The GrammaBurp Story

How It All Started ...

When I was 13, my friend Kim broke her leg. Apparently there'd been some unnecessary roughness during a soccer game. She asked me to sign her cast. I'd never signed a cast before, so I looked to see what the other kids had written. There were names, happy faces and other "heal fast" wishes. I wrote: "Hit her back." Well, Kim laughed -- really hard -- & so did her mom. I really wasn't trying to be funny, I just wanted to write the right thing.

Over the years, whenever a card was being passed around at work for everyone to sign, I became well known for writing very 'different' things. People actually waited to see what I had written.

I'll never forget the first card idea I sold. It was a humorous get well card. Oatmeal Studios bought it. The best part of selling it was knowing that potentially thousands of people would feel the healing power of laughter, because of the card I wrote. There's something amazing in that.

Then one day while browsing the internet, I saw some old black & white snapshots. The photos spoke to me. I started hearing funny captions that would go along with them, so I bought the photos.

When I resigned from my thirteen year human services job & decided to start my own business, I'd already had photos, poetry & greeting cards published. I attended Berkshire Enterprises, an intensive entrepreneurial training program in Pittsfield, MA. They provided me with practical business knowledge & gave me the tools & skills I needed to develop, operate and manage my own business. I did a ton of market research. And with their help I developed my implementation strategies & wrote my business plan.

Well, that's how it all started. If only I had figured it out way back when I was signing the cast on Kim's leg.

Oh, & in case you were wondering, the business name "GrammaBurp" came about after my granddaughter was born. My son-in-law was in Iraq, so my daughter & baby Nora were staying with us. Nora didn't always burp after feedings, but for some reason, I was almost always able to get her to burp -- even when everyone else had failed. So every 4 hours or so, my daughter would call out: "Gramma ... Burp!" And it just stuck.