Katie Cory is the founder of Peb and Reg, a positivity-led stationery brand seeking to spread joy and promote wellbeing through its illustrated lifestyle gifts.
An experienced graphic and website designer with an impressive freelance career under her belt, Katie launched the brand as a way to channel her expertise into a creative outlet that resonated with her personal style. As someone living with chronic illnesses and neurodivergence, the business allows her to fit work around managing her health, and share with the world the designs that personally bring her so much joy.
“There’s just so much negativity in the world, I just want to find joy in every day.”
From Freelancer to Entrepreneur
Katie has worked with her fair share of big brands as a freelancer, helping to bring their visions to life across a range of creative projects, and though she enjoyed the challenge there was still something missing. She was never able to apply her personal style to the designs, she explains: “there was never any ‘me’ in there.”
The joyful illustrations she created were initially just for her to enjoy, but after sharing a few designs on social media the positive response was so overwhelming that she realised there was a gap in the market.
Her quirky designs really resonated with people, as did the concept of celebrating the small moments and our connections to others.
Katie realised that the designs that had been a simple hobby to cheer herself up could have the same effect on other people, and could in fact be a viable business.
“I can only work when I’m well and at a computer and I liked the idea of designing something once and getting printed a hundred, a thousand times. That feels like a more scalable business, but also something that brings me a bit more joy.”
How to Start a Business?
The transition from idea to reality can be a tricky step to navigate in the entrepreneurial journey. Managing two chronic health conditions, fibromyalgia and ME, alongside juggling freelance work didn’t leave Katie a lot of time to commit to her new business idea and it was an easy thing to keep putting off.
It was joining a Hatch Launchpad programme, and subsequently having to carve out the time to attend regular sessions, that marked a turning point and cemented Katie’s commitment to her business. The programme also gave her the practical knowledge on how to launch Peb and Reg as well as the supportive community of like-minded peers to rely on.
“I’ve never been in such a supportive environment, everyone was cheering everyone else on. I feel like a completely different person since finishing the course. The team at Hatch have honestly been absolutely incredible, and I can’t thank them enough! I now have much more confidence in myself and my business.
“I wholeheartedly recommend the Launchpad programme to anyone with a business dream. The team and mentors are incredibly supportive, and I’ve found a wonderful community of like-minded small business owners who cheer me on and who I now consider friends!
“The Hatch team could not have been more accommodating to my needs and given how much I can struggle in life, it was amazing to be accepted and supported for exactly who I am.”
The Launch and Beyond
A big moment in Katie’s journey was being one of the exhibitors at StationeryFest, a massive event in her industry. Having secured grant funding through Hatch after graduating she was able to commission a wide range of initial stock to really show off her offering and reinvest sales right back into the business.
Not only did she gain sales from the event, Katie was also able to see the real life impact her business was having on people.
From the smiles on faces of people reading the messages on her cards, to the social media tags she received once orders started being delivered, her mission to spread joy was a success right out the gate.
With big ambitions to grow the brand into a household name, Katie says that one of the biggest takeaways from her Hatch experience so far has been the boost in confidence it has given her, and the validation that what she is aiming to do through her business is important.
“They taught me that my work does have value, there’s worth in what I do.”
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