Paper Talk

What happens when an online community finally meets in person? In this episode, Quynh, Jessie, and Sara welcome two members of the Paper to Profits Mastermind, Cher Lutz and Sandy Goetz, who joined us for our first in-person retreat in Seattle.

We share our favorite moments from the weekend: a first night of wine, cheese, and easy conversation, practicing our elevator pitches over lunch (yes, even we were nervous), a charcuterie board activity that turned strangers into collaborators, and a dreamy afternoon among the dahlias with photographer Yvonne Wong.

Then Cher and Sandy open up about why they keep coming back. Cher talks about finally finding people who understand the challenges of running a creative business. Sandy, now two and a half years into the Mastermind, names the one thing that changed everything for her: accountability. Without it, she says, she would still be asking, "I have a business name, now what?"

We also talk about why building structure is so hard when no one hands you a schedule, how three mentors can shorten your learning curve, and why our WhatsApp group chat has become everyone's favorite cheering section. Plus, what is in our shopping carts, including a cordless glue gun, a book about paper collage pioneer Mary Delany, and grow lights for Seattle's dark winters.

Curious about the Paper to Profits Mastermind? Learn more at https://www.papertalkpodcast.com/mastermind.

Sandy’s Instagram: @goetz_bespoke 

Sandy’s Website: Goetz Bespoke

Cheramie’s Instagram: @withlovecheramie

00:28 Welcome Cher Lutz and Sandy Goetz

01:16 Favorite moments from the Seattle Mastermind retreat

06:53 Why Cher and Sandy have stayed with the Mastermind

10:39 Accountability goes both ways: mentors as coworkers

12:33 Looking outside your niche and getting three perspectives

14:07 Where Sandy would be without the Mastermind

14:50 Building structure when no one gives you a schedule

18:19 Cheering each other on in the group chat

20:40 What would make the Mastermind even better?

21:47 What is in our shopping carts

27:24 Thank you and goodbye

Paper Talk is supported by our community of readers and listeners. When you click on our affiliate links, we may earn a commission for qualifying purchases made through Amazon.com, Shareasale, or similar affiliate marketing programs. This commission goes directly into the maintenance of this website and our podcast.

Paper Talk is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review! It helps other paper flower artists find our community.

#PaperFlowers #PaperFlowerBusiness #PaperTalkPodcast #PaperFlowerArtist #CrepePaperFlowers #HandmadeBusiness #PaperFlowerCommunity #SmallBusinessPodcast #ArtPodcast

For the first time in nine seasons, we are turning the mic over to you! In this rapid-fire Q&A, Quynh, Jessie, and Sara answer questions sent in by listeners, Mastermind participants, and friends. We talk about what we wish we knew before going full time with our art, whether you need to be "artsy" to become a paper flower artist, and exactly where we buy our crepe paper and cardstock in the US and Canada.

Then we get honest about money: our worst paid and highest paid jobs, from a $1 flower order that ended in a complaint to a $70,000 production job that tested every limit of Quynh's hands and timeline. Sara shares the business advice that changed everything (templates and passive income), Jessie reveals the unexpected tool she now brings to every workshop, and we close with the paper flower trends we are loving right now, plus what is sitting in our shopping carts.

Have a question you want us to answer next? Submit it at papertalkpodcast.com. The form is right on the home page!

Paper Talk is supported by our community of readers and listeners. When you click on our affiliate links, we may earn a commission for qualifying purchases made through Amazon.com, Shareasale, or similar affiliate marketing programs. This commission goes directly into the maintenance of this website and our podcast.

Paper Talk is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review! It helps other paper flower artists find our community.

#PaperFlowers #PaperFlowerBusiness #PaperTalkPodcast #PaperFlowerArtist #CrepePaperFlowers #HandmadeBusiness #PaperFlowerCommunity #SmallBusinessPodcast #ArtPodcast

It's here, Episode 200. Quynh Nguyen, Jessie Chui, and Sara Kim kick off Season 9 of Paper Talk Podcast by pausing to celebrate a milestone eight years in the making, and to tell you exactly why we’re devoting this whole season to celebrating your wins.

We take a trip back to where it all started, a paper flower masterclass in Seattle in April 2018, where makers flew in from all over the world just to make paper flowers together in person. That single weekend became the reason Quynh and Jessie wanted a way to stay connected between workshops, and Paper Talk Podcast was born, with the name itself coming from a suggestion by Jessie's husband, Warren. We also look back on original co-host Priscilla Clearfield, who was part of the show from Episode 1, and reflect on the two years since Sara Kim joined full-time as a host.

We share our favorite memories across 199 episodes, from checking back in with returning guests to see how their businesses evolved, to Sara's own path from three-time guest to co-host. We also open up about our Paper Talk Mastermind retreat, where members met in person for the first time after a year of meeting online, and talk about why that kind of community, geeking out over a shared, sometimes lonely, creative business, is at the heart of what we’ve built.

This season is all about celebrating wins, the big ones and the small ones. You can now submit your own art or business questions at papertalkpodcast.com for a new rapid-fire Q&A segment throughout the season. And we will end every episode with a new closing question: what's in your shopping cart right now?

Timestamps:

0:01 – Welcome to Season 9 and the Episode 200 milestone

0:46 – The origin story: a 2018 paper flower masterclass in Seattle

2:37 – How the podcast got its name, with help from Jessie's husband Warren

3:41 – Original co-host Priscilla, and two years of Sara as a host

6:05 – Announcing the Season 9 theme: celebrating small and big wins

6:34 – New segment alert: submit your questions for a rapid-fire Q&A

8:17 – Favorite memories from 199 episodes

11:26 – Reflecting on the Paper Talk Mastermind retreat

18:31 – A look ahead at Season 9

20:18 – Introducing the new closing question: what's in your shopping cart?

Paper Talk is supported by our community of readers and listeners. When you click on our affiliate links, we may earn a commission for qualifying purchases made through Amazon.com, Shareasale, or similar affiliate marketing programs. This commission goes directly into the maintenance of this website and our podcast.

Paper Talk is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review! It helps other paper flower artists find our community.

#PaperFlowers #PaperFlowerBusiness #PaperTalkPodcast #PaperFlowerArtist #CrepePaperFlowers #HandmadeBusiness #PaperFlowerCommunity #SmallBusinessPodcast #Episode200

Quynh, Sara, and Jessie close out Season 8 of Paper Talk Podcast with a heartfelt recap of their favorite guests, paper flower business lessons, and news on Episode 200.

It's officially a wrap on Season 8, the longest season Paper Talk Podcast has ever recorded at 25 episodes! In this finale, hosts Quynh Nguyen, Sara Kim, and Jessie Chui sit down to reflect on the season's theme of community, revisit their favorite guest conversations about building a paper flower business, and share what's coming for Season 9, including the Paper Talk Mastermind and a giveaway to celebrate Episode 200.

Paper Talk is supported by our community of readers and listeners. When you click on our affiliate links, we may earn a commission for qualifying purchases made through Amazon.com, Shareasale, or similar affiliate marketing programs. This commission goes directly into the maintenance of this website and our podcast.  

If you've been running your paper business solo and you're tired of figuring out pricing, marketing, and selling alone, then this is for you. The Mastermind is returning in the Fall 2026 and we saved you a seat!

Starting September 8, we are leading a 6-month Mastermind for paper artists ready to build something sustainable. You'll meet twice a month with us and a small group of paper artists tackling the real stuff: pricing, social media, selling your work, newsletters, and building confidence in your business.

We’ll have honest conversations, dive into practical strategies, and be with people who actually understand what you're building. Registration begins in August. Get on the Waitlist!

Paper Talk is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave us a review! It helps other paper flower artists find our community.

Keywords: #PaperFlowers #PaperFlowerBusiness #PaperTalkPodcast #PaperFlowerArtist #CrepePaperFlowers #HandmadeBusiness #PaperFlowerCommunity #SmallBusinessPodcast

Quynh, Jessie, and Sara go behind the scenes of their paper flower mastermind, sharing what three cohorts have taught them about accountability, imposter syndrome, and building a creative business for the long haul.

In this episode, Quynh, Jessie, and Sara step away from guest interviews to talk directly to you about something they don’t often unpack on the podcast: their mastermind community, Paper to Profit, and what running it for three cohorts has taught them about what it actually takes to build a paper flower business that lasts.

They talk candidly about the difference between making art and selling art, why their members today struggle with too much information instead of too little, and why accountability and community consistently move the needle more than any single tactic. Sara and Jessie share what it’s like watching members go from afraid to even say “I’m an artist” out loud to confidently running their first workshops and sales.

The hosts also get real about the timeline. Referencing recurring guest Poy T. Granati’s three-year pursuit of a Hermès collaboration, and their own decade-plus journey building Paper Talk into a top-ranked podcast, Quynh and the team make the case that meaningful creative businesses are built slowly, with consistent effort, not overnight virality.

They close with details on their next mastermind cohort opening September 8th (sign-ups open in August) and their upcoming August retreat in Seattle, which includes a visit to the Seattle wholesale flower market and the flower fields of Mount Vernon and Skagit Valley. As always, the episode wraps with the hosts’ current favorite things, including Quynh’s new obsession with her Oura ring, Jessie’s discovery of a product that saves her from uncomfortable leaks, Sara’s long-overdue investment in real running shoes.

Paper Talk is supported by our community of readers and listeners. When you click on our affiliate links, we may earn a commission for qualifying purchases made through Amazon.com, Shareasale, or similar affiliate marketing programs. This commission goes directly into the maintenance of this website and our podcast.  

If you've been running your paper business solo and you're tired of figuring out pricing, marketing, and selling alone, then this is for you. The Mastermind is returning in the Fall 2026 and we saved you a seat!

Starting September 8, we are leading a 6-month Mastermind for paper artists ready to build something sustainable. You'll meet twice a month with us and a small group of paper artists tackling the real stuff: pricing, social media, selling your work, newsletters, and building confidence in your business.

We’ll have honest conversations, dive into practical strategies, and be with people who actually understand what you're building. Registration begins in August. Get on the Waitlist!

Paper Talk is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave us a review! It helps other paper flower artists find our community.

Keywords: Mastermind community, long-term business building, accountability, imposter syndrome, September cohort launch, August retreat, favorite things segment

Quynh, Jessie, and Sara share what's next in their paper flower careers: a museum wall installation at the San Diego Natural History Museum, Jessie's first solo gallery show, and a Day of the Dead paper flower headpiece workshop in Mexico City with Hitomi Gilliam.

Season 8 is winding down and episode 197 finds Quynh Nguyen, Jessie Chui, and Sara Kim catching each other up on the biggest paper flower projects shaping their year, projects that show just how far paper flower artistry can travel: from a museum lobby in San Diego, to a gallery wall in Richmond Hill, to a Day of the Dead parade in Mexico City.

Sara opens with the story behind her wall installation at the San Diego Natural History Museum, a donor recognition piece built entirely from paper flowers representing California native plant species. She walks through the unexpected origin (a workshop attendee who later became the project's champion), the scientific accuracy required by the museum's in-house botanists, and the award she won at the California Native Plant Society show along the way.

Jessie shares the news of her first solo exhibition, opening this fall at the Richmond Hill Cultural Center gallery. She and Quynh dig into the realities most paper flower artists never talk about out loud: gallery wall mounting systems, the true cost of framing large-format paper art, UV-protective glazing, and the emotional weight of deciding whether to sell one-of-a-kind sculptural pieces.

Quynh closes with a look at her packed travel and teaching calendar, including a return to Snow Farm to teach the life cycle of dahlias in paper form, and a new international collaboration with renowned floral educator Hitomi Gilliam. The two are bringing their paper flower floral crown workshop to Mexico City for a Day of the Dead headpiece project, with plans to take the same workshop to Japan in 2027.

Paper Talk is supported by our community of readers and listeners. When you click on our affiliate links, we may earn a commission for qualifying purchases made through Amazon.com, Shareasale, or similar affiliate marketing programs. This commission goes directly into the maintenance of this website and our podcast.  

If you've been running your paper business solo and you're tired of figuring out pricing, marketing, and selling alone, then this is for you. The Mastermind is returning in the Fall 2026 and we saved you a seat!

Starting September 8, we are leading a 6-month Mastermind for paper artists ready to build something sustainable. You'll meet twice a month with us and a small group of paper artists tackling the real stuff: pricing, social media, selling your work, newsletters, and building confidence in your business.

We’ll have honest conversations, dive into practical strategies, and be with people who actually understand what you're building. Registration begins soon.

Paper Talk is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave us a review! It helps other paper flower artists find our community.

Keywords: paper flower museum installation, paper flower solo show, Day of the Dead paper flowers, Hitomi Gilliam paper flower workshop, paper flower headpiece, San Diego Natural History Museum paper flowers, paper flower gallery show, mounting paper flower sculpture

Poy T. Granati of Summer Space Studio returns to Paper Talk Podcast for her third appearance, joining co-hosts Quynh Nguyen, Jessie Chui, and Sara Kim. If you have followed Paper Talk for a while, you will recognize Poy from Episode 8, where we first introduced her, and Episode 135, our Pinterest deep dive that is still one of our most referenced episodes for paper flower artists building organic traffic. This time she joins us from her new home in the Hudson Valley as a new mother. 

This conversation is the most honest one we have had about what it actually looks like to rebuild a creative business after motherhood. Poy walks us through the structural changes she made to Summer Space Studio: training two instructors to teach her workshops, narrowing her offerings to corporate workshops and brand partnerships, and using Pinterest batch-scheduling to keep her business visible during her hardest months.

If you have ever wondered how to pitch corporate workshops as a paper flower artist, this episode is a masterclass. Poy shares the exact three-year follow-up email sequence that landed her a brand partnership with Hermès, breaks down the seven-follow-up rule, and explains how to tie your seasonal offerings to a brand calendar so your cold pitches feel relevant instead of random. She also gets into the corporate workshop markets most paper artists overlook: real estate buildings, breweries, residential properties, tech companies on LinkedIn, and team-building events at companies that have nothing to do with flowers.

The second half of the conversation moves to Substack for creative small business owners. Poy launched a new channel called Take Scenic Route, separate from Summer Space Studio, as a digital journal and creative outlet. She gets vulnerable about postpartum anxiety, the question she journaled at three in the morning that changed everything, and her dream of using Substack to build toward a tropical paper flowers book. Quynh shares her own Substack journey with Back to the Basic, and Jessie and Sara weigh in on how to add Substack to an existing creative business without doubling your workload.

This is an episode for anyone in a season of figuring it out: new mothers returning to creative work, paper artists pitching corporate clients for the first time, and creative entrepreneurs wondering if their messy, unfiltered self is actually the version that connects.

In 2018, Poy T Granati founded Summer Space (translated as "a happy place") after completing her inspiring "100-days of making" project, where she crafted one flower per day for 100 days and discovered her passion for paper flower artistry. Since then, she has been dedicated to spreading joy through her exquisite and meticulously crafted paper flowers. The artistry of Summer Space has been recognized and featured on the Today Show and Adobe, and the studio has collaborated with prestigious brands such as Papersource, Helix Sleep, IBM, and Maman NYC. Summer Space is currently based out of Hudson Valley, NY.

Listen to Poy in Episode 81 for her introduction, and Episode 135 for our Pinterest

Website: Summer Space Studio

Instagram: @summerspacestudio.

Paper Talk is supported by our community of readers and listeners. When you click on our affiliate links, we may earn a commission for qualifying purchases made through Amazon.com, Shareasale, or similar affiliate marketing programs. This commission goes directly into the maintenance of this website and our podcast.  

If you've been running your paper business solo and you're tired of figuring out pricing, marketing, and selling alone, then this is for you. The Mastermind is returning in the Fall 2026 and we saved you a seat!

Starting September 8, we are leading a 6-month Mastermind for paper artists ready to build something sustainable. You'll meet twice a month with us and a small group of paper artists tackling the real stuff: pricing, social media, selling your work, newsletters, and building confidence in your business.

We’ll have honest conversations, dive into practical strategies, and be with people who actually understand what you're building. Registration begins soon.

Paper Talk is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave us a review! It helps other paper flower artists find our community.

Keywords: how to pitch corporate workshops as a paper flower artist, cold email pitching for handmade artists, paper flower workshops for corporate team building, Hermès brand partnership paper flowers, starting a Substack as a creative small business owner, rebuilding a creative business after maternity leave, tropical paper flowers book project, Summer Space Studio Poy Granati

Hand-delivering a paper flower arrangement looks simple from the outside, until you are standing in your driveway realizing the giant blooms you spent weeks building will not fit in your downsized car. In this episode, Quynh, Jessie, and Sara open up about their real-world transport systems, the trial-and-error moments that shaped them, and the surprisingly small tools that make a big difference.

From wholesale market boxes and no-slip rubber mats to collapsible carts, radio flyer wagons, and the humble tablecloth that turns a chaotic backstage into a clean booth, this is a tactical episode packed with tips you can use the next time you deliver an arrangement, set up at an art fair, or teach a workshop on the road.

They also share a few favorite finds: Sara is hooked on snail mail subscriptions (and just launched her own), Jessie shares an update on the Werola extra-fine crepe paper artist line she, Quynh, and a fellow artist have been co-developing for three years, and Quynh raves about a Bellevue bubble tea spot called Unique Greens.

Paper Talk is supported by our community of readers and listeners. When you click on our affiliate links, we may earn a commission for qualifying purchases made through Amazon.com, Shareasale, or similar affiliate marketing programs. This commission goes directly into the maintenance of this website and our podcast.  

If you've been running your paper business solo and you're tired of figuring out pricing, marketing, and selling alone, then this is for you. The Mastermind is returning in the Fall 2026 and we saved you a seat!

Starting September 8, we are leading a 6-month Mastermind for paper artists ready to build something sustainable. You'll meet twice a month with us and a small group of paper artists tackling the real stuff: pricing, social media, selling your work, newsletters, and building confidence in your business.

We’ll have honest conversations, dive into practical strategies, and be with people who actually understand what you're building. Registration begins soon.

Paper Talk is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave us a review! It helps other paper flower artists find our community.

Keywords: paper flower delivery, transporting paper flowers, hand delivery paper flowers, giant paper flowers transport, paper flower art fair tips, paper flower business logistics, paper flower packaging, collapsible cart art fair, paper flower workshop setup, paper flower studio business

When Carrissa Wu signed the lease on her first studio in a Fremantle warehouse, she remembers thinking, “What have I done?” She had just quit a stable corporate job at a Perth casino, had a growing stack of Etsy orders for paper flower bouquets, and a long list of dreams she had written down in that tiny first space: work with the King’s Park Botanic Gardens, get featured in Frankie magazine, build a team.

Every single one of those things has happened.

In this Episode of Paper Talk Podcast, Carrissa joins hosts Quynh Nguyen, Jessie Chui, and Sara Kim to tell the full story of Jotterbook Flowers, her paper flower business based out of Perth, Australia. She talks about how COVID gave her the space to rediscover making, how a mentor’s advice to pick one bread-and-butter revenue stream led her to workshops, and how Perth’s post-lockdown environment created a surge in demand that she could barely keep up with.

Jotterbook Flowers is Perth's Original Crepe Paper Flower Studio, founded by artist Carrissa Wu. At the height of COVID lockdown, Carrissa was stood down from her corporate job and started making paper flowers to get through the anxiety of each day. She began running workshops in 2020 to help people find presence and pause in the midst of life's hectic pace. A community of like-minded paper florists started to bloom. Today, the Jotterbook Flowers team has helped over 1,000 people look after themselves to love others better through the art of paper flowers. 

Instagram: @jotterbookflowers 

Website: www.jotterbookflowers.com

Paper Talk is supported by our community of readers and listeners. When you click on our affiliate links, we may earn a commission for qualifying purchases made through Amazon.com, Shareasale, or similar affiliate marketing programs. This commission goes directly into the maintenance of this website and our podcast.  

If you've been running your paper business solo and you're tired of figuring out pricing, marketing, and selling alone, then this is for you. The Mastermind is returning in the Fall 2026 and we saved you a seat!

Starting September 8, we are leading a 6-month Mastermind for paper artists ready to build something sustainable. You'll meet twice a month with us and a small group of paper artists tackling the real stuff: pricing, social media, selling your work, newsletters, and building confidence in your business.

We’ll have honest conversations, dive into practical strategies, and be with people who actually understand what you're building. Registration begins soon.

Paper Talk is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave us a review! It helps other paper flower artists find our community.

Keywords: paper flower podcast, paper flower artist, creative entrepreneur, paper flower business, bridal inquiries, corporate inquiries, client inquiries, brand collaboration, brand inquiries, pricing strategies, contract tips, media kit advice, paper flower community, Paper Talk Podcast

You got the inquiry. Now what? Whether it lands in your inbox from a bride-to-be, a corporate event planner, or a brand partnership manager, how you respond to that very first message can make or break the sale. In this quick but packed episode, Quynh, Jessie, and Sara break down their real-world strategies for handling three types of client inquiries: bridal, corporate, and brand collaborations.

From what to include on your inquiry form and when to talk about pricing, to why you should never make free samples and how to present a media kit that lands the deal, the hosts share the frameworks they have built through years of running their own paper flower businesses. 

If you have ever felt nervous about quoting your prices or unsure how to follow up with a potential client, this episode will give you the confidence and the structure to respond like a pro.

Paper Talk is supported by our community of readers and listeners. When you click on our affiliate links, we may earn a commission for qualifying purchases made through Amazon.com, Shareasale, or similar affiliate marketing programs. This commission goes directly into the maintenance of this website and our podcast.  

If you've been running your paper business solo and you're tired of figuring out pricing, marketing, and selling alone, then this is for you. The Mastermind is returning in the Fall 2026 and we saved you a seat!

Starting September 8, we are leading a 6-month Mastermind for paper artists ready to build something sustainable. You'll meet twice a month with us and a small group of paper artists tackling the real stuff: pricing, social media, selling your work, newsletters, and building confidence in your business.

We’ll have honest conversations, dive into practical strategies, and be with people who actually understand what you're building. Registration begins soon.

Paper Talk is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave us a review! It helps other paper flower artists find our community.

Keywords: paper flower podcast, paper flower artist, creative entrepreneur, paper flower business, bridal inquiries, corporate inquiries, client inquiries, brand collaboration, brand inquiries, pricing strategies, contract tips, media kit advice, paper flower community, Paper Talk Podcast