I met Yoko Chapman when we worked together on an advertising project for Sweet Impressions bakery. Before our first face-to-face meeting, I had the chance to meet a few of her clients and was intrigued by the opportunity to work with her further. Yoko was certainly a woman whose reputation for design and marketing preceded her. I was impressed by her professionalism and organization. It was clear that she had an incredible drive for perfection and excellence in everything she does.

I was flattered when Yoko asked me to be the photographer for her portfolio magazine. I knew she was putting a tremendous amount of trust in me to capture all the details in a way that would communicate her style and meet her high level of expectation. But, like Yoko, I love a good challenge and welcome the opportunity to move in new directions.

Yoko offered me a long list of references to get in touch with before I committed to the project, so I could get a better sense of who she was. I actually declined to do so because something about her sparked an immediate trust and inclination to let things unfold and see where they would lead. I share Yoko’s commitment to collaboration with local businesses, and the idea that when creative minds come together the results can be amazing. I had a good feeling that we would work well together.

In working on this project, I had the opportunity to meet key players in almost every business featured in this magazine. For me, it was a great opportunity to make some fantastic new connections, several of whom I look forward to working with again. It was inspiring to be witness to the relationships Yoko has developed with the women I met. She has an uncanny ability to motivate people, to explore the possibilities and potential within their businesses, and to reach out and make new connections with others. Yoko’s network seems to have become her trusted friends, to whom she is completely loyal and who are committed to her in return.

At the end of my part of this project, I was confident that Yoko would be the person I would want to help me fine tune my own business objectives and come up with a new branding strategy. Prior to working with her, I had switched logo designs a number of times and truly hadn’t come up with anything that I loved and felt satisfied with. Yoko was able to separate what I liked in my current branding from what wasn’t working for me, and fine tune it into something I love. Now my logo and branding not only convey my style as an artist, but are better targeted towards the type of client I look to attract.

Yoko is honest in her opinions, and diplomatic when she expresses them. She is perceptive and insightful in her understanding of her clients’ needs. She has a dedication to her clients and her work that is truly inspiring. She is a rare and truly creative soul, not only with her keen sense of design, but in her approach to business development. She has a spirit for entrepreneurship that continues to serve her well time and time again.

It has been an honour to work with Yoko on this project, and a remarkable journey to witness where she has come from in the past 12 years of her design career.  I truly look forward to seeing what she will do next!

~ Erin Alexander Erin Alexander Photography

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I answered the phone, and the woman on the other end of the line introduced herself to me as Yoko Chapman. She was calling about the Wonderful Wedding Show, and wanted to know if I would be interested in being part of something called “Green Street”. As she unpacked her vision for this eco wedding inspiration, I had an increasing sense that there was a lot more to this woman. I didn’t know it yet, but an amazing personal and professional relationship was born that day.

From this first project together, I learned that if Yoko could see it, it could be. I realized that I should just “go with it” when she said she had an idea, because Yoko is an incredible visionary who possesses the creativity and work ethic to make it all come together in the end. Whether or not I could see it was irrelevant.

It wasn’t long before Yoko and I fed off each other with our various projects. Whether it’s my jewelry designs that inspire her graphics, or her graphic designs that pull things together for my exhibits and marketing, we often rely on each other for inspiration and support.

Two of our biggest projects were the designs for the VERT™ Yoko Chapman stationery line (a co-brand with WedVert) inspired by Vintage Bling jewelry designs, and Vintage Bling going to the Golden Globe Awards with Yoko’s help on all the publicity graphics.

Above and beyond our professional relationship, our personal lives have become entwined. I have found a friend who is inspirational, supportive and challenging. We’ve laughed and cried together, listened to each other and encouraged one another.

I feel indebted to Yoko for that initial invitation to be a part of her “big picture”. I just know there’s a lot more where that came from and I’m in, whatever it is!

~ Dayle Goertzen Vintage Bling

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I have known Yoko Chapman for 25 years. She first began working at my business, Viewpoints Research while still a university student. After university, she was promoted to the position of Field Director where she oversaw the hiring and training of our call centre staff as well as the scheduling and implementation of all of Viewpoints Research projects across Canada. Although very young at the time, Yoko handled many difficult human resources issues with great skill, professionalism and maturity. She is also extremely organized and was able to balance many different demands at once. Overall, she excelled in her work and was a positive asset to our company.

Yoko first started her business, Pulp & Circumstance, as a part-time home based venture, while still working at Viewpoints Research. When on maternity leave in 2002 she continued to develop and market her business and decided to pursue Pulp & Circumstance full-time.

Yoko began marketing her stationery products through the Wedding Show and by word-of-mouth. From there she capitalized on the internet and new trends in e-business. She is an innovator and someone who works in a strategic manner with a business plan for growth.

A true entrepreneur, she wasn’t satisfied with her tremendous level of success producing beautiful, quality products. She then created a complete line of eco-chic stationery products, using biodegradable, vegetable based inks made from 100% post consumer waste paper. She also organized a collective of four local environmentally-conscious companies to support and cross-promote their businesses.

Yoko is incredibly creative and artistic. She can make anything and everything she makes is beautiful. An example of her talent is the award won in 2008 for the best booth at the Wedding Show.

I never doubted that Yoko would be successful in business. She has talent, creativity and the ability to produce and market her work. Just as importantly though, she doesn’t neglect the business basics, such as a solid business plan. Yoko is an energetic, driven, committed person whose business I have no doubt will continue to thrive.

~ Ginny Devine Viewpoints Research Ltd.

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I first met Yoko Chapman in 1989 as a university student who worked part-time at Viewpoints Research where I was a partner. Yoko worked her way up in our company over the next several years, showcasing her competence, intelligence, reliability and excellent people skills.

The work called upon her “responsible” side, but did not speak to her creative side. So naturally she started a business in her free time! Seasonal cards and candles were her first venture. She hit the Christmas craft sales and sold to her friends from home. My favourite were beeswax sushi candles. They were amazing!

After her first child was born, when she was not busy being a mom, the creative and entrepreneurial side of Yoko took over. She ventured into the world of unique wedding invitations, among other things. Her friends learned to leave her be in January, as preparation for the Wedding Show included not only creating wedding stationery, but also designing award-winning booths for herself and others.

Yoko is one of the most creative and artistic people I know. She puts 100% of herself into everything she does and is unfazed by challenges and setbacks. She’s a great collaborator and has vision and drive – important keys to entrepreneurial success.

Now that Yoko is transitioning into a new chapter in her life and career, she’ll bring all her past experience with her and once again blaze a trail.

~ Rosemary Chambers

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Yoko and I met in 1996 when we worked together at Viewpoints Research and I got to know Yoko very well. At the time, I operated a part-time home enterprise creating gourmet spice mixes and Yoko had just begun to explore starting her own business. It didn’t take long to discover that we both possessed very strong artistic and creative characteristics, and we quickly built a relationship where we shared ideas and worked together to strategize and plan new products for our businesses. Over the next few years, I had the pleasure of watching her business blossom and grow. Yoko always took a great deal of care when planning and designing her products and the results were always extremely innovative, one-of-a-kind and high quality.

In 2000, I moved to a job at Investors Group, which gave me the opportunity to be involved in the planning of corporate meetings and events. In my role as a Director of Corporate Meetings & Incentives, I have had many opportunities over the years to work with Yoko on countless projects where she has designed fabulous, unique paper creations for our corporate functions all over the world.

When Yoko introduced her new environmentally friendly product line to our event planning staff at Investors Group my colleagues and I were delighted because it was a perfect fit with Investors Group’s initiative to switch over to “greener” event planning practices.

As a corporate event planner, I have a true understanding of the resources required to produce an event on a large scale. Producing a corporate event has been compared to “building a mini city and tearing it down again”. Every effort to reduce waste and minimize the event’s environmental impact along the way is absolutely essential. Paper waste reduction has become a major focus and will continue to be so in years to come. The Greenvites Eco-Stationery line gave new options with a recycling service that provides an outlet to offset the event’s environmental impact by refurbishing used stationery into new designs, and donating a portion of sales to the Forest Stewardship Council.

It has been a privilege working with Yoko and her 2008 nomination for Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award came as no surprise. She has always been a woman of vision, and is a hard-working, creative and dedicated individual, a true example of a model woman entrepreneur.

~ Coleen Deckert

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I have known Yoko Chapman since 1995 when she employed me at Viewpoints Research.

Yoko began working at Viewpoints in 1988. While still in her early 20s, Yoko was promoted to the position of Field Director, a job of some scope and responsibility overseeing scheduling, human resources and general management of the call centre and its staff of approximately 100 telephone interviewers and supervisory staff.

Yoko brought boundless energy, vision and attention to detail to her role as Field Director. She oversaw the transition of our call centre from a 20 station operation conducting surveys on paper to a fully computerized 28 station call centre. She designed and implemented systems for our call centre in the early 1990s that are still in place today because, quite simply, they work.

In 1996, I became a Field Supervisor, and began a period of working more closely with Yoko. Yoko encouraged her staff to take initiative and we increasingly worked collaboratively on projects and ideas to streamline Viewpoints’ operations.

As a practising visual artist working in design, illustration and comic art, I was aware of Yoko’s educational background and creative interests. It seemed, then, a logical step when she negotiated a job share arrangement for her Field Director position to pursue her creative interests and began her home-based business, Pulp & Circumstance. In 1999 Yoko and I began a challenging job share that required clear communication to ensure that no stitches were dropped in a fast-paced, details-rich environment.

Within the scope of our responsibilities at Viewpoints, Yoko and I were a great team. We pushed each other to continually improve our call centre and had fun doing it; brainstorming ideas, building upon them and making the Viewpoints Call Centre both an efficient operation and a positive, accommodating workplace.

Yoko had other dreams, though, and in 2002 she resigned from Viewpoints Research to focus her energy on Pulp & Circumstance and her young family.

I have always admired Yoko’s focus, drive and energy in all that she does, but in particular in building her home-based business amid the chaos and distraction that two pre-schoolers bring to a household.

The growth of Pulp & Circumstance in a few short years is a measure of Yoko’s commitment to personal and business success. She continually explores new trends, ideas and markets to develop clear plans for growth, then rolls up her sleeves and puts her plans into action. Yoko’s creativity and innovation are seemingly boundless. It can be seen in the extensive range of her products, each one beautiful, and also in the way that she has capitalized on emerging trends in e-business to reach her market and position Pulp & Circumstance for growth.

Collaboration was a mark of my relationship with Yoko at Viewpoints Research and continues to be a theme for Yoko. The Eco Luxe Event Design Group, a collaboration between several businesses including Pulp & Circumstance, wisely drew upon a range of expertise and successes that complemented one another and provided clients with more choice, more product and greater scope.

Yoko has accomplished a great deal over the years, yet I sense she has only just begun and a very bright future lies ahead.

~ Noreen Stevens Old Green Canoe

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Sweet Impressions’ testimonial of love and devotion… Yoko Chapman has a flawless ability to tailor innovative, upscale designs from simple ideas and concepts. Through collaboration, our companies have cross-marketed products and advertising campaigns over the past eight years. Her success stems from her creative soul, powerful work ethic, attention to detail and determination to deliver her clients top quality results. I am thankful that Yoko has played a large part in the evolution of Sweet Impressions, and will continue to be a part of our company’s future.

~ Krista Robertson Sweet Impressions

 

 

 

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Yoko and I met in 2006 at the Wonderful Wedding Show in Winnipeg where one of the booths Yoko designed won the prize for Best Booth Display. I was extremely impressed with her brilliant concept to replicate a pink 1950s retro kitchen to promote Sweet Impressions bakery. I approached Sweet Impressions to inquire about their original booth design and they directed me to Yoko. I couldn’t wait to meet with her to discuss ideas for the presentation and layout of my booth, and an overall brand. Just a few months later, Yoko met with me to develop a new image for my business including a new logo, website design and wedding show booth design. She combined what she had learned about me with forecasted market and design trends and a high dose of creativity, to come up with a collection of ideas for my business’ new brand.

At around the same time Yoko started thinking about transforming her own home-based stationery business. She had been in business a few years and felt a need to embrace emerging trends and e-business. She focused on developing better ecological practices for paper and ink usage and also worked hard on strategic web placement to maximize her growth potential.

Yoko invited me to form Eco Luxe Event Design Group along with her business and two other companies in an effort to promote “green” event products and services to Winnipeg and other Canadian markets. She was quick to recognize that I had already been providing and implementing eco-friendly services for my clients, and encouraged me to promote myself and my company further in this direction. Our alliance has been fruitful, and I am confident we will continue to work together to offer even more environmentally friendly services to our customers in the future.

Yoko is incredibly organized and committed to her plans for growth. Her energy inspires me and her positive attitude makes me think we will hear much more about her in years to come. When I work with Yoko taking photos of her products, she’s the one organizing the shoot schedule, props and angles, and she comes to the studio ready to work. Her impact on my business and personal development have been significant. She has taken my image to a higher level and my clients are all very impressed. I’m also proud to have Yoko as a friend who listens and very often takes time away from her busy life to help me.

~ Patty Boge Cooking Partyz

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My firm, XLAB Interactive, worked with Yoko to help her execute her online business strategy for her line of eco-friendly stationery. As a fellow entrepreneur I see all the characteristics of business success in Yoko.

Recognizing the untapped market for environmentally friendly products, Yoko didn’t just launch a new line of products on the assumption they were needed, she conducted exhaustive research both with her clients and online, using the Internet as her marketplace. Armed with real data, she used this market intelligence to neatly fill a demand that was yearning for a solution.

Yoko sees the reach of the internet and its ability to help her tap into the “long tail” of market niches, and to venture where no mass marketing business would dare. Because Yoko understands the new age of commerce on the web, her clients now come from the USA, Europe and beyond.

Yoko has a well articulated vision for her company and since the beginning of our relationship, I have seen her carefully plan and act on this vision. Each step or tactic in her plan has been acted upon and realized. Yoko truly has the ability to see the future, and trends that are not mere fads but those deep shifts in our society, the ones that great entrepreneurs seize upon to gain “first mover” advantage. I have no doubt Yoko will become a Canadian success story, and an example of the successful execution of a dream, a vision, and a business plan. This vision and her ability to plan tactically to achieve her dreams set Yoko apart.

~ Alex Morrison XLAB Interactive

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It is an absolute pleasure to reflect on, and write about, the abilities and accomplishments of Yoko Chapman. I have known Yoko for over 10 years through our association in Manitoba’s Wedding Business Community. Yoko is a world-class artist with unique and original designs that would stand out in any market internationally. Yoko is a very savvy and extremely hardworking business person. She is innovative and ahead of her time when it comes to taking initiative in a progressive direction. She has gone from a small home- based business to having her own store in Winnipeg, world wide internet sales, and was a community leader in saving the planet with her Greenvites line and her launch of Eco Luxe Event Design Group.

When I first met Yoko, I just watched her! She had a booth right across from mine at the Wonderful Wedding Show and, when you are across from someone for three eight-hour days, you tend to notice them, especially when they are as creative as Yoko. Yoko’s company was called “Pulp & Circumstance” which in itself was brilliant to me. Her booth and invitation work outshone any of the others at the show, hands down, and I remember wondering if she realized how incredibly talented she is. It was a pleasure to have her work grace the pages of the Manitoba edition of Weddingbells Magazine, and an even greater pleasure getting to know this amazing young woman whose work I had admired across the convention centre aisle. The other thing about Yoko is that, once she befriends you, she will be a true and loyal friend for life and do anything for you.

Yoko is always ahead of her time! Before “green” was even in, Yoko started creating so that eco-savvy brides could say “I Do” with stylish and environmentally friendly stationery. Yoko took it beyond paper, using soy based inks and vegetable dyes to help prevent air and water pollution as well. It’s just the way she is. She never goes half way. It’s perfection  or nothing. Yoko’s green designs soon graced the national pages of Weddingbells and she became an “authority” the magazine would call on for all matters green. And it wasn’t just Weddingbells who was watching her. When the number one green wedding site in North America wanted to launch a line of chic wedding stationery, who did they call? Yoko Chapman! Hers was the first green and carbon-neutral wedding stationery line – VERT™ Yoko Chapman (a co-brand with WedVert) – and it was unveiled at the National Stationery Show, followed by a launch event in New York City in May 2009 with special guest, celebrity event planner, Preston Bailey! Inspired by vintage finds and “grandma’s jewelry box”, this stationery collection was fresh and modern but with a throw back to bygone eras like Hollywood Glam of the ’30s and Chic Bohemian ‘70s. Our Yoko had made the big time and I envisioned her moving to New York, never to be seen again. I was thrilled for her, but also sad at the thought she may no longer be around.

Instead…Yoko took a step back. And here’s where loyalty, grace and humility took over. She left it all. She walked away from the “bright lights”. She closed her store and decided to work on a new project…her young family.

Yoko chose the freedom to be there for her family and I respect her more than ever. I know she’s still going harder and faster than most people who have “jobs” and she’s scheming and dreaming up all kinds of interesting projects mostly because Yoko cannot sit still. Yoko cannot stay down. Yoko creates. And she creates so well!

~ Liz Duerksen Weddingbells Magazine

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I met Yoko during my first year as an exhibitor at the Wonderful Wedding Show in 2004. The first thing I loved was her name. She must have been born in the 70s, I thought. I was immediately drawn to her innovative booth design and unique stationery products. I also loved her business name, Pulp & Circumstance. I immediately knew that many people wouldn’t get the play-on-words, but I did, and I thought how gutsy to use it anyways. She was above the norm in my estimation.

We became acquaintances, and then friends, while working together on an event for Weddingbells Magazine in 2007. Later that year, Yoko approached me to design flowers for her booth at the upcoming Wonderful Wedding Show. I was flattered, and amazed, not only at the booth she had designed, but also that she was launching an eco line of stationery which would be available worldwide.

Then came the invitation to join Eco Luxe Event Design Group in 2008. Our concept of four environmentally conscious companies working together to offer custom designed weddings and events was well received by the public and press at the show – even more so when Pulp & Circumstance and My Secret Garden both won Best Booth Awards.

Yoko’s booth was astounding – twelve 3D brides created entirely from paper, each one unique from dress embellishment to hair and shoes. The concept, painstaking detail, and the time involved in creating these pieces of art, not to mention the stationery, made it clear that she was not only an artist, but also a visionary.

We worked together on The Eco Luxe Event Design Group Gala Launch, held at Birks’ new Main Street location. Yoko not only created and supplied all of the stationery items, but was solely responsible for the advertising, press releases, mission statement, and was also spokesperson for Eco Luxe.  Working with Yoko on this event illustrated her tireless energy, determination, sense of responsibility and natural business sense. It was clear that she was someone who I could depend on, trust, and work with.

Since launching Eco Luxe, the group has been featured in the Winnipeg Free Press, Winnipeg Women Magazine, and has advertised in Western Living. Yoko’s work has been featured in The Chamber Wire and Weddingbells Magazine. Yoko was nominated, and chosen as a finalist for the Women’s Entrepreneur of The Year Award in 2008.

Yoko organized “Green Street” at The Wonderful Wedding Show in 2009, which offered Eco-Chic wedding planning options. Green Street was featured in The Wonderful Wedding Show Guide in the Winnipeg Free Press.

All “firsts” and amazing concepts of her own brought to reality because of Yoko’s education, but more so her vision, determination, business savvy, selflessness, and ability to stay calm and unbiased in difficult situations. She is skilled at knowing when change is needed and implementing it. And she has more stamina than I (but I am a lot older)!

Yoko’s two children are very lucky to have her for a mom. They have inherited her creative side and she has taught them to truly appreciate the talent in others. I wonder if they know how lucky they are; the parties, the costumes, the adventures, the magic, and the love that surrounds them.

I think Yoko’s goal is to drag me kicking and screaming into the 21st century world of business, in a supportive way. She is also continually telling me how talented I am, and how much she appreciates my friendship.

“Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads” (Erica Jong). Yoko has both talent and courage but, more importantly, she is willing to share it with others.

~ Bonny Fraser My Secret Garden

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Yoko Chapman has influenced my approach to my profession in so many ways. She has inspired me with her attention to detail and her consistent professional approach to her clients. She has helped me create a professional image and, by so doing, has strengthened my confidence.

Yoko’s constant enthusiasm for design and her boundless energy has encouraged me. Her influence has had a very positive effect on me not only professionally but personally as well.

Through the years, Yoko and I have also developed a lasting friendship. Her loyalty, respect and encouragement are not only wonderful attributes in a professional designer, they are characteristics that are cherished by a friend.

~ Josephine Pulver Josephine Designs

 

 

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For 12 years, Yoko has been a trendsetter in Winnipeg’s wedding industry. Yoko has changed her business with the times, while maintaining her classic, beautiful style.

I met Yoko just after launching my eco-event planning business. Yoko’s creation of Eco Luxe, a green wedding industry group, had me looking up to her, and feeling intimidated by her, before we even met. When she suggested a Green Business Collaboration I was thrilled to be working on a project with such a talented designer who had such a wonderful reputation in our city.

We created a wedding planning booklet, including pockets for receipts and cut-outs, checklists and green wedding tips. I still give a booklet to each client, and they always love this beautiful and useful gift. This booklet, and everything else Yoko has designed, is classic and trendy at the same time. She obviously spends a lot of time perfecting every tiny detail. Yoko always seems to be working on a business collaboration or sharing her time and talents with others.

Yoko’s interest in me could have been purely business, but it wasn’t. When she found out I hadn’t had a launch party, she hosted one at her shop. When I was panicking about my wedding show booth design, she gave me ideas and offered supplies. And she gave me a job working for her, which allowed me inside information to stationery design, her business philosophy, and wedding industry advice. It was the best work experience I could have hoped for.

The main things I have learned from working with Yoko are: the benefits of networking sincerely, big opportunities aren’t always worth the cost to a person’s personal / family life, keeping priorities in order and sharing skills with others without expecting to get something in return.

Yoko was my first significant and longest-standing connection to the industry I work in and love. I can’t count the number of times I’ve said “Yoko said…” followed by a new way to look at my job, my plan, or my life. I know I wouldn’t have had the same kind of opportunities without working with her and I am very grateful!

~ Jessica Ehlers With A Flourish

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I connected with Yoko instantly and sometimes feel I have known her longer than I really have.

We met in 2009 when I opened a stationery business at the same time Yoko was winding down her business, Pulp & Circumstance. I had the opportunity to purchase some supplies from her and that is how we met. I liked her instantly. She was an entrepreneur with drive and smarts. I thought, if I could learn from Yoko and be half as successful, I was in good shape. I can’t honestly say what took us from a business relationship to a friendship but it was seamless.

Yoko has helped and mentored me in ways I don’t think she even realizes. Every conversation I have had with her I take away more knowledge. Yoko can take a negative and turn it into an opportunity. I have often thought Yoko could just about take on anything and make it something. I don’t know how she does it or, frankly, where she gets the energy and drive. It never shuts down.

Yoko has helped me and my business tremendously in design and marketing. She is so talented in many areas and I consider myself to be very fortunate to have her in my life. They say things happen for a reason and the reason for me was I needed someone like Yoko in my corner. When I share with her a success, she is just as happy for me as I am. In marketing, she takes my business to the next level. It’s so important to keep evolving and she looks for opportunities and follows through. Yoko has created my web presence, promotional materials, email marketing campaigns, and provided advice on just about every aspect of my business. Even though Yoko’s business was in stationery, she is so diverse in her approaches. My husband’s fitness business needed some marketing. Yoko took it and gave it a solid foundation to build on, and has proven that it can be done without a bottomless pit of funds which many businesses in start up simply don’t have. She has provided him with marketing materials and a web presence that are often complimented by others.

In my second year as an exhibitor at the Wonderful Wedding Show, I won Best Booth and I was thrilled. Industry colleagues were congratulating me and I was so proud. There is no doubt that Yoko is the reason that booth won. She had a vision and worked with me to create that vision. She spent hours with me planning, shopping and crafting for shear motivation of a job well done.

Over and over again she demonstrates that good is not acceptable, it should be perfect. When I made the decision to start my own business, I wanted to create an outstanding product and I wanted to be known for quality. Yoko has taught me that it takes time to build a reputation, and that I should never lose that vision. Yoko reinforces what I do well, makes me realize I need patience and that those that come to me do so because they too recognize what I do well.

To sum up Yoko in three words – she is a friend, a mentor, and an entrepreneur. She truly cares, professionally and personally. She has enabled me to grow in business and as a person. Her entrepreneurial spirit radiates. It’s a cliché, but she was born for it!

I look forward to many more successful years in business. When I decide that it’s time to call it a day, I will look back on the journey and I know I will reflect on what it became because of Yoko. Thank you Yoko!

~ Lizette Grivicic In So Many Words

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It is a great honour to write about the genius that is Yoko Chapman. Our “partnership” and evolving friendship with Yoko dates back about ten years.

Since our first contact with Yoko, through her cottage business of Pulp & Circumstance, our personal and community projects with her have grown in scope and variety. This has allowed us to appreciate Yoko’s growth as well. From her home, she expanded Pulp & Circumstance to a thriving storefront operation. Always cutting edge, Yoko launched Greenvites, Green Street and Eco Luxe to respond to the growing trend for recycling and re-purposing paper products.

With her keen eye for compatible talent and the generosity to promote others, Yoko often surrounds herself with individuals sharing the same drive and, hence, a healthy network of like-minded entrepreneurs. Sweet Impressions bakery is just one of these links and by locating Pulp & Circumstance side-by-side with this shop on Taché Street in Winnipeg, Yoko introduced her clients to yet another emerging business. Visually, the two stores were beautifully appointed and provided a “look” as well as energy to the district. They offered more than just a drive-by purchase; they were destination stops for those with discerning taste.

As we honed our skills in community and charitable initiatives, we could always rely on Yoko to be a willing partner and resource extraordinaire. As an example, we started Floral Philanthropy, an offshoot of Winnipeg Harvest, to re-purpose flowers from social events, which might otherwise find their way to the garbage. Through this program, donated flowers are re-purposed and delivered to hospitals and care facilities; the aim “a bloom for every bedside”. One of Yoko’s most endearing qualities is her eagerness to see others succeed and the incredible time and effort she devotes to helping their dreams become reality. Yoko was instrumental in assisting the Floral Philanthropy launch, to which we invited close to 100 guests comprised of friends, volunteers, Winnipeg Harvest staff and the media to explain and promote the concept. We received a call from Yoko asking that we keep our cereal, cookie, cracker boxes, etc. So, in our blind trust and faith in Yoko’s talents, we did so.

Voila! She arrived at the launch with a multitude of amazing cardboard flowers in tow, complete with handmade Floral Philanthropy tags attached. This give away allowed every guest to walk away with the pertinent contact information and the concept of re-cycling flowers top of mind. Such is Yoko’s ingenuity.

The most important factor in Yoko’s life, however, is her family. In juggling her many hats of wife, mother, friend, business entrepreneur and artistic talent, she has always involved them in her ever-changing journey. In fact, they actually keep pace with her. Their support is enthusiastic and hands-on. For example, both Elle and Jay participated in the construction of the Floral Philanthropy paper flowers. They will no doubt follow in their mother’s footsteps in their creative bent.

Yoko… thank you so much for everything you have done to aid and abet us!! Whatever your future endeavors, they will be a huge success.

~ Joyce Berry & Hennie Corrin Floral Philanthropy

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Meeting Yoko is an example of finding the perfect person at just the right time, right here in our neighbourhood! I have been so excited by our conversations. Your ideas and suggestions and knowledgeable advice is of such great benefit to me. Your ideas on product design, as well as potential marketing strategies, really help me to formulate my goals.

I was truly amazed with the intuitive brilliance you exhibited in the creation of my logos and business cards. The products you created are such a perfect representation of the vision I have for my company. I have a great appreciation for this kind of astute psychological awareness.

I think that you are a leader in design. You are years ahead of everyone else.

The main thing that I have taken away from our relationship – and this is huge for me – is that I am not alone. I can consult with you, learn from you and have you help guide me, through discussion, towards my unique goals for my company. I really appreciate the support, especially from someone who understands the multi-faceted life of a working mother.

~ Mary Anne Appleby Winnie The Bear, Dominions Street Publishing

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Yoko and I share the same passion to do the very best we can, if not better. Like Yoko, I often question my sanity working in this fast-paced, stressful world and simultaneously trying to find balance with my “real” life. But when I see my visions become reality, and see how what I’ve done makes a positive difference in someone else’s life, it makes it all worthwhile.

You’re an amazing person who’s accomplished amazing things, and I truly admire you taking time to let people know how they’ve influenced your life.

~ Sherri Rhuebottom Showtime Productions

 

 

 

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Pulp & Circumstance was my first design job after I graduated from Red River College in 2009. As a newly graduated designer, it was so beneficial to have had a knowledgeable and experienced mentor like Yoko take me under her wing. There are many things that aren’t taught in design schools, things that need to be learned on the job. Yoko made sure I experienced as much as possible and gave me a great deal of responsibility. It was stressful at times, but always fun.

~ Ayame Ulrich

 

 

 

 

 

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I’ve known Yoko for twenty years, first as a friend and then as an employer.

I’ve always been interested in art and design. One of my career highlights was obtaining a Fine Arts degree from the University of Manitoba. I was delighted when Yoko hired me to assist her at the Wonderful Wedding Show which won best booth for that year. I later worked with Yoko as a Design Consultant at Pulp & Circumstance.

Yoko is one of the most creative people I know. Yoko is intelligent, detail orientated and motivated.  When she launched her environmentally friendly Greenvites line, she was smart enough to recognize the market niche, artistic enough to design an attractive product and motivated enough to get the project up and running.

I value my relationship with Yoko. She is not only a great friend, but is truly inspirational. She has taken a passion for design and created a successful career for herself.

~ Lisa Johnston

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I have known Yoko for over half of my life. Our friendship has grown into a relationship spanning many years, with a lot of experience and water under the bridge. To me, that is a precious thing. Yoko and I are very different people, but I consider her a kindred spirit in many ways. One of the things I caught onto early, and which drew me to her like a moth to a flame, was her deep sense of creativity. It seemed to surround her in so many things she did, the way she saw life, what drove her. That in turn inspired me.

Her creativity and her drive are powerful forces. I am convinced that her mind rarely stops. The beauty of it all is that these things don’t just stay there in her mind, she makes them happen. Somehow she is able to balance this driving force, accomplish so much and balance her family within it all, which is of deep importance to her. I respect that.

I have had the deep pleasure of lending my hands to some of Yoko’s ambitious endeavours. When she told me she wanted to create an army of “space age” paper women for one of her wedding shows, made from a million tiny pieces of cut out paper, I couldn’t envision it at first, her mad genius in prime form, but it came together and it was magnificent.

I was also privileged to accompany her to the New York Stationery Show, where she was showcasing her incredible design work and stationery. Here again, I was witness to her amazing creativity, her drive, her professionalism, and her solid character.

Yoko and I don’t get to see each other a great deal these days. I am ensconced in the great north of Manitoba, juggling my life, living remotely, home schooling two kids and surviving the crazy shift work schedule of a husband in law enforcement. I tell people that raising my kids right now is my greatest act of creativity. As time goes on I hope to carve out more time for my other “art” and put my Bachelor of Fine Arts to work. I try to keep the wheels turning, but mostly I try to keep living my life creatively. It is my hope that I can inspire my kids to flourish in their creativity and maybe they can be the friend that inspires one of their friends towards living the richness of that creativity within them. Much like Yoko did for me way back when… and continues to do today.

~ Bonnah Rachul