By James Kwee

Five weeks of recovery due to brain surgery would plant the seeds for the rooting of Marianne Richmond’s future entrepreneurial enterprise, Marianne Richmond Studios, Inc. While recuperating, in an effort to pass time, Marianne hand-painted Thank You cards for the people who had supported and encouraged her throughout her tribulation. A friend took note of her unique, hand-crafted cards and realized the marketability of the one-of-a-kind type cards—which no doubt encapsulated the spirit of individuality. Subsequently, Marianne created a few batches of hand-made greeting cards that her friend then distributed for sale at local gift shops in Connecticut. Marianne and her husband—both of whom were working full time jobs—moved to Minnesota in 1991, bringing their embryonic — but quickly maturing — card business with them.

Once situated in Minneapolis, Marianne’s blooming part-time business venture blossomed into a full-time undertaking, resulting in both her and her husband leaving their jobs and renting an office space to further develop the burgeoning company. Today Marianne Richmond Studios, Inc., produces a variety of products, including children’s books, jewelry, journals, and even children’s plates. The writing, ideas, and illustrations that appear in her books and other products are largely the creative insight of Marianne. In addition to online, her books are also sold at The Children’s Place retail stores throughout the country (they also offer charming, plush toy animals modeled after those in Marianne’s stories to accompany her books).

In addition to all of this, Marianne is also the very busy mother of four. When she’s not coming up with new ideas for the company or attending to motherly duties, she enjoys working out, reading, traveling, taking classes, baking, spending time with friends, and organizing photos and working on her scrapbooks. Although she maintains that she doesn’t have a lot of time for the before-mentioned, because “raising four children is pretty time consuming.”

Marianne’s path crossed with Cheerful Givers five years ago at a non-profit organization fair at the Mall of America. The Cheerful Givers booth caught her eye and she stopped by to discover more information. After conversing with Karen Kitchel, President, Marianne was sold. “Its mission is simple yet profound,” explains Marianne. “Everyone wants to feel appreciated on his or her birthday.” Since then, she has participated in birthday bag blitzes and other Cheerful Givers events. She offers her popular line of children’s books at a greatly reduced price to the organization so that they may be included in birthday bags, as well as donating them to giveaways. “[Knowing] that my books can help a child feel recognized and celebrated is a gift to them and me.”

It’s also important to Marianne to raise her children in a home that cherishes Good Samaritan values. In order to try to inspire them with benevolence, they deliver Meals on Wheels together as a family and sponsor a child in Bangladesh—in addition to working with Cheerful Givers. “As a mom, I have really tried to instill in my family the importance of helping others.”

1 Comment to Partner Spotlight: Marianne Richmond

EVA MADRIGAL
March 18, 2010

love your book, i love you so. i found you after reading the book. i aspire to write childrens books but dont know where to start. how do i become a fan of yours on facebook. do you know how i can start out??

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