Daily Inspiration: Meet Jen Poole

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jen Poole.

Hi Jen, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Thank you for having me. I own a design studio and have a goods line called Curio House, where I make curious gifts for curious people. Curio House, “curio” being short for curiosities, was born out of the need to find what I really love doing. I worked as a professional designer for 14 years, but I couldn’t help but feel something was missing. I made the decision to leave my career and do something that challenged me to grow. Not gonna lie…it was a huge risk. After lots of inner conversations, advice, and planning, I said screw it…what do I really want to do? It took me two years to answer that question. A lot happened.

It started because of a book. I was on vacation, and of course in a gift shop, and I found an illustrated, gold foiled, beautiful Little Mermaid book by MinaLima. Long story short, I looked them up, found out they were the graphic designers on the Harry Potter movies (what?!), and was just blown away by the idea of these designers making a career for themselves by creating these (literally magical) experiences through their work.

I FLEW TO LONDON TO MEET THEM! They were the kindest, most giving people. I asked them how I could be more impactful as a designer and how to feel more fulfilled. Their advice was simple. “Find out what you love, and do it.”

I read books on the business of graphic design, talked to small business owners and other designers, started freelancing, hired a business advisor, wrote a business plan — literally did everything I could to educate myself and put myself in a position to grow. After I read my completed business plan… I hated it! It wasn’t what I wanted to do. It didn’t light a fire under my butt. It didn’t even get me excited. I think after I first read it, front to back, I “uuuuggggg”-ed out loud. So, I scrapped it and started over.
I made a list of everything that brings me absolute joy. Things that I could spend hours doing and not even notice time was passing. At the top of that list — gift giving! I really do love giving gifts. I try to get really creative each year and think of something different or something the person might not expect. I think about who they are, a random reference to something they like or a memory that I can build off of to create an experience for them. I realized that I use my design background to do all of these things. Well, sh*t… can I just give gifts as a profession?

So here I am! This is Curio House. A smash-up of design principles, conceptual thinking, a love of paper, and trying to create meaningful, grab-the-tissues, laugh-your-ass-off kind of moments.

The goal really is to tap into that child-like imagination we all have when we are kids and innocent, and just try to make people smile. At one point, I said to myself “I want to be the Willy Wonka of design.” The Gene Wilder version.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Certainly not smooth. Actually, I think it’s funny that all of the moments, as an employee, where you wonder why upper management is choosing to do what they do, I’m in a place as a new business owner where I find myself saying, “oh, I kinda get it now. This is hard.”

I think the roughest days I have as a sole proprietor are when I’m not 100% sure of a decision I am making. My work is meant to be about people, connection, and making memories…but sometimes I’m just alone in my studio making decisions, hoping people will connect to a product and love it as much as I do. I’ve talked with other business owners about this — you create something you think people will love because it means so much to you. Instead, it doesn’t turn out to be as popular as you imagined, and another product, a product you thought wouldn’t do well at all, is what people gravitate to. It’s a grounding reminder of how much we don’t know, even when we think we know.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Have you ever wondered why kids love a simple cardboard box rather than the gift inside it? It’s because it allows them to transport themselves into a world of imagination, play and possibilities; it engages their curiosity. I think, as adults, we need to engage our curiosity every day.

These gifts contain more than you see. The way they’re designed, the way they work, and the way they look all come from so many hours I spend on researching, developing, and testing. That’s important to me. If you’re giving a gift filled with thoughtfulness and emotional connection to someone special, the gift itself (the item you use to present your thoughtfulness and emotions) must include carefully considered technique and functionality.

We have a couple products that I’d say best represent what we do best at Curio House. Our hidden message Spinning Card, and our Memory Box.

Our spinning greeting card is very unique and surprising. A small tab on the front of the card can be pushed down to reveal a hidden message or image. I design and print them in-house, then I work with a Fort Collins vendor to get them die-cut on a letterpress machine. I hand assemble each card as the final step in the process — it is definitely a labor of love. There is a hidden mechanism inside the card where the paper is interlocked and allows the paper to spin open. The paper engineering is actually a scrapbooking technique I learned about many years ago. I loved it so much, I wanted to find a practical use for it. I developed what felt like hundreds of prototypes on my Cricut machine before landing on a final dieline that worked best. I had diecasts made in Denver and began producing different themed cards. I now have 16 designs with plans for a lot more. I sell them on my website, at artisan and farmers markets, and this year I hope to further develop relationships with retailers for wholesale orders.

My newest product that I’m really proud of is The Memory Box. It’s an original design I came up with to solve what I think is a pretty common challenge for people who exchange gifts; how do you give a meaningful, personalized gift to someone you buy gifts for every single year? The Memory Box is a keepsake, paper box that houses a greeting card, heartfelt message prompts, and a place to add your own photos. It’s like taking the emotional relationship you have with someone and putting it into a gift you can give to them. There are 3 easy prompts that help you prepare the box to give. It’s perfect for milestone events such as birthdays, anniversaries, graduation, new baby, and in-memoriam gifts. I think what sets it apart is that it includes easy instructions and it is pre-designed for you – you don’t have to assemble it yourself, you only need to add words and five 4×6 photos.

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
I think Covid has brought out something that was easy to forget when we were going about our day-to-day lives — we need each other. I think when we all became separated and quarantined in our homes, we lost those personal everyday connections; the gathering for banter around the water cooler, leaning over to a coworker to ask their opinion on something, telling Sally how great her hair looks today. I think it’s easy to take people for granted, and Covid taught us (re: me) how meaningful those interactions truly are. We’ve had to find new ways to connect with people, to give and find support. As we start to get back out there again, I’m realizing how much those seemingly small moments of human interaction actually mean to me. And find myself interacting with more people than I have in the past.

Contact Info:

• Email: jennifer@curio.house
• Website: www.curio.house
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/curio.house/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/curiohousedesign

Image Credits
@passionhousemedia