October is Women’s Small Business Month. As a women-owned business ourselves, we’re thrilled that more and more, we’re in really good company. So thrilled that we’re celebrating this month by highlighting a handful of women-owned brands we love.
We’re calling them PowHERful Brands. Weekly, we’ll feature one and uncover what makes it a brilliant brand. This week’s spotlight is on Ladyfingers Letterpress, an award-winning stationery and gift brand based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, owned by wife-and-wife team Arley-Rose Torsone and Morgan Calderini.
Torsone and Calderini launched the business in 2011 after photos of their own neon wedding invitation poster took off online, and other couples requested one-of-a-kind invitations to their events. And these clients came back, asking for letterpress cards for other occasions. Torsone and Calderini saw a need.
The card industry wasn’t addressing relationships and experiences that fell outside a very mainstream vision. In 2013, at the National Stationery Show, the pair humbly launched a line of greeting cards that they brainstormed, drew and printed together. And, as happened with the wedding invitation, things took off!
In 2016 the couple opened their flagship store in Colorado Springs (lucky us, just blocks away from the VJ office here). Ladyfingers Letterpress offers inclusivity in cards and other handmade and locally sourced gifts. They also host workshops and classes on brush-lettering, hand-lettering and calligraphy.
The now mom-and-mom team is especially passionate about supporting women’s rights and LGBTQ+ youth. Ladyfingers Letterpress partners with organizations whose missions are to empower marginalized people, and they support them by creating printed materials that help amplify the group’s messages.
The Ladyfingers Letterpress brand exists to help people celebrate a diverse range of life experiences, representing a broader spectrum of voices and values than what’s on display in the grocery-store card aisle. It’s a company fueled by the power of human connection, the joy of working with one’s hands, and love for community. We think it’s a brilliant brand, and we believe in what they’re doing for the world. Check them out today.
Oh, and we mentioned that more and more women are starting small businesses. It’s true! Women-owned businesses are a powHERful part of our economy. Read more in American Express’s annual State of Women-Owned Businesses Report.
Vladimir Jones is Colorado’s original independent, integrated advertising agency, with offices in Denver and Colorado Springs. We believe in brilliant brands and love making the world love them as much as we do.