From selling calendars on Etsy to a thriving B-corp brand, Michele Ferron created Good Tuesday, a female-led brand that creates stationery for people who want to get organized – in full color and on 100% recycled paper.
Female founder Michele Ferron delves into how her sustainable stationery business started, her bravest moments, and her biggest challenges while growing Good Tuesday.
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Learn more about Michele Ferron’s journey.
1. What inspired you to start Good Tuesday?
The inspiration behind Once Upon a Tuesday was quite accidental! During lockdown, I was learning design programs and decided to create a calendar for myself. I had 10 printed and listed the extras on Etsy, where 7 sold overnight. Encouraged by that, I designed a few more—and things quickly took off from there.
Once I realized people were interested in what I was making, I became obsessed with creating the best calendars on the market. Looking back, those early designs weren’t the best, but I believe we now create an incredible range – many of which we create with independent artists.
2. What is the bravest thing you’ve done professionally?
The bravest thing I’ve done professionally is hiring people and trusting them with crucial aspects of the business. It was one of the scariest decisions, but without our team, this business wouldn’t be where it is today.
If you don’t hire at the right time, you get bogged down in tasks that don’t drive the business forward. For me, if I had continued handling customer service and packing orders all day, I wouldn’t have had the time to design new ranges, which would have stagnated the brand entirely.
3. What is a non-negotiable in your routine that keeps you focused?
A non-negotiable in my routine that keeps me focused is planning on paper—writing things down.
With a busy brain, I need to create a weekly plan on paper to keep everything from swirling around in my head. I rely on to-do lists that I can then schedule into my calendar, allowing me to tackle tasks one at a time. I am lost without my lists and my calendar.
4. What has been your biggest challenge while on this journey?
It’s mainly been lots of small challenges, alongside lots of small wins. It’s a constant two steps forward, one step back — that’s just the nature of the business journey. If it were easy, everyone would do it, but with challenges come rewards—so we tackle them head-on. The biggest win is building the resilience to handle small challenges without letting them affect you emotionally. It’s about viewing them objectively and finding creative solutions.
5. What advice would you give to other aspiring female e-commerce entrepreneurs?
Keep learning – take advice from others, and then follow your instincts and do what you believe is best – and if you can support that with research, even better. And ALWAYS do everything with your customers’ perspective closely in mind.
6. How do you define success?
Success isn’t just about profit margins or growth metrics; it’s about making a positive impact on the world. It’s about building a company that thrives while addressing the challenges our planet faces, creating products that genuinely help people live their best lives, and fostering a strong, supportive community around us.
7. What is your favorite book or podcast?
I’m going to share three books, which offer very different things. I loved the book Atomic Habits and believe everyone should read that. Let my people go surfing is incredible, it is almost a handbook for running a business that does good for the world – and Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari is the most mind-opening book, that makes you realise we are all just here for a very short while, and most of the things in our world are just made up.
Explore Good Tuesady‘s products and collections
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