Page 83 - South Mississippi Living - September, 2020

Madeline and Alexis Lampley.
Lampley’s hand-lettering can be seen on several products including lapel pins and stickers.
“After four years I came to
a point where I needed to
break out of the con nes of a subscription box. Nerdy Ink was the perfect shift. We already had an online store and presence, and we had four years of designs to use,” Lampley said. Their production has expanded into
a team of ve. “We now work with 10 di erent factories and manufacture most of our own products including scarves, collectors boxes, pillow cases, lapel pins, books, purses/bags, dust jackets, and anything else
I can think of and my husband can source!” she said.
Lampley exudes excitement
for her work, saying, “I love that I get to watch shows/listen to audiobooks all day or buy and watch movies or read books and it’s all research. A quote or image strikes me and I just immediately start to formulate ideas on how
I can make that come to life so
that it evokes the same feeling
for others.” She has too many beloved designs to pick favorites but counts designing alternate dust covers as her favorite product to work on. “They are so much work, but I love them. I mean, reimagining the art for my favorite books?” Lampley said.
“If I could pick a quote – because that’s what I do – to
sum up running my own
business it would probably be ‘Find what you love and let it
kill you.’ I have never worked harder or been more consistently exhausted and stressed in my
life, but the work feels so worth the e ort,” Lampley said. She advises leaning on friends and family as well as supporting your competition. “My biggest rivals became my closest colleagues. We didn’t share everything, of course, but when we needed help, they o ered, and we did the same in return,” she said.
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