I’m taking a break from posting about the Desert Nights, Rising Stars writing conference to post about Gretchen’s work with Junk Mail Gems. I found Gretchen’s work at Treehugger a few weeks ago, and ordered a wallet (see photo) as well as some paper made of junk mail. Both are fabulous. The wallet is an excellent size for the essentials and the paper is thick and luxuriously takes ink.

You’ve transitioned Junk Mail Gems from a hobby to a business. How long did this process take? What were the primary struggles along the way?

Since I had some experience setting up another online business already, I was able to work through many similar challenges before starting Junk Mail Gems, which made it easier. Some of the challenges for me in starting up that first business that carried over to Junk Mail Gems were logistical things, like figuring out how to make my website shop-able, how to be recognized with the state as a business who is selling taxable items, and all the rules & paperwork that comes with that. But, I am still amazed by how easy it can be for one person to start a business online, with so little money invested! Once I decided to really make Junk Mail Gems product available on the web, with my previous experience, it was only a matter of a few weeks before I had a functioning online shop. However, something new to me with this particular business was the potential for wholesale and a place in the retail world. After getting several inquiries, I learned what sort of margins are expected by retailers, and their concerns with my site possibly offering product at a lower price than their physical locations. So, I recently had to take a second look at my pricing and adjust some items to be able to respond to these opportunities, to be fair to any future retail partners, and still offer my products at a reasonable price online.

What experience did you bring from former jobs that has helped with Junk Mail Gems?

I have definitely brought a wealth of experience from former jobs into Junk Mail Gems. Having majored in graphic design for two years, and ultimately earning my bachelor’s in product design, my hybrid of 2-D and 3-D design experience has been instrumental in creating my products, as well as my branding, website, packaging, collateral, etc. I’ve worked in both graphic and product design for everyone from small firms to huge corporations, which has given me experience with the business side. Of course, I can’t leave out my creative parents, who instilled in me a desire to make things out of found items at a young age! Being an artist as well, I started my face painting business help pay for college over 10 years ago. I still do this as well today, and have drawn from a lot of knowledge about starting an online business from Paintertainment. I learned that once you get a good foundation to start from, it’s just a matter of paying attention and adapting to your market and business’ needs to make your business flourish.

One of the struggles of people who are self-employed is being able to connect to others regularly. What do you do in your work life to introduce community?

While I am definitely an entrepreneur at heart (both of my parents had their own small businesses when I was growing up), for the past 3 1/2 years I’ve also been working as a retail display designer for consumer electronics retailer Best Buy. My favorite part of this job is the people that I work with every day. However, my own businesses have been growing so much lately, I expect to be fully self-employed very soon! I also have a rapidly growing freelance industrial design business, which enables me to work with an evolving pool of interesting clients and fellow designers. In addition, my face painting business allows me to interact with an entirely different clientele…lots and lots of little kids! For just over a year, I have also been serving as president of the Minnesota chapter of IDSA, a professional organization for industrial designers. This has given me ample opportunity to lead, learn, network and socialize with other designers from all over the Minneapolis and St. Paul areas on a regular basis. So, as you can see, my days are extremely full!