Sticker Stories Podcast

Gabrielle Lewis is an artist who illustrates, makes film and works across many mediums. She is one of twelve winners from the 2021 StickerGiant Logo Sticker Design Contest, and we will be featuring these stories throughout the month of April. Listen in to this mini episode to hear about how Gabrielle came up with her winning design and where she finds creative inspiration for her business Brelse Illustration.

In early 2020, Jasmin Foster started Be Rooted, an inclusively designed stationery company so women of color could see themselves in a place they hadn't been traditionally. Weaving her own culture into every design and message, Jasmin and Be Rooted inspire their customers to explore their inner muse and celebrate self. In this conversation, Jasmin shares how her idea went from a home business to Target store shelves nationwide, all in the space of a year. Her story is an incredible story of growth and marketing during a global pandemic, and she talks about how she's managing the future of her brand.

Tisha McCoy-Ntiamoah is the owner and Chief Popcorn Enthusiast of PrePOPsterous® Gourmet Popcorn & Sodas. In this episode she talks about the journey of her brand, from her first job experience serving popcorn to working with trademark attorneys that helped secure her business name. The story behind her branding is pretty unique and covers four major parts, including why she decided early on to invest in her intellectual property and trademark the brand and the rules she had for coming up with her name. Second, PrePOPsterous is a SWaM-certified business, which means they are a small, 100% woman-owned and 100% minority-owned business. No small feat, and a storyline that has some interesting advice for like-minded entrepreneurs. Third, this is a tale about a girl who's first job as a freshman in high school was working in a gourmet popcorn store, how she loved everything about it and vowed to have her own popcorn company one day, and how she launched that dream 25 years later. Listen in as Tisha shares how

Katie Jesionowski is a co-founder of MySuperFoods, a food brand that is committed to empowering parents and growing healthy, SuperKids. MySuperFoods creates organic and gluten free, nutrient dense food for kids and families. In this episode, she shares some of their early success and how most recently they've adapted to the pandemic to keep growing their business.

Terah Eatmon started Body Baked Body Butter with the goal of helping people with dry skin. Her entrepreneurial journey is one based on perseverance, as she's found her market and she's updated her brand to meet the needs of her customers. In this episode, Terah shares how she rebranded her labels and is planning on launching a new product due to the feedback from her loyal fans. Listen in as she discusses juggling a full-time job in healthcare while keeping in touch with her passionate fans.

Angie Chua is a designer and entrepreneur who truly lives the travel life from her Airstream that doubles as Bobo Design Studios. Her business centers on The Wanderlust Passport, a custom journal that helps document the serendipity and discovery that happens during an adventure. She also has beautiful prints, calendars, stationery, and of course, stickers of all shapes and kinds. Listen in as she shares her creative process and where she gains inspiration, plus how she's turned a passion for travel into a business.

David Dewane is an architect, publisher, journalist, and educator. He is a co-founder and president of Mouse Books. David’s approach to life is part entrepreneur and part journalist. He maintains an ongoing commitment to design theory and regularly publishes essays and interviews. He was recently featured in the Wall Street Journal for his take on the future of the office. Courtney Garvin is a graphic designer and college professor. She is a co-founder and the vice president and creative director of Mouse Books. Her work has spanned all aspects of design: from strategy and design to final production and implementation. Her clients have ranged from large brands such as Accenture, The Coca-Cola Company, FedEx, Charles Schwab, The Walt Disney Company, Hewlett-Packard, and musician will.i.am. Together they are part of the small team that helps create and develop Mouse Books and the Mouse Book Club. They make books for readers who believe in the power of reading and the how a book can transform humanity. The Mou

In 2018, Jon Bjorgo started a Chicago Style food stand called Jonny's of Longmont, where he brought a taste of Chicago to Colorado. When Covid-19 spread across America, he was forced to close down his brick-and-mortar shop and focus on his food trucks. Now working out of a commissary kitchen with a can-do attitude, he's pivoted his business, including pitching in to feed firefighters during one of the most devastating fire seasons in Colorado history. Listen in as he shares his passion for the food from the Windy City and how he's grown his community of loyal fans who travel to find his food.

Anna Costello is the founder of Ship Sunshine, a business where the goal is to make it easy to brighten somebody's day through thoughtful gifts. While hiking in Bali Anna watched the sun rise over the mountains, and at that moment, she wanted to capture the feeling of being washed over by warmth and light...and Ship Sunshine was born. Now she's developed a collection of different boxes available on the website along with custom options, which means more people can spread joy, one box at a time.

Josh and Jenine are the creators of Tubby Nugget. What started off as little doodles to make themselves laugh has reached thousands of people around the world. They went from printing stickers to actualizing a dream of theirs: to create plush toys and t-shirts based off their beloved character, Tubby. The main work they put into the world is their webcomic, which is wholesome, uplifting content for thousands of people to see, and they believe a little nugget-love can make a huge difference in people’s lives. Learn about how they started this business off an inside joke between them and where it's going next.

Heather Stenner is the National Sales And Marketing Director at Porch Box, a Colorado-based company that builds handcrafted outdoor wooden boxes in standard and custom sizes. A Porch Box is storage for your front door, and they are perfect for home milk delivery, concealing packages from porch pirates or storing frequently used items like dog toys, garden shears or umbrellas. Heather chatted with Andrew about how Porch Box is moving into a scaling stage after a few years of organic growth, and how their brand is expanding in digital marketing strategies. Listen in to learn about how this brand started and what they have planned for the business holiday shopping season ahead.

Debra's founders journey started as a way to make Pork Chop's eating more comfortable after he was diagnosed with vestibular disease. Eating from a bowl on the floor made him dizzy, and there wasn't anything on the market that fit his feeding needs. She worked with a product engineer to create the first prototype of the Fluff Trough on her 3D printer at home using food-safe epoxy to safely test the bowl with pets. Once she had the final design, she 3D-printed it in food safe epoxy and started the product testing. Pork Chop loved it. The Fluff Trough became his happy place, and feeding time was enjoyable again. Debra knew she had a success on her hands, so she poured time and money into developing a manufacturing system and then launched a successful Kickstarter campaign that was fully funded in 24 hours, which is a testament to the power of her potential market. Now Fluff Trough is a growing business that's ready to expand product offerings, all from this first innovative, non-toxic and food-safe elevated

Damon McLeese is the Executive Director at Access Galley, an inclusive nonprofit organization that engages the community by opening doors to creative, educational and economic opportunities for people with disabilities to access, experience and benefit from the arts. He has taught photography to blind people and dance to deaf people. Damon loves challenging the assumptions people have about those with disabilities—in fact, he thinks the word “disability” is inaccurate, contending that we all have challenges to overcome in life. At Access Gallery, he assists artists with disabilities as they create their own works and take part in the commissioned works the gallery makes for businesses. In 2014, Damon received the Denver Mayor’s Award for Innovation in the Arts. Access Gallery is located in the heart of Denver’s Art District on Santa Fe, located within blocks of other galleries, schools, museums, and countless artist studios. Their is a continual reminder of the equalizing power of art, breaking down social

Leslie Reyes has always loved food, and a few years back "with $19 bucks and a blender," she started the Cocina de Leslie with homemade salsa and a dedicated delivery business. Now she's got customers lined up around the block as she serves a custom menu that she promotes through Instagram. Leslie dialed in from Thermal, California, where fans in the Coachella Valley flock to her custom drinks and her unique Mexican dishes. Her story is one of dedication to her craft and the passion of her customers.

Devon Rodriguez is an artist and painter from the South Bronx. He initially gained recognition for a series of realistic painted portraits of riders on the New York City Subway system, including a profile in the New York Times Style Magazine. He got his start doing graffiti with his friends, but he transitioned to portraits as a teenager. His work has been featured in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Students League of NY, and the National Arts Club. Devon has a passion for the details of everyday life, and his realistic style communicates life in the city with a keen eye for the small moments that make us human. Listen in as he talks about his artistic path and how he's staying busy with commissions and special projects.

Brittanie and Marcus Jones made a decision to adopt a vegan lifestyle and create a brand around healthy meal planning and engaging cooking videos. They created a YouTube channel called Fineapple Vegan, and Brittanie served as the video talent and inspiration for the brand, while Marcus serves as the producer and creative director. Their newest product Liquid Gold is coconut milk-based cheese sauce that's free of gluten, soy, nuts, sugar and dairy making it a great option for people with common food allergies or intolerance. We chatted with them about developing their company and the early stages of scaling their production, all while raising four young boys.

Laura McLeod leads Partnerships Marketing at 99designs. She was a History of Art major at University College London, and she is passionate about the visual arts, design and aesthetics. Laura has over a decade’s experience of B2B & B2C marketing for global brands, and she brings that insight to partnerships at 99designs, including the partnership with StickerGiant. That's right, StickerGiant has partnered with 99designs so our customers can create beautiful, print-ready sticker and label designs, and Laura shared how 99designs works with customers in many different industries and what's next for 99designs as they add services to their product suite.

Jim Pollock of Pollock Prints is best known for his art for the band Phish, starting with his iconic album cover art for the band's first album Junta. Since the mid-1980s, when he met members of the band at Goddard College in rural Vermont, Jim's artistic journey has been motivated by a singular urge: to create unique pieces that evoke a spirit of discovery and that are open for interpretation. These days, fans line up for hours before shows to get a poster from that night's shows, and Jim's live art-making installations have become a defining fixture of their festival experience. Listen in as Jim discusses his evolving creative process and how he first started making concert art for Phish in their early days. His recent work centers on their Dinner And A Movie series, with a graphic that serves as the animation for each episode of the weekly live archival concert broadcast.

Darnell Brown has always loved entrepreneurship. Since age 12, he's been working hard, whether he was selling pecans in the fall, mowing lawns in the summer or drawing family portraits. His current projects demonstrate his entrepreneurial range. He co-founded LETELLIER Skincare, a brand conceived by his wife Kim who is a master aesthetician. He has his own brand & entrepreneurship coaching business, and he started a podcast called Bulletproof Hustle. His goal is to help high-achievers turn their life stories into thriving businesses through brand coaching and design consulting. During his time on the show, he spoke about how his early days led him into startups and then into consulting with clients of all shapes and sizes. His story about the LETELLIER Skincare brand was a highlight of the show, as he spoke about how they use StickerGiant labels for their newest product and what the future will hold for this business that's still in the "lava" stage as he likes to call it. Darnell's passion is contagious

Ellie Lum is the founder, pattern designer, and head educator at Klum House. With over twenty years of professional bag making experience, she draws on her roots in the industrial sewing industry to make heavy-duty bag making fun and accessible to home stitchers. Ellie has taught hundreds of makers to sew over the years and is passionate about inviting makers to work with their hands, build new skills, and get lost in the flow of making. For Ellie, it's more than just bags, it’s about helping makers build confidence and establish a sense of efficacy in the world. Ellie's goal is for makers to discover that they are capable of so much more than they ever thought possible. Listen in as she shares how she started the business and how she is evolving her products and classes to meet the needs of her customers.