Welcome to our new series, “Ask A Founder,” where we tap into the great minds of female entrepreneurs making their big idea a reality. For the past two years, thousands of women have experienced our Selfmade virtual business coaching program, led by Brit + Co founder Brit Morin and sponsored by our friends at Office Depot OfficeMax. Here, we ask Selfmade alum Johana Gutierrez-Griffiths about her life as a founder of JJ Paperie, an online stationery and home goods shop, her best productivity hacks, and why every emerging founder should dream BIG from the start.
1. How would you describe your brand in five words? Sweet, sentimental, feminine, positive and charming
2. What mood do you want your brand to evoke? JOY! I want people to feel happy, excited, and loved when they see my brand.
3. What’s one thing you wish you knew as an entrepreneur? When you’re beginning, it’s very hard to dream *BIG*, but I think getting into the right mindset and dreaming big from the beginning is incredibly helpful and empowering. You also need to remind yourself that your actions are what will bring those dreams into reality.
4. How do you get in the right headspace to start your day? I try to do a 5-minute meditation and a light workout, whether it’s a morning walk with my pup and husband, a quick game of tennis at our local park or some kind of moment that isn’t aggressive – I’ve never been a HIIT person. I also try to make room for more creative play, so I don’t have access to IG early in the morning.
5. What is usually prioritized on your to-do list? I try to really focus on the items that will move my business forward. For example, one of my biggest goals is to have JJ Paperie & Co in more shops by the end of the year, so on Wednesdays I dedicate that to wholesale outreach, researching more stores, and follow-ups.
6. How do you celebrate the small wins? I have a document that I write down my wins for each month! I try to keep this as an on-going record of what I’ve accomplished throughout the year because it’s super easy to forget.
7. What is your go-to productivity hack? I’ll dedicate 30 minutes to a task and put my phone away so that it’s not near me.
8. What is your favorite desk essential? I have three! It’s a candle, a little flower holder that says “you are awesome” on it and “Have Fun today'' notebook.
9. What are your go-to snacks? I love to have a cheese stick with some fruit or nuts or a small personal-size bag of chips of any sort. Big chip person here.
10. What do you do on your breaks? I walk around my neighborhood with my dog! I listen to a ton of podcasts and will switch between fun ones and business-related ones, like The Product Boss, Proof to Product, Goal Digger and Diet Starts Tomorrow + Crime.
11. What has receiving the Office Depot OfficeMax scholarship to Selfmade done to help you grow your business? So much! I love that it started with mindset all the way through pitching. It covered a lot of areas that most classes do not (I’ve done my fair share of educational resources). I plan to reference a lot of it again.
12. How do you balance the practical with the creative parts of your business? When it comes to the creative side, I try to not force “being creative” and create when I’m in the mood – even if it’s after work.
13. What do you do to officially *end* your work day? Cooking has become a way to relax and end my work day, which is funny because I used to really dislike it!
14. How have Office Depot OfficeMax services/products helped you accomplish more in your business? Considering I am a stationery business, I love having the right tools that are good quality to go about my to-do list and prioritizing tasks. I’m a firm believer in writing things down.
15. What does the word “selfmade” mean to you? Selfmade means to me that you independently made your goals come true with your own drive and ambition. While you may have learned from others, you pushed yourself forward and took action that only you can do.
Thank Johana! Whether you’re just noodling on an idea or a few years into building your business, Office Depot OfficeMax can help turn your next big idea into a reality with a suite of business services to help you accomplish more – from signs, posters & banners to get your business noticed to marketing materials to bring your brand vision to life.