CIU Today Summer 2015

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s 2014 came to a close, Jackie
Rutt of Jacksonville, Florida asked
her children if they had any resolutions
for 2015. Her daughter Christi, a senior
and a Communication major at CIU had
to think before responding. She told
her mother that she wanted to do a
better job of following through on the
“impulses” she had to write encouraging
notes to the people around her. She
would often think about writing a friend a
note with a word of encouragement, but
she would rarely sit down to do it.
Little did Christi Rutt know that her
resolution would be the birth of her own
small business. Tiny Tells, as she named
it, is a line of small note cards which
feature encouraging sayings and space
for someone to write a brief note to a
friend.
“I thought, ‘How could I create
something that would encourage me
and encourage others to follow through
on those impulses?’” Rutt said. “I think
a big card is kind of daunting. I wanted
something you could carry around with
you, and when you get that impulse you
could actually follow through with it. So I
thought, ‘tiny cards.’”
With the help of her sister Abbey,
Rutt used her artistic talents and her
knowledge of graphic design to make
the 2.5”x4” note cards featuring a variety
of greetings, such as “Love You Lots”
and “In Christ You Are Redeemed.”
Tiny Tells launched just before the
beginning of the spring semester at
CIU, and after news about the cards
spread around campus through word-of-
mouth and over social media, business is
booming.
“I love [this business],” Rutt said. “It’s
so fun to me, every aspect of it from
designing to figuring out how to market
it ... It’s been hard at times, but I make
time for it because I really do love it.”
Tiny Tells cards are sold in bundles of
25, and most bundles have eight unique
designs. The product is sold from an
account on and in CIU’s new on-
campus store, the Ram Shack. However,
most of the marketing is done through
social media. An Instagram account and
Facebook page alert people to new
products, giveaways and promotions.
“The funniest thing for me is to have
people catch the vision of encouraging
[others], and when people post on
Instagram how they were encouraged,”
Rutt said. “[I’ve enjoyed] seeing people
using them for what they were made for.”
A CIU sophomore Emily Thornhill is among
the satisfied customers.
“I love writing notes to people, and
Tiny Tells was a really cute way to do
that,” Thornhill said. “Small businesses
are an incredible opportunity to
support people, and I know Christi had
something worth supporting.”
As the business grows, Rutt is learning
more about what it takes to keep a
business going. That includes drives
to Office Depot where the cards are
printed, and a lot of time developing new
ideas for cards and marketing through
social media.
“It has given me a lot of experience,”
Rutt said. “I’m really learning as I go.”
As Rutt reflected on the first months of
Tiny Tells, she noted that she had learned
a lot about herself, and a lot about God.
“It’s stretching me to persevere when
things get really hard or frustrating,”
she said. “I’ll have days where I’m
super excited, and days where I want to
quit. It’s teaching me to trust the Lord,
because I believe He’s calling me [to this]
now.”
Words of Encouragement Brings “Bundles” of Business
“Tiny Tells” Takes Off
By Melissa McCutchan, CIU Student Writer
15
ENTREPRENEURS AMONG US
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