Featuring Joanna Alberti Questrom’03, Founder of philoSophie’s®
Meet Joanna Alberti (Questrom’03), founder of philoSophie’s®, an ecommerce shop offering personalized gifts from stationery to wall art that feature illustrations and inspirational phrases by Joanna herself. Joanna has combined her creativity and marketing experience to create and personalize products that appeal to an audience who celebrates special moments with whimsy, fun, and positivity. The brand philoSophie’s® has earned several recognitions such as appearing in BusinessWeek 25 Under 25. Joanna recounts her education, career development and the how idea for philoSophie’s® emerged.
Joanna came to Questrom to pursue a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a concentration in marketing, with her heart set on working in advertising. During her time on Comm Ave, she held a work study alongside Sally Ward, Assistant Director of Academic Advising in the Undergraduate Development Center. “Her words of encouragement and support continue to this day,” says Joanna. She was also a member of the Zeta Zeta Chapter of Delta Gamma. “Through both BU and sorority life I have had multiple opportunities that have helped grow philoSophie’s®.” As Joanna looks back on her education at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business she says, “The things I remember most are team projects and comradery amongst classmates. I keep in touch with many friends from BU. They’ve been one of the strongest support systems.”
Joanna finished her degree a semester early to take advantage of a job opening as an Assistant Media Planner at Hill Holliday, a prestigious advertising agency where she already had an existing internship. “It was on the T rides to Hill Holliday where I began to write the initial phrases and draw the characters that would become philoSophie’s®.
The true conception of philoSophie’s® happened a few years into her career at Hill Holliday, where she held a position in the media planning department working for clients like Fleet Bank and Dunkin’Donuts. She started writing witty one-liners to capture the attention of the creative department with the hopes of becoming a copywriter. That creative spark was also channeled into some of the very first phrases for philoSophie’s®, like “Be straight up with friends and martinis.”
During a holiday fundraiser at the agency, Joanna introduced philoSophie’s® as greeting cards. As she continued to share her work with colleagues in the media department, they began to ask for more designs for party invitations and birthdays. philoSophie’s® was becoming popular; she connected with a boutique on Charles Street that provided merchandising guidance. “I designed them [philoSophie’s®] because I loved the creative outlet in the beginning. Later, a mentor and professor at BU at the time – Beth Goldstein would help with a strategic business plan to turn my passion into a business.” The business was formally established in 2005 and received its brand trademark in February 2006.
Since then, Joanna has hosted events, partnered with purpose driven brands, and appeared in The Knot – Best of Weddings Hall of Fame and in the 40 Under 40, Stationery and Gift Industry. Joanna was also the Spencerport Area Chamber of Commerce 2015 Business Person of the Year. One of Joanna’s brand partners is Personalization Mall, a division of 1-800 Flowers through which philoSophie’s® has expanded its portfolio of illustrations and designs while bringing new products to the market. Joanna’s favorite purpose-driven partnership is with the Jimmy Fund Clinic in which philoSophie’s® designs special invitations for events at the Dana-Farber Cancer institute.
The philoSophie’s® brand has evolved over the years. The words of encouragement featured on the gifts were initially Joanna’s personal philosophies on life, love and friendship. “My goal has always been for my friends, customers, and clients to see themselves in each illustration and phrase and to be able to gift and to celebrate with confidence!” Thus, she was inspired to pop the “S” in the word philosophies and create a fun-loving fictional character named Sophie. Then, she started introducing more characters: Sophie’s friends who are customizable for any gift for birthdays, bridal, baby showers and everyday celebrations. The brand recently launched a personalization tool on the website where you get to become the designer by selecting the skin tone, hairstyle, activity and more. This technology makes it easier than ever to design a custom greeting card or gift within minutes and at a great price point.
Joanna hosts philoSophie’s® events at her studio in the village of Spencerport outside of Rochester, New York. She loves boutique events such as the annual Galentine’s Day and Design Your Own philoSophie’s® pop-ups.
To learn more about philoSophie’s® , visit the website.
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