Good People
FRANK Stationery not only helps people express their true, authentic selves, it also gives back to children and schools.
Jess and Jason Holdaway from FRANK Stationery
A fter watching a documentary on child poverty in New Zealand and discovering that many children go to school without exercise books, Jess and Jason Holdaway decided to do something about it. The couple formed FRANK Stationery in 2012, vowing to give a school book to a child in need every time someone bought one of their diaries, journals or notebooks. To date they have donated more than 45,000 school books to children.
As well as providing children with basic tools for education, FRANK Stationery is empowering people: their ‘Beautiful Thoughts’ journal contains inspiring words of wisdom, questions, open spaces to draw, and secret pockets for keepsakes and memories.
“Our thoughts can be our best friend, encouraging and supporting us – or our worst enemy, draining us of life,” says Jess. “The Beautiful Thoughts journal is a space to process, guiding you in turning those poisonous thoughts into uplifting ones... Each page is a step closer to a healthy thought life.”
In a world dominated by digital, what inspired you to set up a stationery company?
There are so many problems being solved by digital communications, but there is something real and tangible about paper that will never die. Our brains respond differently to learning and processing depending on the medium. Writing something down, drawing the letters, forming the words has an incredible way of sticking in our memories. The permanency of writing is something we’ve lost touch with through digital.
What are your thoughts on the relevance of journaling or having a paper diary today? The process of writing something down helps us slow down. It gives our thoughts personality through our handwriting. It causes us to see our flaws as we can’t easily erase our mistakes on paper like we can on a keyboard, and it takes patience to physically write down thoughts. These are all necessary antidotes to the rush we find ourselves in. You talk about cultivating authentic living through stationery… When we write, we might learn something about ourselves. We might find an emotional release or access new ideas. These moments are few and far between in a world where we are so focused on achieving. We push ourselves to the limit with little thought to the kind of people we are becoming. This is what we mean by cultivating authenticity. Not ‘what can I do today?’ but rather ‘who can I be today?’ Asking the right question first, so that what we do is more authentic and meaningful. Your business donates a notebook to a school for every item sold… Setting up our business to directly give back to children in need was always an absolute priority for us… Currently, 295,000 children in New Zealand live in poverty while around one billion children worldwide are living in poverty. Where did the name FRANK come from?
Jason: We named the business after my grandfather. When I was younger, I used to sneak into his art room and play with his paints. He was a draftsman by trade and a hobby painter. His room was filled with drawings and journals that spanned many years. He recorded his life word by word, telling stories which are now so invaluable. What skills do you each bring to the business?
Jason: We both decide the product ranges and plan the strategic direction of FRANK. But Jess looks after the brand, marketing and design, while I look after operations. Looking back, would you do anything differently?
Jess: We started this business with not a lot of knowledge. I had never run a business before, and I was only just beginning to get into design which meant a lot of mistakes and frustrations. On the flip side, it gave me the freedom to try things, trust my gut and to learn! The more the journey goes on, the more we have gotten to know our strengths and weaknesses; what fuels us and what drains us; what’s important and what isn’t. FRANK is equally a challenge and a gift to us.
Just this last month we received a message from a customer using our diary who is going through treatment for cancer. She told us how the diary has been her constant companion through her treatment, how she writes in it every night and how it is sometimes the one thing that has got her through to the next day.
It’s knowing that our products are doing that for people, and knowing that the books we give away are helping children in need that are our biggest achievements. Describe your brand ethos. FRANK is stationery that empowers you to be you, in all your beautiful human glory.