069 | Reinventing the letterboard with Johnny & Joanna Galbraith, Letterfolk

Johnny and Joanna are the husband-and-wife co-founders of Letterfolk, a contemporary American brand whose mission is to create meaningful products inspired by simpler times. Letterfolk started in June 2015 while the couple searched for a unique way to capture their daughter’s monthly baby milestone photos. They designed a modern, versatile letter board that was tailored and repurposed for today’s home. Letter boards are now a staple of social media art direction, home decor, and milestone photography.

As Letterfolk has grown, so has the brand vision and product offerings. Letterfolk products are proudly made in the United States with premium materials, craftsmanship, and processes.

On today’s episode we’re talking about how Johnny & Joanna reinvented the letter board market, their thoughts on copy cats and how they leverage social media to nurture their customers and share their company story.

ON TODAY’S EPISODE:

The most unique and interesting way they’ve ever seen a letter board used
How Johnny & Joanna came up with the idea for Letterfolk
The light bulb moment they had when they knew they wanted to create a business
The original letter boards they started Letterfolk with
When they decided to branch out into other product categories
What Johnny & Joanna learned about wholesale and how not all of their products work as wholesale products
How they nurture a strong community within their customers online
How Johnny & Joanna feel now vs. how they felt at the beginning when people started copying their products
The way their vision for Letterfolk has changed as the company has grown
Johnny & Joanna’s advice for someone just starting out in a product-based business
What’s next for Letterfolk

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KEY TAKE-AWAYS

“It’s so humbling to see our product involved in these life changing moments.” – Johnny Galbraith

“To be honest, we were so in over our heads in the beginning with trying to keep up with demand that there was just no time for product development.” – Johnny Galbraith

“If your margins don’t work, if your pricing doesn’t work, you don’t have to sell everything you create to both the wholesale and the retail market.” – Katie Hunt

“Words are our business.” – Johnny Galbraith

“Johnny and I have tried to insert ourselves as part of the brand as well just so that people remember that it’s a human brand. It’s a brand that there are people who actually care who are buying it.” – Joanna Galbraith

“It [copycats] started motivating us and making us just want to put blinders on and still move forward as a brand and figure out how we were going to become a lasting brand.” – Joanna Galbraith

“We’ve got to move forward, we’ve got to build a brand that’s bigger than letter boards and prove that we’re more than a one hit wonder.” – Johnny Galbraith

“It’s given us pretty thick skin in this mentality that we should just expect that everything’s going to be ripped off. So, how are we going to make it X times better from the outset so that when the knockoffs do come knocking, we’ll already have a product differentiation right from the outset?” – Johnny Galbraith

“Our focus is keeping our mission the same, but just broadening our product categories.” – Joanna Galbraith

“I think it’s a good test to say, “If I’m passionate enough about this product or this idea, then I will put in the hours when I don’t have them.” If you don’t, then I don’t think you’re passionate enough about it and you probably shouldn’t quit your day job and just go full speed into the world of entrepreneurship.” – Johnny Galbraith

CONNECT WITH JONNY & JOANA

Website: Letterfolk | Instagram: @letterfolk | Facebook: @letterfolk

Connect with Katie Hunt

Katie Hunt is a business strategist, podcaster, mentor and mama to four. She helps product based businesses build profitable, sustainable companies through her conferences, courses and coaching programs.

Website: prooftoproduct.com | Instagram: @prooftoproduct