The Women Behind the "I Believe In You" Stickers Around Galloway
Avery Primis opens up a pink Glossier pouch from her purse and spills out mountains of multicolor squares over the white carpet of Zoe Shapiro’s bedroom. On these little 2x2 pieces of paper are four words: I Believe In You. Avery instructs me and my two friends to take four stickers, put them everywhere we can, and to go follow IBIY club on Instagram right now!
The entire I Believe In You journey started five years ago at a photoshoot for Google in San Francisco. Sarah and Jane, the dynamic artist and media guru duo, are best friends. It has become their “thing” to say “I Believe In You” to encourage each other to take on the day, or just to lift each other up. Before they knew it, the idea naturally came to them that they could brand the phrase to spread this word of advice.
With Jane being an expert on social media and Sarah an artist, stickers were an easy yet effective way to do this.
Two years ago, the two launched the official @ibiyclub on Instagram and kicked into gear about a year and a half later to start experimenting with screen printing.
Avery Primis and her sister Fletcher, a ninth grader, were visiting Atlanta from Charlotte as a mini camp reunion; Avery is a counselor at YMCA Camp Thunderbird, and Fletcher is one of my closest camp friends.
Avery, a freshman at Fordham University, started interning with Jane Hall last fall and in turn, has been hands on in the evolution of IBIY club. She helps keep up with the Instagram page, as well as addressing and sending out orders.
Just recently, IBIY rebranded and expanded from all 2x2 square stickers to new holographic stickers that are of better quality. Orders are also now taken on their website through Jane’s domain, House of JPEG, instead of via Instagram messaging.
I chatted with Avery on the phone last week, and she advised that once you receive your beautiful stickers in the mail, you put them anywhere and everywhere. “I have one on my laptop, my phone, the inner cover of all my notebooks, Jane has them on walls: literally everywhere,” she said. “We go around the city and put them everywhere. Well, anywhere you can’t get in trouble for,” she added with a laugh.
It looks like I Believe In You has a promising future ahead of itself. The Instagram account continues to thrive, and the company has seen a major increase in sales with the new release of holographic stickers. All of the proceeds made on their website go directly back into creating better and more captivating stickers.
By supporting IBIY, you’re spreading a great positive message while supporting young small business owners. This can be done by buying stickers, giving one to a friend, and placing them everywhere you can. “If you see one around,” Avery says. “Take a picture and share on social media. And tag us @ibiyclub!”
By Annie Levy