Times have changed, and so have we! Christina Williams (the shop, not the person) is now Public School Paper Co. And that, right there, is part of the reason for the rebrand. Having a person and a business sharing a name is both tricky and confusing.
I started this little business as a hobby. When I opened my Etsy shop in 2007, I had no idea what I wanted to sell. I just knew that I loved making things, and I love selling things. I picked a shop name that was flexible, so I didn't have to commit to a specific product. Plus, naming things is hard.
I never thought this hobby of mine would turn into an actual business. But here we are, more than ten years later, still going strong! As my sister came on board and we did more markets, we knew a rebrand was inevitable. But what do we name the new business? And do we really want to go through with all that work?
As a talented procrastinator, I put off the rebrand several years longer than I should have. The tipping point came as we committed to exhibit at the 2018 National Stationery Show! We decided to take the leap into a rebrand right along with our launch to the national wholesale market. Because there's not enough going on with prepping for a huge trade show. ;)
So why Public School? Because public school runs deep in our family's history. Our grandpa was a school principal and later the District Superintendent. Our grandma was a school librarian. Our mom was a high school teacher. And our parents owns a school and office supply store. See that picture up there? That's us at the store in 1986. We spent our afternoons there coloring and crafting in our mom's office; we learned how to operate copy machines when we were barely tall enough to reach the buttons; and we worked there every Saturday in our teenage years. To this day, walking through the back door of the store and smelling the familiar mix of paper and copy machine toner, just feels like home.
The name is our way of honoring our family's heritage, while taking our own spin on the school thing. Plus, we're big fans of the public school system. Sure it's not perfect, but neither are we. We're so thankful for the educations we've received through the public school system, and those amazing teachers who inspired (and tolerated) us during our formative years. And now we'd like the chance to give back!
In the very near future, we'll be partnering with different charities and schools to help provide things for schools in need. More on that later!