Rethinking the Way You Plan Events, Weddings, Corporate Meetings, and Parties

What is Greenvelope?

Greenvelope.com is a Seattle based start-up rethinking event planning. Our event planning services allow people to custom design and send digital invitations and easily manage events with integrated tools such as RSVP and plus one tracking, Google map direction integration, ticketing sales, donation facilitation and more. It makes planning anything from a corporate event to a wedding simple and organized. In a world of Facebook invites and expensive stationary, Greenvelope provides a perfect balance between “modern” and “traditional” that is changing the way people think about event invitations and planning.

What inspired you to start Greenvelope?

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest biking, hiking, fishing and rock climbing; devoted to exploring the Upper Left Corner. When I was eighteen I went on a long bike ride around Mercer Island and returned home to find a thick stack of mail waiting for me on my kitchen table. Among the junk mail myriad, I found a wedding invitation from an old family friend. My calendar, my daily correspondence, my pictures, just about everything was digital and yet here was a physical invitation sitting on my kitchen table. It felt extravagant and almost archaic to hold the thick (and expensive looking) cardstock. Looking at the table wood scattered with paper that would soon be in my recycling bin, I thought there must be a better way. There must be a way to make online correspondence elegant and convince people to go digital. With digital, I could RSVP on the go, order a gift online for the couple, and keep dates and events organized – not to mention save a tree or two.

I had a vision: I wanted to redefine how people planned their events. I wanted people to move away from paper and inspire hosts to go digital. I wanted to start Greenvelope.

What problem does Greenvelope solve?

Wasting paper, licking envelopes and tracking down missing RSVPs are just a few reasons that make sending traditional printed invitations a tedious process for the modern event host. Greenvelope alleviates these obstacles by providing elegant digital invitation services, perfect for holiday invitations, annual board meetings, sorority shindigs, weddings and more.

Additionally, the modern consumer is sustainability conscious and looks to make purchases that align with their values. With Greenvelope, customers are no longer forced to choose between sustainability and design; they can have it all. Greenvelope donates a percentage of every sale to Mountains to Sound, a nonprofit that strives to maintain forests in Washington.

How did you raise the initial funds?

My shoulders are still slightly misaligned from the endless hours of pressure washing neighborhood driveways. Pressure washing by day and delivering pizza by night served as the initial funding for the business. This savings combined with a loan from a family member allowed me to contract the first developer and pay a designer to create our first logo. Revenue has increased nearly every month since our launch, allowing us to fund the growing needs of the company.

What is the hardest decision you made as a young entrepreneur?

After having the idea for Greenvelope, I started school at Washington University in St. Louis in the fall. Going to school and running a start-up was a challenge to say the least. In between classes I was on the phone helping customers, after class I was creating custom stationery designs, and at night I was working with programmers and testing marketing results. Work life balance was nonexistent. I eventually had to reevaluate what I really wanted. I made the difficult decision to take time off from school and focus 100% on Greenvelope. The decision was one of the best and hardest I have ever made.

What advice do you have for entrepreneurs starting out?

With limited hours in the day and unlimited work when starting out, achieving efficiency is key. Here are a couple productivity tips that have been extremely helpful:

The Morning Workout - In college, I always structured my schedule so my classes started after 11am. I was clearly never a morning person, but a couple years ago that changed when I discovered the benefit of starting the day with a morning workout. Waking up an hour earlier to work out helps me feel fresh, think clearly and be most creative throughout the day. I can definitely see the difference in productivity on days when I need to skip a workout. I know setting the alarm before 6:30am can seem intimidating at first, but the good news is once you get in the routine after a few weeks it continues to become more natural. Start with baby steps by waking up a few minutes earlier every day.

Make Your Commute an Education - Depending on where you live, you may commute for 30 minutes or more each way. This is at least an hour a day that can be put to “productive” use. Instead of browsing Social Media or staring off into space, use that time to learn a new skill or become more of an expert in your space. You can use tools like Feedly to manage a list of blogs specializing on your industry. I learned Photoshop by watching tutorial on Lynda.com while on the bus. If you are the one behind the wheel, there are many great podcasts that share valuable insight as well.