Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy Love.
Amy, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
It begins with Mom. She believes in “heart and mind to paper,” and the art of letter writing and gifting. When she shipped me off to college, Mom sent me with a small box thoughtfully packed with note cards, a return address stamp, and a framed design she created herself with the word “write.” This was to remind me to stay connected through letters. Bundles of mail later, our letters to each other piled up, and have since been replaced mostly with emails and texts, but as Mom always advises, “Keep a card for every occasion.” I continue today in our tradition, often sending cards or letters with a small, unexpected gift. In the South, we call these small, unexpected gifts “cercies.” Mom first introduced me to them. Pronounced “sir-see,” they are often given as a surprise. Cercie + Co. is my dream made real of starting a creative business. Our mission is to spread serendipitous love, appreciation, and joy through inventive, handcrafted paper gifts.
It took me a really long time to try starting my dream business. I had been dreaming about trying for 21 years! I did a graduate school design project (circa 1998), where we had to create a logo and fonts for a fictitious company. Mine was a “greeting card and stationary” business. Haha. How I didn’t flunk journalism school because of this gross misspelling is a mystery. Then years after grad school, I really did try to launch something and started with a blog called Cercie Love, which I still post. I even wrote up a plan and got help from a creative friend to design some logo options. But, alas. Failure to launch.
Fast forward a couple decades and here I am. After a corporate layoff, I found myself on what I called “sabbatical,” and then I began to meet some amazing, inspiring people who propelled me on the path. Sara Saxner made (many) kind introductions, and Jen Singh invited me to be a judge at one of Atlanta’s entrepreneur support hubs called House of Genius. At that event, I announced that I had launched my dream company called Cercie + Co. To my surprise, I was not jeered out of the room; instead, I was cheered into amazing new opportunities. At the end of the event, Amanda Plumb pulled me aside and invited me to share my story at PechaKuchaAtlanta.
These beautiful dots connected, giving me a swift kick in my Cercie gift bag. They propelled me to get super-serious, super-fast. I was already taking workshops and learning skills to make creative paper gifts and met many talented women at Paper Source in Virginia Highlands who remain, my supporters, today. By the time the PechaKuchaAtlanta presentation rolled around, I had launched a website and sold $135 worth of paper gifts. Flash forward almost a year, and here I am renewing my business license and filing business taxes. I broke even last year on this incredible, creative, and soul-enriching endeavor.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Entrepreneurship isn’t always glamorous — it’s costly, risky, scary, and hard. And especially during these difficult times in our world due to the COVID-19 crisis. But it does prove that nothing worth doing comes easy. Throughout my career, I have worked with seasoned and new entrepreneurs, and they make it seem like a cakewalk. What I know is that it takes a lot of focus, positive self-talk, motivation, and time. Becoming good at something, especially if you have a product that you make, and balancing the business and sales side with the creative aspects, is a fun challenge, but it takes time and focuses. Plus, launching a business is one thing, but growing and sustaining it is another. Many entrepreneurs decide to delve full-time into their businesses, and for a while last year, I thought I might, but it’s become more of a side gig for me right now as I continue my career in a full-time capacity. But I have big dreams for the company, and it remains a priority for me when I’m not working 9-5.
We’d love to hear more about Cercie + Co.
I use fine, handmade papers sourced from around the world to handcraft stationery sets, journals, and quote boxes.
Made with fine paper stock and paper, I create lined envelopes with unique design and color combinations. Heat embossing in a variety of iconic images can be added to the cards that accompany the envelopes. The card stock is processed in a responsible way, is archival + PCF. Journals are covered front and back in a handmade, fine paper that has unique design. The paper inside the journals is high quality and I use twine or cord to sew the spine. I also make a mini version of the journals. They are a big hit. For the quote boxes and bundles, I find quotes and print them on strips of fine, decorative paper, then roll them up and toss them into a small paper box, also made of fine paper, to be opened as a cornucopia of inspiration. Each box contains 15 quote strips and a quote theme: love, celebration, encouragement, or gratitude.
I have also collaborated on limited edition sets of custom stationery. The WAY Studio Collection by Cercie + Co. is a creative collaboration with the WAY Studio in Atlanta, Each card in this set expresses a unique sentiment of love lifted from the poems of the studio’s founder Debra Williams. The cards are written and heat embossed by hand, then thoughtfully paired with envelopes lined in beautiful handmade paper. They are one of a kind. I’m especially proud of them, and they are a best seller.
I also take custom orders. I try to create what our customers want and will make them the most happy, whether they are getting a Cercie for themselves or for someone else! I think the Cercie brand is unique. It’s a term not well-known that describes a concept people can identify with — who doesn’t love a thoughtful little gift given as a surprise? Inspired by my blog, I sign everything with #cercielove, because the company is driven by it, and our customers inspire it within me. I want to create a movement around spreading joy through small gifts, as well as bringing back the handwritten note as a way of expressing appreciation.
Which women have inspired you in your life?
Mom is the greatest inspiration for Cercie + Co., and for me. She is also an entrepreneur, as was her mother, and one of the most gifted creators I know. She has an eye for detail, too. She taught me that everything counts when you are creating, so I think it helps ensure that Cercie + Co. delivers a quality, original, and special product from the stationery or journal itself, to the way it’s packaged and delivered.
Pricing:
- Stationery Minis are $25 (five cards to a set)
- Journals are $55; Journal minis are $35
- Quote bundles are $20
- Limited Edition WAY Collection is $50 (set of five)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cercieco.com/
- Email: hello@cercieco.com
- Instagram: @cercieco
- Facebook: Cercie + Co
Image Credit:
Rupa Kapoor, Woman Redefined
Suggest a story: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
