CompleteIssueSLOLifeDecJan18LR

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our first employee in February 2016; our second was hired in September 2016. Recently, we just hired our 17th employee. We ended up where we are now on Monterey Street because we outgrew our cottage. So, we moved in for fulfillment space and office space and then really saw the opportunity for starting a flagship brick-and-mortar sticker shop. I always remember, when I grew up, every store seemed to have a wall of stickers on rolls, even if it was just a small section. And our whole generation collected these things. And, just what is it about stickers? I think there’s something inexplicably fun about something sticky. First of all, I think the nature of stickers is kind of interesting and fun. I think people underestimate stickers; they are actually like little works of art. Each one of them is a really high-quality, beautiful thing. At this point, having designed many stickers myself, I know that each one is very intentional. I think it’s an opportunity for people to enjoy something really small and simple. What we do is really simple, and it gets back to just having that really fun feeling, opening something that’s colorful and small and knowing that you can either save it for yourself or you can stick it on anything and kind of brighten it up. We have people that are using stickers on their mail and are really into pen-palling, people that are into journaling, people that are putting them on their planners, people that are into collecting them, people that grew up in the 80’s and really still love them. We have people that put them on the bills they send out, or they give them to their employees when they are doing a good job. We hear about college professors that are putting them on their students’ papers, and they honestly believe that they’re motivating their college students to do better. That’s incredible. Let’s talk a little bit about the space itself. So, having the store and being able to test things there is a great opportunity. Also, the part of the shop that I am most excited about is that half of it is dedicated to a craft space, so right now there is one whole enormous wall dedicated to craft supplies, and it’s an open studio. We have a huge, long community craft table so people can drop in, and we have an open studio the whole day. Whenever we are open, people can come in and pay $15 and spend up to two hours using our stuff, so my vision is to have that busy and humming all the time. In the morning, it’s moms with their non-school kids; in the afternoons, sticker lovers and college students who are into crafty study breaks; and, the evenings, adult craft classes; weekends, birthday parties. It’s just such an inspiring place and I think our community needs something like that. What does the future hold for Pipsticks? I would love to see a little jewel box sticker shop in every city in the country. But, I think at this point, we’re trying to figure out which direction to go. There’s no shortage of opportunity in terms of directions to take, whether it’s focusing on our wholesale business, creating our own products, or really growing the subscription side of things, or managing the retail component. I think the thing that’s exciting about retail, or actually having a brick-and-mortar, it’s a great opportunity for us to see how people engage with our products and it’s been brilliant; we get a lot of feedback from people. I love seeing someone walk in the door and kind of freak out over something they have found in the shop; it’s so much fun and so gratifying to connect in person over stickers. Okay, we can’t let you go without asking the advice you would offer an aspiring entrepreneur. I think I would say, “Don’t do it immediately; get as much experience as you can before you start.” I’ve always worked. I’ve had a job since I was fourteen or fifteen. I’ve worked in customer service; I’ve worked in retail; I’ve worked in corporate; I’ve worked in small agencies; I’ve worked in big agencies; and I’ve learned so much. I just think you need to know so much when you’re starting your business. You have to be very resourceful and you have to know where you have to go to find things. And, I think that the thing that has been most valuable is that experience. It’s not even specific experience; it’s just soaking things in and not being judgmental. I think, as I said, the jobs that I think were, by far, the best experience for me when I was in them, in the moment, I wanted nothing but to get out of them. And, now in retrospect, I can say they were the ones that prepared me best for what I am doing now. SLO LIFE 50 | SLO LIFE MAGAZINE | DEC/JAN 2018
We attend the Symphony because we love the music. But we also attend because each ticket supports the Symphony’s mission to teach music in schools, give scholarships to young artists, and bring our community closer together. HOME TO EDNA VALLEY’S MOST . DRINK IT ALL IN. CHASE W. AND KATIE L. MARTIN Concert info at slosymphony.org CHAMISALVINEYARDS.COM 7525 ORCUTT ROAD • SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA 805-541-9463 TASTING ROOM OPEN 10AM-5PM DAILY DEC/JAN 2018 | SLO LIFE MAGAZINE | 51
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Page 3 and 4: DEC/JAN 2018 | SLO LIFE MAGAZINE |
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