Micheal Stewart
Listening to Customers Leads to a BIG Payo�
to work full-time with Micheal. This
vibrant Spanish and Mathematics
teacher still teaches part-time, because
teaching is her first love, but also
enjoys supporting her husband’s
entrepreneurial dreams.
It would seem impossible for a
humble young man living in the
cool hills of Manchester to create a
successful startup that was a winner
of the 2017 Guinness Made for
More competition. Yet, Micheal
Stewart,
owner
of
Stewy’s
Greetings, defied the odds and
made this seemingly impossible
dream a reality. Through strong
business acumen, great wit and
immense graphic design talent, Micheal has created a business that is
increasingly becoming an indomitable
force in Jamaica’s wedding industry. Why Stewy’s Greetings? to pursue this business venture. Their
support means alot and has helped the
business through those early stages. How did you make the bold
decision to leave your full-
time job?
Customers kept requesting wedding
invitations and my answer was always,
“No”. I wanted the business to focus on
personalised greeting cards. People kept
asking and I eventually told a few
persons, “Yes”. Granted, I didn’t have
any samples to show and had to create
some almost immediately after saying,
“Yes”. This commitment is
one of the best I have made in my life
(besides putting that ring on my lovely
wife’s finger of course) because it helped
pivot the business in 2014 into what it is
today. I was working at a company as a
Marketing Executive after university.
Although Stewy’s Greetings began in
2011, it wouldn’t have been feasible for
me to leave my job then to commit
wholeheartedly to business growth. I
have a young family and bills to pay.
Can you relate?
People would expect an awe-
inspiring story describing how
Stewy’s Greetings began. Once
upon a time… just kidding. There’s
no magical story. I was an NCU
marketing student in 2011 who one
day found a business opportunity
through a simple Google search. I
became good at graphic design and
wanted to find a way to transform
my newfound skill into a way to
earn money. I typed the keywords
“businesses to start with graphic
design” in the Google search engine
and creating personalised greeting
cards was one of the options.
The light bulb went off in my head.
Jamaicans are accustomed to stock
greeting cards such as those you
would buy in stores. However,
personalised greeting cards were
uncommon. I realised that there
was truly something here. My
friends and family encouraged me
Issue �: January ����
He and his wife Jheanell, along with
five full time and two part-time
employees, work assiduously to create
personalised greeting cards, wedding
invitations, wedding programs and
wedding favour boxes for customers
islandwide. In fact, Jheanell left her
beloved teaching job in December 2018
If you were to describe your
business in one word, what
would that word be and why?
Happy. It makes me happy to put smiles
on my customers’ faces and the nature of
the industries in which the business
operates creates a feeling of euphoria.
I caught up with Micheal and Jheanell
recently to learn more about Stewy’s
Greetings and the secrets to their
success both as a couple and as
entrepreneurs.
However, the demand for wedding
invitations sparked a shift in the
company’s focus in 2014. I then
conducted a feasibility study and realised
the immense financial value that could
be gained by producing wedding-related
materials such as invitations and
programs. A customer may order one
personalised greeting card, but a bride
or a wedding planner may order
hundreds of wedding invitations.
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