In this quickly reply and press on through our busy days. The practice of card writing is quickly dying, but there are those who are trying to keep it alive. Hannah Owens, director of digital media for Harding, is one of them.

Owens has dreamed about owning a card business since she was a junior at Harding, when she initially had the idea, and she followed up on that idea during her senior year when she did a research project about how often students send and receive cards.

“I grew up getting cards from family members, and I always really enjoyed having that written sentiment of love or encouragement,” Owens said. “Senior year was the starting point. Once I had done the research, I realized I wanted to someday start a company of my own.”

Owens launched her card business, Han-written, in November 2015 at the Women for Harding Craft Fair. She currently sells cards online but hopes to eventually open up a physical store as well.

“I want to actually have a brick and mortar location somewhere in Downtown Searcy,” Owens said. “I’d love to be on the square and be in a place where I can interact one on one with customers.”

Owens’ passion for encouraging others, as well as the importance of written encouragement and its potential impact on someone is what makes the daunting and stressful task of running a business worth it in the end.

Dr. Andrew Baker, director of the Mitchell Center, shares the same sentiment, frequently writing cards to others and advocating the importance of written encouragement, sometimes even using Owens’ cards to do just that.

“I believe what Hannah has created in her card business is something really needed today, and that is personal encouragement,” Baker said. “People matter and personal cards are one way people can be shown specifically and personally why they matter. I know many people who have, in a folder or file cabinet, cards they have been age of technology, digital correspondence has become one of the primary ways to communicate. Texts, emails and social media notifications constantly light up our phone screens as we

given over the years and they mean the world to them. The power and importance of written personal communication should be something we all embrace.”

For more information about Han-written visit hanwrittencards.com.

Co-written by Luke Thiesen and Savanna DiStefano