Elisa Goodman, Curmudgeon Cards
1830 Westholme Avenue #109, Los Angeles, California 90025
877-395-2044 (Toll-Free) | www.curmudgeoncards.com | curmudgeoncards@earthlink.net
"When you see you are growing and people like your product, you are always fueled to create more, do it better, faster and figure out how to make more money. Because if you are not making money, you only have a hobby."
Elisa Goodman began collecting postal stamps when she was eight years old, filling her World Traveler Album with art stamps from places as far as France, Poland, and Japan. When she grew up, the stamp collection was forgotten, and Elisa then devoted 20 years as a casting director for movies and television. As Hollywood began shifting toward reality programming and the demand for Elisa’s area of specialization began to decline, she once again found fulfillment through her stamp collection, in a unexpected way: by making greeting cards.
Elisa’s side hobby of creating greeting cards stemmed from an afternoon with her friend and some Elmer’s glue, old buttons, fabric remnants, and word collage cut-outs from magazines. When her childhood stamp collection resurfaced one day after her mother had started cleaning her house, Elisa was inspired by the beautiful artwork of her stamps, and began featuring them on her designs. After finding limited success selling her designs, and faced with her the current circumstances of her career, she began to think of her greeting card hobby in a larger way. With this, she began her own business, Curmudgeon Cards.
However, realizing that it “takes money to make money,” Elisa eventually encountered financial obstacles in bringing her business to the next level. With a strong eye and passion for greeting card design but limited familiarity with managing an independent business, she needed assistance. She had been financing her business on personal credit cards, and soon began to search for a way to raise capital to grow her business.
At this point, Elisa found PACE. After meeting with consultants to discuss her situation, PACE connected Elisa with a Bank of America strategist, who then approved her for a business credit card loan. As a result, Elisa was able to secure capital to upgrade her website and begin traveling out-of-state to exhibit her cards at major trade shows in New York and Las Vegas. She also continues to participate in several high-end, juried art shows, where her stamp art cards find acceptance and enthusiasm among the works of glassmakers, jewelers, and other artists. This year, Elisa has picked up about 30 new accounts since April, and aims to double her business from last year by achieving $100,000 in sales.
Curmudgeon Cards creates and sells custom collage, stamp art greeting cards, featuring vintage postage stamps from around the world, embellished with upholstery fabrics and accent papers. Curmudgeon Cards has been featured in three magazines and can be found in stores nation-wide, as well as Australia, Canada, Mexico, and the Virgin Islands. For more information on Curmudgeon Cards, visit www.curmudgeoncards.com .
(August 20, 2007)
|
