Every paper good at guudguuds has a story to tell! One of our vendors that contributes to an incredible cause is Inklings Paperie. Inklings creates amazing goods like The Weekly Gratitude Journal and Bee Kind Vinyl Sticker. Not to mention, Inklings Paperie supports orphaned kids in the Western Hemisphere. Read on to hear the story of Inkling’s founder, Lindsay, and what inspired her to create a unique and impactful business.
Lindsay’s Early Years
Lindsay Henry is the founder of Inklings Paperie and now serves as creative director. Since childhood, she has always had a creative spirit and drive to do things in a unique way. Lindsay talks about how her parents have always been supportive of her imagination and inventiveness. She mentions sketching with her mother at the breakfast table and drawing with her father’s Pantone markers. This support system and her love for art urged her to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Design.
Creating Inklings Paperie
While Lindsay Henry was working as a freelance designer, she happened to work for some non-profits and big brands. During the same time, she received requests from her friends and acquaintances to design fun items for bridal showers and baby showers. At the time, she noticed how people were playing the same games over and over at these events. Shower planners around her were stressed out and overwhelmed. Lindsay learned that very often, bridesmaids note planning showers as their least favorite bridesmaid activity.
At one point, while printing for a client, she realized that the cutting process wastes a lot of paper. The future founder of Inklings Paperie saw this as an opportunity to create paper goods from scraps that would normally be cut off and thrown away.
A year later, she used left-over scraps turned scratch-game cards and opened up an Etsy shop. As the Etsy shop started to grow and she added new paper goods, the Inklings Paperie line was born in 2010.
Inklings Paperie kept growing as it saw success on different platforms. Even two years later, Inklings’ products were featured in celebrity swag bags for Emmy Awards. Not just this, but our vendor was also named a finalist of the Martha Stewart American Made Awards.
Inklings’ Waves of Impact
The business that Lindsay started now works in collaboration with an organization called Ebenezer Glenn Orphanage. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and this organization provides homes for Haitian orphans.
Also according to Haitian law, orphans have to leave the orphanage once they turn 18. But this puts the youth at an emotional, physical as well as academic risk. As a result, Inklings decided to also step in to continue support beyond 18! Lindsay Henry decided to co-found ‘Orphans to World Changers’. This organization works to provide orphans over the age of eighteen with educational visas to the US. This enables young adults to complete their education in the US and return to Haiti to change the poverty situation of the country.
In addition to supporting Haitian orphans, Inklings also provides loans to women living in developing countries. These microloans support women who are looking to start their own businesses. This gives hope to many women entrepreneurs in developing countries as they lack the necessary support in their home countries. The financing of microloans helps these women get the training and resources they need for a startup.
In Summary
We are so grateful to partner with Inklings! A woman-owned, unique, sustainable and impactful business – it doesn’t get much better. Inkling’s team creates fun products such as vinyl stickers and gift-worthy journals. Each product you purchase and enjoy from Inklings makes the world a kinder place. Check out their products now on guudguuds!
Sources
- https://inklingspaperie.com/pages/our-story
- https://inklingspaperie.com/pages/giving-back
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