FAYETTEVILLE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Motivation by Mail is a subscription service that sends postcards to people who may need a little extra encouragement, whether they are away at school, going through a difficult time, or simply need a reminder that someone cares.
Heidi Monsour was a motivational speaker before she had children, traveling the country speaking to young people.
After that career ended, she became involved in volunteer work and served with a variety of charitable organizations, including on boards of directors and in other roles.
She and her family moved to Syracuse about four years ago, where she took a job at a local school.
“I thought that I was going to absolutely love it, and I did not,” Monsour said.
Last May, she left that job, initially planning to retire and stay home with her children.
“I’m going to enjoy these last few years with my kids, and I’m done with work,” Monsour said. “But God had a different plan.”
That “different plan” began to take shape when her oldest son, Noah, left for college.
Monsour began thinking about how she could keep him encouraged from a distance.
“I read somewhere that students who receive consistent encouragement have better social skills, obviously, but that they have better attendance and higher GPAs,” she said. “I want my son to have that, but how am I going to do that without constantly like calling him, texting him or visiting him?”
She wrote him a long letter, but quickly realized it wasn’t sustainable.
“I can’t keep sending long letters,” she said. “I’m going to send him a postcard.”
Noah Monsour said his mother has always poured her heart into everything she does.
“I think it was a great idea, and it’s been really cool to see her come up with the ideas and really follow through with it,” he said.
From that first postcard, the idea quickly grew into a business.
After sending trial cards to her son and his friends in the fall, Motivation by Mail was up and running by December.
“I started looking and like, scouring the internet, like, what else is like this?” Monsour said. “And there really wasn’t anything like it where you could provide that consistent encouragement, so that’s why I created Motivation by Mail.”
Since then, Monsour has expanded her service to customers across the country.
Customer Angie Sayles said she has both sent postcards to people facing difficult times and received them from a friend.
“I’ve had a rough couple of years in my life,” Sayles said. “Things are getting back on track, but some major losses in my life and my family.”
Monsour also sends postcards to a friend with terminal cancer.
“People aren’t sending her get well cards anymore,” Monsour said. “But she gets a card for me every week and she knows we care. I realized there’s other people that probably want to do the same.”
She said there’s a sadness of aging family members and that it’s important to her to stay connected.
“This is a big market where people are losing touch, and they would love to get communications all the time,” Monsour said. “My older customers used to send postcards and that was something that they lost somewhere along the way, so to be able to bring that back is exciting to me.”
She said the physical nature of the postcards is part of what makes the service meaningful.
“When someone gets this in the mail, they don’t read it and throw it away,” Monsour said. “They read it and then they put it somewhere where they can see it.”
For Monsour, the mission has become more than a business.
“Some days I think, what am I doing? I was going to retire and now I’ve got to spend all day working,” Monsour said. “But this isn’t a job. You’re creating positive words and images and you’re sending to people that you know are going to be happy to receive it.”
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Postcards bring positivity to mailboxes across the country
Leah Masi, reporter: It’s a subscription service based out of Fayetteville that sends weekly inspirational postcards to people who may need a little extra encouragement. Whether they’re away at school, going through a tough time, or simply need a reminder that someone cares. I had the opportunity to learn more about how the business has brought positivity to mailboxes across the country. It all starts with a postcard.
Owner and CEO, Heidi Monsour: They’re just like a little dose of cheer, right? They’re colorful, they’re bright. And, people love that, too. So I was like, hey, I think I’m onto something.
Masi: As a motivational speaker, Monsour spent years encouraging others. Now, she’s bringing that message to mailboxes across the country. Monsour says the service was originally created for college students, but she soon realized people of all ages could benefit from some positivity.
Monsour: Anybody can send a postcard every week. You just sign up and it’s a subscription. They automatically get their card every week and they get to, you know, go, hey, my daughter is thinking about me.
Masi: And receiving Motivation by Mail was exactly what one customer needed after a tough year.
Customer Angie Sayles: When you get something like this, you know that someone thought of you and you know that someone cares about you and you know that someone wants the best for you. So what more could you ask for to lift someone.
Masi: Her son Noah says she has poured her heart into the business and its mission of uplifting others.
Noah Monsour: A bit of a market that no one is really into that really makes a lot of sense. I think it was a great idea, and it’s been really cool to see her come up with the ideas and really follow through with it.
Masi: And for Monsour, the goal is simple: making encouragement easy to share.
Monsour: Let’s get the consistent encouragement out there. Let’s change lives. It doesn’t have to be expensive. It doesn’t have to be difficult. It can be super, super easy.
Masi: Motivation by Mail has only been up and running since December and is going strong, with more than 100 postcards delivered weekly.