Protégé; a person who is guided and supported by an older and more experienced or influential person. The name was born from the realization that I, myself was in fact a protégé. I had been guided by many people in my life and learned much of my knowledge and business know-how from my mentor(s). Paper Protégé was named after my high school business teacher (you know who you are). This teacher was my biggest cheerleader for every single business competition I ever competed in. He always encouraged me to follow my passions, and to tap into my creativity and without a doubt he was front row at every single competition cheering me on. In grade 12 I got my first job. Little did I know this job would lead me to start what is now known as Paper Protégé. One day a customer came in to purchase a gift and asked me where the closest store was so she could buy a card. After this shift (I'm not even joking) I drove straight to the craft store and bought a pack of blank white cards. I was a 17-year-old student with minimal design experience, a new inkjet printer and an old hand-me-down laptop. The first-ever card designs were (no joke) created on Microsoft Word, and printed on my HP inkjet printer. Today, Paper Protégé has been running for 4 years, I have outsourced the printing to a print shop, and the designs are now created by talented local artists across Canada. I am so excited that you stopped by to check out my cards, and read my story!