Hope and Hustle is a Houston-based greeting card company for the digital era.
Founded by Ashley Sutton in 2020, Hustle and Hope is the first motivational greeting card company that includes free, downloadable guides embedded in QR codes on the back of every card.
“I wanted to bring something innovative to the mailbox. Card giving is thoughtful but I wanted to extend that experience for the recipient,” said Sutton. “A card with daily affirmations, or a thank you card with a guide on practicing gratitude will stay with them. This is a product with a purpose.”
Sutton recently earned a big boost for her business with the confirmation that she is a Comcast RISE grant winner.
“I’m thrilled!” Sutton enthused. “We are headed into holidays, when the greeting card industry does 50% of its business for the year. This will let me invest in more inventory and packing and shipping supplies. What a blessing!”
Sutton is not the only Houston business owner to be all smiles thanks to the windfall. Comcast has awarded RISE grants to 100 area small businesses, making an investment of $500,000. Houston is one of five American cities selected by Comcast for RISE grants in its national initiative that aims to help small businesses thrive and grow.
“We know small businesses are the backbone of our economy and are essential to building strong and thriving local communities,” said Jose Espinel, Regional Senior Vice President for Comcast Texas. “We also know every big business was once a small business. That’s part of the Comcast story as well, and we believe in investing in the future of Texas.”
In addition to the $5000 windfall, Sutton and the other 100 grantees will each receive business coaching, consulting and educational services, a technology makeover with Comcast Business and a :30 professional produced commercial.
In addition to its online sales, Hustle and Hope cards and products are available at 40 boutique and gift shops, World Market, BuyBuy Baby, select Home Goods stores across the US and at Marshalls/Home Sense and Winner in Canada.
Sutton said she expects that the professional coaching, advice and consulting she will get as a RISE grant winner will help broaden and strengthen the reach of her card line.
“I need help from a technology standpoint to maximize our on-the-spot sales. This support is a gift that will maximize what we are doing,” she said.
Raised by business owners, the value of being a self-starter was part of Sutton’s home life. Her parents, the late Tony Sutton, and her mother Halcyon Galentine, started one Houston’s first software stores in what Sutton laughingly called “the floppy disc era.” Her mother owned and operated the Accessorize It! shop in the Montrose area and has had a long career in sales and as a real estate agent.
“I grew up around people who had that entrepreneurial spirit and I’ve seen the possibilities all my life. I was always a budding businesswoman; I don’t see a glass ceiling,” Sutton said.
Sutton recalled that her parents both held down 9 to 5 jobs while building their small businesses, noting that they exemplified the terms she chose for the name of her own business.
“The word ‘hustle’ defines me so clearly, but If you’ve got hustle, you also need to have the hope, being mindful and intentional,” she said. “That’s the balance, the yin and the yang, in business and in life.”