Life & Work with Amy Heitman

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy Heitman.

Hi Amy, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Starting a business wasn’t something I originally intentionally set out to do. I taught art for two years after graduating college before giving birth to Ramona, our oldest. After deciding to stay home with her I was looking for a creative outlet where I could work just part-time and created a portfolio website with a handful of murals I’d painted throughout the school district I had taught in, I threw some wedding stationery I had designed on the site as well and although no one was interested in murals, I had lots of inquiries if I could do custom wedding invites/event stationery. I opened a little Etsy shop and one month later was put on bedrest for five months while pregnant with our second. The Etsy shop was such an incredible blessing in the midst of a dark season as it gave me something to do and I found a new love for design and paper.

After a few years of doing solely custom stationery design, I decided to design a line of greeting cards, with the thought that even if they didn’t sell it would be great to have some on hand to be more intentional with writing and sending to others. Over the past eight years that little line has slowly grown and now carried by over 1,000 shops big and small around the world.

Framed in our studio is a little print that quotes the verse from Proverbs 16:24: “Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” In a nutshell, this is why eight years after launching our first collection of greeting cards, we continue to make them. We make cards because we know the power our words have to bless others and the life carefully chosen words can bring. We’ve seen the powerful way written words connect us. We believe it is a way we can love our neighbor.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
There have been many struggles along the way. When I launched the wholesale line eight years ago, my babies were young, so there were naps and early bedtimes I could devote to some of the more focused/creative work. We were home more so it was easier to devote more time to work. As our kids have grown and our commitments within our community have grown, my time is a bit more scattered. I also made the decision to homeschool our kids several years back which means I do have limited time to work on new designs and product development, but it is such a treasure to be able to spend my mornings doing school with my kids and I try to keep a rhythm of devoting a chunk of time each afternoon to checking in with what is going on in the studio, responding to emails, managing the business side of things, etc. This means more and more of my design time comes in random late-night chunks, but I am so blessed to have an amazing little team that handles packaging and fulfillment and keeps the studio running day to day. Owning a business is such an incredible blessing but I hope it always takes a backseat to the people and relationships in my life, so that balance is tricky to navigate at times!

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Every good we produce begins with one of my illustrations. We strive to create one of a kind goods that are beautiful, thoughtful, timeless, and a bit nostalgic, that carry with them warmth and love. We hope each new collection we create carries beauty into the places that need it. That each card is used as a tiny instrument to bless those whose hands they find themselves in.

Who else deserves credit in your story?
My husband and family have always been my biggest supporters and encouragers, and I am so incredibly grateful to have the most amazing team of ladies that keep the business running day to day. I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, and my parents were always very encouraging of me to be creative and explore and develop the gifts I was given. I also was so blessed to have some amazing teachers in high school who taught me that we were each given unique gifts for a purpose and that we were each called to use the gifts, passions, and talents we were given to help restore and redeem the brokenness in the world.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.amyheitman.com
• Instagram: @amy_heitman
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AmyHeitmanDesign

Image Credits
Megan Pearson