291 | Working through feelings of failure & coming out better on the other side with Alyssa Manoleas, Grey Street Paper
Many entrepreneurs are high achievers! We work hard. We go above and beyond. We care deeply about the work we do, whether it's for ourselves or for others.
So when things don't go as planned or are even outside of our control, we can sometimes feel like we're failing. Today's guest is Paper Camp Alum Alyssa Manoleas, who makes and sells hand-illustrated greeting cards and gifts through her brand Grey Street Paper.
Prior to running her business full-time, Alyssa worked as a fashion designer in New York, a job that she was great at. She was climbing the corporate ladder, earning more money, and gaining titles, but despite being excellent at her job, she was furloughed and then laid off in 2020.
On today's episode, we're talking about the mental shift of moving from corporate to entrepreneurship. Alyssa candidly shares how she felt like a failure when she was let go from her corporate job, and how she had to carefully work through the grief tied to that. She also shares how she came out better on the other side with a profitable thriving business that allows her to make a bigger impact.
Alyssa also shares the methods that she's using to work towards her goal of 500 wholesale accounts, and why Paper Camp was the best investment that she's made in herself and her business.
Today's episode is brought to you by our Is Wholesale Right for You private podcast! This free 12 part audio series will help you decide whether wholesale is a good next step for your specific business. After listening to this audio series (in less than an hour), two things will be true. You'll know whether you want to pursue wholesale for your product business, and you'll have the confidence and action steps to get started with wholesale. Sign up for the private podcast today!
From Corporate to Entrepreneurship
From an early age, greeting cards held a special place in her heart thanks to her grandmother, who always had a box of greeting cards for every occasion. Alyssa remembers her pulling them out to give out when special holidays came around.
One year, Alyssa decided to create an Easter card for her grandmother since she loved the holiday so much—the happiness that card brought her grandmother made her realize that this might be a path and career she should focus on.
At the time, Alyssa was working a full-time job, climbing the corporate ladder to success. She decided to pursue this passion on the side, with no intention of doing it full-time.
Getting Laid Off from Corporate
For Alyssa, she began exploring wholesale in 2019, jumping into her first trade show with very little knowledge and preparation. Not long after that, she was introduced to Paper Camp, which led her to where she is now with Grey Street Paper. She sells greeting cards, gifts, pens, pencils, and stickers.
With just under a year of experience in exploring wholesale for her side hustle, she was furloughed from her corporate job in April 2020 during the pandemic. In August 2020, she was officially laid off.
This felt like a huge setback and failure for Alyssa. Having her business was a side hustle—her focus was always on growing her corporate career. With this extra time on her hands, she was able to decide what she wanted to do with her career path—would she look for another job in the field or jump into the business full-time?
During the time that she was furloughed, she went through all of the stages of grief. It took some time to figure out what this meant for her. By the end of 2020, she felt pulled towards her business and pursuing it full-time. That’s when things started to fall into place.
Mindset Shift: Redefining Success
Through the stages of grief, she was able to refocus and redefine herself and her success. While she still struggles with the idea of success in her business, she often looks at it this way… She went from the idea that a salary and titles are what success means to realizing that she’s running a six-figure business that she grew by herself. That's success too!
Setting a Goal of 500 Stores with Wholesale
Since 2019, Alyssa has been selling wholesale, but it wasn’t until the end of 2020 that she secured her first national retailer. Like many wholesalers, Alyssa has submitted her products to retailers and Paper Source was the first national retailer to accept her products. Now Alyssa is in over 400 retailers with a goal to hit 500 stores!
Steps to Selling More Wholesale
Getting into retail stores takes time, dedication, and hard work. In order to hit her goal of 500 stores, Alyssa is doing trade shows and snail mail packets of her products. She has adjusted her marketing strategy for reaching out to stores. Rather than focusing on gift shops, she is going towards niche markets and shops.
This is a strategy many product creators could benefit from. Some niche markets to consider are:
bookstores
pet stores
pet bakeries
nursery or florist
car washes
Additionally, she has hired someone to rebrand her company. With this approach, she is hoping that it will give her a more cohesive brand and presence in the marketplace to give her an advantage that will encourage more people to buy from her.
Leaning on Community to Expand Her Business
As a Paper Camp Alum, Alyssa Manoleas continues to reference the materials time and time again, but the biggest value she’s had is that she found a community. When she faces hard decisions, wants to explore ideas, or needs support, Alyssa has found that community is the most valuable thing for her business. Whether it’s posting in the Facebook group, texting some of the members she’s connected with, or grabbing coffee with someone, there is so much support from our Paper Camp members.
Not only has the community been a huge asset to her business, but she’s also learned proper industry standards, how to price her products for wholesale, and how to display her products in a trade show booth. This has provided her with more confidence to go into trade shows with better foundations and concrete knowledge.
In Conclusion,
In our culture, success looks a certain way. So when you go against that and do something different, like many of our community members are doing, it can be a hard adjustment. That is why a community of other people in similar industries is so important.
It is also important to remember the thing you are doing, starting and scaling your own business, is hard work! Be sure to join us in Paper Camp to find that community as you work to grow the wholesale side of your business.
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Today's episode is brought to you by our Is Wholesale Right for You private podcast! This free 12 part audio series will help you decide whether wholesale is a good next step for your specific business. After listening to this audio series (in less than an hour), two things will be true. You'll know whether you want to pursue wholesale for your product business, and you'll have the confidence and action steps to get started with wholesale. Sign up for the private podcast today!
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MEET AYLSSA
It’s simple, really - create colorful and charming illustrations, pair them with the truest sentiments, and make you smile.
That’s what Grey Street is all about - because a void of color (a nod to the DMB song that inspired the very name ‘Grey Street Paper’), a lack of laughter, and feeling like you’re the only one out there just won’t do.
Our line of witty and true greeting cards and gifts, hand illustrated and lettered out of Long Island, New York are here to help you color your relationships and world with humor and joy.
CONNECT WITH ALYSSA
WEBSITE: greystreetpaper.com | INSTAGRAM: @greystreetpaper | TIKTOK: @greystreetpaper
Connect with Katie Hunt
Katie Hunt is a business strategist, podcaster, mentor and mama to four. She helps product based businesses build profitable, sustainable companies through her conferences, courses and coaching programs.
Website: prooftoproduct.com | Instagram: @prooftoproduct
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