In Conversation with Leona Asika and Ify Ike-Nwabuoku, Founders of Rich Girl Paper
October is Black History Month in the UK — a time to reflect, recognise and celebrate the contributions of Black individuals and communities across all sectors. At the GCA, we’re proud to spotlight the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of our Black-owned member businesses.
This Q&A series was launched by Sarah-Jane Porter, who now heads up the GCA Council Diversity & Inclusion Sub-committee, and continues to champion representation and inclusion across the industry.
What’s the name of your company?
Rich Girl Paper
When was the company first set up?
We’ve been in the card game for over five years and what started as a side passion turned into a whole movement. We recently we joined The London Studio Artists Collective to help grow our greetings card business and we’re excited to see what the future holds for us both.
Where is your business based?
Our HQ is in Lagos, Nigeria but we both have roots in the UK and USA.
Can you share a little about your background and who you are?
We’re Leona Asika and Ify Ike-Nwabuoku, business partners turned best friends. Our stories are quite similar: born in the U.S., raised in Nigeria, schooled in the UK, then both boomeranged back to Lagos. Working together wasn’t even the plan but it just…clicked
And it’s’ truly been an adventure of a lifetime! We’re both introverts who love colour, and when we’re not working, Ify’s creating some incredible nail art and Leo’s painting a masterpiece on an old pair of sneakers.
What first drew you into the world of greeting cards?
When we both moved back home to Lagos, we couldn’t find cards that featured black people or people of colour in general, which was quite alarming, for two avid greeting card lovers, so we made a decision to change that.
We wanted fellow greeting card lovers to have access to cards that looked like them, sounded like them and celebrated their culture.
What challenges have you faced on your journey so far, and how did you overcome them?
Expanding beyond Nigeria and the UK has been quite challenging but we love a challenge. It’s important for us that our customers are able to have access to our cards and a lot of demand was coming from the U.S. After searching quite a bit we found incredible print partners that are able to help us cater to this audience via our new website.
Looking back, what moment in your career has made you feel most proud?
There are so many moments to choose from, but a top tier memory? Signing with Moonpig! That was a dream from day one, and the day it came true, we both had to do the whole happy dance/cry combo. It was the most rewarding and reassuring feeling to remind ourselves that we created something extra special and there was still so much ground to conquer!
Where do you look for inspiration when creating new card designs?
Everywhere! Pop culture, conversations with friends, Nigerian slangs, TikTok moments, Afrobeats lyrics and family banter. We just bottle up real life and turn it into greeting card gold.
What’s the most memorable card you’ve ever received?
Leo’s favourite was a letter from her husband on their wedding morning, which had her tilting her head back so her makeup wouldn’t melt off. Ify’s favourite was a birthday card from her sisters, packed with love and classic big sister wisdom (and jokes at her expense). Both had us deep in the feels.
Do you have a personal favourite card you’ve designed? What makes it so special to you?
Leo’s favourite card is the Birthday Behaviour loading card from our Soft Life collection, because she loves how fabulous the illustration is! The message in the lenses of the sunglasses says “All I See Is Enjoyment” which embodies what the birthday should be all about.
Ify’s favourite card is actually a group of cards, our “Text > Calls” template which emulates an iMessage chat. She loves it because the messages on the cards really are exact messages that she would send to friends and loved ones, and it always makes people feel like it was made specifically for them.
Who or what has had the greatest influence on your creative process?
Honestly, we’d definitely say, it’s been Lagos. The energy, the chaos, the humour, the lingo, the culture. It’s all served as our creative moodboard since we started the business and everything is constantly changing, which keeps things exciting
What excites you most about your work and the business you’ve built?
Nothing compares to the genuine reactions and feedback from our customers. Their thoughts on the designs or a story about a recipient’s reaction. Epic stuff!
What’s next for Rich Girl Paper?
Rich Girl Paper is about to launch a brand new website with new cards, new collections, new features and some extra add ons, and for the first time ever, our cards will be available to the Nigerian, UK and US market, which we’re so excited about.
We’ve also now joined the Artists Collective run by The London Studio! We’d been following them for a while on Instagram. We love the role they play in the licensing space and we’re so excited for the partnership ahead.
It’s been extremely helpful so far, being able to be in retail spaces that we had previously thought were impossible for us to be in, and for a wider audience to have access to our designs through licensing is truly game changing for us and for our careers.
Thank you to Leona and Ify for sharing their story and creative journey with us. Check out their amazing designs on the Rich Girl Paper website.
Stay tuned throughout as we spotlight more incredible GCA member businesses and celebrate creativity during Black History Month.
