Punkpost sends beautifully handwritten cards, mailed by artists for you. Each card is uniquely handwritten to bring maximum delight to both the sender and the recipient. Meet the superwoman who's working on and building Punkpost all day, everyday.
WHAT'S YOUR JOB TITLE & HOW DID YOU GET WHERE YOU ARE TODAY?
Founder & CEO. I basically gave it to myself. (LOL, but realtalk). Before founding Punkpost, I was the managing community editor at Brit + Co and prior to that I worked at Yelp, creating content for local markets around the world. I've always worked with distributed creative communities to make memorable moments, which all kind of translated over to what we're doing at Punkpost.
TELL US ABOUT A DAY AT WORK YOU'LL NEVER FORGET!
Oh god. Probably the day we launched it was a nightmare. The app was crashing left and right. I wanted to hide under a rock. But I couldn't do that. So instead. I personally emailed each and every person who downloaded Punkpost. Thanked them for trying us out. Apologized for the bugs, let them know we were working on it and I would follow up as soon as we had fixes for them. I had such a great response from this. People are actually very kind when they see the human in your product. Also... it's so easy to remember the hard days and not as easy to remember the great days. That's why an app like PepTalkHer is so important and useful. It helps you focus on the positive and be grateful for those good moments, which, that sort of gratitude and positivity just leads to better, more authentic and more productive work.
WHAT'S YOUR ADVICE ABOUT GROWING A BRAND OR A PERSONAL BRAND?
Be authentic. For Punkpost, it's been easy because the product is something that all of legit use and so we are really just marketing it to ourselves and what we like to see in a product. But I know not everyone who is creating a brand is marketing to themselves or people like them, and in that case, just know your customer so well that you can empathize and identify with them to the point that you feel like you are them. And the only way to do that is to continually talk to your customer (and I mean in real life) and ask them questions.
“ it’s so easy to remember the hard days and not as easy to remember the great days. That’s why an app like PepTalkHer is so important and useful. It helps you focus on the positive and be grateful for those good moments, which, that sort of gratitude and positivity just leads to better, more authentic and more productive work. ”
HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR NEGOTIATION CONVERSATIONS?
Practice. Practice in front of people who you trust and who have been there. Get their feedback. Incorporate their tips. But don't go too wild with it. There does get to a point when you're trying to perfect your pitch... and if you get too caught in that loop it can be detrimental. So I would say get two rounds of feedback... and then just go for it.
DID YOU EVER AGREE TO SOMETHING IN A NEGOTIATION YOU NOW REGRET DOING?
Definitely. There was one partnership in particular where things felt like a really good fit initially, but by the end of it, I felt really taken advantage of. It happens. No need to dwell on it. Learn and move on.
WHAT’S ONE TIP WOULD YOU TELL YOUR YOUNGER SELF ABOUT NEGOTIATING?
Ask for what you want. Your requests are not ridiculous. And you're more likely to get them than you think. All you have to do is ask.
