The Stamp of Approval

Question: I'd love to know about your creative process in planning new items for each catalogue—are you hands-on in making decisions or do you leave the planning to your creative team? --submitted by Angela Fehr, August 27, 11:30 am

Answer: When the company was young, I literally did EVERYTHING: I answered the phones, picked the orders, cut the checks, manufactured the stamps, designed the artwork, shipped the products…you get the idea! And frankly, as an entrepreneur, I love every single facet of it.

As the company grew and grew, having that level of feet-on-the-ground involvement in every single aspect of the business just wasn't possible—it would have worked me to a frazzle and still not given the company the nourishment it needed. One of the hardest—but also most rewarding and necessary—parts of building this business has been requiring myself to step back, to hire incredibly talented people, and to allow them to lead in their respective specialties.

We have (I believe) the most talented creative department on earth—illustrators, artists, designers who live and breathe creative excellence. I love their contributions and Close To My Heart wouldn't be where we are without them. That said, product design is still perhaps my greatest joy in working the business, and it is also an area where I have a very clear vision. So, yes, I am VERY involved in planning products for each Idea Book—from the first concept of a paper packet's color palette through its complete design iterations, right down to naming the kit. I love it all! I review every embellishment candidate and weigh in on color, design, material, and price. And naturally, every single stamp set in the Idea Book is personally evaluated (and occasionally tweaked!) by me, and nothing goes in until it has my stamp of approval—and in case you're wondering, it is a LITERAL stamp of approval!