Writing Hallmark Greeting Cards: My Dream Job

by Jyl Johnson Pattee on May 27th, 2012 | 2 Comments »

From the time I was in elementary school and into high school, I only wanted to be one thing career wise when I grew up: a greeting card writer for Hallmark.

Instead of practicing my writing, which may have actually landed me my dream job, I simply spent hours and lots of money in the store 5 minutes from my house. And while I never ended up working for Hallmark, I began a love affair with cards that lasts to this day.

My grandma and I, before she passed, would send each other cards for no other reason than to make each other laugh. Her favorite was Maxine from Shoebox Greeting Cards. The crabbier and funnier the better.

My best friend Heather and I have been exchanging cards since we were in our late teens. We met as foreign exchange students in Argentina and became fast friends. When we returned to our respective homes in Arizona and Minnesota, we kept up our long-distance friendship through greeting cards. We'd buy the perfect card and send it without a message so the other person could re-use it. We have had so much fun trying to one-up each other in our card buying.

You can imagine my excitement when I saw Hallmark and its pop-up shop with greeting cards for kids at BlogHer. My boys were at Sanborn Western Camps for sleep-away camp for the first time. I was powering through their being gone for so long, but I can't say it was easy. That Hallmark gave me an opportunity to send the perfect card to them in the middle of a busy conference was beyond awesome.

I was so excited to be able to take a minute and send a heartfelt message that when I saw them at Blissdom and just recently at Mom 2.0, I kind of went nuts. Why just sent to your family and loved ones outside the conference, when you could tell people at the conference how awesome they were? I wrote to new and old friends and the feeling of wanting to work for Hallmark when I grew up came back (I still have some growing up to do right?).

With Hallmark, giving is just as great as receiving. After Blissdom and Mom 2.0, I received cards people had sent to me. The excitement I felt while writing my friends cards was almost matched when I went to the mailbox and pulled out cards people had mailed me.

I may not work at Hallmark. But I love incorporating writing and sending greeting cards into my job today.

PS: In full disclosure... I absolutely was not in any way shape or form compensated to write this post. Yah! I love Hallmark that much!

Bio
Latest Posts

Jyl Johnson Pattee

An active part of the Mom It Forward team, Jyl primarily writes about parenting, social good, and all things travel related. In a past life, Jyl was an award-winning copywriter and designer of corporate training programs for Fortune 100 companies. Offline, Jyl is married to @TroyPattee; a mom to two teen boys and a beagle named #Hashtag; loves large amounts of cheese, dancing, and traveling; and lives in the beautiful Rocky Mountains. Topping her bucket list is the goal to visit 50 countries by the time she's 50.