Shayna Norwood founded her company, Steel Petal Press in 2011 to share beauty and humor with the world through her collection of handmade stationery. What began as a part–time endeavor in 2008 has grown to include three presses, a paper cutter, and a small + awesome team. Together they print, package and ship each item by hand.

In this week’s new episode Shayna shares with us her journey starting her business. She’s a professionally trained visual artist with a BFA from San Francisco Art Institute and has been letterpress printing since 2004. Steel Petal Press was born when Shayna decided to design and print her own holiday cards to send to friends and family. Since then, the business has expanded to include a full line of greeting cards sold across the country, home goods, wedding invitations, and personal stationery.

Shayna also so beautifully and openly shares her journey with anxiety, and the impact it’s had on her life and her business. In 2016 Shayna was dealing with the stress of the election, she had just opened up her retail shop, and so much had happened at the same time. She was still having panic attacks and having trouble going into work, and there wasn’t any way for her to step away from it. Fast forward to today, she feels much more stable and clear and she knew she wanted to share her experiences, and use Steel Petal Press as a platform to do that. She wanted to create a product that would allow her to tell her story, be useful, and impactful. She launched Mental Health Trackers - different notepads with prompts to journal and share your feelings. When you write something down it helps you get out of your head, gain perspective, and help people become more comfortable in sharing their own stories. In this week’s episode she also shares her top tips for anyone that is struggling with anxiety and mental health - and you’re going to want to write these down.

“Today, I want to speak more publicly about my struggles with anxiety. I feel like the more people talk about it and share their stories, the easier it is to feel like you’re not alone in your struggle. There is so much stigma around it, and so much shame, it’s easy to get trapped inside of your own head of blaming yourself and feeling bad, and then isolating yourself.”

— Shayna Norwood

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7bZHrtjAzbksbLWNaak1NM

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/stories-of-inspiring-joy/id1510488632

To learn and connect with Shayna and Steel Petal Press visit her website https://www.steelpetalpress.com/ and on Facebook @steelpetalpress Instagram @steelpetalpress and Pinterest @steelpetalpress and if you’re interested in the Mental Health Trackers use code “NOTALONE” to receive 15% off!

Stories of Inspiring Joy is a production of Seek The Joy Media and created by Sydney Weiss. To learn more and submit your story, click here.

*Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Stories of Inspiring Joy.