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Being My Boss- Joanna Alberti

Tiny and lovely — Sophie’s making the waves

25 year old Joanna Alberti knows a thing or two about running her own business. For Joanna college and her sorority formed the perfect playground for one-off gems like, "If you need to confide in someone, pick a drunk friend." So amused by those passing moments where life seems to hold still for laughter and bonding, she began to keep a journal with her at all times so she could capture these dialogues, diatribes or just meaningless junk from her imagination. "I called it my book of philosophies," she muses. "And I still carry one with me at all times." Who knew a random book of mismatched words collected over years would become the foundation for a small but beautiful business?

After graduating from Boston University’s School of Management, Joanna accepted an entry level position with Hill Holiday with the intentions of moving up to the art directors role. A chance entry at an arts fair organized at her company inspired Joanna to characterizie her philosophies into greeting cards. "I played around all night with the word philosophy, because thats what I always called my little journal." It was an eureka moment when she figured out both her character and the name of her greeting card line — philoSophies. Encouraged by the response at the arts fair, she shopped around a few stores in Boston "just to see if anyone would buy my cards." And they did! Soon, philoSophies were making the rounds of Boston’s paper boutiques and friends and family were calling in for cards. Sophie had become the centerstage of her business.

"I didn’t always think of myself as an entrepreneur. Making cards was only a hobby for me, and a way to build my portfolio," she says. She eventually quit Hill Holiday to fuel her newfound passion. “I was making around the same salary as I did when working at the agency, so I thought why not immerse myself in this full time?” But building a small business comes with it’s own share of challenges. Sometimes surmountable, sometimes impossible.

Joanna’s biggest challenge came in the form of a plagiarist. A friend first alerted Joanna about an east-coast company that had an eeirely similar idea, color scheme and feel as philoSophie. Even their Sophie-like character’s body positioning mirrored Sophie. Soon after, Joanna’s web-designer was approached by the same company with a request to create a website similar to Sophie’s PhiloSophies.  "When you are starting out, you can’t afford lawyers," and yet Joanna had to do something to curb this encroachment. Fortunately for her, she met the alleged company’s founder at a trade show in Boston and asked who did their illustratons as their concepts and websites were very similar. (Killing with kindness -ah!) A month later, the plagaiarising company had mended it’s ways and taken  a different strategy.

Small businesses like Joanna’s not only struggle with competition from other tiny companies but also behemoth greeting card companies. To keep her business fresh, Joanna constantly innovates her current offering and thinks about the future. "I think about Sophie all the time. Where is she in her life? How can I try to make her relate with women in different stages of their lives? Or do I need more characters?" Her education at BU’s management school and ad agency training gave her the necessary business expertise but it remains a challange to balance the business and the creative singlehandedly.

“But I wouldn’t want it any other way,” says Joanna.

Whats next for philoSophies? “I’m starting to do more paper products and stationary. Maybe customized stationary. There are just so many possibilities that I need to keep my focus!” Wrapping up the interview, I ask Joanna the best thing about owning her own business. Her response, “Having ownership of something that is completely yours and being responsible for whether it fails for succeeds.”

Indeed!

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Joanna’s advice for aspiring entrepreneurs:
Stick with it. And your gut instinct is always right.

Check out the website and add Sophie to your friends on myspace!