Today we’d like to introduce you to Chari Pack.
Chari, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My parents were storytellers. My Mom loved to scrapbook, my Dad carried the camcorder and every Sunday night we’d watch home movies as a family. These movies were plots of our own lives, moments we lived, but had already forgotten. The memories evoked emotions of belonging, understanding, and acceptance. They were more than just memories, they were powerful. In the 5th grade I used all of my babysitting money to buy film for my 110 camera, I took photos of my Orchard Elementary Class throughout the year to create a DIY Yearbook. Prints glued on card stock and stapled together. Sold them for $5 each.
In High School, my friends were on dance teams and cheer squads. I was carrying the 5 lb JVC camcorder on my shoulder filming swim meets, tennis, soccer, basketball, and football games. I’d spend hours editing VHS tape footage for the OHS Tiger TV broadcast each week. I loved documenting stories.
In 2007, I was married with 3 little boys. I wanted to give them the same memories that I had, It was hard keeping up with the family “scrapbook”. I was introduced to “digital scrapbooking” and became obsessed! No more paper, glue, and messes, I could tell the story all on a computer.
I signed up for a community night class at Utah Valley University to learn photoshop basics, bought Adobe Photoshop Elements, and was on my way to creating my 12×12” digital masterpieces! The photoshop teacher also owned a local camera store. Students received a 20% print discount, but I couldn’t justify the $14.99 price for one 12×12 print even with the discount. After a few attempts at Costco, I decided to give the pro lab a try. I was blown away! My digital scrapbook pages popped! Colors were vibrant, graphics were centered, skin tones were beautiful and the prints were sharp.
There had to be a way to print a high-quality 12×12 at a lower price.
I found a way and created Persnickety Prints in 2009.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Creating a business from the ground up isn’t easy. at. all. The logistics and legalities are overwhelming for a stay at home Mom of 3. I “partnered” up with that same photoshop teacher who owned the camera store in my first attempt at bringing my idea to life. I was naive enough to trust high fives as contracts and sadly learned over time that high fives and handshakes are a thing of the past. I had met so many amazingly talented digital scrapbookers who believed in me. They wanted their designs to look their best. I was determined to find a way to keep going.
Over and over I was told that “nobody was printing their pictures”. It was a silly idea to open a photo lab when most were closing, plus the economy was not looking promising.
A few months later, I found business partner #2 and started over.
This guy knew how to calibrate, color match, and print using the darkroom technology that my people needed! He’d been doing it for 25 years. Not long after we signed on the dotted line, I learned that his passion had dimmed. He was going through some big life changes that I wasn’t aware of. We tried to make it work, but our goals and ambitions just weren’t aligned. I took out loans on my car and maxed out credit cards to buy him out. In October 2010 I was officially on my own.
That first Holiday was brutal. I threw up (and literally threw up many times). A help wanted sign and hired the first 5 people who could pass a photoshop test. There were so many hurdles. Building and maintaining a website, suppliers, a storefront, heavy complicated equipment, packaging, quality control, shipping …. oh and organizing a team. With zero training on how to do any of these things, grit, determination, and problem solving got us through that first Holiday season. I suffered from the worst mom guilt ever, but I couldn’t quit. I was in too deep. I had something to prove.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Boutique online photo lab specializing in archival photographic prints that last. In this new snap-happy age, we’re taking more photos than ever before and doing nothing with them. We’re suffering from photo overwhelm. Year after year, the number of photos on our smartphone camera’s grow. Mixed in with screenshots and random snaps are moments of our life we wanted to remember! How can we keep our photos organized, forever, tell our stories, and not lose sight of what’s important?
Enter Persnickety Box, the Tinder inspired photo printing app that allows you to swipe your favorites into a story box. 30 4×4” real photographic prints (these are the ones that last! dark-room durable:) are delivered in a story box with prompts: who, what, when and where on each side.
The Persnickety Box app is available in the U.S. (for now:) on iOS and Android. Download it for free and see for yourself how much fun it is to swipe!
What matters most to you?
Photos and stories are our legacy.
We’re taking more photos than ever before, yet they remain as digital JPEGS in a cloud! What if we can’t read a JPEG in 20 years? What if that cloud disappears? Hard drive crash? Will my family be able to access my digital photos when I’m gone?
Not only will quality printed photographs last longer than digital files, we know where they are! Statistics show that when children see photos of their childhood, the feelings of love and belonging arise and build self-esteem and self-worth.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.persnicketyprints.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/persnicketyprints
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/persnicketyprints
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/persnickety_
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/persnicketyprints
