Daily Inspiration: Meet Nikki Rifkin and Ash Glenn

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nikki Rifkin and Ash Glenn.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
The idea for Heartprint Press came about in a text exchange about donuts. A bit of background — We have been friends for many years, we met through work (in an entirely different industry than the stationery world), and had the opportunity to work as a team for several years which is how we knew we’d gel well as business partners in our new endeavor. We have seen each other through some of the most pivotal and significant personal events of our lives to date including both of us being diagnosed with a debilitating auto-immune conditions. You might be wondering what all this has to do with our business and donuts? Well, here’s the rest of the story.

Back in November of 2020, Nikki suffered a near-fatal health event (unrelated to her auto-immune condition). Still at the height of the pandemic, she had to endure the trauma of her emergency surgery and subsequent hospital stay by herself as hospitals were not allowing visitors at the time. Once she arrived home, we were texting, as we did almost daily, and I kept wishing there was something I could do for Nikki that would bring her even an ounce of relief or levity. So, I texted her in our signature sarcastic, cheeky, and vaguely inappropriate style of banter something about donuts being the cure to all ailments with obligatory f-word placement for additional comic relief. Nikki’s response erupted into several lines of “hahahahaha hahahahaha hahahahahaha” after which she also responded, “that should be a greeting card!” and that very moment was the start of what was to become Heartprint Press. Because of our conditions, we have both experienced and continue to face challenges with our health, times in which our bodies simply don’t work but our minds are still active, creative, and hungering for an outlet. Designing letterpress greeting cards and notecards is something we can do even during our physical flare-ups and it still gives us the fulfillment of being productive and creating something that is meaningful not just to us but more importantly, to others. We figured if we can make each other laugh during some of our darkest times, then we just might be able to do the same for someone else. We write cards that reflect things we actually think, things we actually say, and things we actually feel in our hearts. We want our cards to be evocative and a tangible treasure for the recipient.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Being true novices in this industry, we have found the learning curve to be very steep and at times quite daunting. Neither of us comes from a business background, in fact, both of us are in the fitness world. So we have had to learn everything about this business, from design, to printing methods, to forming an LLC, finding suppliers, business taxes, building our line, learning the ins and outs of wholesale, the list goes on and on, completely from scratch. Not to mention, we are both moms in addition to having full-time jobs. So has this been a smooth road? Only if you define smooth as full of obstacles, detours, and bumpy as hell…but worth every single second of the ride.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
We are proud to be a badass women-owned small business specializing in letterpress greeting cards and paper goods. We are known for making cards that are full of humor and reflect what you actually think, feel, and say. In our designs, we acknowledge the messy, the real, the ridiculous, and the absurd. For us, it’s not just about the hallmark moments, we like to celebrate both the big, the little, and all the in-betweens.

How do you think about happiness?
Both of us are first and foremost moms so our kids are the biggest sources of joy for us…on most days (ha!). But aside from our families, creating a business from the ground up and watching it grow, seeing the overwhelming response has been deeply gratifying. Also to be totally honest, we both love to use salty language, especially the work f*ck, so when you ask us what makes you happy, it’s also getting to put that on our cards and no one is going to tell us we can’t because we’re the bosses.

Pricing:

• Greeting cards = $6
• Notecard sets = $16
• Pocket notes = $10

Contact Info:

• Website: www.heartprintpress.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heartprintpress/