IAM1352 – CEO Creates Innovative Custom Designs for her Clients

With an eye for innovative and creative custom designs, Nicole Fingers embraced her passion for paper, stepped out on faith, and opened FINGERS IN INK fine invitations and a stationery boutique in May 2002.

The brick-and-mortar boutique is located in the heart of Lyon Park in Arlington, Virginia. Nicole brings her love for contemporary art in creating each of her custom invitation suites for all social and wedding celebrations.

FINGERS IN INK has been recognized in numerous print and digital publications, notably; Washington Post, Munaluchi Bride, and United with Love. DC Luxury, Washingtonian Weddings, Grace Ormonde Wedding Style, and Uptown Washington. As a professional in the event and wedding industry, Nicole has the reputation of being a leader and mentor, who is known to champion and encourage other industry professionals. She is dedicated to creating a positive impact on the industry, by giving back with her talents, time, and wisdom.

The native Washingtonian was educated in Prince George’s County Public Schools. She attended Ohio State University, graduating in May 1996 and receiving a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Mathematics.

• CEO Story: Engineering by trade but Brittany was always asked to make people’s invitations, announcements, etc. And so she realized that it was her niche. Believing what her mentor says, do what you love and the money will come. Brittany is about to celebrate her 20 years in her creative designs.
• Business Service: Stationary boutique, and virtual presentations and consultation as well.
• Secret Sauce: In just a conversation, Nicole can grasp what the person wants. And so she can create a pitch/ invitation specifically for them.
• CEO Hack: App Honeybook – gather info from the client during the inquiry stage. Initial introduction for the client.
• CEO Nugget: Stay on your lane. Do what it is that you wanna do. Stay focus.
• CEO Defined: Resilience, strength, power, commitment.

Website: fingersinink.com

Facebook: @fingersinink

Instagram: @fingersinink

Twitter: @fingersinink

Tiktok: @fingersinink

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Transcription

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00:23 – Intro

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkness values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO podcast.

00:50 – Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Nicole Fingers of Fingers in Ink. Nicole, super excited to have you on the show.

01:00 – Nicole Fingers

Thank you so much for having me.

01:02 – Gresham Harkless

Yes, excited to have you on. And before we jump into the interview, I want to read a little bit more about Nicole. So you can hear about some of the awesome things that she's been working on. With a passion for innovative and custom designs, Nicole pursued her love for paper and opened a stationery boutique in May 2002. The brick-and-mortar boutique is located in the heart of Lyon Park in Arlington, Virginia. Nicole brings her love for contemporary art and creates each of her custom invitation suites for all social and wedding celebrations.

Finger and Ink has been recognized in numerous print and digital publications, notably the Washington Post, Montelucci Bride, United with Love, DC Luxury, Washington Weddings, Grace Armandie, Wedding Style, and Uptown Washington. As a professional in the event and wedding industry. Nicole has a reputation of being a leader and a mentor who is known to champion and encourage other industry professionals. She is dedicated to creating a positive impact for the industry by giving back with her talents, time, and wisdom.

The native Washingtonian was educated in Prince George's County Public Schools. She attended the Ohio State University, graduated in 1996, May 1996, and received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering with a minor in mathematics. And she definitely knows the answers to my joke that I always say, the square root of pi. She could definitely give us that answer, but of course, we're not here for that. Nicole, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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02:26 – Nicole Fingers

Yes. I can't even believe that was me that you were talking about. I'm like, eh.

02:31 – Gresham Harkless

Yes, well, you're doing awesome things. You're like, where does the time go? Cause you're doing so many moving and shaking moves and awesome things. So it's great to have you hear a little bit more about how you got started and everything.

02:43 – Nicole Fingers

Yeah, thank you so much again for having me. But I can't the time has gone by so fast, within 20 years, I'll be actually celebrating 20 years in May of 2022. So it's like, wow, all of that has been accomplished. So, and I have so much more I wanna do. So I can't wait to hear in another 20 years what that bio is gonna sound like.

03:03 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, and I'm eagerly excited for that episode as well too, of what we're going to say in the next 20 years and what that's going to look like. So I guess to kick everything off, let's rewind the clock a little bit to how you got started, what I like to call your CEO story. We'll let you start out with all the awesome work you've been able to do.

03:18 – Nicole Fingers

How I got started, how I actually got started is extremely funny. I, because I'm an engineer by trade, I kind of stumbled upon it. I've always loved paper, but I was always asked to do people's invitations, announcements, and things like that, and realized this was my niche. This truly was something that I really loved and had a passion for. And I spoke with someone who actually mentored me.

She was a stationer in Chicago, and she said that if you did what you loved, the money would come and she never lied about that. So, it was tough to believe that story, but It was true. It was so true in just doing what you loved and finding that niche and do it well. Don't venture off and try to do 5 different things. Do what it is that you love and definitely the money will come.

04:15 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, that makes so much sense. And you know, you hear so many times about, you know, people that are truly excellent at their craft and what it is that they do. Those are people that often do pick a lane and they really own that lane. They really know it. They stay in it. They get that excellence after years and years and years of, as they say, being at their craft and being really great at what they do. So kind of sounds like you've had that similar experience.

04:39 – Nicole Fingers

Yes, definitely, definitely. And a lot of it is self-taught. I mean, if I had known that I was going to be a business owner, I would have gone to college for entrepreneurship. I totally would have opposed engineering, but it allows me to use that skillset that I did learn in college, a lot of math, which I still use in not only just balancing my books, but also measurements of paper. And it does come in handy, but I still wish I had the foresight to at least take some business classes. And I always encourage young people that I mentor when they are going to college, you may not know the path.

I know you might be laser-focused on being whatever that is, but take some business classes just in case you get that entrepreneurial bug and you want to actually own your own business. And they don't see the foresight, but there's been 2 of them that have been, thank you so much for saying that, because these have come in handy because I do want to own my business, own business, and do what I went to school for. So it does come in handy. I don't think that that's oftentimes encouraged or even brought up in conversation when we talk to young people now.

05:56 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, and it's so important to kind of understand those things and kind of like those foundational skills like you mentioned, I feel like even learning about business, whether you do start your own business or you're working in a business, you get that different perspective of what it looks like even if you are an employee or whatever, C-suite, whatever you end up. But do you feel like, I've heard a lot of people have said that as an engineer, you start to realize how to solve problems? Do you feel like that has helped you from an entrepreneur to that point?

06:26 – Nicole Fingers

Yes. Oh my gosh. Yes. Especially electrical engineering. Electrical engineering has a lot of, it's a lot of problem-solving. It's a lot of seeing things that you don't actually see. It's like the theory of it all. So, that has definitely come in handy. Yeah. Wow. That's really, I've never heard anybody say this. So.

06:48 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, it's so funny. I start to listen to and read and interview people with different bios and they're engineers and they start to say like truly what engineering is. It's not saying that there's only one path. You have to figure out sometimes that path in entrepreneurship as we kind of been alluding to, you have to do that very much so there are always things that are not going according to plan, you have to adjust and change. And if you don't have that, I guess, the stomach for it sometimes, then it could really be something very much a challenge.

07:17 – Nicole Fingers

People always use that, it's the overused pivot. You have to have that pivoting, you know, agile spirit to be able to move and think ahead. It's really hard to think ahead, but you have to think ahead sometimes. And you said it right, the stomach for it. You need a stomach for this, for it to be in business. You really do.

07:40 – Gresham Harkless

It's a beast. I'll say that. It is, it is.

07:44 – Nicole Fingers

That's the nice word for it.

07:45 – Gresham Harkless

Exactly. That's the G radio. We're trying to keep the G radio on the podcast. So I wanted to drill down a little bit more, hear a little bit more about this journey, where you arrive, what you're doing, how you're serving clients. Can you take us through a little bit more about Fingers and Ink and what you're doing?

08:00 – Nicole Fingers

Fingers and Ink, Well, again, I'm a stationary boutique located in Arlington. So the really weird thing about it now that we've gone through the COVID process is that I'm servicing more people outside of the DMV, which is fantastic. And I'm actually being able to tap into people via Zoom and have my presentations and consultations with them virtually, which I'm like, why didn't I do this before? Zoom was a vital tool that we've used, you know, way before the pandemic. I just didn't know.

And you know, again, pivoting, having to make that transition through my business, man, it's just work. So I am looking forward to in the future to broadening my clientele outside of even the United States. So I really want to go international within the next few years I've done a few, but I really honestly, that's going to be my target is to make custom invitations, my brand to be more international as opposed to just domestic.

09:10 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, that makes so much sense. And I think, you know, using the word pivot, as much as we, you know, wish we kind of sometimes had the foresight. It's like we should have been doing that years before.

09:20 – Nicole Fingers

I can get an idea of their style. They can tell me what their favorite colors are. And I can really kind of get a concept of what music they listen to. Like in just regular conversation, I really can get a grasp of who you are and what you want to represent or resonate with people. I can, I guess in 20 years it's become a knack, I guess? I don't know.

09:43 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, it's so funny you say that because I was, I was going to ask you for the secret sauce thing you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique. I was actually going to ask that because I almost feel like once you start to know your craft and be really great at it, I feel like you're able to serve on such a higher level because you don't have to worry about how am I going to execute this or that because you've been able to do that. You've been able to kind of make that excellent. It allows you, I think, to be a lot more kind of service-oriented, listening and really helping to serve. Do you feel like that is part of your secret sauce?

10:13 – Nicole Fingers

Yes, I totally do. I think and I often say, look, I'm going to ask you some questions. They may be silly. But then after, I explain why I'm asking the questions, they're like, Oh, I didn't even think of it like that. And I'm like, okay. I'm, you know, and then, then they get it. And then I'm able to really create a very great picture or inspiration for invitations for them. And we never have to keep playing this cat-and-mouse game of no, that's not really it. I'm giving you options and guess what? You're gonna pick out of one of those 3 are going to be dead on.

10:50 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, I wanted to switch gears a little bit and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

11:01 – Nicole Fingers

Oh wow. HoneyBook is an app that I use to help me gather information, create invoices, and just intro letters. Oh gosh, it's so helpful. It really helps me to gather the information from the client. It's on my website And that is like the inquiry stage. So they can act, they can let me know it's a wedding, it's a party, it's something for a business. They can let me know. So when I am opening up to them and having my initial introduction to them, I know exactly what they want. So that is the biggest thing. Ah, I love it.

11:43 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, I haven't used any book. I just heard a little bit about it. I know I think a lot of, I think it might've started in the wedding, wedding or professionals. It's one of the reasons it was created if I'm right.

11:53 – Nicole Fingers

I think so, but I think it was good for anybody. It really helps the mainstream. I don't even take credit cards in person anymore.

12:01 – Gresham Harkless

So would you consider that to be a CEO nugget, which is a little bit more of a word of wisdom piece of advice? I usually say it might be something if you were to hop into a time machine, you might tell your younger business. So

12:12 – Nicole Fingers

I think my CEO nugget would be to stay in your lane, not do overdue, try to do 4 different things, be an all-in-one, and Do what it is that you want to do. Stick with that. Have the bandwidth to accept jobs that you know you can complete. And that's it. Real simple. It's very, very simple. Do stay focused. Do what it is that you want to do. If you want to be a wedding planner, be a wedding planner. If you want to do, you know, tire tracing, I don't know. Do that and stick with it. That's it. It's very simple. Stay in your lane of what you're crafted to do so that you're not doing so many things that you're not a master of any of them.

12:55 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. I love that. And I definitely love that picture as well too, because that really drives it home. So I want to ask you now my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on the show. So Nicole, what does being a CEO mean to you?

13:11 – Nicole Fingers

Oh gosh, it's about resilience. It's about strength, power, and commitment. Tag, I can't even in a nutshell give you one word, but those are solid words when I think of a CEO, I think of, And when I look at someone who's a CEO, I'm like, they've been through it. They're resilient. So that's me, I think for me in a nutshell.

13:43 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, it's funny. So funny you say that. I said, if you've been in business for, it seems like longer than 24 hours, you probably have had some fires and stuff to put out, let alone 20 years and counting to be able to do that. But I love those words, resilience, strength, power, commitment, because I think it really gets to the foundation of like what all of that means and just the ups and downs, the roller coasters of it, the things that are very, very frustrating. And some days you're on the top of the world the next day. And I think so many times people don't realize the, You see the high points, you don't necessarily see the less than high points that people kind of go through. So I love that resilience piece especially, but I think all of them are just so true in alignment.

14:26 – Nicole Fingers

Yeah, totally. I used to do menus for a restaurant that was right around the corner, and he was doing fabulous, And he got one bad review. And I said, you know, you have to be able to take criticism to be able to take the praise. So don't let that, you know, throw you off. It's gonna make you better. Take the criticism, and build on the criticism, it's going to make you better. And he listened to me and was like, you know what, that's really good advice. That's really good because you, of course, you're used to getting the praise you're used to. That's a safe place. But having somebody really kind of tap you on the shoulder and say this isn't that kind of really makes you re-evaluate yourself, come back, and really try to elevate.

15:15 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, Nicole truly appreciates that. Of course, I appreciate your time even more. So what I want to do now is pass you the mic, so to speak, to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know. And of course, how best people get a hold of you and find out about all the awesome things that you're working on.

15:28 – Nicole Fingers

Again, thank you so much for having me. You can reach Fingers in Ink on all social media platforms, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok at Fingers In Ink, F as in Frank, I-N-G-E-R-S-I-N-I-N-K. And that's about it. That's all That's all we're doing. Having fun and celebrating one event at a time.

15:50 – Gresham Harkless

Absolutely. And it's always great to do those things when you're on purpose as well, too. So I love all the awesome things that you're doing. I'm definitely going to put the links and information that show notes as well, too so that everybody can follow up with you. See about all the fun things that you're creating. But thank you so much for your wisdom, your excellence, your resilience, and power, and all those words we kind of talked about. Thank you so much again, and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

16:12 – Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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