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TALKING POINTS
PiP-iNG HOT Pip Heywood’s childhood dream was to be an artist, but she’s done better than that. As managing director of Thortful, she heads up a business that puts food on the table for over 6,000 creators whose card designs are proffered on the online platform. With Thortful exhibiting at PG Live to explore launching into wholesale, PG popped in to see Pip. Above: Pip Heywood has been a commanding md at Thortful for the last five years.
Pip Heywood is not afraid to put her head above the parapet, be it to fight plagiarism or take Ofcom to task over Royal Mail, but is also more than willing to share as this is where she firmly believes greater gains can be made. Since joining Thortful a tad under five years ago, the company’s turnover has grown fourfold, and profitability is well up. This year it is on course to secure the number 2 slot in the online greetings space, though market leader Moonpig is four times larger. “Of course we are happy with Thortful’s growth which easily outpaces the market, and that’s the point. As a greeting card community we need to pull together to ignite
mind to good use, learning from the mistakes of others. “My career has spanned fashion, fragrance, FMCG and finance and throughout I have witnessed how complacency accelerates a market decline. We just can’t let that happen in greeting cards, it is such a wonderful product that plays such an important role in people’s lives,” said Pip with a passion. A huge champion of creative talent, notably the 6,000 artists and designers whose designs populate Thortful’s platform, Pip’s
new customers, further engage with existing customers, harness even more creative talent and grow the market,” believes Pip, ever keen to put her agile
Left: Thortful revamped its branding at the start of the year using positive orange as its base colour. Above: Thortful called on its posse of creators to submit designs as part of its Mr. Men and Little Miss licence.
On the spot As a little girl what did you want to be when you ‘grew up’? “An artist. Though my career took me in a different direction, studying law then going into brand management and heading up online businesses. That said, Thortful does have a relationship with 6,000 artists and designers!” If you weren’t running Thortful now, what would like to do? “I would love to do furniture design, bringing beauty to the functional.” What three words would your best mate use to describe you? “Human, a laugh and tireless.” You have a magic wand to wave in the industry, what would you do with it? “Gain an even greater insight into ways we can all further grow this category.”
Please share a work lesson that you have learned over your career? “Worrying is not planning. Worrying interferes and inhibits potential.” What is your guilty pleasure? “Watching The Traitors. I’ve seen the UK, US and Australian series.” What trait do you like most in a person? “A willingness to makes things better.” What trait do you least like? “Flakiness and lack of accountability. If you say you are going to do something, then do it.” How do you start and end your working day? “I start my day at 6am, with a cup of Yorkshire tea on the sofa with my dog and end it by taking the dog for a walk and then cooking dinner.”
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 73