Aces of Trades: Granville's Elizabeth Jones finds her niche with Poshta Design
GRANVILLE – She turned a love of crafting into a successful business.
"I was always a creative, craft-driven kid," Elizabeth Jones said. "I was often making little gifts for family or spending time immersed in one creative endeavor or another. I also come from a long line of people who dabbled in everything from woodworking and painting to sewing and music. So the arts were highly valued by the people around me. I always hoped I would be able to work in a creative field. The trick was finding my niche."
Today, Jones owns and operates Poshta Design, "likely the busiest mail-order business in the Granville ZIP code," as her husband, Sean, put it.
"I do everything, from designing products to ordering supplies and packing orders," Elizabeth said. "Sean is incredibly helpful with assembling and packaging the products, but otherwise I’m the lady behind the curtain."
The name Poshta, by the way, is Bulgarian.
"My family is largely Eastern European," Jones said. "The woman who arguably shaped me the most, my great aunt, was 100% Bulgarian. It means 'the mail.' When I started my business, I was doing a lot more graphic design and stationery. It’s grown from there, but the name is meaningful to me, so I never changed it."
Elizabeth Jones, often called Liz or Lizzie, mostly grew up in Defiance, graduated from Defiance High School in 2002, then took a few years off to work and get married before going to Ohio State University in 2006.
"I stayed for a while before realizing I’m far happier learning by doing," she said. "So I left and taught myself to use the design software I now use every day.
"I’ve been interested in the craft industry since I was a teenager," she said. "I always wanted to find a way to make a career for myself in the arts. I began as a bridal invitation consultant at On Paper in 2004. Not long after, I started in graphic design primarily creating stationery, invitations and greeting cards. When I began doing product design, I was illustrating stamps for paper crafting companies. Most people would use those stamps to make their own cards or scrapbooks. Then, as the paper crafting industry expanded to include more cutting tools, I began designing dies that could cut materials beyond paper. Suddenly the world of felt opened up to me."
Jones started working in graphic design around 2006 and began Poshta Design in 2008. But it wasn’t until 2020, when their daughter was born, that she "revived some designs I had never finished and set off to work for myself."
Jessie Frey is Liz’s sister so, she said, "I have witnessed her unmatched creativity my whole life."
"Liz has always been independent, detail oriented, patient (I can’t even dream of having the patience this woman possesses), driven, and passionate about all things craft," Frey said. "She has a gift to create magic out of even minor details. Whether it’s monogrammed ornaments or tags on presents, she has a personal touch that is truly inspiring. Whether it’s for family or friends, she goes out of her way to make everyone feel special."
"I’m so grateful for the enthusiasm and support of the craft community," Jones said. "Every new product release is a humbling reminder of how many people are rooting for me.
"Aside from the love of crafting itself," she said, "I’m also driven to create holiday magic for my daughter. So much of what I design is geared toward Christmas. I want her to have fond memories of lovingly handcrafted holidays. And when she’s grown and ready to leave home, I want her to have a lifetime of keepsakes that she can use to decorate her own home one day."
On the web
For more information about Poshta Design, log on www.poshtadesign.com.
Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs — whether they're unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at advocate@newarkadvocate.com or 740-328-8821.
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Aces: Granville's Elizabeth Jones finds her niche with Poshta Design
