036 | Cara Underwood, Underwood Letterpress on outsourcing manufacturing, building relationships and living life with no regrets

Cara Underwood is the owner of Underwood Letterpress which is a lifestyle brand offering custom work and stationery & gift products to the wholesale and retail markets. Cara attended Paper Camp in 2014 when she was undergoing a transition in her business - shifting from custom work and deciding whether wholesale was something she wanted to go into. Since then, Underwood Letterpress' greeting cards, paper goods and gift items can be found in stores nationwide. Cara and her products have been featured in major design publications including Domino Magazine, Design Love Fest, Apartment Therapy and Martha Stewart Weddings.

On today's episode we're talking about outsourcing manufacturing, building relationships and living life with no regrets.

ON TODAY'S EPISODE:

• How Underwood Letterpress got its start
• Transitioning from her full time job to her business full time
• The products she offered originally
• How Paper Camp impacted her business
• How she juggles wholesale, retail, and custom work
• Cara's process for finding manufacturing partners
• Learning experiences Cara had when she transitioned to outsourcing
• Why living life with no regrets is one of her core values
• What success looks like to her
• How she schedules her time between her family and her business
• What's next for Underwood Letterpress

KEY TAKE-AWAYS:

" I knew I was not going to get into the greeting card business because I had cheeky phrases or funny things to say, but I really was interested in developing a design aesthetic." - Cara Underwood

"I just try to use some restraint when it comes to how much I bite off on either side." - Cara Underwood

"I think if you can really dive deep into certain systems, and certain technologies to help you scale, they can really ease a lot of the workload or just make that system a lot more streamlined." - Katie Hunt

"I'm using individuals as contractors, to help me print the larger rounds." - Cara Underwood

"The thought of trying to do it all in-house is overwhelming." - Cara Underwood

"It is so important to be professional and respect everyone's efforts and the kind of business they're running." - Cara Underwood

"We're on a very windy, loopy road, and you might as well enjoy it. It could stress us out, or cause us to feel regret, but it could also just be a really fun adventure." - Cara Underwood

"It's important to acknowledge and nurture your passions, and allow space for them, and not look back because there's just so much ahead of us that we don't even know about." - Cara Underwood

"There's so much out of your control, that if you don't allow for chaos and flexibility, then you're going to have a hard time." - Cara Underwood

"I want this business to grow and continue to grow, as long as it's also supporting the happiness and the balance that I currently have with my family." - Cara Underwood

LINKS:

Website: www.underwoodletterpress.com

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

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

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/underwoodcl/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/UnderwoodLttr

JOIN THE TSBC FAMILY:

Our signature Paper Camp program is back and we're now enrolling for Winter 2018!

We're talking about product development sales tools, trade shows, marketing, working with buyers, sales reps and the press. Attend live or online. It's the similar content, available in different formats.

Paper Camp Conference: an intensive 2-day program taking place March 1-2 in Los Angeles.

Paper Camp E-Course: 4-week online program with live Q&A calls starting January 16th.

Figure out which program is best for you and grab your seat at www.tradeshowcamp.com/papercamp

ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT:

Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!