Having faced difficulty finding a resource to record memories concretely rather than in a smartphone album, Sarah Autry and Stephanie Beard-Peters built Duncan & Stone Paper Co., a business that offers a large variety of prompted journals. “We started looking at different ways of keeping our own memories of our kids,” says Sarah. “We got together in [Stephanie’s] driveway while our kids were playing with sidewalk chalk and started drawing out what the book would be that we would want.”
From turning Sarah’s pregnancy prayer cards into “Dear Baby” journals to several other products such as travel journals, recipe books, and anniversary journals, the business took off from there. Stephanie says, “There was a very small space in the market that we saw was empty, and we filled it.”
From prompts presenting ideas with which to capture your memories, Duncan & Stone’s journals are a simple yet beautiful way to make memories. “You can easily capture these really important life milestones that you can keep forever,” says Sarah. “We don’t just want information passed down between people. We’re looking to connect families.” These journals are made into family heirlooms, no matter the occasion or context. In Dear Son or Dear Daughter, you collect memories of your children for 18 years, turning the journal into a heartfelt gift. In the Legacy Journal, family stories of older generations can be recorded and passed down. Even in the Family Recipe Book, you can handwrite ingredients while also providing an accompanying story of a memory tied to the recipe.
The art of journaling is useful in a wide variety of instances, from family and friends to personal thoughts. Some people may struggle with topics to discuss in their journals, which is why Duncan & Stone’s prompts are so beneficial. The book does the difficult thinking for you, while you simply turn your memories into words and pictures.
“I started journaling when I was in eighth grade,” says Stephanie, “and I still have all of them. I’ve always loved journaling, but I would have never thought I would start a journal company.”
With a large percentage of Duncan & Stone’s customer base being women with similar lifestyles to Sarah and Stephanie, journals made perfect sense. “We know you, we see you, we are you. So, what do you want, and how can we give that to you?” The initial idea – drawn in driveway chalk – achieves the goal of connecting families through memories, much like Sarah and Stephanie have done with their friendship and families.
“We refer to ourselves as ‘The Artist” and ‘The Boss Lady,’” says Sarah. “That has been part of what has made Duncan & Stone so successful… When we launched Duncan & Stone, we were both stay-at-home moms. I don’t know that either of us would have predicted that we’d ever be here. It’s really cool being able to look at the journey that started with our friendship and our joint desire to give this gift to families that we weren’t able to find.”
Although it is predominantly an E-commerce company, Duncan & Stone Paper Co. journals are found in several hundred boutiques nationwide. While Sarah runs more of the product design and creation sides of things and Stephanie covers day-to-day routines and number-crunching, they praise the guidance they were able to find while starting Duncan & Stone. With Stephanie’s husband coined the ‘connector,’ Duncan & Stone learned from the businesses around it. Sarah says, “Launching a business in a place like Northwest Arkansas is really amazing. We’ve received so much support and resources from other people.”
As Duncan & Stone states, their beautifully crafted products are made with an ‘intentional purpose:’ connecting families with keepsakes. Sarah emphasizes two important reasons she and Stephanie sought to start their business: “Capture the memories that matter most” and “Connect generations through the art of storytelling.” Prompted journals add value to memories by providing a concrete resource to look back on. You’ll cherish being able to see the signatures of relatives, look back on the stories that led your parents to one another, and even laugh at the embarrassing moments from your childhood.
You can find Duncan & Stone’s collection of journals on Amazon, Etsy, duncanandstone.com, or one of the many boutiques holding their product.
