessed the Soolip team as a creative partner, collaborating on everything from business-to-business presentation elements to full-scale brand gift-box concepts directed to key influencers and press. Essentially, we have become providers of elevated and luxury tactile communication – tactile as in “touch and feel”, the antithesis of the digital world in which we live, which is exactly why individuals and companies are moving budgets into this space. There is something special about receiving something in the mail that is unique, tactile, clever, and a far distance from commercial mailings.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

After a meteoric rise and double-digit growth ever since our beginning in 1995, 2007/2008 hit me with a giant gavel. My business partner, and father to my children passed, and the US suffered a severe economic decline. So, all of a sudden, I was standing on my own, with 3 young children, 5 stores, and another set to open in San Francisco. I was forced to reduce my footprint, not only due to economics, but I also wanted to be present for my growing children. I just held on tight, taking care of my core business, and getting rid of any parts of my business that were not a positive contribution to the bottom line. When I look back, I’m actually not sure personally how I managed to get through all that, and keeping the Soolip brand alive, un-tarnished, and actually strengthening. I owe it to my unwavering conviction that I knew I could make this work. I felt this deep in my heart. I also knew that life will always throw each of us challenges, and it is our choice in how we confront the challenges we are dealt. I just kept my head down, taking one step in front of the other to maintain the logistics of my life back then, but kept my heart and spirit open so I would catch any opportunity and be aware of universal energetic signs to keeping me directed in the natural flow of my life.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My motto is, “Living each day with beauty, inspiration, mindfulness and gratitude.”

I believe this to my core. And I do my best everyday to live here.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What is beautiful to me, may not be beautiful to you. But what I find beautiful lights up my day, it colors my world, and feeds my inner light.

I stay open to inspiration. Inspiration can be when I see a flower growing in the crack of a cement wall. The sheer power of nature, something so delicate, finding its natural way to “be”, despite harsh conditions. Inspiration keeps the soul and spirit alive and awake, so that you can be aware of the energy of the universe, and how it wants to move you.

Mindfulness is being conscious of your actions, how your actions reverberate, and being considerate to all living beings. It is living in the present moment, and savoring where you are, right now. This could be when you’re eating – are you present? Are you tasting your food, and enjoying its flavors, or are you simply shoving the food down your throat? This could be when you are mopping your floor – are you present? Are you seeing how clean the floor is becoming because of your actions, are you in a state of gratitude that you actually have a floor to mop? Or are you wishing this task to go away?

Gratitude. The antidote to happiness and living a joyful life. It’s easy to be in gratitude for the joyful moments and occurrences in life. But can you be in a state of gratitude when life is challenging you, or when you are on your knees? This takes practice, and is the practice of living.

Contact Info:

• Website: soolip.com, yogalandgame.com
• Instagram: @soolip_, @yogalandgame, @wandawensoolip
• Facebook: Soolip, YogaLand Game, Wanda Wen
• Linkedin: Wanda Wen
• Youtube: The Soolip Fix
• Yelp: Soolip
• Other: Thread: Wanda Wen/wandawensoolip

Image Credits
All Images provided by Soolip