#Followtrustwordie
We are delighted to showcase founder Joy Redmond this week as our #Follow. Founder of trustwordie; beautifully designed, unique, wordy, fun, eco friendly cards for all occasions. Joy is one of our #SheGenerate participants and we have loved getting to know her and her business, we know you will to.
To get us started - how would you describe yourself in 6 words or less?
Webby wordsmith, founder, autism advocate, swimmer
What prompted you to start your business?
trustwordie started as a passion project to produce wordy greeting cards to help people connect or reconnect with the important people in their lives. At home, we hang our birthday and Christmas cards on a garland in the kitchen and that strip of cards mean so much more than 100 digital greetings. We're all so busy with the daily grind that relationships slip but I've come to realise that the small things in life are the big things. My customers send my cards to celebrate, sympathise and empathise with loved ones. My cards are for close relationships with often difficult sentiments, don't worry many are fun too. They tend to be kept and make it onto the fridge door, the noticeboard and sometimes a frame.
Tell us a little bit more about you?
I came across this text-heavy ‘thing’ called the world wide web back in 1996 when I was a research fellow (after an undergrad in marketing) looking at the internationalisation of indigenous Irish software companies. Talk about light bulb moment, I packed up my desk and joined one of Ireland’s first web design agencies and have stayed in the industry since. I did the full-time marketing manager thing but it's not my bag. Most employers think of marketing as the tactics (SEO, events, social etc.) but it's actually a way of thinking very like design thinking and should permeate every part of the organisation. I also spent some time in academia but left in 2007 to put theory to practice with my first venture: Flexitimers.com, a flexible work platform but alas it didn't succeed but I learnt so much and was head hunted to a start-up on the back of my guerrilla marketing tactics. Then my world turned upside down when my two-year old started to exhibit the early signs of autism so I went part-time to focus on early interventions which paid off as he's now a bright articulate 18 year old. During that time, I carved out a portfolio career freelancing in research, content, mentoring and web/ux projects. Don't worry I'm not a charlatan; I'm a lifelong learner (degrees, postgrads, and certs) hence the varied services. I love the outdoors and am a keen open water swimmer traveling far and wide to cross lakes, rivers and fjords but my favourite water is the sea given my childhood spent here in Wexford on the beach. I'm also very into the arts, I've done a few workshops (poetry, playwriting and film making) with the Gap Arts Festival and have had a few pieces I've written put on stage, which is excruciating to watch live. I'm currently doing a Printmaking course in Gorey School of Art, it's only one day per week (boy does that week fly) and I hope to learn a few techniques that might make their way into my cards. My eldest son has fled the nest and will be graduating shortly, and all going well the other chap will be off to college in 2023 so I feel I'm coming into my time and get to choose exactly what I want to do and growing trustwordie is a big part of that plan.
Fill us in on your female founder journey.
I started out with no expectations or goals as it was a passion project. I thought it would be a nice creative outlet and also the learnings would help my 'real' work. in the very early days, I knew most of my customers i.e. they were friends and family. Recently I had my 500th customer on the website and I'm quite happy that most of my customers are strangers so that's market validation right there. The hard part is having to do absolutely everything from conceiving the concepts to artwork, production, packaging, marketing and shipping and everything in between. I'm not quite at the stage of drop-shipping and I'm not sure I'll ever go there as I like to write personal notes with my orders and enjoy the two and fro with customers by email. I've been very lax about building the retail side where the real growth lies and I've had mixed experiences with retailers so I'm getting closer to finding the ideal retail customer, my cards will never work in supermarkets because you need time to read the sentiments so next up is to find outlets with a more browsing ethos and clientele. I'm heading to the biggest greeting card trade show in the world, conveniently in the UK, next week and I can't wait to meet and learn more about the industry. I've been featured in the media a bit over the years because the cards are a little different and tongue in cheek so the marketing background helps. The biggest irony is I find the social media aspect very trying (I haven't embraced video or stories or reels) even though I do content plans and schedules for other companies but have been inspired by many of the Shegenerate founders who are doing sterling work so watch this space. I've been the only woman in the room so many times particularly in the early days of web that I've become inured to the unconscious bias and just burst along singing my own song. What has been interesting is the way people (men and women) speak to me when I'm wearing my trustwordie hat, the creator/indie maker, the assumption that I don't understand business and mark-up and margins which I'm sure is very undermining if that were the case.
How did you hear about AwakenHub and what prompted you to apply for SheGenerate?
I heard about Awakenhub via Mary Carty and went along to the events which were such a tonic compared to other zooms during the early days of lockdown.
What are you hoping to get out of the SheGenerate process?
Pivot trustwordie from a side hustle passion project to a real business.
What does success look like to you - in 12 months and in 5 years?
12 months: retail coverage and sales across Ireland while I focus on building the tribe/product range online. 5 years: exporting to retailers in English language countries (do a little from website), product diversification (prints, posters, mugs etc.) and a great team around me. Who knows I might even dip back into my college French and street Spanish. Pasa lo que pasa!
SheGenerate is only a small part of AwakenHub - now that you have the community's attention - what can we/they do for you?
Send a card or letter (doesn't even have to be one of my cards) to someone that has been on your mind but has slipped off the radar. Never doubt the power of the pen (and paper) to be the opening move in a long and lovely conversation.
As a founder - what are your non-negotiables & your Six Words to Live By.
My raw materials are eco-friendly - a mix of recycled, biodegradable and from sustainable sources. I'm not much of a consumer, I always joke that I've read far too much marketing lit to be taken in and tend to borrow or use online subscriptions rather than have to own something. Happiness is never one product away i.e. you need to get that warm fuzzy feeling from something that does not have a price tag on it. The people that inspire me are those quietly making a difference to other people’s actual lives and who, for the most part, did not come into this world with the privilege I’ve enjoyed. “For me, success is not a public thing. It’s a private thing. It’s when you have fewer and fewer regrets.”
Toni Morrison 6 words: The little things are the big things
#followtrustwordie
Greeting cards - fun quirky wordy thoughtful cheeky by trustwordie
