The Accidental Entrepreneur - May Books

Move over yellow legal pads, there’s a new sheriff in town. (And she’s sportin’ some of the hottest graphic prints around.) From houndstooth to lattice and even mermaid (just a few of their addictive patterns), May Books is all about function meets whimsy with a power packed punch of personality to boot. List makers and journal’ers alike—it’s time to unite in the fight against ugly notebooks!

The woman behind the fab designs is none other than Mica May, a graphic and web designer turned entrepreneur extraordinaire. The idea for her stylish notebooks came about almost by accident when clients of her boutique web design firm began taking notice of her signature Moleskin notebooks that she brought along to all of her meetings. Over dinner one night, Mica and her husband Jonathan decided it was just crazy enough to work. Some might liken this design diva’s relationship with paper to that of a chef with his ingredients, and this unconventional romance wasn’t born overnight. After several months of researching paper and binderies – and perfecting her craft, Mica was prepared to officially launch her dream company.

What began as a custom notebook company has flourished to become a full blown retail site. Plus, you can find May Books in retail stores from New York and Massachusetts to Texas and Florida.

We know all the list makers out there have design savvy women (and men!) on their gift lists this month, and we wouldn’t be able to forgive ourselves if we didn’t share some of our favorite May Books with our Glass Heel Community. (Great for hostess gifts too!)

Prepare to be wow’ed… 

• For The Mommy-To-Be: We’re picking up the Bump Diary for the expectant moms in our lives. This weekly pregnancy journal features colored charts to track diet, exercise and weight gain plus there’s space for doctor notes and registry items.

• For The Aspiring Chef: We’re all about the Let’s Bake journals for all those Rachael Ray wannabe’s. You can even take it one step further and add custom pages for making shopping lists or planning your weekly meals. 

• For The Monogram-a-holic: Everyone loves to receive a personalized gift, but the ladies on your list will absolutely flip when they see May Books’ line of Monogramatic notebooks. Enough said.

• For The Philanthropist: And my absolute favorite, the RISE School Art Book. The Mays are big supporters of the RISE School in support of their son who was born with Down Syndrome. Absolutely 100% of the proceeds go toward the school’s new building capital campaign.

The moral of this beautiful story? If you’re staying up at night toiling over your next business idea – you know, the one that’s bound to make you millions? Stop. Take some advice from Mica May herself and create products and services that you want. Create what you love and what you need…and all the rest will fall into place.

“I don't believe in accidents,” said Picasso. “There are only encounters in history. There are no accidents.”  

Originally published on November 28, 2011.