The person behind Cardcetera

It’s time again to introduce you to people. Next person in line that I want you to “meet” is Astrid. Astrid is one of the most entrepreneurial people I’ve ever met. She is not only entrepreneurial, but she is also enjoying entrepreneurship in a way I’ve rarely seen people enjoy it. Maybe it’s because she is good at it and maybe this is connected to the fact that she does things that lie close to her heart. Who knows, but let me first introduce her to you properly.

I met Astrid probably around 6 or 7 years ago as she was the then girlfriend of a colleague of my boyfriend. It’s not always that you connect to somebody just because your boyfriends share the same passion obviously, but with Astrid there we had some kind of link.  I’m not sure why there was a link, we have a quite different personality I believe. Maybe the only thing that we had in common was that we all lived in Leiden at the time. Anyway, what I admired in Astrid at that time was that she had found a great balance when it came to being independent and that she acted accordingly, by starting her own text agency Flytande  after graduation. Her agency was extremely successful in a time where people were already having trouble getting assignments. I heard a lot of journalists and editing professionals complain about the lack of available work, where Astrid had enough work to do for two. Her experience made me believe that it would be very much possible to set up a small business after I graduated. As long as you work hard and enjoy what you do.

Astrid and her by then husband moved away from Leiden about two years before we did and in that period Astrid started a new adventure in her entrepreneurial life. She opened a card shop called Cardcetera. This wasn’t a random act – as everything Astrid does – I believe she had put a lot of thought in it. It was also something that came out of something she loved to do: sending postcards. She was an active postcrossing member and made a business out of her hobby.

But she didn’t stop there. Her shop was already quite successful when she decided that she was ready to publish her own line of cards. And a year ago she published the first series of this line. She made a selection of photo’s from befriended photographers, including her sister in law and her own husband. It can’t get more personal than this, right?

And guess what, that was only the first serie of the line. At the end of this month she will be publishing her next French themed line called The French Connection. Can’t wait to see them all, below you can find a little preview from her blog. But there are more great things waiting on the horizon, she is preparing a Dutch line and the best part is that you can be part of that collection. Well actually not you, but your best dutch-themed photo. You can find out here how you can join.

Now, it’s difficult to explain in a short blog why I envy or respect the people I blog about. I think I admire Astrid for her passion, endurance, positive spirit (where obviously she also has moments where things go wrong – as we all have), organisation- and planning skills when it comes to her business, but also in personal life. And maybe most for the fact that she has evolved her business over time. She doesn’t stand still, chooses new ways of approaching things and constantly improves her work.

So please visit Astrids blog, webshop etc, to have a look at her cards but also if you are interested in selling her cards in your own shop as a wholesaler. I believe selling her Cardcetera line offline in inspiring shops all over the globe is the next step in her attempt to conquer the world.