I first learned about Small Business Saturday in 2012 and when Effie’s Paper only sold personalized stationery. Small Business Saturday was designed as an alternative to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, to help small businesses like us become a part of the conversation.
A little bit of EP history: In 2010, it was just me, working alone in my living room trying to figure out all of the things. Over time the company has evolved and become a lifestyle brand. Most of us love pretty paper, but many of us love our smart phones and texting more. I realized that in order to scale the business, I needed to pivot. The full name of the company is Effie’s Paper :: Stationery&Whatnot. This was intentional: the original plan was to start with stationery and incorporate “whatnots”. I ended up adding the whatnots in a lot sooner than originally anticipated. I began to build a team and we worked out of my home until October 2017. It was a little bit crazy, but rents in NYC are sky high! A good friend was kind enough to let us take over the parlor floor of her 5 story brownstone for the last 3 months of 2017. And then in January 2018, we moved into a “proper” office space. Believe it or not, I still work from home. My team works out of our office.
Our studio space is small, but my team is nimble and they do a GREAT job of making do. We get your orders out seamlessly and we continue to serve over 200+ wholesale accounts. In addition, our products have been praised by BuzzFeed, Manrepeller, USA Today, The New York Post, Brit+Co, The Huffington Post, Stationery Trends, Good Housekeeping, Design*Sponge, Essence magazine, and Reader's Digest to name just a few of the publications Effie's Paper has been featured in. And this past September, Effie's Paper was featured on The TODAY Show.
We’re small and lean, but we get the job done! I’m proud to have created jobs for others and hope to be able to hire more tenacious womxn in the future. Girlfriend, I challenge you to Shop Small this holiday season – there are real people behind the emails you receive and the handwritten notes in your orders. In order to celebrate the holiday season with you, we decided to extend our PINK FRIDAY weekend sale –25% OFF (no promo code needed)– through the traditional Black Friday weekend.
Effie’s Paper is just one of the many wonderful, creative small businesses to support this Small Business Saturday and throughout the entire holiday season.
With gratitude,
Kalyn
P.S. Please feel free to email me here and tell me about any cool small businesses, I'm always on the lookout.
