SaVonne Anderson of Aya Paper Co.: Cards with Culture
Aya Paper Co. is a Black-owned, environmentally responsible company that sells paper goods and gifts celebrating Black culture. The company was founded in 2019 by SaVonne Anderson, a Newark native, designer, and lifestyle blogger. While working as a graphic artist at a New York art museum, SaVonne was inspired to create a line of stationery that authentically represents the joy and celebration of the diverse Black experience. In addition to her role at Aya Paper Company, SaVonne is also a mother and the program director at a nonprofit organization helping Black high school students shift to an entrepreneurial mindset. She was recently awarded a Tory Burch Foundation Fellow.
SaVonne, what was the spark behind Aya Paper Company? I started this company because of a problem. I was frustrated by my experiences looking for great cards to celebrate my loved ones year after year, looking for a card to celebrate my Black dad on Father's Day, and not finding anything that looked like him. That's what first prompted me. Once I felt motivated to address that problem, inspiration came from my family. Many of our images and words come from real-life experiences, whether it's a childhood photo I made, an illustration, or a message that someone sent me that resonated.
You have so much going on; it must be very stressful. How do you deal with stress? There is a lot of stress involved with entrepreneurship. But like you said, I added lots of other things on my plate. I work with a nonprofit organization to help high school students learn how to build their own ventures. And I'm also a mom of a two-year-old. Balancing a home life with my daughter, my fiancé, my work, and my other work is a lot. But the way that I deal with stress most often is really by getting outside, being in nature, and disconnecting. This morning, I woke up feeling very overwhelmed, so I went on a hike at a nearby reservation, and just two minutes into the hike, I felt so much more relaxed. So disconnecting is how I try to keep myself grounded when things get to be a lot.
We think about sustainability a lot and it means different things to different companies. Can you tell me what sustainability means to you and your brand? Yes, so at Aya Paper Co., we look at sustainability as a way of using the earth's resources responsibly, not depleting them. All of our cards are made from 100% recycled paper. We're not cutting down any trees to make our cards or journals. We also ensure that we're sending everything in environmentally responsible packaging, things you can easily recycle at the curbside. Even when it comes to our product design, we want to create things that people want to hold onto and not throw out in the trash. People often keep our greeting cards and display them on their mantles, or they may even frame them to display on their walls. Even if they just put them in a shoebox to save because it means so much to them. We think about sustainability from the initial product design through to what a customer is going to do with it once they receive it.
You have some great products. What are you most proud of about them? I'm most proud of how our cards make people feel. Hearing from customers about how they were introduced to the brand and how our cards make them feel makes me proud because that's why I started. I didn't want people to feel frustrated when they were supposed to be celebrating. I'm also very proud of all the work I put into this brand, for the level of resilience and courage that it takes to do this. Starting is the easy part; it's continuing that's so hard. I'm proud that we'll be turning five years old next month and that I'm still doing this.
How has being a female founder shaped your business journey? I struggle with answering that question. My industry, stationery and gifting, is very woman-dominated, so I haven't faced many challenges based on that. What has been challenging is securing capital for growing my business. But I've found success with financing programs specifically for women, which has been helpful. Also, it's been challenging balancing the work with being a mom. When I first started the company, I was not a mother. I became a mom halfway into this journey. Being a mother brings societal expectations and guilt, especially when I have to go out of town for work or miss certain things.
What inspires you in your work? Yes, my inspiration comes from everyday life. I want Aya Paper Co. to be a reflection of reality. My brand statement is that we create cards that look and sound like you. So, my inspiration comes from everyday things. Sometimes, it's a birthday card, but it can also just be an illustration of a woman getting her hair braided. That's an everyday moment that I find such beauty in, and I want to elevate and create products that give us opportunities to appreciate how beautiful the everyday and the mundane can be. I've had a lot of inspiration in the small moments, things that happen every day that may not feel noteworthy to most people. But that's what I love to do—take those things we may take for granted, those moments with our loved ones, those moments, maybe even by ourselves, and create something beautiful we can appreciate.
Along those lines, as we get older, women also don't fit into that "Hallmark" box where there is little diversity. Exactly. And that's what I like to do with our products. Right now, our focus when you look at our products is on the Black experience. But as we continue to grow, my main goal is to create products for anyone who feels excluded—people who have been historically marginalized and underrepresented in these industries. So, like you said, even folks who are older are not able to find a card that celebrates aging in a positive way. There's a time and place for everything, but our goal is never to make humorous things at someone's expense. And I think that's something that I notice a lot in the industry - people making jokes out of people aging or people being bad parents. That's not what we do. It's about showing people gratitude and appreciation for exactly who they are. So that people don't have to feel like, "Well, this doesn't reflect who you are or what I want to say, but it's good enough or will have to do." We should all be able to receive something that reflects who we are and makes us feel great about ourselves.
Tell me a little bit about your future goals. We are turning five years old this year, which is a huge milestone. As you may know, 50% of businesses fail within the first five years. So it feels great to make it over that hump. And it's also a little bit intimidating because it's like, "Well, what's next?" The Tory Burch Foundation fellowship came at the perfect time for me because I'm at this point where I'm trying to figure out how to grow beyond where we are and continue to make progress forward. I'm excited about that fellowship: it will give me more educational opportunities, a strong network, mentorship opportunities, and capital to help me reach that next goal. I really want Aya Paper Co. to be available wherever cards are sold. I'm looking into getting a national retail partnership where we have dedicated shelf space anytime you go into their stores, with cards for that given season. It sounds like a big task, but we're very close. I've been having my eyes on it for a long time. I've learned so much over these past few years, so we're in the perfect position to make that leap. A big part of that is continuing to raise brand awareness. Our digital marketing strategy is the main focus for this year. How can we get the brand in front of as many people as possible and let people know what we're doing? Because I know that our products are great when people find out about them. They're so excited, and they want to buy everything. It's a matter of figuring out many creative and authentic ways to connect with people.
Thank you so much, SaVonne, for sharing your inspiring journey and insights with us today. Your dedication to sustainability and passion for creating products that resonate deeply with people is admirable. Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to share our journey and connect with more people who appreciate our work.
The Intention Journal is featured in the Pen to Paper Box available in the Box Sets selection of Here I Am or individually from our selection of Journals & Cards.
To find more products, visit Aya Paper Co. (ayapaper.co) and use code welcome15 for 15% off your first order.
This interview has been edited and condensed from my conversation with SaVonne. To hear the full interview, follow Here I Am on our YouTube channel.
