Cassandra Minett recalls standing in store stationery aisles, longing for designs that went beyond the crude, aspirational and sparkly. Having written many cards on her knee outside event venues, she also found herself longing for a clear way to finding meaningful words that connect. It was her desire for real, genuine artwork combined with her love for writing and connection that inspired the idea for Wildergeese, building a library of writing resources to help you find the words for your unique relationships, and together with independent illustrators, designing greeting cards with soul so you can choose art that resonates with your message. Here Cassandra talks to The Natural Parent Magazine about the passion behind her business, the challenges she has overcome along the way, and her hopes and dreams for the future.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
Wildergeese is an intersection of long-held delights and values. I adore crisp stationery. I love story and colour. I live for relationships. So perhaps it was the most predictable thing in the world that I would develop an illustrated card line with the purpose of helping people connect with and support each other.
I couldn’t tell you exactly when the idea hatched, but I remember standing in a supermarket stationery aisle looking at all the aspirational and sparkly designs, thinking, ‘Where are all the REAL cards?’. I felt as though the culture of affirmation I was surrounded with, all the ‘You’re the Best!’s and ‘You’ve got this!’s and ‘You’re enough!’s, were actually the words that were isolating and burdening us, barricading us from helpful vulnerability and true encouragement.
My heart was seeking cards which had genuine artwork from everyday, talented illustrators. I wanted card designs which didn’t echo the hollow absolutes but captured honestly the delight and difficulty of living and becoming. Most of all, I longed for the courage to fill these cards for those I loved with honest, challenging, uplifting words so that I could help build the relationships and communities words like this create.
This desire for Real art, which, in turn, might help card-givers everywhere write something Real for the moments that matter, wound its way over time into a brand titled with a portmanteau:
wilder + geese
The image behind the name Wildergeese was thought of a domesticated goose, learning to do the brave, wild thing it was hatched to do, and learn to fly again. In my minds’ eye, this brave goose was then able to be part of a community of like-minded creatures with whom to travel to a safe place for the cold, difficult seasons.
At its best, supportive human connection helps someone become their best self. It is so much more than affirmation and being affirmed. Intentional encouragement takes listening and noticing and careful truth and wholehearted celebration – it can be joyous and awkward. But when done well, it results in strong individuals and strong communities. This is the way we brave the hard times and find our way to safety.
The humble card is just one simple act that can be filled with meaning, helping create these sorts of connections and lift up others. For me, choosing cards which reflect the world we live in and writing with clarity and purpose is the start.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
Wildergeese started life as a bi-monthly subscription during COVID, while I was studying online. Each issue of the subscription featured one artist who designed three cards to a theme, called a ‘Collection’. While Wildergeese moved away from the subscription model after about a year, the core design model of engaging illustrators to design Collections of three has allowed us to diversify the range of designs, develop writing resources against these themes to support encouragers, and bring a delightful ‘shopability’.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
While I could point to a dozen lessons learnt over the past five years, there have been two significant strategic breakthroughs.
First, I have started moving the brand away from social media in favour of the weekly newsletter, in-person markets and wholesale relationships. Not only has this greatly improved my mental health, the type of creativity and relational effort involved in these channels sits far better with my mind and skillset than modern content production. It is also more aligned with my day-to-day responsibilities and upholds the Wildergeese value of pursuing meaningful communication.
Second, Wildergeese is no longer purely a product business. There have always been educational undertones to the brand’s design in the ethos (encouragement > affirmation) and this has been recently incorporated into the long-term strategic plan. Not only does seeing Wildergeese as having an educational purpose complement the product design, but it broadens resources we are able to design, which brings depth and purpose to our product offering.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
For me, achieving work-life balance is a three-ball juggling act. In addition to having a rich home-life and working within Wildergeese, I hold a full-time job.
However, the ethos of Wildergeese mirrors my personal perspective on life and relationships. The more I learn as I strive to develop Wildergeese through research and product development, the more equipped I am to interact with those around me, both professionally and personally.
I am also fortunate that my day-job is surprisingly well aligned with my passion for human relationships and connection which underpins Wildergeese. I spent a good portion of the workday examining conduct and communication concerns, listening to people’s perspectives. This has broadened my view of the world, has taught me much about what is important to people, and helped a business idea which started out as deeply idealistic into something more ‘grounded’.
From a practical perspective, my moment-by-moment aim is to be faithful to the task and responsibility at hand. While this resonates with my pragmatic spirit and allows me to adjust to the most pressing need of the day, I am finding that the key to long-term business growth in my particular circumstances is two-fold:
First, I need to invest in automating the tasks which I find personally difficult and which tend to bog me down.
Second, I need to create margin for myself by working well in advance of my mental deadline or goal so that the day-to-day adjustment does not indefinitely push back my progress.
Balancing is a skill, but when the core values of home and work life resonate with each other, everything is a little easier.
