our story

Hi, I’m Shay, the creator of Positive Note Company, and this is our story.

 

IT STARTED WITH A PHONE CALL

I had an epiphany during an intense phone call. I was talking to someone who had meant a lot to me but was now determined to belittle me. Oddly, instead of reacting with anger, I felt calm. 

I was reminded of my position in Christ. I recalled that he called me “fearfully and wonderfully made.” He said that He had chosen me and that He loved me. Any insult this person was saying to me seemed insignificant.

After that, I remember sitting at my desk, finding as many scriptures as possible that revealed my identity in Christ. I wanted to remind myself who I was to God, and I thought other people needed a reminder too. I sketched out a fingerprint with those scriptures, designed it in Adobe Illustrator, and had a few sample T-shirts screen printed- and then, nothing. 

I had fully intended to create this t-shirt company in 2014, but I allowed life to distract me. Family stuff, financial stuff, whatever the “stuff” was, it had my attention. And so, I let my idea go and buried it. 

 

AND THEN…

On April 5, 2020, I lost my great aunt, who lived in Florida, and later that night I lost my dad, who lived in New York. I was heartbroken and confused.

As an escape, I immersed myself in my phone and came across small business packaging videos. I don’t know why, but I just found so much joy in watching them. Those videos helped me get through the reality of my dad’s passing, but they also unearthed the thing I had buried.

I felt a nudge from the Holy Spirit telling me to try again, but I wasn’t sure. I prayed about it, and I still wasn’t sure. I started redesigning the fingerprint anyway.

 

MOTIVATION 

Then one day, there was an article on my google feed. The title foreshadowed the essence of the article. So, I knew it was about a young lady who had created a successful business with very little money without reading it. And I thought, “okay, cool,” because I didn’t have any money either. Fast forward a few days or weeks (I can’t remember for sure), and that same article was in my inbox from a different magazine. This time I read the article. I got about halfway through and then went to the website. 

I’m sitting there looking at my computer screen like, “God…What? Stop playing… Now, I see why you kept putting this in front of me”. See, I had gotten excited just by reading the title. If I see someone ‘winning, I celebrate, especially when he or she comes from humble beginnings. And this was no different.  

But when I clicked on the website, I knew God was revealing something else. Her business was the polar opposite of mine. While Positive Note Company was focused on glorifying God, the Creator, this business was focused on glorifying his creations: stones, crystals, the sun, the moon and so on.

This ignited a fire in me. Sadly, there are so many people and things disguised as light. When the Bible tells us that God’s word is a lamp to our feet and light to our path(Psalms 119-130) and that “the unfolding of[his] word gives light” (Psalms 119-130). How could I not share the truth of God’s goodness in whatever way he called me to do it? 

Although I wasn’t sure how he was going to make Positive Note Company happen, I believed God was faithful. I worked on ideas when I did not have the capital to create any products. But God came through and here we are. 

Now, it’s my hope that with every product you will remember God and be encouraged knowing who he is in your life.