How My Passion Project Became an Accidental Planner Business

I’ve always loved planners and organization. I discovered Franklin Covey in the early 2000s and it revolutionized my workflow. I went from having post it notes stuck all over my monitor and desk to taking notes in my planner. What I loved the most about it was that every phone number and note I used to jot down on a post-it then threw away (then often dug in the trash for later!) was now a forever note in my planner. I could look back to previous weeks and see everything. I no longer had to wonder, “did I do that?” because I could look back and see.

Eventually I transitioned from jobs behind a computer to culinary school to professional kitchens so I didn’t use planners like I used to. Fast forward a decade and I’m back behind a computer. (It turns out the higher you move up in the culinary world, the less cooking you do.) Most of my work is research, writing procedures, design, administration, etc. The workload is insane and there’s no way I could manage it all without a planner.

I tried all the major planners out there and I loved certain things about all of them but as a whole, none of them really did it for me. That’s when I found bullet (or dot) journals. Finally, I could create my own layouts that worked for me. It was another game-changer! The first versions of them weren’t very pretty. I created my own date stickers with my Cricut and I had fun with it but I didn’t love the bulk it added to the planner. 

I did the bullet journal thing for four or five years and changed my weekly layouts many times. Every time was an improvement on the one before. I finally landed on a weekly layout that worked the absolute best for me and I stuck with it (bottom right photo). I used it for about three years and it became the basis for the current Productivity Planner.

After drawing lines in bullet journals for five or six years total, I’d had enough. I loved the flexibility of the pages but I never got into all the creative layouts I thought I’d enjoy, it took way more time than I had to give. The journal was supposed to improve my workflow but it became a burden. With my background in graphic design I decided I could make a template page and copy it in my planner. That made creating my weekly layouts way more efficient but I still got tired of doing it. 

After about a year later, I decided to turn my template into an actual planner and bind it myself. I called it a “semi-lined dot journal” and, not to sound overdramatic but,… It. Changed. My. Life. Coworkers saw it and started asking for their own. More people saw them and asked where they could get one. Planner drop day every year was celebrated. But I was really stingy with them because I did it all for free.

Eventually I started selling my planners. At first I took requests and people paid me through Venmo but that didn’t last long. As requests grew, I eventually built a tiny little website so I could better track orders. I didn’t use social media and I didn’t advertise but the requests kept coming. It was just a passion project and the minimal amount I charged paid for my time and supplies. I never dreamed it would go further than that.

The Beginning of Margot + Chloe Paper Goods

The requests have grown so much that it was finally time to make it into something real. I did a full re-brand into what it is now Margot + Chloe Paper Goods and launched the new website you see today.

We’re still growing! I have to periodically pause orders online because I can’t keep with demand all by myself. We’re going through a growing phase and will probably soon have to make a decision on whether to intentionally keep the business small or invest and grow. Stay tuned!