Stationery company founder reflects on success

By CHRIS BRAWLEY MORGAN
Friday, November 17, 2006
Letter writers and party givers nationwide send out stacks of Whitney English stationery and invitations.

Whitney English herself, however, is much too busy to do the same. In the last four years, she has created Oklahoma City-based Whitney English Paper. Her designs are now in more than 1,200 stores nationwide, including "Party On" in Los Angles, "Paper Parlour" in Atlanta, and "Celebrate Invitations" in Brooklyn.

Then there is the buzz. This fall, her paper products, which include gift wrap and placemats, were featured in "Glamour" and "Country Home" magazines and "DailyCandy," which provides e-mail updates on fashion in any form. "InStyle" magazine is slated to feature her work in both December and January.

English started her company in the game room at the home of her parents, Jim and Lorna English. It now employees 13 people and is located in a printing operation in Oklahoma City.

Sitting near a wall of inspirational magazine cutouts inspirational magazine cutouts and color swatches, English talked recently about working and how to relax, which for her includes babysitting.

Q: Some people say letter-writing is dead in the age of e-mail and instant messaging.

A: Oh, so not true. This is one of my big theory things. In college, I took this class on the theory of trends and fashion. What I learned was that anytime something is rare, it is therefore extremely valuable and popular. The whole insurgence of e-mail and technology has made stationery even more popular because the handwritten note has even more value than it ever did. People are obsessed with stationery.

Q: How did you get into the stationery business?

A: I started working at Paper 'N' More (in Oklahoma City) when I was 15 years old. I started to do customized invitations for people. It just suited me.

Q: Why build a company around it?

A: What happened was I graduated in 2001, spent some time in Dallas and, of course, Sept. 11 hit. I was just out of school, fresh to the job market. There was really no opportunity in interior design. People weren't buying furniture.

The owner of Paper 'N' More, Tim Shadid, started calling me in Dallas and saying, "Help me out. Let's do this" and "Let's do that." I started working at Paper 'N' More again.

Q: Did it take a lot of courage to start your own business?

A: I just closed my eyes and jumped in and started calling printers to get price quotes, and learned a lot.

Q: Are your customers drawn to your paper or the designs?

A: That's what we are selling - the design. We do use a very high quality paper that feels good to the touch. The paper addicts are out there are very drawn to it, but the design is what they are using to express themselves.

Q: How do you relax?

A: I don't have a TV in my house, but I dream of the day I can have cable and just watch. I am saving it as a treat for myself.

Q: Why don't you have a TV?

A: Probably because I would sit there all the time and watch it. There's so much to do in life and so many good books to read and so many people to talk to. I do download "The Office" off of iTunes.

Q: Why do you babysit?

A: They are my short friends. They are a great source of inspiration. I take stuff to them and their input saying things like, "Now, if you were going to pick a placemat, which one would you like?" It helps me relax. It makes me stop working.

Q: Is this time of year your Christmas rush?

A: It starts in September and then picks up again after Halloween and then picks up again after Thanksgiving. The closer you get to Christmas, the thicker the orders get.

Q: What's popular now?

A: Our holiday photo cards are immensely popular now. Our thank-you notes - our little fold-over cards - are consistently a huge seller for us. You buy a box of 10 note cards for $12 and people who write notes are out of those really quickly. It's great to sell a consumable product.

Q: Do you write a lot of letters?

A: The cobbler's children have no shoes. I'm pretty delayed about it, most of the time. I have to confess. Not the best.

Q: Do you send a lot of invitations?

A: I don't. The funny thing is the person who is buying our product is usually a woman, 30 to 60 years old. So I'm selling our product to a demographic I don't really fit into yet. I'm looking forward to planning a lot of parties, but I just haven't yet.

Q: Will the next generation write letters?

A: They are just paper crazy. You can read it about in their blogs and stuff. It will have less to do with etiquette and more to do with expressing yourself.