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The QUOTEpourri® Story

QUOTEpourri® Inspirations were born during a time when professional speaker and writer Diane Y. Chapman lost a brother and both parents, and desperately needed inspiration to keep going each day. Researching “wisdom” has been a part of Diane’s life for many years. She found that while she grieved and tried to mend her heart, the words of others gave her the strength to keep working and to keep functioning; to keep her faith strong and to swear to a sense of purpose. She laughed with the words of Zsa Zsa Gabor and Dolly Parton. She prayed with the words of Mother Teresa, and marveled at the words of Helen Keller. She found herself making resolutions to the words of sports stars like Wayne Gretzky and Mario Andretti.

Diane had started collecting quotations for the speeches she gave across the country. Her collection grew to hundreds as she researched different topics for clients, and audiences were asking how they could get their hands on them. “My instincts about the motivational and inspirational value of my quote sets were confirmed by audiences over and over again,” says Diane.“Before long my collection became my signature style as a speaker. That’s when I realized that perhaps there was a way to package quotes by theme in attractive sets.”

When Diane first packaged her quotes to sell to audiences, she used a utilitarian approach, much like the sets of cards you find in bookstores. Although some of the sets sold that way, it became apparent that she needed to create packaging that was “irresistible.” Then, it dawned on her: why not make the quote packaging beautiful? She did her test marketing at a number of speeches, and found that she was on to something! “The women in my audiences were drawn magically to the pretty organza bags I had decided to fill with quotes, and they sold like crazy. The more beautiful the bags, the better they sold! That’s how QuotePourri® Inspirations came to be.”

Each QuotePourri® set has been carefully selected by Diane and her production team, keeping in mind the goal of inspiration and healing through words. “My search for the perfect words of wisdom has helped me time and again. With QuotePourri® Inspirations, I hope these words help others, too. We all have our own ways of coping with life’s up’s and down’s, but I believe a well chosen thought can be just the perfect compass for steering us through our most challenging times.”

For Diane, that literally meant preparing for a family funeral. “On July 1, 2001, my sister and I took our brother, mother and father back to our hometown of Park River, North Dakota to perform a funeral service and burial for them. I wrote the service using my favorite bible passages and inspirational quotes. We buried all three of them next to another brother who had died when we were young. The pearls of wisdom I had collected during that difficult time were life changing for me, and I know they can be for others, too. I thank God every day for the abundance of inspirational words that have been spoken throughout history. Those words are meant to be shared!”