Founder Spotlight: How Leanne Scaled Letterbox Lane to 100+ Stockists
From Marketplace Stalls to Global Shelves
Meet Leanne McBrien, the artist behind Letterbox Lane, a vibrant stationery brand dedicated to "scattering joy" through colorful, playful designs. After a career in acting and education, Leanne turned her lifelong passion for creating into a thriving business, transitioning from local markets to a global wholesale network of over 100 stockists.
By balancing professional presentation with a personal touch, think handwritten notes and the occasional bag of Haribo, Leanne has successfully expanded her reach onto platforms like Faire. In this interview, she opens up about overcoming the intimidation of trade shows, the power of consistent branding, and why resisting the urge to compare yourself to others is the secret to a joyful creative journey.
1. What inspired you to start your brand, and how did wholesale become part of your journey?
I have drawn and created things for as long as I can remember. Growing up my other love aside from art was acting. After finishing school I chose to study drama at college and then went on to study at drama school. I then had different jobs in acting and education until around 2012.
In 2012/2013 I was drawing and creating commissions to friends and family on the side of my full time job and decided to start selling my work at markets. I loved the idea of using my artwork to ‘scatter joy’ through colourful playful prints and cards. I came up with the brand name ‘Letterbox Lane’ - the road my husband's grandparents used to live on and as they say the rest is history.
My work has changed a lot over the years. I used to mainly sell direct to customers and only started wholesaling to shops that approached me and asked to sell my work. I avoided wholesale for ages as I didn’t feel ready and felt intimidated by the idea of standing at Trade shows. Sometimes I wish I had started this journey earlier as it’s not as scary as I thought it would be.
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2. At what point did you realise you wanted to grow your wholesale business?
For many years markets and selling direct to customers had been my business model. It had worked so well for me and even worked when my children were young. But after the pandemic markets changed so much and I wanted to be around at weekends for my children, so putting more time and effort into the wholesale side of my business made much more sense.
I decided in early 2023 to go for it and invested in a brand refresh and attended my first trade show, PG Live in 2023 which helped me see the opportunities that wholesale could bring to my business. It has been a steady journey, but in the last few years I have grown from a couple of stockists to over 100.
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3. What do you think makes your product range stand out to retailers?
Retailers have told me they like the versatility of my cards, I like to design cards that work for multiple occasions and even cards that double up as art when popped into a frame. I also love colour and using my own handwriting on cards and stockists have commented on how they love my use of colours within my designs.
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4. How has your experience been selling on Faire so far?
I have really enjoyed selling on Faire so far. I have found it makes the whole process of wholesale super simple, and it has allowed me to be seen by shops that I would have never found, such as some lovely Australian stockists.
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5. Is there anything specific that has worked really well for you Faire?
I think photography has been super helpful, I have always outsourced my photography to the amazing Holly Booth studio - Holly and Pete manage to capture my style and the brand really well which helps when potential buyers are seeing your brand via a laptop screen. I have also spent a lot of time on trying to make sure my listings are consistent, which if I’m honest isn't that much fun, but I think it has really helped.
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6. What do you think retailers appreciate most about working with your brand?
I think stockists like to connect with you as a human being and like the personal touches - the handwritten thank you card, the little bag of haribo! These little human touch points are really important for me. I also always try to get my orders out as promptly as possible.
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7. How do you stay connected with your stockists and encourage repeat orders?
I am still working on making sure I connect with stockists, when I first started wholesale I was aware of not wanting to ‘bother’ stockists with salesy emails, I still feel a bit like this if I’m honest, but I am learning that stockists actually like to know what new things you have in stock or the latest bestsellers, rather than annoying them, you are helping them.
So newsletters have been a brilliant way of keeping in touch with my stockists on Faire and those that prefer to shop direct with me. I still prefer to chat with shops in person rather than via email and trade shows have been really good for that, but they are quite the financial investment!
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8. What advice would you give to brands who are just starting out with wholesale or thinking about joining Faire?
In terms of advice I would say do your homework with your pricing. Show shops that you are a real human being via photography, emails, instagram. Faire has been brilliant for me especially over the last few years, but you also have to do the work to get seen just being on the platform isn’t enough.
For me that has looked like doing trade shows too, I am only doing one this year, but it has complimented the work I have been doing via Faire. Also one thing I try to remind myself every day is that your journey will look completely different to the next brand, comparison truly is the thief of joy!
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Shop and follow Letterbox Lane
https://letterboxlane.faire.com/
