Manhattan-based artist and entrepreneur Paulicia Bender’s journey into full-time entrepreneurship started all the way back in elementary school. During recess, Paulicia drew portraits for classmates for 25 cents apiece. Her flair for capitalizing on her creativity followed her into adulthood and led her to creating and selling custom, handmade greeting cards. Using a variety of media to craft her cards, she takes paper and paint, adding drawings and embellishments for one-of-a-kind pieces. She stated it’s not uncommon for her customers to frame and keep her cards instead of delivering them to the recipients because they love them so much.
After seeing a gap in the greeting card market nationally, Paulicia was motivated to produce cards that met underserved people groups like People of Color, the LGBTQ community, and even gender-neutral cards for babies. “That was a big thing,” she said, “Noticing how many people were just needing something special that they couldn’t find elsewhere.” She added that her approach to art has been so significant to others that they’ve been moved to tears by her creations.
Two years ago, after becoming a single parent, Paulicia saw the need to increase her household income, making the earnings from her greeting card business more of a financial need in her home. As the year continues, Paulicia intends to expand her business, dropping to part time at her job and making cards and canvases full time.
When asked about the difficulties as an entrepreneur, she was honest about the tendency to idealize things. “A lot of times we romanticize being an entrepreneur, and I cannot stress enough that when you work for yourself, you work for your self. It’s not just growing and having fun making pictures and things. There’s a lot of paperwork. There’s a lot of planning.” She states that in the Entrepreneur Business Basics class she graduated from in August 2021, she learned, “You have to constantly evaluate where you are, because it’s going to evolve, things are going to change.”
And sometimes that change can be the catalyst an entrepreneur needs. During the pandemic, Paulicia found that her business was well-received, as many who could only connect virtually with others chose to use mail as a form of showing someone they cared.
As her business grew, comparison arose as a difficulty for Paulicia, who ultimately overcame the difficult and found self-acceptance in her work. “As an artist you see other peoples art and think, “Oh that’s so good,” or “I’m not that good.” I did have to take some time in isolation and kind of just paint or do some artwork for joy. I did kind of have to be able to identify my own style, and I’ve realized that art is like nature. There’s different kinds of plants, and flowers, and trees, and it’s all beautiful. I’ve come to have a deeper appreciation for other people’s styles and how it reflects their personality.”
Paulicia shared that she has been supported through the growth of her business, and thanked much of the local entrepreneur community, university, and city. “Manhattan is a great community,” Paulicia said. “This community has really been a blessing. They have really embraced me and supported me in ways I couldn’t even imagine. Spark and Black Entrepreneurs of the Flint Hills have been tremendous in their support, the things I have learned, the mentorship. It’s just been great. Kansas State University [has also offered] resources. My family’s been very supportive. I’ve just had a lot of support that I don’t think I’d have been able to get this far without.”
Restructuring her life to expand her business as a single-parent entrepreneur meant bringing her children into the process. “We’re discussing that now and the directions we want to go in as a family to make this work. The main thing now is to restructure and just hunker down and do the hard things so that we can make this a full-time thing.” She candidly shared the difficulty of being a single parent and entrepreneur: “There’s a lot of guilt when you’re a parent, especially a single parent, and you’re so busy with these things and your kids need you.”
Despite that, Paulicia shared the positives of her unique influence on her children. “I’m teaching them valuable skills they’re going to need about money, budgeting, saving, seeing their goals, seeing their mom go for her goals and reach her goals—I think that’s important.”
When asked what advice she could pass along, Paulicia shared that finding community and support is most important. “Being a Person of Color, you’re expected to kind of do things on your own.” She referenced being introduced to Black Entrepreneurs of the Flint Hills, saying her choice to join the organization was “the best decision ever.” Many of the other entrepreneurs she met through Black Entrepreneurs activities also brought their children to events, and it allowed her to develop relationships with those in the same position as her. “The [kids] kind of relate to each other. They understand the long hours.” She also recommends learning as much as possible by reading, taking classes, and investing in their business.
As well as creating greeting cards, she makes banners to welcome home troops and celebrate birthdays, creates paintings for offices and businesses, paintings for private homes, lettering for walls, and repurposes furniture. Her primary focus for her business, though, are her cards and canvases, which are essentially an enlarged version of what she does with her cards.
You can find more of Paulicia’s work on Instagram @pennedbypaulicia, and you can view her online portfolio at https://paulicia.com, where she plans to develop an e-commerce platform in the near future.
