Meet Kristen Ley | Owner & Founder of Thimblepress

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kristen Ley and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kristen, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
The thought process behind starting Thimblepress really came out of wanting to create with my hands. Before Thimblepress, I had another company, Cultigraphic Creative, where I did marketing and design for other clients. In that company, I had so much fun getting to work with people and getting to create for different companies and brands. However, I missed painting, drawing and the physical art creation process.

A lot of businesses start knowing they are going to create a business. I went in backward, starting from a passion and desire to create that became a business fairly quickly. When I moved back to Jackson, Mississippi in 2010, I bought a letterpress in Kentucky and drove it back with a friend. It was the love of creating art for myself, family and friends that led me to create official products that I sold to the public. Their reactions to my work; the joy they exuded when they received a piece from me was all the motivation I needed. In 2012, I launched an Etsy shop where I sold art prints and greeting cards. I would travel every weekend and on vacations my full time job gave me to shows all over the country, pedaling my goods like a traditional sales person. In 2013 I attended my first wholesale show in Chicago, quickly followed by the 2013 National Stationery Show in New York City. At that point, my world was forever changed. I didn’t have an official website yet, I was still building the plane, but we were already in the air. By summer of 2013 I signed a lease on the building we are still located in today in Downtown Jackson, MS. I quit my full time job and I ventured back into the world of Entrepreneurship. (And yes, I believe Entrepreneurship should be capitalized because thats how hard it is to do it. It’s important. It’s gritty and you often push yourself further than you thought you would ever be able to go. So, yes, it should be capitalized. :))

We grew really, really fast. I think that’s a direct correlation to the efforts that I put in when I first started. We were featured as one of Oprah’s favorite things, and six years into my business I was launching my own endcap at every Target in the county while simultaneously launching an entire gift line with all Hallmark stores across the country. We were busy. I was busy. I was too busy. In 2018 I restructured the company and made a lot of changes. I dug back into my Entrepreneurship spirit and asked myself what I really wanted to be doing. I wanted to be small. I didn’t want all the hoopla. I just wanted to make art, so that is exactly what I did. I took my company and made it my dream company again. A company much smaller, but a company that feels right in my bones. I’m just as passionate about Thimblepress as I was then, but I’ve realized that life is beyond what you do. It is the people you surround yourself with. It’s your family, your friends, your pets, and it’s your health and your life. When I get “off track”I have to remember my north star, and the things I want out of life. My vision board for life. Many of those things money just can’t buy like time with family and friends, laughter and love with my husband Bill, core memories that become the stories we tell the grandkids, a garden that needs love and attention; a beautiful life surrounded by the people I love. I can’t sit in an office all day and night and expect to get those dear & sweet things. I have to make a very conscious decision to choose my life, and to choose my business each and every day at different times.

At the end of the day, it is very clear that Thimblepress is here to inspire and bring joy to people through our colorful & encouraging products. There is no doubt that I was supposed to do this. My favorite part is still my favorite part; I get to do all the art for our products, and I get to interact with a lot of amazing customers and retailers.

I measure success by the emails we receive, the calls we get, and the messages written to us on social media saying what an impact our products have made in their life. My success is someone revealing that they’re having a child to family with one of our products (push-pop confetti), someone sending a card to a friend who’s going through a really hard time, someone hanging my art in the room they have dinner around every evening. Success is someone using our journal to make sure that they are more mindful, and that they check in with themselves. Success is someone renewing their faith in Jesus after a long time of hopelessness and fear, and using one of our prayer journals to help. Success is a songwriter who uses our journal to create a career they never knew that they had inside them before. THAT IS SUCCESS. That is Thimblepress success.

After 10 years of Thimblepress, t’s my faith that keeps me in this business and grounded. There have been times I’ve thought, “I’m going to go get a job. I’m going to get on a career website, find someone who’s hiring and get a 9-5 job.” Lo and behold, the next day, something shows up as simple as a verse in my devotional, someone affirms what I am doing in life through a random email or message, an overdue invoice shows up, a huge order by a retailer or customer is placed, and/or a new collaboration takes flight. In those moments it becomes very clear it’s a sign from God; I feel it deep in my bones. It an internal voice & knowing that I am exactly where I’m supposed to be. Even though the hard times, I’m building my tool belt – learning the things that I need to get us through something months from now or even years from now.

What keeps me going is my faith, and knowing that God has put me here for a much bigger purpose than my own.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
The art I create is super colorful and fun. I use my hand lettering in all of our products, so there is always that to recognize. We are also the original creators of Push-Pop Confetti®, so confetti and celebration is a huge part of our brand.

(I think I answered all these other questions in my main question. 🙂

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Thimblepress is located in the heart of downtown Jackson, MS. Because I am the way I am, I would of course have a friend stay with me. If they insisted on staying elsewhere I would recommend the Fairview Inn or some incredible Air BnB locations to really get a feel for the area. We would have drinks at The Library Lounge outside under the large magnolia tree. In my dream, the weather is also 65 and sunny. One can dream!

I love to venture to Fondren (a neighborhood in Jackson) when I have guests come to town. It is an eclectic area of Jackson that houses some of my favorite restaurants. There are lots of things to do from the shop, go bowling at the super chic bowling alley, or catch a movie at the new high-end theater that just opened.

If you had more time I would take you to Clarksdale, Mississippi. My husband hails from the Mississippi Delta, and he is the ultimate tour guide. The MS Delta is where the Blues were born. Not only that, we could visit Peter’s or McCarty Pottery in Marigold right down the road from Clarksdale. Bill could take us to the banks of the Mississippi River where we could collect beautiful driftwood that has a story of its own. That evening, we would eat at my favorite spot in town, Hooker Grocery. They always have live music and someone you know will most likely be dining at the table next to you. Ground Zero is a great blues bar to catch live music. It’s open late, so we would most likely end our evening there!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My Husband, Bill Allen My mother Stancie Ley,
My Dad Phillip Ley,
My Stepmom Linda Ley,
My Aunt Susan & Uncle Don Sawatsky
Lauren Miltner
Dani Polen
Sarah Lutz
Beth Morgan Cowan
Katie Hunt of Proof To Product
My mastermind group (you know who you are)
and of course, God!

Website: https://thimblepress.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thimblepress/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thimblepress

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy33jRT_x3Nx55vUmVrlANQ

Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/thimblepress/

Image Credits
Photos by Beth Morgan Photography