Paper Dreams: An Entrepreneur Who Helps People Cherish Life’s Milestones
Cheree Berry’s career got an unexpected boost from a bra. During her final year as a communication arts major at Washington University in St. Louis, Berry decided her senior thesis would involve creating an interactive pop-up book on the history of the brassiere.
“That project gave me the confidence to go to New York and interview for major design firms,” she says. Armed with her book—Hoorah for the Bra—Berry ventured east and ultimately landed a dream job at Kate Spade New York before eventually returning to St. Louis to start her own graphic design business in 2006.
Raised in the historic mining city of Bonne Terre, Missouri, Berry’s mother arranged for frequent trips to St. Louis to experience the city’s rich cultural offerings. But for Berry, outings to the Hallmark store in neighboring Farmington held the most excitement. “I would be up and down the aisles pulling cards from their posts to experience them all,” she remembers. “I’d get a nervous stomach—so many cards and so little time.” Both in her school art classes and during her free time, she would craft, creating tactile designs inspired by her love of greeting cards and design.
Berry felt right at home at Washington University’s art school, describing the program as conceptual and intimate. After graduation, she pushed the boundaries of her small-town upbringing by moving to New York City to launch her graphic design career. She initially landed at Pentagram, the world’s largest independently-owned design firm. Having learned about the company during her college design courses, she felt fortunate to have secured a junior position at the prestigious consultancy.
After a year working for high-profile clients that included Liz Claiborne and UPS, Berry transitioned to Toth+Co to experience life at an advertising agency. While working there, she learned of a job opening at Kate Spade New York. “I didn’t even know that Kate Spade, a fashion and accessories company, had graphic designers on staff,” Berry says. “I thought you had to be a fashion major.”
But fortunately, the company relied heavily on talented graphic designers to execute its vision. “It was a dream job in all sense of the imagination,” Berry recalls of her four-year tenure as associate art director. When she joined the iconic fashion brand in 2001, the company was only six years old, yet ahead of its time. “Kate and Andy Spade coined lifestyle,” Berry says. “It wasn’t about having that handbag, but wanting the world of Kate Spade.” She helped promote the brand by designing handbag patterns, editorial lookbooks and packaging.
During her final year at Kate Spade, Berry oversaw the company’s partnership with luxury stationery brand Crane & Co. Transitioning the small paper accessories collection to a full assortment of wedding paper products, she created an opportunity for couples all over the world to access the Kate Spade lifestyle.
As Berry immersed herself in wedding print pieces for her day job, she started designing custom invites for engaged friends on the side. “I loved designing invitations and it didn’t feel like work,” she says. While Berry’s Kate Spade wedding album offered only a dozen designs generalizing the style of the average American, she created one-of-a-kind custom invitations for engaged friends or acquaintances.
Catching the Wedding Bug
Looking back on her four years at Kate Spade, Berry says, “it felt like a fantastical blip, but had I not gone there, I would never be doing what I’m doing now.” And toward the end of her successful stint with the company, Berry caught the wedding bug herself. She relocated back to St. Louis to be with her now-husband, Jeff. Realizing that a comparable job to the one she held at Kate Spade probably didn’t exist in the Midwest, she decided to start a graphic design business. “The knowledge I learned at Kate Spade and working with Crane & Co. gave me the confidence to bring my love of design and relationship-building to St. Louis to start Cheree Berry Paper,” she says.
Confident in her product, Berry relied on word of mouth to promote her business. And through a chance encounter, she gained a client based in Washington, D.C. whose maid of honor happened to be Chelsea Clinton. A few years later, Clinton contacted Berry to produce her own wedding invitations.
Since launching Cheree Berry Paper, Berry has grown the company to a team of 25 and no longer relies simply on word of mouth to build her business. Committed to creativity, her team focuses on design details across its product offerings, which include wedding invitations and other celebratory occasions such as non-profit galas. Though Berry’s focus remains on telling stories through the medium of paper, she’s expanded her expertise to digital design, partnering with Paperless Post. “We are communicators, and in today’s digital age, we think about the best platform and medium for our clients without losing the romance,” she describes.
Berry has settled into her leadership role, setting the mission and values of Cheree Berry Paper while trusting typography and layout to her talented staff. She also thoughtfully ponders future growth opportunities. Whether considering options for premium package delivery or expanding her whimsical retail presence, Berry’s motivations remain the same as when she first discovered her love of design. “The business I’m in is all about milestones and the most important moments in people’s lives,” she says. “We thrive at the intersection of great people and design.”
Berry designs her family’s annual holiday cards.