Meet Stacey Papp

We recently connected with Stacey Papp and have shared our conversation below.

Stacey , so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

I honestly don’t know if I can say I’ve overcome imposter syndrome but I have learned to make friends with it. When I started Paper Iris, I felt like a fish out of water, completely clueless on how to be a creative and run a business at the same time. When I was younger, I had an art teacher tell me that I shouldn’t ever think of making a career as a creative because my work wasn’t “there”. I’ve carried her words around with me for a long time and when I first started putting marker to paper, they really got in the way and served as a barrier for me. What has really made a difference is making friends with other creatives and listening to their stories about feeling like a fraud or simply that they aren’t good enough. While it’s sad that so many creative people share in those feelings, it’s validating in knowing you aren’t alone and you have a community ready to support you during every step of your journey.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

By day, I am a marketer. I love everything about marketing especially learning the “why” and psychology behind why we make the choices we do, why certain messages resonate more than others and how emotions ultimately play into the decisions we make each day. Combining the art and science of marketing is incredibly fascinating to me in that strategies and numbers inform the words, images and emotions we tap into to create a story that ultimately impacts someone. When I’m not living in the world of marketing, I’m drawing. I started Paper Iris in 2022 focusing on bringing joy to people through the love of stationery. I’ve been a stationery fan my entire life. When I was little I had a draw full of pens and markers that evolved into a tote full of notebooks that is now a rolling cart full of every type of stationery you could imagine. I had always been afraid that my drawing wasn’t good enough because I’m not classically trained and one day, I opened with my iPad, sat down with my fear and put pen to screen. I look back on my first works and cringe a little but it’s important to see where you’ve come from. Over the past three years, Paper Iris has evolved into what I hope is a place where people can come to take a breath, buy something for themselves and bring a little magic to their busy days.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The first would be tenacity. There were many moments I wanted to give up because something felt really challenging or I just wasn’t grasping the idea or skill. When that frustration set in, it was a reminder for me to take a break, take a breath, remind myself I am doing this for the loving of creating and just keep going.

Second, I would say curiosity. Social media can be a treasure trove of inspiration and when I’d see artists doing something new and interesting in Procreate, I’d watch them over and over again. That led me to follow some great artists on YouTube who are gracious to share their knowledge and resources. I always try to ask myself “what if?” when I’m designing something to see if I can push myself and learn something new. Sometimes, the original design doesn’t work out but I walk away gaining some skills that I can ultimately apply to future stationery designs to make them pop.

And third is grace. I’m a perfectionist at heart and that doesn’t exactly help when you’re deep in the creative process, making a mess, trying new things and unsure of what the final design is going to look like. I’ve had to learn that no one really cares that the flower petal in a sticker design is just a little off center or that the color of a flower isn’t as vibrant as I had originally designed. Giving myself that level of grace is a daily job and one I don’t always succeed at but I’m a work in progress on so many levels, just like the stationery we design at Paper Iris.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

I would absolutely love to collaborate or partner with other stationery designers. It’s been a dream of mine for a long time to work with other designers to learn their process, see how they translate ideas from brain to paper and to collaborate with people who love stationery as much as I do. There’s nothing more special than working with another creative on a project, experiencing all of the ups and downs along the way, building a friendship and creating a product you are not only happy with but that can bring someone a bit of joy, happiness or magic when they purchase it. I’ll be venturing into the world of pattern design this year and would love to learn from other surface pattern designers and partner with a few in the future on creating beautiful patterns for cards, textiles, journals/notebooks and other stationery items.

If anyone is interested in collaborating, you can find Paper Iris on Instagram at @paper_iris_ or email us directly at paperirisstationery.@gmail.com

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.paperirisstationery.com
• Instagram: @paper_iris_
• Facebook: @paperiris